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Eye On College Basketball
UConn keeps Braylon Mullins, adds Duke piece; more portal notes on Duke, Tenn, Kentucky, UNC, Texas, etc. Why Michigan winning🏆 wasn’t all it’s cracked up to be
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This is Gary Parrish from CBS Sports here to tell you that I used to think travel pants meant sacrificing style. Like sure they're comfortable, but you'd never actually want to wear them anywhere nice. But I don't think that way anymore. And that's because of the jetsetter pants from Jack Archer. These are hands down the easiest pants I own. They're great for my back and forth flights to NYC during the college basketball season. The fabric is wrinkle free and stain resistant, which is huge when you're commuting, traveling or just living life. I can wear them all day and and they still hold their shape. No sagging, no stretching, no looking sloppy by the end of the day. And they're also the ultimate travel pant. I can pack one pair, wear them on the plane and show up looking put together without ironing or changing. And the fit is fully customizable. You choose your waist, your length and your fit, whether that's athletic, slim or straight, tall guys, short guys, everyone's covered and Somehow they're just $89, which feels like a steal for pants this versatile. Get 15% off your first order with code getjack@jack archer.com. again, that's promo code. Getjackarcher.com for 15% off your first order. Hey there, I am Gary Parish. Welcome back CBS Sports Eye on College Basketball podcast where we sometimes discuss Camel fighting, Dodo Birds Leaky Black Matt Norlander is here with me. If you're watching on YouTube, there's only one proper way to honor Brandon Davies. That would be by smashing the like button. If you haven't yet subscribed to the Ion College Basketball podcast, please also do that while you're here. Let's get into it the place to start, I think it's UConn where Braylon Mullins has agreed to return for his sophomore season despite being projected as a clear first round option in the 2026 NBA Draft. Norlander, you handled the headline for us, CBSSports.com so why don't you talk us through Braylon Mullins decision to become the rare guaranteed first round pick to return to college. And in your opinion, is this a direct byproduct of NIL and revenue sharing combining to make it sensible for Mullins and prospects like Mullins to at least consider returning to college even when they have realistic dreams of being selected and in the first round of the draft?
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Hello, Good morning. Welcome to another week. GP yeah, that's basically got to be the majority of the story here. I mean, Mullins hasn't spoken on it yet. He will at some point in the lead up to next season. Multiple times. And how could it not be? I mean UConn is almost definitely going to be paying him more this upcoming season than he would have otherwise earned this for the next season in general. Now you get into the conversation of okay, when do you want to start your NBA clock? And you know there is an unclear line of delineation between how good a player is now versus how good a player stands to be when they go to the next level and how good they can be two, four, six, eight years down the road. But you got to make that calculus right now. Nothing is guaranteed other than the money that UConn is going to pay Mullins as a result of coming back. I don't have that number. On a personal level, I will be shocked if that number is at minimum lower than 2.5, if not $3 million and well earned money. By the way, he is the author of the most significant shot in the history of that program and that is saying something considering what Tate George did once upon a win. And of course the name Kemba Walker among the other all time greats at UConn so they actually got a double banger of a headline on Saturday. Mullins was the second one. He announced he was coming back on his 20th birthday of all days on Saturday. And that came about three and a half, four hours after Nick Hamenia, who was on campus last week in stores, announced that he would be transferring from none other than the program that UConn knocked out of the NCAA tournament in Duke to join up with Mullins. And. And As a result, UConn's got itself quite a nice haul. And as I wrote over the weekend, this will now be the fourth consecutive season year that UConn will be a preseason top 10 team. I actually thought the previous three Octobers they were preseason top five, but that is not true. After they won the title, I believe they were preseason number six. So they've got a really good chance to be a preseason top six team yet again. But if you want to use the easier cutoff, that is four straight preseason top tens for Dan Hurley's Huskies and, and well deserved. So big picture, this is a wonderful thing for college basketball. You have someone who is, given the nature of the shot, playing for UConn making it to the final night of the season. We're having a lot of big time, high profile, one and done freshmen and notable seniors leaving Parrish. Is it overstating it to say Braylon Mullins might be one of the five or six most famous college basketball players going into next season? Because I think that's big, very, very possible. And ultimately that's a huge win for UConn and the sport.
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B
How many people are obviously more famous? I emphasize the word famous because that's different than best. But he is famous. After hitting one of the most famous shots in NCAA tournament history to this degree. I don't know, honestly, if a month ago I could have picked my little guys up from school and said, hey guys, who's Braylon Mullins? And they would have known off the top of their head. But because they were going to the Final Four and that shot happened and I wanted him to, like, get excited about it. So I was like, guys like, you're Tigers for life, but I don't know if you've been following, you know, your dad's alma mater, but it ain't going so well. But I want you guys to have rooting interest at the Final Four. Who do you guys want to go for? And my middle guy said Arizona, and my little guy said UConn. And then they just sort of dove into those teams. And so if I pick them up from school today. And I said, hey, guys, who's Braylon Mullins? They would both know because he is wildly more famous today for a lot of different reasons, most notably that shot than he was a month ago. And so I don't, I don't even know who would be. Let's do it.
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A
Let's do this in real time. Right now. I got two lists. The, the players. This was unplanned, so flying by the seat of our pants, that's what I always like to do on the podcast. The, the two groups of players that would compete with Mullins for the most famous players are guys are leaving to go to the NBA. So all the, all these names are not competing. The Bonza, Peterson, Cam Boozer, Keaton Wagler, Darius. Yeah, they're not, they're not in the conversation. So who are the guys that could go in the NBA draft that would maybe compete with them? There's actually like a little bit. Is Nate meant going to stay at Tennessee? I don't think so, but there's been a little bit of like, huh, might that happen? Mullins is still a bigger name in my opinion. Mullins right now is a bigger name than, than him. Thomas Hauk, Florida, is, is. There are real vibes that he might actually come back to college basketball. He won a national championship.
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I, I think most people still can't even pronounce his name the right way.
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Fair enough, fair enough. But he was a prominent player on a national championship winning team. At the very least in the conversation, I would still say Braylon Mullins slightly. A little bit more. They have similar hairstyles in general. Christian Anderson, you know, could return. Not as famous as Braylon Mullins at this point, I wouldn't think. Again, I'm only going with projected potential draft picks. Merez Johnson Jr. Just won a national championship. Well, well known, but not a household name. I don't think on that level. And I think that's pro pretty much. This is among Isaiah Evans at Duke. Maybe he's played for Duke for multiple seasons. Maybe there's something there. But those are your project first round picks who could indeed wind up coming back that are in that conversation. All Americans that we had. Okay, here were our all Americans this year through all three teams. Okay. Darius Acuff. He's gone. Cam Boozer, he's gone. AJ DeBonsa, he's gone. Jackson Lindenborg, he's gone. Keaton Wagler, he's gone. Those are the first teamers, second teamers. Joshua Jefferson, he's gone. Zubi Edge of four, he's gone. Braden Smith, he's gone. Kingston Flemings, he's gone. J.T. toppin isn't gone. Won't play next season because of the injury, but he will be back. Jeremy Fears junior Will be back. More famous than Braylon Mullins.
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Fears is at least in the conversation. Like my wife knows who Jeremy Fears
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is, so he's in the conversation. Bennett sturts is gone. LeBaron Filon's gone. Tyler Tanner is back, but not on that level. And then we had Caleb Wilson. So you bring in Tyron Stokes, who isn't known to the casual fans.
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No high school guys. Yeah.
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Yeah. So I think Bray lemols is a top three name coming back to college basketball. That's a huge win for the sport to get him back after one of the all time shots in the tournament. In addition to the fact that, oh, by the way, his inclusion to UConn's roster next season, in addition to how many. We can break all that down. They're just going to be almost certainly the preseason pick to win the Big east and be another national championship contending level roster going into the season.
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B
Going through it, I think Braylon Mullins is probably the most famous player in college basketball next season. Do you know who the actual other options are? One of them is probably Kaden Boozer.
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Just in terms of famous for sure. Yep, gotta be. He's part of the play. They're intertwined.
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He's also in like national commercials.
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Like, you know, he's more famous than Braylon Mullins. Gain. Boozer is.
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Yeah.
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Because of the commercial. Which, which I don't know if I saw that commercial one time again after the end of the Elite, by the way.
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Oh, I've seen it. I've seen it.
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Really? I have not.
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I think I saw it this weekend.
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Okay, and.
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And do you know who is actually famous? Like if we're just drilling down on this word and then we'll get back to the basketball stuff.
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Hold on, let me see if I can guess it. Who am I missing?
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You will not guess it, but I'll tell you a story.
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It's a. It's a men's basketball player.
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Yeah.
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They're gonna play in the sport next season.
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I mean, I.
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Maybe, maybe you won't get it.
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Let me just tell you.
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A
Okay. Who am I? Yeah. Is it someone that I don't know about that's like massively viral on Tick Tock that you can't stop watching reels of?
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This is the way. This is the way I realize this first night I'm in Indianapolis, my wife and kids are coming the next day.
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And I said, by the way, is famous. Is that you're gonna say no? I said, Hey, 7 guy, he's coming into college basketball Houston.
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I said, hey, guys. I said, hey, listen, I'm walking into dinner. I just want to check in with you guys. Hope you're having a good time. They were staying the night in Nashville, and I was like, I'm going, I'm going into St. Elmo right now and then I'll take you guys tomorrow and. And then I notice the Arizona team bus is outside the restaurant. And I said, okay. I said, hey, guys, look, there we were on FaceTime. As I look, the Arizona bus is right here. And they said, so Arizona's basketball team is inside that restaurant you're going in? I said, yeah. And I swear to God, the first they said, is Bryce James inside of there? And I said, I assume so. Oh, my God. Bryce. Bryce James is super famous to kids in ways that you and I cannot possibly understand until the kids bring it to our attention.
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A
That's true. That's true. Bryce James more famous than Braylon Mullins. So top three, top four. Regardless, that's a good poll by you. What are your thoughts on him coming back? And have you moved up Yukon at all in your rankings?
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Okay, so spoiler alert, let's just get to that part first. When you see the updated top 25 and one today. I love this. Number one, Michigan. Number two, UConn. Let's run it back.
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Okay.
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B
Michigan. Number two, UConn. I love his decision because I think, I think it's what I would do if I were him. I think it's what I would want my son to do if I were his parents. And I think I referenced this last week, me and Adam Zucker is. Adam Zucker sat down with his parents, Braylon's parents, at the final four. Let's little seven minute interview. They were awesome. We talked more off camera than we talked on camera because they were there. It was like a 30 minute setup before we, so we're just sitting together, talking, chit chatting, catching up. They were, they were tremendous. They never tipped their hand. I don't want to say too much because we were talking off camera and I want to respect that. I, I, I think that I'm comfortable saying this. I was not left with the impression they thought they were going to have a sophomore in college. Yeah, I was not left with that impression. And so a month ago, I don't I don't think if you would have asked them, this would have been a likely. I don't think you could have asked Braylon or his parents. So you think you're coming back to UConn for another year. And I don't think the answer would have been yes. But then you. It's time to like, hey, it's over. We're here. It's decision. You got to make a decision now. Now let's talk through it. And once you can honestly look at him and say, we can make the money match, like, let's not for decades, young people, I'm just talking as Dan Hurley right now, if you'll allow me. Like, if this is the way I'd be trying to or forget. I don't even want to talk as Dan Hurley. I'll just talk as me. As if I were advising Braylon Mullins. If he cared enough to even hear what I had to say.
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Go ahead.
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I would say for decades, every young person in your shoes, with few exceptions, had to make a decision based on the idea that the money is way different doing one thing than it is the other. Millions of dollars guaranteed. If you enter the NBA draft, we can maybe get you some under the table stuff, but, like, it ain't gonna match up and UW twos ain't gonna look the same. And so almost all of them, like, they just, hey, I gotta go project the top 15 pick, 25 pick gotta go for you right now, it's not. It doesn't have to be about money. And I understand getting to the second contract, but, like, you know, what's better than getting the second contract early as possible, getting to it when you are established as awesome or at least done enough to make people think you can be like that. Like, I'd rather get the, you know, that second contract, max, as opposed to just getting there as soon as I can, but whatever. I understand the logic behind it, but in. In the 20, 26, 27 season at UConn, we can make sure you make money, more money than you will. If you were the 20th pick in the draft and we're talking to everybody, you could maybe go as high as 15. You could also go as low as 25. Let's just say it's in that range. Split the difference. Let's call it 20 at 20, you would sign a two year, $6.6 million contract. What if we can get the money where I can promise you next season, you're not leaving a penny on the table. All right, now we're just talking about where you want to play basketball, where you want to live, what do you want to do? I can tell you what your life is like at UConn. I was listening to the Island College basketball podcast. They said you'd be one of the three most famous players in college basketball. The ball headed guy said you'd be on a preseason top two team. All right, so you got a chance to go to another Final Four. You're the star, you're playing all the minutes, getting all the shots, everything. Or you can go be the 20th pick in the draft. You will be a millionaire. You also probably be sitting on the bench of a good team, bouncing back and forth to the G League for the first time in a long time and perhaps your life. You're not a rotation player, you're not a starter. You're probably bummed out a little bit. Oh, we're going to need you to go down the G League and play some games too, just to, you know, keep your legs moving. That's a commercial flight 32B's. The Delta flight seat you're going to have at UConn. We're doing private jets everywhere, nice hotels everywhere, sold out arenas. Every time we play, there's a number next to our name. Like what? What do you. What sounds more fun? Being the face of college basketball at UConn for a top five team or sitting on the bench in the NBA at 20 years old? It's undeniable. What's more fun to me and if you can make the money work now what are we doing? So I don't ever want to make the decision for a person or criticize somebody who does the opposite of this. But in my mind this is 100% what I would do. Let's maximize having fun while making millions. We're not really leaving money on the table in any sort of tangible way.
- [16:57]
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This is.
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If Braylon Mullins were my son, I would be thrilled he's doing this. It's great for college basketball, great for UConn and I think great for that family.
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A
That's good stuff. And I agree. And come combining that with getting Hominia, which Yukon, you know, in the 48 hours before it was actually announced, that was the understanding that was the way it was going to go. You've got the rare instance of a player on the wrong end of one NCAA tournament result, going over and going to the other side, playing, playing for the team that won and, and, and Homania. It did not have the kind of season. But what's Interesting is Mullins and Homania on overall, they did not have the kinds of freshman seasons that both had hoped for. Now, Mullins got started off slowly because of an injury. He had this incredible moment. Keep in mind he had not made a three in that game until he hit the winning shot there. But you get a couple of guys who were five star prospects who have all the motivation in the world to really live up to their high school reputations as sophomores and they get to do so as teammates on a blue blood program playing for a Hall of Fame coach. While you still have key pieces that are coming back with this team, not everyone's coming back. In fact, within I guess the past hour or so since we went live, Eric raiba, formerly at UConn, who also didn't quite have the freshman season that he hoped for, he said, I'm going to bounce and I'm gonna go play on the other coast. And he's gonna live in sunny Los Angeles and play for Eric Musselman's USC Trojans, who by the way, GP they might be building out a roster worthy of top 25. Consider. Oh, I know they're worthy of top 25.
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Oh, they were in there. I mean we're just, now we're just talking about how high you want to take them.
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Correct. So they're in there. Ryba's a very, very critical piece. Hopefully he can pop. But solo Ball set to return. Silas Demery Jr. Set to return. You get Jaden Ross back. Jalen Stewart went into the portal. So I know it's one too many players into the portal for Hurley's liking, but you do have still real threads of continuity, particularly between Ball and Stewart or, excuse me, Ball and Ross. Long term, more than a year. Demery, the starting point guard on a team that made the title game, obviously, and, and Mullins coming back. And then you bring in Hamania. They'll add another notable piece here in the next week or two that'll, that'll be a bench piece. But they're not done. But they now have, they have a roster there that's going to be in the mix and I do think we are heading toward famous last words here. I know group tends to take over by the time we get to deeper part of the off season, but I, I, I don't know, there's like five or six rosters that are really formulating here, GP that I think have real, real claim to be in that 1, 2, 3 spot. Maybe it's even more than that, honestly. But Yukon getting Mullins back. That was, that was big. And in my opinion, yeah, the Huskies on the weekend.
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I just think anytime you can, like, look at a projected starting lineup and it's at the 1, 2, 3, it's the same dudes who just took you to a national championship game.
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Yeah.
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And like, didn't just luck into a championship game, but like, we're a two seed in the tournament. We're always among the teams that were going to be good enough on paper to do something like they did. Like when you are, I mean, whenever they start practice, Dan Hurley looks out and goes, all right, this is the same 1, 2, 3, let's go. Like, that's just a. Ask any coach. That's a great place to start with dudes you've already been through wars with, accomplished stuff with. You're feeling really good there. They're going to be one of the best teams in the country again for the foreseeable future. As long as Dan's there, there's no reason to think that that'll, that'll ever change.
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A
If I may, by the way, let me just tie up one headline that came out this morning with what we're talking about here, because I do think they're actually intertwined to the surprise, I think, of most, Val Ackerman, the commissioner of the Big east, is going to retire. She will finish up at the end of the summer, a 13 year run. She did a wonderful job. She basically helped the Big east from falling off as a, as a power conference. But it was also at the forefront, obviously, of the discussions to get UConn back into the league. And so, you know, UConn has won two national championships since rejoining the Big East. They've just made the title game. And the fact that it could get a player like Braylon Mullins to go and play at UConn, the fact that it could get Dan Hurley to stay at UConn and join up with, with. He joined when they were in the American. But does Yukon win two national championships if not for Val Ackerman bringing Yukon into the league? You know, I don't know if that's. I don't know if that's necessarily the case. I don't know.
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I don't. I don't mean to interrupt, but I can tell you what happens to once proud basketball programs that are stuck in the American.
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A
Exactly. You can speak to that as well, better than anyone. And so just a nod to Val, who, you know, being the commissioner of the Big east comes with plenty of perks. It's Also not. It's not an easy job. You are, you are running a basketball first conference and the only one that is basketball first in a football dominated and driven world. And, and she was able to keep the Big east not just afloat. That is understating it. I ran the numbers earlier today. I'll have a column on Val before we get out of Monday. The Biggies average finish at Ken Palm since Val took over was basically 3.5, 3.6 and Ken Palms end of year standings. She was the commissioner for 13 seasons. In more than half of those years, seven out of the 13, the Big east was either second or third in overall conference strength that won five combined national championships in men's and women's basketball in her tenure. That doesn't count yukon winning in 14. It doesn't count the women's multiple championships in the 2000 and tens because they weren't in the Big east there. So only as as literal members of the biggies. Between Nova's two and then Yukon had three combined. That matches the SEC for most combined basketball NCAA championships by any conference over the past 13 years. The Big east and the SEC both have five combined. So she's, she's in the Naismith Memorial hall of Fame and, and really did have to, you know, endure a lot. There's a lot of, of battles that go with keeping the Big east in the garden, getting the media rights deals, making sure that the Big east did not fall to a tier below which it didn't in many way. Whether you look at win percentage, conference strength, Final Fours teams that were, you know, getting into the tournament, they had multiple really nice bid years. They're coming off of a brutal year. Undeniably they only got three teams in the tournament, second time in three years. But overall the Big east has maintained its status. You know, in basketball there is a Power 5. Football, there's a Power 4. In basketball there is a Power 5. And there was a Power 5 because the big east has remained firmly in that conversation. And Val Ackerman was, was a big reason why. So she will get her, her praises and her lotuses as, as rightfully she should. But as we open the pod here talking about Yukon potentially being in that number one preseason spot again, of course Dan Hurley, his staff and everything that UConn has been able to to do there takes the lion's share of the credit. But if Yukon was not back in the Big east and if Al did not make sure that that was something that was at the top of the priority list and get that done seven years ago. I don't think we're talking about the Huskies like this. I don't even necessarily think we're talking about the Huskies even coached by Dan Hurley anymore. So credit to Val on an incredible run at the Big east and. And truly a Hall of Fame career.
- [24:03]
B
I. I take it a step further. We can debate it another day. If UConn is not in the Big east, which means UConn is still in the American. I don't think Dan Hurley is still the coach there. I don't think Braylon Mullins ever enrolls there.
- [24:17]
A
Right.
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B
You think you're getting somebody from Indiana to go play at UConn in the American. No. Like, and I, we're living through this. I live in a city that not too long ago enrolled the number one recruiting class in America in the American in two years, multiple times. And that's impossible right now. As I said on another show this morning, you could make whoever you think the best recruiter is in the country right now, John shire, give him $20 million making the Memphis coach. You cannot enroll the number one recruiting class in America like, it's impossible now. So that league would have further damaged the UConn men's basketball program. And Val was smart to rope them back in, and they were clearly smart to. To run back in that direction. It. That is, I don't want to say unrecognizable, but it doesn't look anything like it looks right now if it's still in the American. And Memphis basketball is unrecognizable based on where it was just a few years ago. And I'm not comparing UConn to Memphis. I know those are two very different things, but they were both proud basketball programs. And one is as sad as I've ever. As I've ever seen it, and the other is, you know, maybe getting ready to go to another national championship game next season based on all the developments over the weekend and otherwise. Let's move on. You had a column last week about. You went to St. Louis for the USBWA awards dinner. Incredible scene. Magic Johnson there, Dusty May there. Just a few weeks after winning a national championship. And I imagine, or at least like when you know you're going to be with Dusty a week after winning the title, or so soon after winning the title, I imagine you go into it with a bunch of ideas about what you might do. And then you ended up writing what I thought was a really interesting column about the way the calendar sets up and perhaps just the way his mind works as well, but like he has not been able to enjoy what he thought would be a lifelong dream come true. We're going to take a break, then I'm going to get to expand on that. Let's get a word from our partners.
- [26:20]
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- [28:12]
B
So you went to St. Louis awards dinner. Looked amazing. You file a column. I clicked on it. It said 12 minute read. I said, buddy, I bet I can get through this in nine. No problem.
- [28:21]
A
You always can. And it's never as long as it says never.
- [28:24]
B
Hey, that was me picking at you a little bit. Just setting up a compliment. I thought it was really well done. I Enjoyed it. And it touched on something that makes sense to me and the column. I'll let you put it in your own words. But it was more or less like, at least this is another way to put it. Hey, little Dusty May, growing up in Big Ten country, what if I told you one day you will lead a Big Ten program to a national championship and you'll do it in the same state in which you were raised? Amazing feeling. I can't imagine what that must be like. And then he actually did it and climbs the ladder and cuts the nets and it's like I don't feel what I'm supposed to be feeling. Perhaps there's a lot of different reasons the calendar plays a role. I thought one interesting aspect of it was you win a national championship a little after 11pm Eastern. You were supposed to be on a Zoom call at 2am with a prospect. They punted. That I think rightfully so. But just how did you decide to land where you landed? What did you make of what you heard from your national championship winning coach?
- [29:29]
A
Yeah, I'll set up how the column even came to be, just very briefly. So the usbwa. Wow. And its membership, its voters, it's the. It's the largest voting body. It is the oldest voting body in all of college basketball. Just celebrated the 70th season. Very, very cool. And I'm truly honored and humbled that I just got to be the president this year and all years when it was the 70th season. So as you get the honor of not only calling the hall of Famers, like, I got to call Andy Katz and say, by the way, you're going into the USBWA hall of Fame. And that was an amazing phone call that I won't ever forget, in addition to plenty of other winners as well. But when, you know, when Campuser won Player of the Year, I called Shire and he didn't pick up. I said, pick up. It's not urgent. He's like, I'll pick up if it's fun. I said, I promise it's fun. I got Shire. I was like, I know this isn't a stunner, but for official purposes, Cam Boozer is the Oscar Robertson National Player of the Year. By the way, go ahead and Google it. Or if Josh wants to throw it on the screen before we're out of here, it is by far, and it's not even close. The coolest trophy in all of basketball, not all of college basketball, in all of basketball, is that vintage Oscar Robertson grabbing a rebound leg spread in the Air midair classic shot. It's phenomenal. Boozer then went on to get obviously a busted face and all of this, and he wasn't able to make it, which was a bummer. But this sets up the Dusty May portion. So I called Dusty when he was literally on the bus. It was the day after Selection Sunday. They were driving to Buffalo. And at that point, he didn't know this would be the case, but this actually wound up, ironically, being the only national Coach of the Year award that he won. There's like four or five of them, really. Even more if you want to count in like, you know, the media ones and all that.
- [31:12]
B
And even CBS Sports went to Tommy Lloyd.
- [31:15]
A
It went to Tommy Lloyd. Although we gave Dusty made the Coach of the Year when he went to fau and he invoked that on the phone call. He's like, what's the bigger deal? Like the CBS Coach of the Year or the Henry Iba usbwa. I was like, you're putting me in a tough spot here right now because I'm representing two different organizations.
- [31:30]
B
One, you get a. One, you get an actual trophy. The other, the other, you get a link.
- [31:35]
A
You get a link. Yeah. What did we decide we were gonna get? I can't even remember. We had some sort of ridiculous thing that we were.
- [31:41]
B
Oh, yeah, you were gonna steal all those trophies from Stanford.
- [31:44]
A
That's right. On the inside.
- [31:48]
B
We were gonna repurpose. We're gonna repurpose some Katie Ledecky's into CBS Sports College Coach of the Year.
- [31:54]
A
There might be a cross country pack 12 trophy from the mid-90s. They don't care about that. We can repurpose and get a. Get along to the winners. Yeah. So anyway, not knowing what was going to happen, Dusty May said, I'll be there. I was like, I appreciate that. I'm going, you know, Magic Johnson's going and all of that. And. And so that is.
- [32:12]
B
Let me ask a question. How do you get Magic Johnson? Because I just.
- [32:16]
A
Listen, we do not have enough time on the podcast.
- [32:18]
B
I just listened to an entire Pablo Torre podcast where they could not get Magic Johnson. It was like a thing. Like, we just cannot get Magic Johnson.
- [32:25]
A
Funny. I'm going to text Pablo right now a photo of me standing next to Magic Johnson. As you're saying. I have not let yet listen to that pop up.
- [32:31]
B
It's the one with Ronnie cycling. It's great. It's not to push you to other podcasts, but like, it's the one where they're talking about Ronnie Cycley playing One on one with Magic after he was diagnosed. And it, like, showed the world, like, no man you can sweat with this guy and. And bang on this guy and like, we're okay. Stop being so scared. This is. This is a man, and you're going to be fine. And it was a real turning point in Magic Johnson's career. And they got Ronnie cycling. But the part of the podcast is like, we did everything to get Magic Johnson and could not get Magic Johnson. So I was actually curious when I saw you got Magic Johnson get on a plane and go to St. Louis. Like, how'd you do that? Because Pablo and them struggle with it was, I'll.
- [33:13]
A
I'll send this to Josh.
- [33:15]
B
And in fairness, because the chat is pointing this out. Pablo is, I, I think, investigated who actually tweets Magic's tweets.
- [33:22]
A
And perhaps I know that too, but I guess I don't need to drift that too far because that is also. That's a fascinating side of it. I unexpectedly got a Magic Johnson tweet name shout out, which I was not anticipating. And that was. That was like a little fun little. A fun little bonus with all that. But that's. Yeah, that's me at the Missouri Athletic Club. He smells wonderful, by the way.
- [33:45]
B
If there's one thing. Okay, if there's one thing I would assume about Magic Johnson is that he smells like a billionaire. And I don't even know what that actually, like. If you say smells like coconut, I would know that. Or smells like lemon or I would know. I don't even know what billionaire smells like, but I feel like I'd have that exact same recollection of it. I'd be like, he kind of smelled like a billionaire.
- [34:05]
A
Can't even identify. I'm going to send you this other one. Josh, you can throw this on the screen. This is Magic Jazzy Davidson at usc, who is going to be a superstar. Okay? She won the Freshman of the Year. And Dusty May. So you can get a really. Get a sense of Dusty. Okay? So anyway, Dusty, he's. He comes through on his word. It would have been very, very easy for him to not show up, but he said I. He said that day after Selection Sunday, I will be there. By the way, he's really good buddies with Josh shirts, obviously, in St. Louis, so they got some time to spend together. So I was on the ground there in St. Louis, and I got to spend some time with. With both of them. And in the lead up to the dinner that night, and that was cool. Just to kind of, you Know, little fly on the wall stuff with them in general. And just to experience that if you're watching on YouTube, you can see the photo there with magic and then Jazzy
- [34:53]
B
and then, and then, and then a little dusty.
- [34:56]
A
It would be even better if we could have put GP next to Dustin. That would have been.
- [35:00]
B
I love when I see other people's like visibly short. Like one of. One of my golfing partners now is. Is a guy who's like a, a millimeter shorter than me. And the whole round, every Sunday I'm just like you little short. Like the whole time. The whole time I'm just talking down to him.
- [35:18]
A
Is that what Josh was telling you last week? That will save that for the mailbag show, bro. We're saving it for the mailbag.
- [35:24]
B
This dude should join the pg. I said, do you have a handicap? Because I was trying to look it up. He's like, not really. I was like, what would you think it would be? He's like low single digits. And then he started playing.
- [35:39]
A
It was, it was just know this.
- [35:42]
B
Whatever you thought about me and Josh playing golf together, know that once we were on the course, I stood no chance. This was a 1 versus 16 and I am not UMBC. You lose.
- [35:56]
A
Yes. That 18 holes in a row you lose. Anyway, let's.
- [36:01]
B
I might have won a hole, but like he's really good. Like doctor's kid through and through.
- [36:07]
A
How about that? Yep. Doctor's kid can't sneaky at the. Out there on the course. Okay, so as we, so as we went to back to Shirts's office, like I by function of getting the, to hang with them, you know, got to, got to get an inside look on what it's like in the, in the afterglow or alleged afterglow of winning the national championship. And obviously like they're going constantly and I figured I might get a look at that. But I wasn't intending to write the story. It was more like, you know, may had to dip out 10 minutes into lunch and take an hour long portal zoom with a player. And, and he just sat in Shirts his car. Well, and then eventually Shirts is like, we got to get back to the office. So you know, I, so I sat, I sat quiet in the back seat as like as I got to see basically what it was like to see Michigan pitch a player. And I'm not going to tell you what player it was obviously because that's quite literally you're not allowed to speak on that. Like, you know, we had agreed to the story and then Unexpectedly, I found myself.
- [37:05]
B
It's classified information.
- [37:07]
A
Classified information. But I did get to see what it was like with all that. And then I just got. I got to really see up close what it is like to. For a staff to win a national championship. Then it's almost as if you didn't even do it. That's the weird part about it now. Yeah, Dusty had a couple of really nice quotes in the story. Let's link it in the description afterward. I'll give you one in general, he said. When I did the interview with Hurley before the game, and Zucker asked what it's like to hoist that trophy. And then he's quoting what Hurley told him, literally standing, sitting right next to him. You've been to the Final Four. It's a thousand times better than that. And then he told me, he goes, and I don't know if it's just me, but I'd heard where you climb the ladder and you say, is this really it? And it was worse. It was less than it. The journey was so much better than the destination. The finality of it all is almost disappointing because you have one of the most special groups of humans you'll ever be around. And at that moment, it all ends. And quote, there's more in the column that you can go read, but he's not the first coach and won't be the last. He's not the first college basketball coach that wins it all. And it's kind of like in. Like the here and now, in the. In the minutes and the hours and the days that that come after. You don't feel that. That burst of fulfillment that comes with winning A championship. Sean McVeigh has talked about this. Dan Hurley spoke about this in a major way after winning the first one. He felt different after the second one. Scott Drew felt that way. I talked with the Florida staff a couple weeks after they won the national title. Like, I was with them on the boat in San Antonio last, and that felt like. That felt like they won it. But even in the moment, I remember some of them saying, like, dude, did we actually just win the national championship? So there's a little bit of that attached to it. I get all of that, but it was. It was interesting and sad to talk to him, to talk to some of the Michigan staff. And part of this is a function of the sport, and it's not fixable. I do think. I know we've changed the portal date three years in a row. I. One more day. It wouldn't be the worst thing, like it's not a good commentary on the sport that quite literally one shining moment is playing as the portal opens and then agents are calling this Michigan staff. Texting the Michigan staff in the locker room while they're trying to do through a couple celebratory interviews and celebrate with their guys and all that. And then the staff has to be like, hey, are we taking, are we taking this 2am Zoom call? Which is insane to begin with. To think the idea that you would take a Zoom at 2 in the morning, east coast time, even if you push back the portal date 24 more hours, because if it opens on a day, you got to go by the clock, that means midnight. So just even that would be sensible because it was one thing after another. And then they leave, they land. And then Dusty, you know, he's like the thing that, you know, it's just the job. He, again, he's not compl. I was pulling this out of them. He wasn't looking like, hey, finally got my face in front of a reporter. Where five days later, let me. He wasn't. He's not complaining. I was trying to pull like, tell me about what it's been like to live this life. And when they got back, they landed in Detroit. Wife was going home and she was like, you coming back? And he's like, nope.
- [40:10]
B
That was, that was the saddest part to me, that one, right?
- [40:14]
A
I cannot go home and be with my wife and kids right now.
- [40:16]
B
That's. That was the quote. The simple no was the quote that stood out to me. And Dusty cannot complain about it all he wants because he seems like a not complainer. Like he was even talking, like even during the tournament. There was this one press conference moment where he said, I know one of our players, like somebody in my locker room right now, like their agent has already talked to me about like getting into the transfer portal. Like I'm dealing with that right now. But I understand and I'm not mad at anybody. And we're all like, you know, these players are on one year contracts and we don't really have rules. I'm paraphrasing here, but he was like, it is what it is and until we do something different, this is how we live. So he strikes me as having that type of outlook on life, which is probably why he's as successful as he is. But I'll complain for him. You should not have to decide between enjoying the biggest professional accomplishment of your life or jumping on a Zoom at 2am you shouldn't have to pick between Those two things.
- [41:15]
A
All right.
- [41:15]
B
And I'm glad they picked to punt on the Zoom, because even if it cost you a player, my God, live in this moment for a second. You should not have to pick between seeing your wife after the biggest professional accomplishment of your life or trying to set it up for next season in that moment. That should not be a choice that we're asking these people to make. What is the rush? Like, nobody is transferring right now anyway. These young people are still theoretically enrolled in classes at wherever they've been enrolled in classes. Like, we don't have to rush this. You said a day, too. You ready for this national championship game on a Monday? Let's open the transfer portal on Friday. That gives you time to celebrate on Monday night, get back home on Tuesday, parade it on Wednesday, kiss your wife on Thursday. Now let's get back to work on Friday. That seems like a reasonable amount of time, but the idea that you have to, hey, guys, we just won a championship. One shining moment just played. The transfer Portal opens in 12 minutes. Who we thought, who we talking to? That's crazy. And it is fixable.
- [42:24]
A
It is fixable. But on gp, we are in simpatico here. It is so fixable. And at the same time, since the story went out and I heard from just a few, a few people that are on committees that they're like, we're going to change the portal date again. Yes. We need to change it again.
- [42:40]
B
Yes. You literally keep getting it wrong.
- [42:42]
A
Find the right cadence. It's still.
- [42:43]
B
It's better.
- [42:44]
A
It's better now than it was in the middle of the tournament. And it's better than when it literally opened the day after Selection Sunday. It's still not where it needs to be. And I. There will never be a perfect window. At least college basketball doesn't have college football's program where it is happening amid all the bowl seasons and you have players opting out of postseason competition. I'm glad the college basketball doesn't have that problem. But yes, we can change it again. The two people sent it to me, like, are we really going to go through this again and change this? We change it three years in a row. Yes. It's still not there. There's nothing wrong with pushing it back two or three more days. And I and some people are like, listen, it's only one or two teams problems. What about all the other teams? All the other players are going into the portal. I said, I get all that from an official standpoint, like, right. If it's open like the Michigan Staff did feel an, like an obligation. Like, do we need to do this right now? And thankfully they did punt. Like that was the right decision in the moment. But you should not be even forced with that dilemma to begin with to take an official portal zoom with the prospect that, that you really badly want to have, you know, join your roster and be on your campus. And if Michigan fans are listening, it wasn't JP Estrella who's already on the team, it's someone else. I'm not going to bring up who it was, but it wasn't even him. In fact, they were so thankful that Estrella has committed because that was relatively. Compared to all the other stories you hear, it was so low maintenance. But yes, we can, we can change this. I think we should change it. Hopefully podcast segments like this, the story going out there, will lead the NCAA and the oversight committee to, to do that. But it was just an. And we can rap and you can rap with that for you want to. It was. I appreciated Dusty not only just saying this, but like he's very secure in himself. Like a lot of coaches might have said that stuff and wanted to keep it all off the record. He didn't, he didn't say that. He was, he was fine in the moment here. And it was just, I'm just telling you, being around him for like four and a half uninterrupted hours, this thing, never stopping, never stopping. He was holding conversations with me like this. He was talking to me. Yeah, he's just. Because phone call here, phone call there, text here, text there. That's the nature of the job. They make, they make all sorts of money. Some people will listen to this and be like, boohoo.
- [44:52]
B
It's not boohoo.
- [44:53]
A
I'm trying to give you a portrait of what it is like to win a national championship in, in a high pressure, high profile sport. And at the same time, it doesn't feel like you've done it. It's a, it's a fascinating juxtaposition. And as Akeem Miscadine told me, and I ended the column this because it was, it was just one hell of a quote. He went out to Portsmouth earlier this week, late last week. Can't remember, I think it was earlier this week. And he went to go support Namari Burnett. Portsmouth is a place where college basketball seniors go. They have forever to get scattered and all this stuff. And he's like, there and he sees other agents and he sees other coaches and they're like, hey, champ, what's going on? He's like, here's the exact quote. Everyone's like, what up, champ? And it's like, maybe I'll feel like a champion once we finish this roster. What in the damn world?
- [45:38]
B
It's just, It's a. It's a goofy. A goofy calendar that is easily fixable. And, like, I have no patience for anybody actually in charge saying something like, so we're supposed to just change it again and. Yes, you're supposed to change it again. You're supposed to keep doing it. And, like, the only reason you'd have to change it again is because you got it wrong again. Like, get it right there. Like, think about this. If you're taking. If you're. If you're telling your. Your. Your kid to go. Like, this is every day in our house. Hey, you got spelling homework. All right, kid brings it back to you. This ain't right. Go try again. Brings it back to you. This ain't right. Go try again. Brings it back to you. At what point? At some point he goes, God, I've already changed it three times. I got to change it again. Yes, change it again till you get it right. Stop getting it wrong. Get it right that you can get it.
- [46:26]
A
The ball keeps moving. We're like, we're like the five yard line. It's not quite in the end zone yet. We're almost there.
- [46:31]
B
Yeah, it's like, it's like first and go from the five, and you got one yard. You moved right. You moved in the right direction, but you didn't get far enough. And then you were like, all right, now. Yeah, you got to get to the day after the championship game is better than what it used to be, but it's still not good. And if you'd asked me, I'd have probably told you a year ago this wouldn't be good for the. Because I could have seen this coming. Well, what happens when somebody wins a national championship and then 45 minutes later, the parents report? Like, you know, you could see how it was going to happen. I don't know why the people in charge didn't see it, but I. I
- [47:03]
A
naively thought it was going to be. So it was the Monday into Tuesday that opened. Stupid me. I thought it was Tuesday into Wednesday, and then literally the weekend of the final four, I got like, hey, you know that the portal opens the night of the title game? No, it doesn't open. No. At midnight, I was like, oh, that's idiotic.
- [47:18]
B
And then it's like, I don't understand, like, these people in college athletics And I know I'm broad brushing it here, but like, so often they come up with plans and when I hear them, like out of hand, I go, well, that's not gonna work. And then we get to it and it's like, like, hey, Nil is coming to college athletics, but it cannot be used as a recruiting tool under any circumstances. I immediately said, well, that's not going to work. And now here we are, the transfer portal open. Well, this is going to be dumb. Like, why? Why don't these people recognize how, How. Well, here's what we're going to do to enforce our rules. We'll get every school to sign a thing that says they can't sue us or sue anybody. Well, why would Ohio State and Michigan sign that? That's not going to work. Like, these guys ideas never work, but they keep coming up with these. So, yes, you have to change it again because you had another dumb idea. Move it to Friday. And what we might find out is that's still not enough time. But I think it is. I. I think that's. I think that's enough.
- [48:18]
A
And as. As will be exhibited by our. Our next segment to close the show while there's too many players. Too many players to keep track of whatever it is beneficial to have like a. Okay, we have the conference tournament season, and then we have selection Sunday, and then we have the tournament, and then the season ends. Take a beat. Okay, bring on the waterfall, because here comes all this portal activity and let just a little bit of barrier separation and let have college basketball have its massive transfer window, if you will. And for us to talk about the stuff that we're.
- [48:49]
B
You should also allow the coaching staffs and their families just a minute to like, you should be able to win the national championship. You know, spray champagne and beers around, have a few drinks, be hungover the next day. If you're into that, fly home, hug your wife, hug your kids. Like, have a parade and not worry about should I be on a zoom call or not. Because if, if, if you are legally allowed to be on a zoom in that moment and you know your rivals are. There's a part of you, if you're competitive, that feels like you need to be doing that. And it's not what you need to be doing. What you need to be doing is enjoying. And I say this as somebody who enjoys nothing, right? So I'm preaching like, like, I. What you need to be doing is enjoying this incredible moment you've. You've created and are experiencing. And take. Take it for Everything that it is. And the calendar pushes too many people into a position where it is just not realistic for them to even try to do that. Like, Dusty May couldn't even try reasonably in his mind to go home and be with his wife and kids right after winning the national championship. And that sucks. That, like, hey, these people are paying me a lot of money and I got a big expectations on me and we got to go try to win another one. And the only way to do that is to get to work right now. That's not, that's not right. We shouldn't have that, I will say, and then we'll move on. I think the calendar plays a big role in this. I also do think some people are just wired. The chase is always more invigorating than the conquest, if you will. And I've never really accomplished anything of note like winning a national championship. But like, I, I struggle with this in my own smaller ways. Like, I really get excited planning like a vacation. And then I get in the middle of the vacation and I go like that quote from Dusty that's like, is this it? I'm like, is this real? Like, this vacation was supposed to be amazing and it kind of is. But, like, I don't feel like it's the best thing in the history of the world. And that's the way it felt in my head as I was planning. I struggle to also in the moment, like, enjoy something as much as I thought I would enjoy something. So I think this isn't strictly a calendar problem. I think some people are just like you, you, you chase, chase, chase. You have an idea of when you get to the end of the game. Like, if it's a video game and you conquer it, you will feel that. And it's really, you're just ready to get on to the next game. It's just always get on to the next game and it never feels the way you actually envisioned it, feeling like I, I think Dusty might be wired a little bit more that way than, than some others are because it does flip the other way. And then I'll get out of here with this. Roy McElroy is like the opposite. Yeah, he won the Masters after all those dreams of winning the Masters. And he, like, the narrative connected to him was he can't stop enjoying this. He doesn't even seem like he cares about playing golf anymore. He's enjoying this so much. So it can cut both ways. And I think maybe Rory is somebody who really has it in him to enjoy this moment and push everything Else aside. And Dusty is like very quickly on to the next thing because he feels like he has to. And I can, I can understand how two different people are wired two different ways.
- [52:12]
A
We had the promos for the Made for March documentary series which is on Paramount. Plus I actually just watched the final episode last night. You and I are in it. I don't know if you've been able to watch it at all. We're in it vocally. They've actually got a couple of things of like I'm saying something in the middle of a segment, but they got. It's got to be tight for the documentary. So like the, the lines just like inserted in there quickly. I was like, well, I said more than just. There's a little. There is a little bit of that in there. I do genuinely recommend it. There's some good stuff on Kansas, some good stuff on Darren Peterson, some stuff himself after he decided to come back. So the Kansas side is. Is definitely plenty interesting. But as to what we're talking about here with Michigan with all of it, they got great stuff on Yaxel crying, getting his knee looked at in the semi final. Like there's a lot of really interesting stuff there. But the documentary ends and it's now part of this. I think it was because for network they had the air it on network and so they were tight. But it ends and it ends and it's Dusty kind of saying kind of a little bit what he told me. But he doesn't want I. You know, he's not on camera. You just hear his voice and he probably doesn't want to be too harsh in the moment for documentary purposes, but he's like, you get up there and he. People tell you what it's going to feel like and maybe for me it's just about the journey and then just. It's like the documentary ends like it slams shut. You're like, whoa. And so I got watching it last night, I got a similar feeling and just how it all concluded as to my conversation with Dusty. That's on either. I mean this gen. This is going to sound like a promo. It's not. Although I guess it is. It's on Paramount. Plus it's called Made for March. They're four episodes. They're all like 47 minutes a piece. Some really cool insight going all the way back to the start of the season and their interlace between Kansas and Michigan seasons. It just so happened to work out beautifully that the Wolverines won the title when they agreed to this. They could have never known for sure that they were even going to make a final four, let alone, you know, when at all.
- [53:56]
B
I have not dove in yet, but I've got it all. Like, you know, I'm very aware of it and I want to, I want to, I actually want to watch it with my boys and sit down and like settle in in front of them because they got to live through some of this stuff and it looks like good family fun. Fun family fun entertainment. All right, let's take another break. Then we'll come back and pop through some other transfer portal development since we last talked that are notable. Looks like Sean Miller is building quite the roster down at Texas. Looks like Nate Oates is continuing to improve the roster at Alabama. There was a time where I did not have Tennessee in the top 25 and 1. That time is now over. We'll touch on some headlines next. First, one more word from our partners.
- [54:41]
A
This episode is brought to you by State Farm. You know, those friends who support your preference for podcasts over music on road trips. That's the energy State Farm brings to ensure. With over 19,000 local agents, they help you find the coverage that fits your needs so you can spend less time worrying about insurance and more time enjoying the ride. Download the State Farm app or go online@statefarm.com like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Your next chapter in healthcare starts at
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B
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A
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- [55:30]
B
Edu Events.
- [55:31]
A
For information on program outcomes, visit carrington.
- [55:34]
B
Edu Sci. I'm Kiana and I leveled up my business with Shopify. Once I figured out that Shopify was a thing, I never turned back. I can create a site with my eyes closed. Shopify thinks ahead of us, you know, and it thinks about the customer more than anything. Every day I'm thinking about some other new business, but Shopify is doing it to me because it's so easy to use. It's like I can't stop.
- [56:00]
A
I'm addicted.
- [56:02]
B
Start your free trial@shopify.com all right, Norlander, before we get out of here, all the transfer Portal news at UConn wasn't the only transfer portal news at UConn. There are other programs that have gotten good developments over the past few days. I'll let you take it wherever you want to take it. What do you think's the biggest thing that's happened in the past few days besides what happened at UConn?
- [56:26]
A
Okay, two different the biggest thing, even if it was had become expected, I think is Patrick Gongba coming back to Duke. That got officially announced this morning. I think that's the biggest thing. I think the biggest collection of things is Tennessee's roster and what Rick Barnes is building on what quite clearly is going to be one of the more expensive rosters in all of college basketball. Again, I, I'm not I haven't put pen to paper, so to speak, and, and thought about where I'm going to rank all these teams. I won't do that until much deeper into the off season. I am more and more leaning toward Tennessee's got to be a preseason top 10 team even without Nate Amen. And I don't think Nate Amen's coming back. But I'm just passing along two people speculated to me in the past four or five days like might he actually, might he come back? Like can they, can they pay him enough to make it worth his while? I don't think so. But if he did, whoo, that'd be another big deal. They got Jalen Harrelson from Notre Dame who will be a bucket getter. He wasn't on a good team, but he's a really good addition. Miles Rubin from Loyola Chicago, like could be one of the bigger big men, pops from mid major to high major next season. Tyler Lumblade, one of the best three point shooters in the country is going to play Tennessee Dayday Ames from Cal joins. They've got some really good prospects that are coming aboard and they're not done yet. So Tennessee and just we didn't talk about them on our previous episode so I at least wanted to mention the balls there. You can let the the audience know where you've got them slotted. I think they're in your rankings now. But Gungba coming back in addition to Duke out of Belmont, transfer Drew Sharnowski, who was a first team all valley guy and first team all defensive team average, you know, 11 points and six boards. He's a six, nine big who took only five threes total last season. But Duke is going to retain some key pieces as well. It's not done. And you know, notably Duke, Kentucky, who also added a pair of point guard Zoom Diallo after not having a real point guard a season ago or at least being limited there, they've now added Alex Wilkins and Zoom Diallo, who both work best with the ball in their hands. So Pope's got an interesting task ahead of him in terms of sharing and role allocation there, but they both have fun potential. So that's just a few. I know you've got some more speak on that or anything else that kind of popped you.
- [58:34]
B
Well, Texas added at some point in the past 24 hours, Elijah Freeman, double digit score out of Auburn. So obviously Sean Miller had already gotten David Punch out of the transfer portal from tcu. Isaiah Johnson out of the transfer portal from Colorado, Amari Evans out of the transfer portal from Tennessee. So they're not going to return much and right now the projection is that it's really just vocalitis like, like they just they'll return their big and supplement him with a bunch of transfer portal pieces. They got prospects at a high school, Austin Goosby, Bo Ogden, Joe Sterling. But that's going to be a totally remade roster that if you believe roster continuity year to year is not as important as some people say. Texas on paper looks like a really good fantasy college basketball team.
- [59:31]
A
I was, yeah, as you know I mentioned I was big on them last, last pod. We did be interested to see once we get things settled which four or five teams that are in the rankings have the biggest turnover and then how those teams for this upcoming season fare, particularly in what will be a pretty big season of change for college basketball in terms of veteran names that are now cycling out and all those immensely talented one and done players not, not sticking around obviously either. Off to the draft. That'll be intriguing, intriguing to see on there. Miami added another piece as well. Hurricanes, they're loading up. I'll have a piece later this week on the site. Just best year one coaches. I think Jay Lucas, Ben McCollum, Ryan Odom probably had the best year ones of anyone. Do I throw in Flynn claim at High Point? I mean they won 30 plus. They won more games under first year coach than anyone and they got a tournament win to boot there. But Jay Lucas continues to do well. Other notes from from the past few days here. Kim English is not at Carolina. Yeah, so he was on campus. He was there I think working from, you know, for about a week or so. But he's out and I, I know that, I know that he had and probably still does have NBA opportunities. In what capacity? I'm not sure but I know that kind of update will make Carolina fans turn their head a little bit. Yeah, I don't. Who knows, who knows what the real reason is who knows if, If Kim will speak to that eventually. I, I don't, I don't know the full story there yet, but I, I do know that when things were ending at Providence, he definitely was going to have options at the next level. And my guess is that that's still probably the case there. And the only other Carolina thing I have for you is Henry Vasar hasn't decided yet. My projection. I think he will return to Carolina and in the process be a very, very critical piece for Mike Malone in year one. But he has not decided it will either be NBA or UNC for him. And I don't think, I mean, that's going to be weeks away because he's going to go through that process in general. But, you know, it's a, it's a blue blood program and they had an assistant and now they don't. And not only that, you know, Kim English was just a head coach and had been for, for a number of years, and now he's no longer in Chapel Hill.
- [61:50]
B
Yeah. You know, for whatever it's worth, I've got Vasar projected back to North Carolina in the top 25 and one and the Tar Heels as a top 20 team with the stuff with Cam. Like, I'm not going to come on one week and be like, I like Michael Malone adding a former Biggie's head coach who's, you know, and then come on and say, oh, it doesn't matter. Like, I can't. You can't. You can't speak out of your mouth. Right.
- [62:12]
A
So
- [62:14]
B
perhaps there's a totally reasonable, understandable explanation for it that doesn't reflect at all a North Carolina or Michael Malone in any way. But that university, that athletic department, it's just been a little bit of like, like over and over again.
- [62:33]
A
What you're saying is Kim English was the latest college basketball head coach to turn down Carolina?
- [62:37]
B
No, no, no, no, no, no. That's not what I meant at all. I just meant, like, we just need normal headlines around here. Not headlines about our football coaches, girlfriends. Not headlines about an assistant basketball coach leaving a week after he was on campus and supposed to be part of the future. We just need normal headlines around here. And that was just another unusual. Let's just use a factually accurate word. It is unusual to hear about an assistant coach taking a job at a place like North Carolina and then no longer having that job for whatever reason, roughly a week later. So it was an unusual headline. Perhaps it means nothing about the future of North Carolina, but it's Just a headline I'd if I were a North Carolina fan, I'd rather not seen.
- [63:21]
A
Yeah, we'll see. I guess. Who's next up there? That kind of stuff matters. Like when you really burrow into the realities of the day to day. Like they've got, they've got guys on staff there. Chuck Martin is doing a really, really good job. I, I've actually, I think I've mentioned this on the show. Apparently like Malone has just blown people away and how he is fully thrown himself into the job and with, in addition to all the cachet that comes with having won an NBA Finals and coached, you know, the best basketball player in the world right now. So the returns generally speaking with Malone have been, have been fantastic, fantastic so far. So I think that there's been other like bit ads and drops over the past few days. Don't know if there's too, too much else. The portal is. How about this though? The portal is going to close tomorrow. We kind of wait on are we gonna have one or two other really like notable names, like someone that would be a top 30 player in the portal if they went. We kind of wait on seeing if that will happen. If it does, who would it be? So we wait there and then we wait on some decisions to say or go. Apparently Thomas Hauck is like seriously considering returning to Florida and if he does, Gators preseason number one probably need to be GP when you think about bringing back that entire front court again. And Fland would be back and they've made some other good additions and they've got some good, you know, pieces inbound from the high school ranks. Like just keep, keep that in mind. I don't know, he might, I would go if I was him, but the signals that I'm getting are he is seriously considering it now. He could seriously consider it and tomorrow announced that he's going to go and keep his name in the NBA draft. But that is one that I love. I love Hauk's game and if he does return, he is a no brainer, first team All American in college basketball, no doubt about it. So that's the one headline between now and when we pod next that could pop. But just so people have an awareness, I think GP and I, we got to recap the coaching carousel stuff. So our next show this week I think is going to be coaching dominated. If there's a major headline, we'll tag it at the front of the episode. But I'm also aware as we talk right here and now, between now and the Closing of the portal. We're probably going to get one or two or more notable pieces of news that, that emanate the next 24 or so hours.
- [65:40]
B
Well, like, I don't know what Thomas Hack's going to do, but I totally understand why he might want to return to college for all the reasons that Braylon Mullins might want to return to college. Like, the money can be comparable to where you're picked if you're picked outside of the top 10. Colleges can now make it comparable if you're outside of the top 10. And then it just comes down to what do you want to do, what's more fun? And if you don't understand my perspective on it, go back and listen to everything I said about Braylon Mullins. It would also apply to Thomas Howe. Like, you could be the best player on a preseason top five team, playing in sold out arenas, star of a sport, all of that stuff. Or for roughly the same amount of money, sit on the bench. Likely sit on the bench, play in the G League. And oh, by the way, I didn't mention this with Mullins, but this is part of it, too. Let's say you can make $3.5 million playing in the NBA or $3.5 million playing in college next year. You realize one of those requires about half the work.
- [66:39]
A
Not only half the work, but way, like half the work. And way more exposure. Yes, like, way, way, way more exposure. You're playing like now next year is not a good example because there are so many good one and done players. But in your average NBA year, there's like seven, six rookies that actually have like, big exposure and truly matter. Yeah, it's not even close. So who is it right now?
- [67:03]
B
Cooper Flag and Con Canipple? Who else matters?
- [67:06]
A
Oh, that's. Hold on. Let's. Hold on. Let's. Let's. Let's wrap this real quick. Hold on.
- [67:11]
B
We care about Coward down here in Memphis, but like, in terms of basketball players getting.
- [67:16]
A
Dylan Harper.
- [67:17]
B
Yeah, of course.
- [67:18]
A
Okay. Vijay Edgecombe. Did he matter?
- [67:21]
B
Yes, yes, he did.
- [67:22]
A
He mattered. Ace Bailey.
- [67:24]
B
Oh, I don't.
- [67:26]
A
Jeremiah Fierce.
- [67:27]
B
Yeah.
- [67:27]
A
Igor Demon. Colin Murray. Colin Murray. Boyles went ninth.
- [67:30]
B
It is wild. These players just disappear. You, I could look up in any freshman year.
- [67:35]
A
Queen kind of mattered. Kind of.
- [67:37]
B
I could look up in February, the season after any group of draft picks entered the NBA and you will know everything about what they did last year in college. And I'll be like, how's Jeremy Fierce doing? And you'll be like, I don't know you just, you know you just. Or Jeremiah Fears. Right. You just don't know. You just lose track of them very quickly and because most of them don't matter very quickly and slots of them never matter again in their lives. So it's another year of being insanely relevant as the best basketball player on a top 10 team in sold out arenas with student sections. And if we think of games as work in the NBA in theory you require to show up to work 82 times a year. You get the point in college at most 40 like same amount of money, half the half the games. And none of this would make sense 10 years ago right now. I mean outside of AJ DebonSA and like a few others, I would at least have to think about it. At least have to think about it. Like you can have a lot of fun and make a lot of money next year in college. Prediction before the portal closes, another projected first round pick will return to college. Will announce a return to college.
- [68:56]
A
I would. If the over under is 0.5 I would take the over there. The question is. Yeah, how many big headlines do we get in the next 48 hours? We will. We will see anything that's notable. We'll tag on to our next show. But I think we're going to do just a recap of of the carousel and the hirings because that always happens amid the tournament and it's kind of hard to squeeze that stuff in with all the other encore relevant stuff that that's happening. But with that said JP that is a show.
- [69:19]
B
It's called a show. That's the show. Shout out to Devin Downey, Chester, South Carolina Terry Teagle Legend Hook Larnell thank you guys for once again watching listening to the Eye on College Basketball Podcast. Not subscribed. Please go subscribe anyway. Subscribe to podcast Apple Spotify more of us than there are of them. That should be reflected in the comments. Do it. We'll talk to you again a little later on this week. Till then, take care. Paramount Podcasts the Right Window treatments change everything. Your sleep, your privacy, the way every room looks and feels. @blinds.com We've spent 30 years making it surprisingly simple to get exactly what your home needs. We've covered over 25 million windows and have 50,000 five star reviews to prove we deliver. Whether you DIY it or want a pro to handle everything from measure to install, we have you covered. Real design professionals, free samples, zero pressure. Right now get up to 45% off with minimum purchase plus get a free professional measure@blinds.com rules and restrictions apply.