← Eye On College Basketball
Eye On College Basketball
UConn keeps Karaban, cements top-10 status; Coward picks Duke; Alijah Arenas update; Illinois’ Euro roster invasion; Shaq is GM at Sacramento St.
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- [00:00]
Gary Parish
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- [01:58]
Matt Norlander
Hey there. I'm Gary Parish. Welcome back to the CBS Sports I own 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, you know what to do to that. Like Button shouts to Brandon Davey Living. If you haven't yet subscribed to the CBS Sports college basketball YouTube channel, you should have already done that. I've been telling you for feels like years. Let's get into it. The biggest headline for the past couple days originated in stores where Alex Carabin announced He's returning to UConn for his senior season. This did not impact the top 25 and one because I've always assumed Caribbean would be back at UConn. Still, it's official and it ends all speculation. So here's my first question for you. Matt Norlander with a possible starting lineup of Silas Demery, Solo Ball, Jalen Stewart, Alex Caribbean and Terrace reed. And a five star freshman coming off the bench. How good can UConn be next season? And do you feel better about UConn heading into next season than you actually felt about UConn heading into this past season?
- [03:01]
Gary Parish
Oh, better. Not sure on the latter. I'm gonna need a full off. I need a full off season to really take that in, ingest it, digest it, let you know.
- [03:11]
Matt Norlander
I've already digested it. Just by looking at me, I've. I've already digested it. So you can, you can continue to digest, but I've digested.
- [03:19]
Gary Parish
I have an answer I'm in the process of ingesting right now. Okay. By the way, you were right, I was wrong. You, you kind of say that again. Yeah. For Caravan, I thought he would leave. That opinion was also informed by a few people at the NBA level that did their diligence and passed along to me that they very much expected Caravan to go in the draft. So I imagine the past few days on the, on the Caravan front and you can. Yukon front, they might have been, uh, burrowing down in negotiations and uh, hey, good for him. He's got a, he's got a wonderful shot. Caravan does to. If things really can go even better than they went last season. I'll get to that in just a second. Then he's got a, he's got an awesome chance here to one, make a whole hell of a lot of money. I don't know how much Alex Caravan is making, I don't need to know. But my guess logic would dictate a player of his value at a program like UConn, which certainly has some money to, to, to dish out here. If he's not making at least close to three, then he's not getting what he's worth. So I would expect him to be at least at three, if not, if not more than that. And hey, if you could have an awesome senior year, become an All American, that's a pretty incredible college career all the same, regardless of whether or not Yukon, say, makes another Final Four or not. Now for your question. Is this season's, is this upcoming? Is next season's roster better than the one from this past? Season. I do think the answer is yes. Now going into last season, I put yukon preseason top 10 more than anything because I wanted to give the program the benefit of the doubt after winning back to back championships. But looking at what they have here versus what they had a season ago and the carryover, just what you mentioned before, you know, Demaray, okay, he's an incoming transfer, but he's, he's a much, he's a much bigger player. He's just going to do more as a transfer than say Aiden Mahaney who by the way just transferred out and he's now going to go play at UC Santa Barbara. So Demery was a, it was a proven guy that got it done at Georgia. So he comes in. But then you have Solo ball, Jalen Stewart, Caribbean and Reed all back. I mean the, the roster continuation with four starting level players I think is significant. And because of this now you've got, you've got and we touched a little bit on this on last week's show. But now that we know Caravan for sure is back in, you got a really good thing here for the Big east and for college hoops because I do think UConn is going to have a preseason top 10 standing. You've got them where GP you've got them five.
- [05:48]
Matt Norlander
I've got them four.
- [05:49]
Gary Parish
You've got. Okay, so you got them four. So heading into next season, knowing that you have them for UConn will probably wind up from an Associated Press preseason AP top 25 standpoint. And if you want to take any other mainstream ranking, it's going to be in that 3 to 8 range almost definitely. It's not going to fall out of the top 10. And I think that is based in logic and a really good thing for college basketball because now you have we talked all you want, all your St. John's talk. Go, go find the feed. The most recent episode. You'll have the Johnny's in The preseason top 10, maybe the preseason favorite in the Big east. And if not, it's going to be Yukon. So you've got Patino vying for a final Four after having the the biggest champions in both the regular season and the tournament last year. So you've got, you've got UConn versus St. John's you've got Patino versus Hurley and it's, it's viable. I mean you've got Hurley the way trying to punch up at Patino after having a down year which for Yukon here was your down year, an eight seed, a 24 win 2411 record, 24 win season, third place in the Big east and one NCAA tournament win. So the good news for Yukon is that yes, it was a down season. It was a season with some disappointment. Coincidentally enough, it season ended at the at the hands of the team that actually wound up winning the whole damn national championship. But yes, I I do think that this, this roster goes into next season in a much stronger, better place. You mentioned the five that you've also got Jaden Ross coming back. You've got Dayton transfer Malachi Smith who will play back a point. Braylon Mullins is a is the five star prospect you referenced before. I think Eric Riby, the center who will play back up to Terror street, has a lot of good potential. They probably need to slash will pick up some sort of portal four man here that'll have some sort of impact. But yeah, overall good games for UConn in general and what the and what they've built here. And a big a big Newsweek. Also they are they're adding Mike Nardi to the staff. The former villain of a assistant coach and as nova a player as it gets there. But he was part of crowd Neptune staff and so that got announced not in conjunction but within hours, I guess of Caravan announcing he was returning. Mike Nardi will join the staff and that means that Tom Moore, who's been the assistant there, I'm told he hasn't quite decided what he's going to do. He may stay on staff in sort of a GM type role. Tom told me a year ago he was considering retiring. So we wait and see on that. But yes, a big news week for the huskies.
- [08:15]
Matt Norlander
I have UConn fourth in the top 25 and one behind only Houston, St. John's and Purdue. And just to answer my own question directly, I feel much better about this roster than I felt about last season's roster even heading into last season. I don't want to have revisionist history. All this stuff is out there for you to google search. Yes, I had UConn in the top 10 preseason last season like everybody else. The truth is I don't want to say I got bullied into it because that's not the right word.
- [08:48]
Gary Parish
He got bullied. Not bullied.
- [08:50]
Matt Norlander
That's not the right word. I've been bullied before, but that's not the right word. I I looked at the roster and I was like, I don't see it like Alex Caravan's your only returning starter. He is the guy everybody is saying is supposed to be your best player. Can Alex Caravin really be the best player on an elite basketball team? I had real questions about that. But then the betting markets kept saying, UConn's the favorite, and Dan Hurley kept saying, I love this roster. It might be better than last season's roster. I don't know if he said that exactly.
- [09:21]
Gary Parish
Let's just invent quotes. No, I like. I like when we do that on the pod.
- [09:24]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, I. I don't know what he said exactly. He. He seemed to suggest that he really liked what he had and really thought it gave him a chance to repeat, and the betting markets lined up with that. And I just got to a point where I was like, why do I think I'm smarter than Dan Hurley about the UConn roster? Why do I think I'm smarter than the betting markets? Like, at some point, I need to fall in line with what everybody else is saying about this thing, because maybe I just don't see it the way everybody else is seeing it, but I had reservations, and then the season happened, and you know how that went. Here's my point. Do you think Alex Karavan is going to be UConn's best player next season? Do you think that?
- [10:04]
Gary Parish
Oh, Paris. I'm actually not convinced of that, to be honest.
- [10:06]
Matt Norlander
Me neither. That's what. And I thought. That's what makes me feel better about it. Heading into last season, most people thought he had to be their best player. And my concern was, if he's your best player, how good are you? I. I think heading into next season, Solo Ball should be your best player, and Terrace Reed should maybe be your second best player, which means it's possible. Not definite, but possible. When it all shakes out, Alex caravin could be UConn's third best player. And if Alex Caravan is your third best player, you should have a great team. That is in the national championship conversation. That is the main reason I feel better about this UConn roster. You have more proven pieces. Solo Ball, Terrace Reed. I think I can rely on those guys, particularly with the way replay down the stretch. And then. I don't think Alec Terrabin has to be the face of anything. Like all American teams, he was on them last season. Is he going to be on them heading into a senior season?
- [11:01]
Gary Parish
I can see. I could see it maybe.
- [11:03]
Matt Norlander
I don't think I'll put. I don't think I'll put him there.
- [11:05]
Gary Parish
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that's why I think Solo Ball, if. If he. If he takes the next step and is deployed the way that he can be deployed and continues to shoot the way he shoots. I, I think I'm driving the solo ball train. So I'm with you on that. But both of them, I'll tell you what, one of them should damn well definitely be on a preseason All American team. Again, there are three teams, so first, second, third, take your pick there. And, and I, and I, and I see you on, I see you on that. Provided that demario, by the way, as the point guard. Oh yeah, he could be.
- [11:37]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, like, yeah.
- [11:38]
Gary Parish
Clicks and meshes and does all of that. They got Malachi Smith coming in. You know, listen, UConn fans, I know they're damn excited. They were just waiting for the, the official notice from Caravan. This actually landed right when the NBA announced its official list of, of early entrants. So all non seniors, non graduating college players. And Caravan wasn't on that. And lo and behold, like, you know, credit to him for, for doing this and we talked about this in some ways with reasons why he would do it because of the money that's to be made there. I get all that, but I genuinely thought, you know, he's won two titles this past season, wasn't great, but he did have like he did that now he played more minutes per game than he had before. He averaged a career high in points and all that. Why not maybe go and try and chase it after you were given, you know, a verbal promise from Golden State a year ago that, that they would take you and give you guaranteed multi year money and instead he's going to come back and, and try and improve his draft position. Because I've got to believe that the feedback he received to this point indicated that, you know, he'd be no better than, you know, back half, second half of the second round kind of deal. And if he thinks that he can come back to UConn, they can be a Final four national championship contender again and he can be better as a senior than he was as a junior. That's going to improve his chances all the more. I like these stories, gp. We can keep going on your thoughts, but I did, you know, I did want to at least bring this, bring this up. The fact that we've got and this is he's not, you know, he's not on an island now, but I do want to highlight the players who are for your guys at one school. Yeah, sure, he's getting paid tremendously well as he damn well should. But Alex Caraban, to do this, as someone who covers the sport, doesn't, I don't fault A single player for hopping in the portal and trying to go get theirs. They go ahead and do it, but I'm going to appreciate and celebrate the guys that however, however they get there. To play four years in college at one school and be a high profile player like Caravan has been a factor every single season of his college career. This was the norm, you know, in 1989 and 1994. In college basketball it's not that anymore. So we don't get these as frequently. We do get it with Caravan and that's a good thing for UConn. It's a good thing for the Big East. It is a good thing for college basketball because he will be among the, you know, five to ten most recognizable players heading into next season.
- [13:56]
Matt Norlander
He's the most obvious example of somebody who should be a four year college player at the same program given what he is and where he enrolled out of high school. Simply put, programmers like Duke, UConn should rarely if not never lose a non first round pick. That they prioritize that they want back, that there will be times where ucon just doesn't want somebody back. Aid Mahaney is probably a good example of that. There will be other times where you can't keep the guy in school because he's a projected top 10 pick. You know, Stefan Castle, Donovan Klingon, great examples of that. But Alex Caribbean is forever a second round pick. I don't think did anything this past season. I say this respectfully, I'm not trying to be whatever, but I don't think he did anything or much to change his draft status. And the reason I have always had him projected back to UConn through 10 versions of the top 25 and one is because he's more valuable to UConn than he is to any NBA franchise. I, I won't insist that he wouldn't have been picked in the 30s or 40s or 50s had he entered the 2025 NBA draft. And I won't debate that he would have gotten a contract of some sort. Like we talked about last week, NBA franchises, because of taxes and aprons and second aprons, they need cheap labor. So like your second round pick, we can give you $1.9 million a year. Please, come on, we need people like you to fill out our roster. He would have been in the NBA, but he'd probably spent time in the G League. He'd have probably spent time on Delta flights in row 32B. He'd have probably been playing in some empty arenas, one of which is 10 minutes from my house shouts to the Lander center, home of the Memphis hustle. As it is, he'll play on a preseason top five team, be one of the faces of college basketball, play in sold out arenas and on national television twice a week, private planes, nice hotels. His life will be better as a senior at UConn than it would be as an NBA rookie. And I don't, you know, I'm not going to sit here and say you got 2 million, 3 million. I ain't seen any contract. But I imagine he's making more at UConn than he would have made next year as a professional. And I know there's some thought when it comes to NBA people about, well, that's not the most important thing. The most important thing is you got to get your NBA clock started as quickly as possible so that you can get to your second. People like Alex Carabin should never be worried about their second Caribbean contract. I mean, yes, you should be worried about it, but it is. Alex Caravan should be concerned about making as much money in a place where he wants to be next season as possible and then worry about all the other stuff later because frankly, he doesn't project to somebody who's going to get some big lucrative second contract not based on where he's projected to be picked someday in the NBA draft. Never ruled it out. Never say never. But I'd be worried about next season more than getting to my second contract as quickly as possible. And that's why I think he, he did quite literally the most sensible thing he could do here.
- [17:05]
Gary Parish
It's a good looking roster for Yukon. Look forward to seeing this team next season. And you know, because it's coached by Dan Hurley and he is, you know, he is the face of the sport as much as anyone else. You can easily make that, you can make that case right now. Just the, the motivations and everything attached to coming, coming back after falling short, going for the three peat and all that. And again, the, the entanglement with St. John's that's really, really good stuff. And you'd. So by default here you've got St. John's and Yukon as two of the four best teams in the country. But St. John's technically your preseason favorite in the Big East.
- [17:41]
Matt Norlander
Correct, St. John's I have second in the top 25 and one the favorite in the Big East. But I have, you know, like I said, St. John's and Yukon in the top four. So the big east is the only school, the only conference with multiple teams in the top four I would give I like St. John's roster a little more than I like Yukon's roster. But I mean the margins are very thin. And just circling back to Yukon, I don't think there's, I should, I shouldn't say there's no doubt, but I do expect Solo Ball to have a All American level jump. Like I, I, I will project him as a, as a high level All American first team, second team. He's going to be up there. I mentioned Terrence Reed earlier. He, he obviously has to be more consistent. I but he showed flashes of like oh man, he could be really good. And I could see a breakthrough season coming from him. He averaged like nearly 10 and 7. So a breakthrough season puts you at all conference level stuff statistically. And I just think if you got Solo Paul, Terrence Reed, Alex Caribbean, all playing at all conference levels, which isn't hard to imagine for me, then you've got, you've got a team that could win a third national championship in a four year span. I don't want to spend every week of the off season talking about can UConn do it? But I'm just saying on paper they look like the type of team that can.
- [18:58]
Gary Parish
Well, Yukon's not the only blue blood that made, that made the news, that made the headlines here because of its roster situation. Duke added a player that many college basketball fans might not know that well, but could prove to be a pretty critical addition. It's reflected in GP's top 25 and 1. We'll get to that right after the break. But first, nada. Let's get a word from our partners.
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- [20:22]
Matt Norlander
So Duke has dipped into the transfer portal and grabbed a six six guard who can shoot. His name is Cedric Coward. Started his college career at the Division 3 level, was awesome there, transferred to Eastern Washington, played two seasons there, transferred to Washington state, started six games and then suffered a labrum injury that ended his season prematurely. But in those six games, good stuff. 17.7 points, 55.7% from the field, 40% from three. And now he's off to be a Blue Devil Norlander. Ain't many men in the history of this world started at the Division 3 level and then ended up a Duke Blue Devil. That list has got to be short, but this edition checks the box for me. Obviously, John Shire prioritized length at every position last offseason. He appears to be doing it again. Does this clearly make Duke a preseason top 10 team in your mind? I assume you're going to say yes.
- [21:17]
Gary Parish
I leaned. I leaned that way. Coward picking. So Coward picked Duke. I don't think he even wanted to be going to Alabama on his visit. Alabama was the other school that was considered in his. His finalist list there. Yeah, it is. It is certainly a. It's an interesting journey from William at University trivia time. I know you did. I know you did some research on Coward. By the way, Coward picks Duke is just, you know, Internet's gonna have fun with that. Where do you think William at University is? Did you look it up?
- [21:53]
Matt Norlander
I did not look it up.
- [21:54]
Gary Parish
But, you know, he went D3. Can we. He played at Washington State, so maybe that gives. So let's. Can you get it in three states? William at D3, by the way.
- [22:03]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, let's start in the state of Washington.
- [22:06]
Gary Parish
That's wrong. Nope.
- [22:07]
Matt Norlander
Okay, then I would like to. I would like to go with Oregon.
- [22:10]
Gary Parish
Bingo. Salem, Oregon. There we go. So he starts in Salem, Oregon, gets to Eastern Washington. You know, Coward was like one of my final cuts on my preseason top 101 players list last season. And the reason was Sam, we'll try and get to you before the end of the show, but I, I think with Sam Bassini. And I said, hey, I didn't let him know who was on my list, but I was like, all right, who's one guy that you think should be on our top 101 list that you don't think will be there, but it should be there? And he said, this guy's Such a coward at, at Washington State. Like he's gonna have a real chance. He's actually, he's like a fringe NBA prospect right now. And so I looked and I said, okay, I'll consider him. But ultimately I couldn't get him on there. And had he played a full season, had he played a full season, you know, he probably winds up at Duke regardless. But he could have been a more known prospect. But because he only got six games in, his impact overall is TBD six, six. You know, he'll be anywhere probably from 205 to 210. I mean if he bulks up, I don't know, who knows, we'll see. Maybe he's 215 pounds. He's still going through the draft process. But I think the expectation here is that he is going to play at Duke. Like he's still technically in the pre draft process. We'll go through that. Hey, if he absolutely knocks it out of the park, we've certainly seen that be the case with a few guys that you know, in mid April are considered a French second rounder and by the time you get to the end of May they are considered like, no, no, this guy's almost definitely going in the first round. Maybe Coward does that. Maybe Duke starts back at square one from a portal situation. But they're expecting him to be, to be involved there. So he joins Darren Harris returning Caleb Foster, Isaiah Evans, Malik Brown, Patrick Ngongba, all those guys are returning. You've got the Boozer twins coming in as freshmen. And then you've got Nicholas Hamina I believe is how you pronounce his last name. He's a, he's a five star forward as well. So plenty of talent there. To your question, gp I actually think Cameron Boozer is going to be a stud in terms of like I think Duke's gonna have one of the five most valuable players in the sport and back to back years which is some, you know, some huge plot twist. I understand that but after Flag was the best player, you told me Boozer was in that conversation, I, I would believe you. So with that in mind, yeah, getting Coward if he comes along and can be something close to what he's been, you know, see on James level impact, you know, he was a guy who came from Tulane a season ago. Cowards a different player than, than James for sure but made serious positive contributions to having Duke be, you know, from metric standpoint one of the two best teams, if not the best team in the sport last season. Like yeah, preseason top 10 for Duke, I buy it.
- [25:02]
Matt Norlander
I've got him eighth and do think Croft Coward rather should have a. A real impact. If you don't want to buy into the six games at Washington State because it's such a small sample size. I mean I can take you back another 32 games at Eastern Washington where he was 63 of 163 from three. That, that's combining his second season at Eastern Washington and his six games at Washington State. 63 of 163 from three. That's 38.7% over 38 games. So I, I think he's the real deal. I think he'll be impactful but as always we'll see. He is coming off of an injury. Tell me if this is an issue for you and perhaps it won't be but right now, you know Duke projects like if you were just to do a projected starting lineup based on the roster right now you would probably have three returning players Foster, Evans and Gunba in the starting lineup. And none of them played big roles this past season. None of them averaged more than 4.9 points per game. None of them averaged more than 14 minutes per game. All of them are talented. All of them are heralded. You know Gungba probably the least used of the three returning projected starters but he was like top 25 prospect in the class of 2024. He's just a one position player and they had come on Malawatch. So you know, good luck. Yeah, I, I just to believe Duke's going to be great based on the current projections you've got to believe that these three guys, at least a couple of them are going to take major jumps. Do you subscribe to that? Like Foster, Evans, Gungba because I think coward like he's already proven himself at the Division 1 level. Boozer, if you have doubts about him, you've never seen him. He's going to be great.
- [26:55]
Gary Parish
He's just. I will be, I will be truly shocked shocked if Cameron Boozer isn't one of the two best freshmen in the country. So pick another one and anyone you want, Debance or whoever.
- [27:08]
Matt Norlander
I don't know if I'll go that far because the ban said dance and Darren Peterson exists.
- [27:12]
Gary Parish
I, I know that. And yet Booze I correct. And yet Boozer has consistently been the most dependable, productive statistical player in his class from the start including every single. That's why I say that like I will be.
- [27:24]
Matt Norlander
Oh that's fine.
- [27:25]
Gary Parish
He's never not been awesome. Debancer and Peterson have shown flashes of Higher ceilings. But Boozer never. He never has a bad game. He's just always dominant. His teams always, always win. That's why I say that, you know, I'm all too aware of the talent at the top of the class. To your point, I think Boozer will be that good. I do think Evans, I think he really should make that leap. And I think Coward will be productive. And then, oh, by the way, like, Malik Brown, if he doesn't factor into the start, like, I think he'll definitely start games. Malik Brown has a chance if he's healthy and he dealt with. I mean, he was banged up. But let's say Malik Brown can be fully healthy at full strength, play the entire season. There's a scenario in which he's the best defender in the entire sport next season. So with all of that in mind, that's why I lean toward duke in that 8, 9, 10 preseason range. Although with the lack of proven production, there's definitely room for speculation on Duke. I think that's entirely fair. Kind of what you're drifting at from a devil's advocate standpoint.
- [28:22]
Matt Norlander
Yeah. And I know you might think, well, they'll just get there. I mean, they're not done. And I don't. I guess they're not done. I would assume they're not done. But if your, I don't know, thought is, maybe they can upgrade the center position through the transfer portal and have Gungba come off the bench again. I don't know that there's a better option than him in the portal available right now. Like, James Scott is a 611 center who started 31 games for Louisville last season. Like 7.6 rebounds. Is he better than Gunba? I'm not sure. It sounds like he's on NC State's radar anyway. So I just think Duke might end up rocking with him in the middle. And for them to be elite. Elite. He's gotta. He's gotta make a jump. I'm not saying he can't or even won't. I'm just saying it. Some of these returning guys are gonna have to be big, much bigger players than they've. Than they've ever showed at the Division 1 level.
- [29:20]
Gary Parish
Yeah. And that's. That's an interesting thing going into the season, just seeing what they, what they can do and if they can make that jump. And oh, by the way, with that in mind, like, who becomes Duke's, like, prominent leader from a vocal standpoint on court standpoint, Will it be Caleb Foster? They're probably going to ask him to do that. Can he do that? You know, I think Malik Brown's a good leader behind the scenes. But. But is it going to be him? Especially he's not a starter. You really need someone that's like an every game kind of starter. I don't know. It will be. It will be interesting. But Cowards. Coward's a good get, unquestionably. And Shire, and having talked to him multiple times previously, I didn't talk to him specifically about Coward here. Yet. Him and his staff, however they arrive at these conclusions, they just have very intentional ways of who they pick and not worrying about what your background is, just what you do, how you measure how you've played. Do we think that we can fit you in for a specific role? Obviously worked out two really good games with a lot of guys on last season's team with some freshmen that obviously came along. I do think it's important whatever how. However these, however you overcome some of these deficits I think does like Duke last season didn't have a lot of year over year returners. This season it does. Now they're not absolute standout studs, but getting Harris, Gangpa Brown, Foster, Evans, like getting all of those guys back, I do think that will contribute and it'll be interesting to see. We talked about UConn and it's encore to a letdown season. We see how Duke, after making a final four and having a team clearly good enough to win the national championship, now let's see what happens. You know, after Shire was able to stave off losing a single guy into the portal.
- [30:59]
Matt Norlander
Yeah. One last thing on this and then we'll move on to your point. Tyrese Proctor is the only returning player who averaged at least five points per game for Duke last season. He was among the top six scores, but the other five top six scores were all new players into the program, whether they were freshmen or transfers. It doesn't appear that's going to be the case next season where five of Duke's top six scores are going to be newcomers to the program because Caleb Foster probably got a factor into that, Isaiah Evans probably got a factor in that, and Patrick Gungba might have to factor into that. So they're going to be relying on returning players more, it appears, more so than they did the year before. Either way, the roster looks top 10 good to me. Is it top five good? Maybe not yet, but top 10 good to me. Let's move on.
- [31:52]
Gary Parish
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Matt Norlander
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Gary Parish
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Matt Norlander
It's up to you.
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Gary Parish
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- [32:22]
Nada
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- [33:20]
Matt Norlander
Other news and notes that you might want to touch on in it. You know, before we get out of here from recent days, UConn and Duke weren't the only programs that created headlines.
- [33:29]
Gary Parish
They were not. Okay, let's let's pick up on something we talked about near the end of last week's show. We have good news. Elijah Arenas. It was actually just coming out when we were recording and then we the story has kind of developed plenty since then. So let's talk usc. I'll talk a few things here. Usc, Illinois Shaq is apparently coming to college basketball, but we'll lead on the Trojans here. Elijah Arenas was involved in an early morning accident in a cybertruck that he was driving. I believe it's been reported that that cybertruck vehicle belongs to his father, Gilbert Aren. Now he was in the hospital. He was intubated. He was put into a coma for smoke inhalation. He got pulled from the car. There was actually the family shared a statement with a fairly harrowing account frankly, of him needing to be rescued and pulled out of the out of the cybertruck when that happened.
- [34:18]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, not to get too dramatic and I'm sorry to interrupt, but like Good Samaritans quite literally saved his life.
- [34:25]
Gary Parish
Yes. For sure.
- [34:27]
Matt Norlander
Yeah.
- [34:27]
Gary Parish
Yeah. He was like there was a video that was shared where he, I guess he knocked over a fire hydrant. Like he's, he's, he's in a puddle. His, his father, Gilbert Arenas has a very popular podcast. Now he wasn't on the show earlier this week, but he passed along a message and this was on Monday that Elijah was expected to be released from the hospital soon. For all we know, he has been at this hours. We're podcasting. Hopefully he's even out of the hospital and he's going to be. He's going to be okay. Hopefully he's on track to be able to, you know, he's set to attend USC and able to be able to, to play there. But you know, smoke inhalation, like some serious, like seriously dangerous stuff. Apparently. Apparently I don't. I was said that he was coming back from the gym, so he might have been getting like that is a super, super early workout if indeed that was the case there. But thankfully this isn't, this isn't as bad as we worried about in real time. Like he suffered no broken bones. There was really. You worry about smoke inhalation, what it does to your lun and any damage short term and long term. But hopefully he's okay. Obviously he's going to go through a significant, you know, physical doctor checkup, all that stuff before he's cleared to play, but it is way, way better than we had first initially, initially seen there and then GP just. I'll toss it back to you, but let's USCL in one bucket here. I guess two or three days after this happened or maybe even a day after. I can't remember. Chad Baker Mazara, former Auburn player. He has committed to usc so that means that Eric Musselman with the idea that Elijah Renas will be good to go. He's a projected starter as an incoming freshman Chad Baker Mazara. They got Rodney Rice, a Marion Dickerson from Robert Morris who had himself some really awesome moments in the tournament in, in their game, in their 215 game. And then Jacob Kofi from Virginia. So Baker Mazara probably registers among, I don't know, top 15 transfers overall. So that's a good get for. For a USC team who as I said on last week's show, has, has made a massive jump in its nil resources. And yeah, and Baker Mazar that, that it will be interesting to see MUS coaching Baker Mazara that, that actually has some serious. That has Some seriously entertaining potential. Good on him. Go get the bag, young dude. And. And glad to see Arenas is happy you're doing better. At least. Uh, your thoughts on, uh, on usc?
- [36:48]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, just the Arenas thing is so scary. I saw the same video you saw, and the part that's terrifying is you just see the cyber truck, you see fire. You see the fire hydrant blasting, and then there's this moment where I guess I think a man says to another man, is somebody in there? Yeah. And they're like, it. And you see, like, oh. Oh, my God. He's still sitting in that cyber truck, and it is on fire. It's not a. A leap to assume if those men don't arrive at that.
- [37:23]
Gary Parish
Yeah.
- [37:23]
Matt Norlander
Accident.
- [37:25]
Gary Parish
I think it was a noisy car accident. And so it woke up the people that were. It happened in a residential neighborhood.
- [37:31]
Matt Norlander
Right.
- [37:31]
Gary Parish
I think it woke up people. They got out of their houses, they wonder what the hell was going on. And then they had to literally pull him out from the cyber truck. Whether it was locked from the inside or whatever, I don't know. But, yes, they. They definitely saved his life.
- [37:42]
Matt Norlander
They saved his life. And that's just. Man, I don't know how, if you're Gilbert, you can even watch that video more than once, because it's one thing to hear your son was in an accident. He's got smoke inhalation, he's headed to the hospital. It's another thing to see a video. And you know that that's my son inside that vehicle. It's on fire. And if these men, who we've never met, don't pull him out of there, he would have quite literally. I don't even want to put, like, say it. It just. It would not have ended well. Yeah, it's just. It's even. I don't know this young man. I just. But I am a father, and that. That's just it. That breaks me up, man. That video. That video was hard to watch because you see your son, there is nothing more, no feeling of helplessness more than when your kids are struggling or need you or hurt, and you can't fix the issue for them. You just. I am, like, by nature, sort of selfish, and. And I just remember when my oldest son was young and we had a real medical scare. Turned out to be fine. But there was a moment where, you don't know whether. I mean, we're getting an mri. MRI done, and he could have a brain tumor. You know, he could have brain cancer or not. That's what we're told. We don't know. It obviously wasn't. Thank God. But, man, I just. I remember thinking in that moment I would. I never understood people saying I would trade places with my kid right now. And I'm like, really? You know, I just never made sense to me until you're in that spot. And I'm like, man, give me the brain tumor and let my little boy be okay. And I couldn't help but think about that as you're watching Elijah in that cyber truck, like Gilbert, like in that moment, you would, you would jump in that cyber truck and pull him out of there and. And you take whatever you got to take, and you just are thankful forever that other humans put themselves at risk to save your son. That is what happened. Other humans put themselves at risk to save your son. And just the whole thing like that, that was a hard thing to watch. But, you know, basketball aside, we'll see. You know, because I do think smoke inhalation. Inhalation lungs, basketball player. You know, that's not a great combination, right? I. I don't know if it means anything. I just. It doesn't sound like a great combination. We'll see with the basketball stuff. But the best part is like, Gilbert Arenas and Elijah Arenas are going to be able to like, you know, hug each other again and, you know, watch TV again and, you know, shoot jumpers in the driveway again. And, you know, the basketball stuff is all secondary to that.
- [40:12]
Gary Parish
No question. No question about it. And for usc, we can move on, but just the program has just been through so much. Vincy in 2023, heart failure. Bronnie James last a year ago, I guess it was right. Or maybe it's three of the past three years suffered cardiac arrest. Completely unrelated things, but coincidentally happened to usc. And then Elijah Rena's goes. They have just had off season issues with. With five star prospects, like incoming players, three years in a row. Program could really, really use a break. Let's go to Illinois. If you're watching on YouTube, nada. If you have this, can you bring up the AI rendered image that Brad Underwood posted? This is actually. Now his profile pic is. First of all, I love it.
- [41:03]
Matt Norlander
It's the best.
- [41:04]
Gary Parish
It is. Okay. This is, this is straight out of in, you know, Cold War era, 1983, middle of the Balkans. He's got, he's actually got. Now if you're watching here, you see because Illinois is a Nike school. So it's. It is, it is an. It is an AI image of him in a Nike full on Athleisure suit, but that we associate that, that get up with actually Adidas. So we're waiting on to see if, if Nike can make these kind of happy. He's got the cabby cap on. It's just, just, it's an incredible, it's an incredible look. And I, I texted him, I was like, I'm pretty sure I'm just gonna have to refer to you as Brad Undervood for the next year.
- [41:46]
Matt Norlander
What, what's the show with the serial killer?
- [41:49]
Gary Parish
The HBO shows it down.
- [41:52]
Matt Norlander
Barry. Barry.
- [41:53]
Gary Parish
Did you ever watch Barry? Yeah, I actually just finished Barry. I'm way behind on my shows, so I just finished Severin season two, like three nights ago. Solid. Anyway, I finished, I finished Barry as a series, I think, like in, in mid January. But yeah, like, he looks like one of, yeah, one of the guys that.
- [42:07]
Matt Norlander
Was, he looks like, he looks like somebody who's trying to kill Barry. That's what he looks like.
- [42:13]
Gary Parish
That's a great, great call. Well, the reason why he posted this is Illinois now. And what a thing. And I, I, I actually intentionally just for the show, for, to learn it on the show in real time. I did. I assume now that Illinois is your top 25 and 1. We'll get to that in a second. But I intentionally didn't look because I wanted to learn on the show. But now they got Andre Stojakovic onto the roster. So this is the fifth player now that will play for Illinois next season whose last name ends in in ic. So they've got Tommy Sloth V Sit and Zavon Amir of usage, the brothers that, that are going to be playing alongside each other. They've got David Merkavich, who's from Montenegro, and Avisich is from Croatia. Zavonomir is from Bosnia Herzegovina. You've got. Andre was born in Greece. Now he mostly grew up in the United States because his father was Pedro. So Yakovic, but they've got a Balkan connection as well. And then you've got Mahalio Petrovic, who is from Serbia. So and he was like a legitimately really, really solid player playing for Mega Super Bets, which, which isn't a, which isn't a gambling boost. That was actually the name of his team was Mega Super Vet. That was based out of, that was based out of Serbia as well. So Illinois going with, in addition to having, you know, Boswell's back, you've got Hummerkaus that is back. They've got Ty Rogers who is back. But they, they. And again, as I said last week, this is not the first team to. And the first coaching staff to really try and load up on international players. But to my knowledge, this really is the first team to bring aboard five players with direct ties and to the. To the greater Balkan region. So for Illinois to become Illinois turning into like this de facto. This de facto Euro based kind of team. I. I find it fascinating. Your thoughts on. On Stojakovic, who's been a good player. Maybe slightly overrated, but he's been a good player. We'll see if he can make that jump. Where do you have. Where do you have the align right now? Because I know they were knocking on the door before they got Stoicovic.
- [44:22]
Matt Norlander
I moved him up to 22nd. Tom Fornelli still says that's too low.
- [44:26]
Gary Parish
Of course it is. Unless you've got him number one for Nelli's going to be giving you crap. What do you want?
- [44:30]
Matt Norlander
He's never satisfied with my.
- [44:31]
Gary Parish
Never, never.
- [44:33]
Matt Norlander
He's never satisfied with my rankings. I got Illinois 22nd. I would like to see him do a multi team event in that part of the world. Can they fly over there and do a multi team event in that part of the world?
- [44:43]
Gary Parish
I think that they. I think that they should.
- [44:46]
Matt Norlander
Better be careful, man. You might not get them back in the country. Better be careful. You better keep them all in champagne. Get them to champagne and like lock them up. Put them in their apartments, buddy. I wouldn't take any chances these days. I don't know what's going on out there.
- [45:02]
Gary Parish
Yeah. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Hey, 22 seems fine in fair.
- [45:08]
Matt Norlander
Dude's gonna end up in El Salvador if they don't be careful.
- [45:13]
Gary Parish
Here we go. I just, I, I'm fascinated by. To see how this works, to see how much Underwood or Underwood. There's somewhere some people are calling him Bradyslav under Voody, which however we want to call this dude. How much does he tweak his system? What he's running to to accommodate some of his guys because like legitimately, like Petrovich is coming over from playing like in a European type system. He's 6 3. He's gonna have the ball in his hands. We'll see. And obviously we're coming off of. Of them having Yakachonas who's going to be almost certainly a lottery pick in general there. But no, this is, this is. This is a cool little plot twist in college basketball. Like it's a. It's a cool new storyline in Illinois with its roster now quite clearly preseason top 25 level I just want to see like the two brother like the two of these stitches. Like how often if ever like one seven one the other seven two. How often are they going to be on the floor together? How do they, how does he use them with rotations as Doriakovich is like a good classic small forward. How much does he play with Hummer Cows? They've just got a lot of lineup, contribute combinations and then oh by the way and we'll deal more with this on the preseason stuff but like Kyle Boswell's been good but he can be better. Like is is having this much around him, is this going to elevate him to where the kind of player that we've been kind of waiting to see. He has flashes and spurts but but it hasn't been there. But congrats to Illinois on building a roster and oh by the way doing it not on the cheap. Heard from a number of people who when I did the story on the 10 million dollar club, they're like yeah Illinois easily, easily, easily in that group and more power, more power to you guys for, for doing that. But this is if you want to know what a ten million dollar roster looks like in college basketball. What Illinois has been able to build up here has has been impressive and and adds more intrigue to the Big Ten.
- [47:09]
Nada
Season one of Andor had critics calling it the best Star wars series yet. Season 2 of the Emmy nominated series is now streaming on Disney plus follow Cassian Andor as he embarks on a.
- [47:22]
Matt Norlander
Path from a rebel to a human.
- [47:24]
Nada
Hero starring Diego Luna. And from creator Tony Gilroy, writer of Michael Clayton and the Bourne Identity. Season two of Andor is now streaming only on Disney plus.
- [47:38]
Gary Parish
Dominique, your fantasy baseball league with fantasy baseball today part of the CBS Sports Podcast Network. Join Scott White, Chris Towers and me, Frank Stample every weekday as we recap every player from every game. We'll get you the latest news, waiver wire ads and drops, trades to make prospect promotions and everything else you need to take down your league. Make sure to download and follow on Apple podcasts, Spotify and anywhere else podcasts are found.
- [48:08]
Matt Norlander
Anything else we need to touch on before we get out of here?
- [48:10]
Gary Parish
I do a couple things and we'll bounce. I know you out of your show here. Shaq is going to be the quote unquote GM at Sacramento State. They got Mikey Williams. Yes, that Mikey Williams. He just committed. What a journey he's been on. Just real, real quick on on like I do. We think Shaq's gonna do anything with that now his son plays at Sacramento State. That's why this is happening. He's got a son who's going to play with Sacramento State for Mike Bibby. That's also the connection here. If you're Sacramento State, like, you're getting into the, the headlines, by all means, great job. But I, I, I'm just, I assume.
- [48:46]
Matt Norlander
I assume he just buys players. I assume he's gonna buy us some players. I mean, he famously. I mean, there's interviews. Like, he just walks into a jewelry store, see somebody putting a wedding ring on layaway, and says, here, I'll take care of that. He's just throwing around money all the time anyway. Like, he's not just a former basketball player. Like, this guy owns a million Papa John's and 70,000 other things. I mean, he is extremely wealthy.
- [49:09]
Gary Parish
Let's, let's do the Google search right now. Let's take our guest trivia time ourselves. What do we think Shaq's net worth is on a Google search?
- [49:16]
Matt Norlander
400 million.
- [49:18]
Gary Parish
I'm gonna say. I'm gonna say 615. 615 million. Shaq net worth. I'll say 615. You said 400 million. I hate this AI overview. I hate Google bringing up the. It's just. Get this out of my face.
- [49:31]
Matt Norlander
AI overview says 500 million, right?
- [49:34]
Gary Parish
Yeah. I don't know if I trust the AI Overview. If you, if you, if you, if you Google, does water freeze at 27 degrees? It will say no. Water freezes at 32 degrees. I don't trust the AI overview.
- [49:46]
Matt Norlander
Okay, well, you shouldn't trust net worth thing because, like, my kids one time googled our net worth.
- [49:53]
Gary Parish
Okay. And it's just, it's not even Googleable. What are we talking about?
- [49:57]
Matt Norlander
No, it is, it is, and it's wrong. But I got my kids.
- [50:04]
Gary Parish
You're tempting me to do this right now. On the show.
- [50:07]
Matt Norlander
My kids started asking for some wild stuff, and I was like, where are you guys getting the idea that we can do these things or we should do these things? And they said, dad, we know what your net worth is. And okay, there is one site that. So then I said, there's one site that, that applied my net worth to my sale of Yeezys. It suggested I was selling Yeezys on the side to create an incredible net worth. This stuff is really on the Internet. No. If you want to know the truth, I got thousands of dollars of Yeezys sitting downstairs in my closet. I can't wear them anymore. Okay? Because he's Lost his mind.
- [50:46]
Gary Parish
Correct.
- [50:47]
Matt Norlander
So I do, I do have thousands of dollars of Yeezys, but I have, but I haven't sold $80 million worth of Yeezys, which is out there on the Internet somewhere.
- [50:58]
Gary Parish
Oh, boy. Shaq's gonna be the GM at Sacramento State. College basketball is an incredible place right now. On that note, did you see the commitment that went down late Tuesday night? Did you see the name, the name of the dude now to bring it up. I, I can't believe Chandler Bing. Chandler. There's a prospect named Chandler Bing that is going to play for Vanderbilt. Okay, now the, the meme potential is, I mean, the, the, the gifts that are just. It's gonna be non stop as I guess, as it should be. This. He was. The show went off the Air in 2004. He was born after that.
- [51:44]
Matt Norlander
Right.
- [51:45]
Gary Parish
His parents knew what they were doing.
- [51:49]
Matt Norlander
Oh, no, they didn't.
- [51:50]
Gary Parish
They knew what they were doing.
- [51:52]
Matt Norlander
I mean, I know they, I knew they, I know that. I know they knew what they were doing, but they, they didn't understand what they were doing.
- [52:00]
Gary Parish
Now when they had, when they had Chandler, Chandler Bing, could they have anticipated that he would, you know, go on to be a Division 1 basketball player? Suppose not. But it is, it is wild that there's, there's an incoming college freshman named Chandler Bing. I mean, just. I don't have any Chandler sound bites on my board yet. They'll be on there, by the way, like Friends all these years later. Where do you, where do you land on Friends?
- [52:32]
Matt Norlander
Never watched it.
- [52:34]
Gary Parish
Never watch.
- [52:34]
Matt Norlander
Understand. I do understand how it became a phenomenon in the United States of America. We're simple minded, a good percentage of us. But I never underst. I, it was never for me. They didn't make that for me. I'll put it that way. That, that show was not for me.
- [52:51]
Gary Parish
Okay. I watched a lot of it when it was on. This would have been when I was in high school and then into college. I dropped off like final three seasons. I don't, I think the, I don't know if this is a hot take or not. I think the majority of that show just, it's. I'm not going to say it hasn't aged well because like, you know, certain things just don't age well for one reason or another. I just, by 2020 standards, you know, in this era, I just don't find it to be like a lot of people, like they, they continue to binge it. I think season one, some of season two and season three actually is still, I think Season one's still the best season of Friends. But like I, I remember six, seven years ago had some buddies that were just re. Watching it just kind of brought it up in conversation. I was like, okay, so I like kind of dipped into like season five. I just, I, I don't. Just not. No, no, it doesn't, it hasn't, it doesn't have the staying power like some other shows. Like, you know, Seinfeld, Arrested Development, Curb your enthusiasm, Veep. Some of these, Some of these.
- [53:54]
Matt Norlander
Well, like, Vape is genuinely funny and Arrested Development was genuinely hilarious. Like smart, funny Arrested Development.
- [54:02]
Gary Parish
Smart, funny Development. Like even, like 30 rock. Like even 30 rock, I think still has some, some good, some stuff.
- [54:10]
Matt Norlander
Smart, funny. Friends was just like the, like the, the people who think they're funny, like at the kitchen table, but they're really not funny at all. That's like that what's, that's what Friends is to me.
- [54:24]
Gary Parish
That being said, like, Matthew Perry was genuinely like a very, very. He was, he was the one.
- [54:29]
Matt Norlander
Rest in peace.
- [54:31]
Gary Parish
I know. That's. That's the other thing. Like, yeah, I wish Matthew Perry was just still general.
- [54:38]
Nada
Alive.
- [54:38]
Gary Parish
Alive. Yeah, alive. But I would just love for him to have discovered that there's a dude named Chandler Bing that's about to play. Well, it's just, it's just he had.
- [54:50]
Matt Norlander
A lot going on. Matthew Perry.
- [54:52]
Gary Parish
I gather he did.
- [54:54]
Matt Norlander
Yeah.
- [54:55]
Gary Parish
And then, by the way, if you're listening to this, you were unaware that there's a prospect named Chandler Bing. Go ahead, bring us up on the YouTube. Go, go. It's. He's not, he doesn't look like what you think he looks like. So just, just. He does not look like Matthew Perry. That's the other, that's the other part.
- [55:08]
Matt Norlander
I don't think you can assume when you name your kid Chandler Bing that he's going to grow up to look like Matthew Perry.
- [55:14]
Gary Parish
I don't think you could try. People here like Chandler Bing is going to play college basketball, like, and Matthew Perry's image is going to populate in their mind and they're going to probably associate that this player is going to be some, you know, like six, one white point guard. That's not what's going on here. So just letting you know, last thing.
- [55:29]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, please, a few more things, then.
- [55:31]
Gary Parish
We'Ll get out of here. I know you gotta go. Two more things. You saw Kendrick Lamar?
- [55:35]
Matt Norlander
I did.
- [55:36]
Gary Parish
I think Nada is supposed to see Kendrick this weekend. So just, you know, two minute concert review. How is Kendrick Lamar?
- [55:45]
Matt Norlander
Amazing. I've seen him now three times. Going all the way back to him opening for Kanye on the Yeezus tour, like 13, 14 years ago. Well, once upon a time, I had to. I had to separate. I had to separate. I still enjoy Dark Fantasy, but you ain't gonna catch me listening in public. I don't guess so. I've seen Kidrick a lot. He has been my favorite artist for a while, long before all the stuff with Drake happened. He by extension. You know how this works as a father. Your kids end up listening to what you listen to. If that's the Beatles, it's the Beatles. If it's Kendrick Lamar, it's Kendrick Lamar. Yes. We have edited playlists and that is what my kids have listened to gnx, literally every day since it came out. My son's walk up song in baseball at two years ago was DNA. He is my children's favorite artist and mine as well. So we decided, like, let's just do it. Opening night, Minneapolis, most anticipated tour of the year. His first performance after the Super Bowl. Like, let's create this memory for them. And I'm so glad we did it that way. I know not everybody thought it was smart to take an 11 year old and an 8 year old to a Kendrick Lamar show. And I get that. I'm not, you know, I'm not like, oh, you. I understand. Not everybody would have done it. I am so glad that I did. Like, so glad that I did. It was an amazing night with my children and I spent as much time watching my little boys enjoy themselves and see this larger than life thing right.
- [57:21]
Gary Parish
In front of them.
- [57:21]
Matt Norlander
Spend as much time watching them as I did watching Kendrick and Sza. It was. It was just a perfect night and a great trip and they'll remember that forever. And if anybody is thinking about going, like, if you don't care, don't go. Right? Like, I'm never like, you, you must go. If you don't care about it, you shouldn't go. Like I gather, Morgan Wallen's a big deal, but if he was playing a stadium 15 minutes from my house, I'd probably just pass because I don't care. So if you don't care, don't go. But if you are interested in either artist and you want to see them both at the height of their careers, I mean, they both had the biggest albums in the world right now, the biggest song in the world right now, and they're coming off the biggest years in their careers. And for Kendrick, he's quite literally coming off arguably the biggest year for a rapper in history.
- [58:06]
Gary Parish
You know, that's a pretty big statement.
- [58:09]
Matt Norlander
Okay, well, let's run through it.
- [58:10]
Gary Parish
Not a flip on the mic, because I'm about to see Kendrick. Is Kendrick Lamar coming off the biggest year by a rapper ever?
- [58:19]
Matt Norlander
Yes. Yeah, on that. Like, okay, like, okay, so one, one. A high profile, you know, rap beef with the guy who was the biggest hit maker for a decade, ruined his career or at least severely damaged it. Got the super bowl, got the number one album, biggest. One of the biggest rap songs in history. And from a chart perspective, like, arguably the biggest ever. Puts out the biggest album of the year, won five Grammys, and we'll probably sweep the whole thing again next year. Becomes the first artist to ever get a Gatorade commercial, gets the Chanel deal, and now he's selling out. Like, all this stuff matters. You know, like, Drake's putting out songs.
- [59:03]
Gary Parish
I had no idea that Kendrick Lamar had a Chanel deal.
- [59:06]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, like, Drake's put out songs about Chanel, and Kendrick's like, the spokesperson for Chanel. Like, that's. That's the way this thing is happening. And then selling. And he's selling out football stadiums all over the country. The night we were there, opening night, Minneapolis, highest grossing concert in history with a rapper headlining or co headlining. And then the next show was in Houston. Broke that record. Next show was in Dallas. Broke that record. Last night was in Atlanta. And I'm assuming when the numbers come in, broke that record as well. This is historically unprecedented. And the idea that my little boys got to see that in this moment and it will forever be their first big concert. I. I loved it. Absolutely loved it. And for people who are, like, maybe thinking about doing something like I did, just know this. It was completely comfortable the whole time. The crowd was great. It never got too rowdy. It. It was just. It was perfect. Like, my boys were treated well by everybody there. Dancing with the people next to them, rapping with the people next to them. It was a, a. It was a perfect night.
- [60:09]
Gary Parish
Okay, this could be a total podcast spin off. So where we can't go too much longer because GP's got to hop in the car and go to his Memphis radio show. When you said biggest year ever, what jumped to my mind, and there's some. Some mentions in the chat here is Tupac in the mid-90s. That was. That was pretty big. LL Cool J was a pretty, Pretty, like, massive deal. And also, I guess, you know, and I'm. By no means am I the hip hop expert on the show. But I do know a little, a little thing or two about music, I guess, and where we are in the culture in 2025 versus, like, how big music artists felt 30 years ago and how, how celebrity and fame was different then. I'm not saying you're wrong. It's just, it's a, it's a pretty big heavy state. And like, Tupac was like.
- [60:54]
Matt Norlander
Yeah.
- [60:55]
Gary Parish
At the center of, of a, of a beef that to me felt even bigger than Kendrick versus Drake personally. And also was like starring in movies. I, I, I, it's, it's, it's devil's advocate here on that, GP. But there's even some, there's some DMX, 1998.
- [61:12]
Matt Norlander
Yeah. Just like I, I think, I think we're, yeah, I think we're just getting caught up in two totally different things. I will not debate Tupac's legacy.
- [61:24]
Gary Parish
I will not debate Tupac's legacy.
- [61:26]
Matt Norlander
I'm just saying I will, I would discount it or try to argue it.
- [61:29]
Gary Parish
Yeah.
- [61:29]
Matt Norlander
You know, case, first case against Kendricks. I'm just saying Tupac could not have sold out football stadiums. Now some of that's just wraps in a different place today than it was.
- [61:38]
Gary Parish
Yeah, if Tupac was alive today, he would be selling out football stadiums. If, like, if you took everything and placed it into 2025. He's, he's quite clearly selling out football stadiums, perhaps.
- [61:46]
Matt Norlander
I just know that he never did. And he never had hits, mainstream hits this big. And he didn't do these things, these things that Kendrick is literally doing right now. And Tupac didn't do them. It doesn't mean.
- [62:00]
Gary Parish
Jay Z was never had a single year that was as big as Kendrick. Right. It's just, it's an interesting experiment.
- [62:05]
Matt Norlander
Jay Z can't do a stadium unless Beyonce's sitting next to him or Eminem or Justin Timberlake.
- [62:11]
Gary Parish
You know, I've seen, I've seen jay Eminem circa 2000.
- [62:15]
Matt Norlander
Eminem was right. Eminem was Smile.
- [62:18]
Gary Parish
That's a pretty massive man. That's, that's, this is a good thought experiment, by the way. Kendrick Lamar won the Pulitzer Prize, like six years ago.
- [62:26]
Matt Norlander
Yeah.
- [62:27]
Gary Parish
Crazy is like he's no other, no other artist in hip hop has ever come close to that kind of thing.
- [62:33]
Matt Norlander
And no another artist. He's the only non, non classical, non jazz artist in history to win a Pulitzer Prize for music.
- [62:40]
Gary Parish
Yeah.
- [62:41]
Matt Norlander
Like, he, he is, he checks every box like, if you want hits, he can make hits. If you want art, he can make art. If you love words, he's the best at him. Just what. Whatever you want, he can do it. Like, that was the thing. He just made art albums of art with bangers few and far between. And, you know, people are like, I didn't. So then it just makes gnx. It's just one banger after another. It's just one big radio song after another. And now it's the biggest album in the world. Like, he's. He's. He's in the goat conversation and has had a year unlike any other year anybody in rap has ever had. I don't think that's debatable.
- [63:18]
Gary Parish
Not a flip on that mic. Real quick. You're supposed to see. You're supposed to see Kendrick this weekend, right?
- [63:24]
Matt Norlander
Yeah.
- [63:25]
Gary Parish
Saturday in Charlotte. It's basically me and my five siblings doing this all together.
- [63:29]
Matt Norlander
So it's another little family affair. Can't wait. That'd be awesome.
- [63:32]
Gary Parish
Have you ever seen them before? I have seen them once.
- [63:35]
Matt Norlander
I think it was like Raleigh or Greensboro, but. And I cannot wait. Like, I want to see the evolution of what this is going to look like. It's. That was the other great thing about going opening night is I had no. I didn't know what to expect, you know, you didn't know if they're. If. If they're coming out together, if they're gonna do a true opening set and then a close. You didn't know when. Or is the opening with whacked up. Whacked up mural or something else. And so the uncertainty of it was fun. By now, you can know exactly what the show is going to look like, if you care. The set lists are out there, but it's. It's a blast, man. I would. You know, I. I would do it again. I don't know that we will do it again, but I would. I would do it again. I would look forward to going again. It's a. It's a. I. I will say I've seen Kendrick in arenas. It is a different feel in a stadium. It's just bigger and it doesn't have the same pop. Yeah. That it had. You know, like, we saw Kendrick on the Mr. Morale tour. My wife and I flew to Atlanta and went to State Farm arena, and that was. That was a different feeling than this big stadium in Minneapolis. Yeah, but it's a. It's an amazing show. Great show. You'll have a blast. I'm happy you're getting to do that with your. With your siblings.
- [64:40]
Gary Parish
All right. Last thing before we get out of here. I don't know. Are we mandated to chime in on the debate that's taken over the Internet over the past, like, five days. I feel like, as podcaster, do we have to do this? I've actually thought about it a lot. You know what I'm talking about, right?
- [64:52]
Matt Norlander
Oh, sure. Of course I do.
- [64:54]
Gary Parish
So 100 men versus one gorilla. Like, who's winning in that battle on your Memphis show? I feel like everyone has chimed in on this.
- [65:03]
Matt Norlander
I was on another show when I was asked about it. I did not bring it up. I would say that the best. All the, like, the threads are hilarious. The threads are hilarious, all right. Just like, lol, Laying in bed, scrolling through, laughing out loud. People are funny. Like, that's. That is among the reasons I won't abandon Twitter, even though I hate it, is because every once in a while, people are just hilarious. And this topic has generated some of that. I think the funniest and truest comment I've seen is like, yes, you could do it, but you all have to be committed to the cause and you all have to go at the. When it's time to go. And you have to understand, like, 60 of us probably ain't gonna make it, but if we're all in it from the jump, we can get this done. But if there's any hesitation, if, like, four guys are ready to go and then the next four are, like, hesitant and the next 20 are hanging back, they'll pick you off one at a time. This gorilla, he'll get you one at a time. You got to go 100 against one from the jump. If you try to do, like, all right, it's your turn. All right, buddy, it's your turn.
- [66:03]
Gary Parish
All right, that's. That's not going to happen. I also. There are so many factors here. Is this. Is this true hand to hand combat? Is. Are you fight. Are you fighting in the jungle? Does the gorilla have access to pick up anything that he wants to? If so, do the humans do? Are you getting 100 NFL players? Are you getting. Am I one of the 100? Because then we're not like, no shot. But if you tell me 100 guys in their 20s, in their physical prime, and they all attack the gorilla at the same time, and you get, like, four guys on each leg, six more guys on each arm. Like, I do think a hundred guys. If you can, you gotta get the gorilla pinned to the ground. And if you can have. If you've got super, super strong guys and they've pinned the gorilla, then I think you can win with a 100 dudes is a lot. So I actually, I actually side with the 100 humans. As long as they are. As long as it can't be just random people from the population. These have to be borderline psychopathic people ready to die for the cause.
- [67:09]
Matt Norlander
Yes. Because that's the key.
- [67:12]
Gary Parish
They're gonna die. They're gonna die. They got to be prepared for what's gonna happen there. But there's been a lot of, like, the gorillas just taking, taking care of all of you guys. And, and this is what the gorilla looks like after he kills, you know, the 99th and 100th person. I don't think so. You can't, like, trust me. I'm aware of, like, how insanely strong, like, the, the video people that are combating this with, like, okay, watch this video of the silverback gorilla right here and tell me that 100 guys could take this thing down. I get that entirely. But it is, it is a fascinating thought experiment. I I side. If you're telling me it is. You can't use weapons. It is pure hand to hand combat. And I've got a hundred guys between the ages of 21 and 27 in their physical prime, like elite athletes. I'm going with 100 humans.
- [67:56]
Matt Norlander
I don't think you can get 100 humans to be that selfless unless they're like another hypothetical.
- [68:02]
Gary Parish
Like, let's say they don't have the choice. Like, let's say you're putting.
- [68:04]
Matt Norlander
I saw one guy go, like, one guy posted. One guy posted the meme of LeBron, like, laying on his back from, like last week or whatever, where he's covering his face, but you see him sort of peeking out. Do you know what I'm talking about?
- [68:14]
Gary Parish
No.
- [68:15]
Matt Norlander
Well, like, LeBron got knocked down and he's like, covering his face. He's laying on his back and it's like, oh, I'm hurt. And then the camera's caught. LeBron go like this. He looks up to see what's going on. And, like, so some guy's like, this is me. The second I see the first 60 guys go down, just like laying on the ground, picking up, like, pretending to be dead for the. That's the problem. I think that's the problem is I don't trust my friends. I. I did see. So I put together a whole list, like, they actually named the 100. It was like, number one, Aaron Donald.
- [68:45]
Gary Parish
I mean, exactly. Like, if you have Aaron Donald involved in this, like, freakishly strong. Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Yeah.
- [68:51]
Matt Norlander
Yeah, like, like number 33 Roman reigns, and then like number 41 was John Morant just to like, lead the celebration. Like he had all this people real thought into it. I, I think it comes down to how committed are you to the, Are you willing to die? Find me 100 men who I believe are willing to die. I'll bet on the men. Yeah, then I'll bet on the men. But I don't think I can find a hundred men who are willing to die. I think I'm gonna have something on.
- [69:17]
Gary Parish
This planet right now in 20, 25. Are you absolutely confined? First, I actually, I'm, I'm half intrigued and half worried that, that this has gotten so big that this will try to be created somewhere, maybe in the Balkans, I don't even know. But I feel like this is actually someone that's going to try and make it. Let's, we don't need to try and make this happen. But I fear that this has become such a, such a thing that's taken over the Internet, that someone's looking around and saying, I can make a whole lot of money off of this thing. Let's try and make this happen. There. I got my, I got my, I got my money on the, on the 100 dudes. Anyway, we've gone long. I feel like we were all obligated to talk about that, and I think that's a show.
- [69:52]
Matt Norlander
Shouts to Devin Downey. Shouts to Chester, South Carolina. Terry Teagle, Hook Larnell. Thank you guys once again for watching the I Own College Basketball podcast. If you're not subscribed, please go subscribe anywhere you subscribe to podcast, Apple, Spotify, there's more of us than there are of them. That should be reflected in the comments. So please do that. We'll talk to you again real soon. Until then, take. You can be anything. You can be anything.
- [70:33]
Gary Parish
This I.
- [70:52]
Matt Norlander
Paramount Podcasts.
- [70:57]
Gary Parish
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