← Sunday Mornings with Matt and Myron
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- [00:00]
Matt
I was never really a runner.
- [00:02]
Myron
The way I see running is a.
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Chris Collins
Gift, especially when you have stage four cancer. I'm Ann. I'm running the Boston Marathon, presented by bank of America.
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Matt
I run for Dana Farber Cancer Institute to give people like me a chance.
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Chris Collins
To thrive in life, even with cancer. Join bank of America in helping Anne's cause. Give if you can@b of a.comSupportAnn what would you like the power to do? References to charitable organizations is not endorsement by bank of America Corporation. Copyright 2025.
- [00:31]
Matt
This is Matt and Myron. The podcast roll into hour two of getting you ready for the national championship games, plural, because we have the women who are going to tip it off at 3:00 today on ABC. This is your countdown to tip off on ESPN Radio. And ESPN Radio is presented by Progressive Insurance. Progressive Commercial insurance flexes to fit your business needs. From quick repairs to adjustable coverages and even payment options. Progressive Commercial makes it easy to get what you need. Quote today in as little as seven minutes@progressive commercial.com well, Coach, joining us now is a guy who will be heading into his 13th season as the head basketball coach of Northwestern. It is Chris Collins. Coach Chris Collins who joins Andy Grish and Tim Welsh here on ESPN Radio and coach, first of all, I'm curious from your end, what is this like the month of March in college basketball? I was a college football player. The month of August was the ramp up, it was camp, things like that. And I know you're on the other end of it. What does the month of March mean to coaches like you?
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Jim Boeheim
Well, good morning, guys. Happy to be on the show. You know, it's, it's a couple different things. I mean, the month of March is amazing for our sport with the NCAA tournament and opportunity to play in postseason. You know, we weren't able to be a part of it this year. So it gets you hungry to kind of get back. But, you know, now you add the chaos of, of kind of the roster management that hit you in March. You know, you're, you're a part whole season. You're in the grind, you know, going day in and day out trying to win basketball games, compete at a high level. And then the moment your season ends, you know, it's almost the most critical time now for us as coaches is, you know, solidifying your roster for the following year. The way the rules are now with, with the transfer portal, with the nil in play, the month of March and April, actually, guys, kind of becomes the busiest time for us of the year. And you have to be prepared. You got to be ready and kind of we're going it right now.
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Chris Collins
Well, Chris, congratulations on the new contract. You've done an unbelievable job at Northwestern and the youth of today thinks of you as a Northwestern guy and you are through and through. But you're also a Duke guy, which I remember as a great player and as assistant coach under Coach Kyc. So I know last night you felt for your man, John Shire. What happened in your opinion at the end of that game was that just basketball and that can happen, the bounce of the ball and not going your way. And what was your takeaway from the ending last night?
- [03:27]
Jim Boeheim
Yeah, I mean it was heartbreaking. You guys know my history with John. I mean I've, I've known him, you know, since he's a 14 year old kid, you know, help recruit him and coach him. He and I went to the same high school in the Chicagoland area. So you know, I was sitting in the section with, with all the former Duke players and you know, felt they were in good position. I mean Houston makes you play a certain way. And I thought all things considered, you know, going into that stretch, having the lead and then kind of basketball happened, Coach, you know, I mean, you know, I thought a lot of things that needed to go wrong did for Duke and then give Houston credit. They had to do a lot of things right and you know, whether it was how they executed the press, you know, making sure, getting some stops when they needed, hitting some big shots. I mean one of the biggest shots of the game to me was sharps three when it was 67. 60. Yeah, 67, 61 under a minute, you know, down six and he had a big three to cut it to three and, and then I think you see kind of the game pressure comes in. I think we forget sometimes the ages of these, these young men, you know, that are playing this game. You know, it's, it's a really high stage, you know, playing in the Final four in front of 70,000 and, and the reality too is Duke hadn't been in a lot of close games, you know, and obviously Houston had the rigors of the Big 12 and, and I give them a ton of credit. But, but as a friend, obviously in my relationship from John, it was kind shock and just heartbreak because that's the beauty of the tournament, but also the agony of it when it happens so quickly. And it's almost like man, what just happened. And the end of an amazing season for Duke.
- [05:12]
Matt
Northwestern head basketball coach Chris Collins with us here on Sunday morning's countdown to tip off on ESPN Radio with the coach Tim Welsh. I'm Andy Gresh and coach there is overcoming a tough loss as a player and then there's overcoming a tough loss as a coach. How do you think John Shire will respond to all of this?
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Jim Boeheim
Well, he, he's going to come off, come, come, come back better from it. He's still a young coach. You know, this was his first Final Four. I mean you look what he's done in the three years since he's taken over, you know, it doesn't, it doesn't surprise me because I know him and I know what he's about. But, but an amazing beginning to his career. I think Coach Welsh will tell you as coaches, you hang on to losses longer than the players do. It's just kind of the nature of the beast. Players, you know, are pretty resilient. They, it doesn't mean it doesn't hurt them, but you know, they're able to bounce back and get after it. When you're, when you're a coach man, and you lose a game like that, it stings and it hurts. But that's kind of what makes Jon who he is, the competitor he is and you know, he'll, he'll bounce back in a big way and there's no question his time will be coming. And it just think that last night happened the way it did.
- [06:31]
Chris Collins
You know, Chris, I was just so impressed and not surprised. His press conference after the game composed complimentary of his team of Houston, just that's the way he is. You know him obviously better than most. What did you see him in? Him as a young player and as a, as a player at Duke and then as an assistant coach. What type of leadership coaching ability did you see in him? Because obviously he's well beyond his years, especially having to replace Coach K. Yeah.
- [07:01]
Jim Boeheim
He just always had a knack, you know, he, even when he was young of just figuring it out. He was always a strong leader. You know, his guys always gravitated around him. You know, he's such a basketball junkie and someone who just loves the game and played with incredible passion that how could you not want to follow him and be with him if you were on his team? I mean he was a guy in high school in the state of Illinois, won a state championship at our school, which has never even seen anything close to that in a talent laden state and was one of the most legendary players. And then he comes to Duke as a player in his senior year. He leads us to A national championship in 2010 against Butler. So all the guys ever done has been a champion. I think certain guys are just wired towards that with their approach. And you saw it last night. I mean, he just, the way he complimented Houston, the way he didn't make excuses, the way he praised his guys for the job they did all year. Just, just incredible leader, really incredible poise, you know, and he's going to, he's going to be better from this. You know, just when you go through it and you're in the middle of it, it doesn't feel good. But, you know, he'll look back on this experience and when we look at him as being one of the great coaches for a long, long time, I'm sure the game last night will be one that is going to be a huge growing point for him in his career as he moves their program forward.
- [08:32]
Matt
Coach, what do you make of our national championship matchup between Florida and Houston? Any thoughts on that game or anything that jumps out to you that you think will be a key in that matchup?
- [08:44]
Jim Boeheim
Well, just being in the, in the stadium last night, it was just apparent with all four, four of those teams how they were kind of a cut above, to me, the rest of the country this year. And very rarely do we see, you know, the best teams get to the final weekend. And we got that this year. And the games were so high level last night when you were, when we were there, just watching kind of courtside, the physicality, you know, the level of coaching, the execution by all those teams and you got two now that have risen to the top. And I think it's going to be a heck of a, heck of a game. Obviously, Florida is going to try to push tempo and, and create points. Walter Clayton, to me, is playing probably as good as anybody in the country. Not probably, he is, he's been the best player in the NCAA tournament. And sometimes, as you know, Coach Welsh, you know, you can ride somebody to a championship when he gets on a heater like that. So. But man, Houston, their toughness, you know, just seeing it down 14 last night, never quitting, never giving in, you know, they make you play their game, you know, so it's going to be, it's going to be a physical, you know, kind of execution based kind of tough game. And I'm excited to watch it as a fan of basketball, to have two great teams playing for the championships. Going to be fun to watch.
- [10:01]
Matt
Well, Coach, thanks for the time and giving us a few minutes here on Countdown to tip off on ESPN Radio as Coach Welsh mentioned, congratulations on the contract extension and good luck navigating the open wasteland that is college basketball right now. And we'll catch you down the road. Coach. Thank you.
- [10:21]
Jim Boeheim
I appreciate it, guys. Thanks for having me on the show.
- [10:23]
Matt
There goes Chris Collins, Northwestern head coach. Of course, he was big part of recruiting John Shire, big part of that Duke run before heading to Northwestern and finding himself a nice program to settle into. This is Countdown to Tip off here on ESPN radio, the ESPN app, and Sirius XM channel 80. And next, did the ACC let Duke down this season, you may say, huh? Well, we'll answer it and explain next. It's Countdown to Tip off on ESPN Radio. Matt and Myron the Podcast.
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Chris Collins
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- [12:32]
Matt
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Chris Collins
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- [12:52]
Matt
It is perfect that we are going to talk about duke and the ACC right here because coming up in about 15 minutes from now, Jim Boeheim, legendary Syracuse coach, former Syracuse coach, will be able to break this all down and maybe lend a little, maybe lend a little perspective on the discussion. We're about to have here on Sunday morning's Countdown to tip off on ESPN Radio. I'm Andy Grash alum the coach Tim Welsh and ESPN radio is presented by Progressive Insurance. So Duke makes it to a the national semifinals. Of course, they lose in from the Duke and heartbreaking fashion to Houston yesterday. And coach, normally the ACC is the conference when it comes to the NCAA tournament. This year, not so much. So did the league, the ACC let Duke down in the end?
- [13:52]
Chris Collins
Probably, you know, and we'll talk to Jim Boeheim about it and no one knows the ACC better than him and, but I've heard him talk about it in the past that the ACC really didn't step up with the nil. And sometimes you have to live and learn and pay for, you know, being slow to the table. And I think a lot of the schools were slow to the table and I think they'll, they'll wake up now and say, listen, we can't do this and use the SEC model. Louisville certainly stepped up and you saw the year they had. Duke's always going to be Duke. They're always going to be ahead of the curve. But you know, I think the tournament tested them enough. But the problem, and I think Chris Collins mentioned it a little bit in the last interview, is that you saw the pressure of the moment at the end of the game, but you also saw three freshmen on the court for Duke most of the night. And big difference. There's a big difference between three freshmen out there on the floor. I don't care if they're lottery picks. You know, that moment is big and it's bigger than bigger. It's big for everyone. But when you have older players that have been through it and kind of understand a little bit more, I think that helps in those situations. And certainly one play here or there, we wouldn't even be talking about this. So maybe we're overblowing it. But the ACC will be back. The ACC will be back. They have too many fine institutions. But people forget for a period of time you lost Jim Boeheim, Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, now Jim Laranega, Tony Bennett, Mike Bray. I mean, some outstanding, the best of the best. And you just can't flip the switch and replace these guys. Rick Pitino at Louisville. So you can't just flip the switch and expect that the next guy is going to just step into those shoes and fill them at that level. And I think they went through a little bit of that as well over the last few years. And you know, There's a correctable time that needs to be done. Like now, you need to go find. Even if the guy replacing the guy is not, not as good, you've got to give him time to grow into the job. And, you know, I don't know if a lot of these schools don't have the patience for that. And I like Ryan Odom, that hire at Virginia. I think Adrian Autry is going to do a great job at Syracuse, Lucas at Miami, he'll. He'll figure that out through his pedigree and what he's done. I think Miami will step up in the nil. And so those, those are tough things to, to navigate. And I think you combine that the coaching changes with the nil, and I think that's where you see where the ACC is. But I think they' come back starting this year.
- [16:33]
Matt
Along with the coach, Tim Welsh, I'm Andy Grash. It is countdown to tip off on ESPN Radio and the ESPN app. And did the ACC let Duke down? We know that the SEC rose up and their commissioner, Greg Sankey joined best week ever and talked about how they got better in hoops.
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Myron
Couple years ago, the Final Four is in New Orleans and going into the season, I thought we had three, maybe four teams with legitimate chances, arguments to make it there. Now they didn't. We fell a little bit short, but that was the year where you started to see not just one team that was kind of dominant that you would.
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Jim Boeheim
Expect to make the Final Four, but.
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Myron
The chance for two, three or four teams to make a really, really deep run. And we just had not seen that. And, you know, last year, Alabama makes it this year with a 14. I'll tell you, when we had the SEC, ACC Men's Basketball Challenge, we'd had a great November. We popped into December, went 14 and 2, and then really continued that. That's when your eyes opened up and the notion of having 14 teams in the NCAA tournament became a real thought for me.
- [17:47]
Matt
Well, I also think too, Coach, that if there's been one league that has been stable over the past five years, on the whole, it's been the sec. They've only welcomed teams in there. There hasn't been a lawsuit like the ACC has had to deal with or, you know, the looming, pardon me, looming specter of Clemson maybe looking to sort of slide out the side door. And I think that stability, along with the mindset change has really kind of helped the SEC do what they did this year.
- [18:23]
Chris Collins
Absolutely. And you know, this has been a gradual rise. And Greg Sankey Give him all the credit in the world. He's just a terrific commissioner and he understood they had some problems and, you know, he reached out to different people in the sport that he respected and had them come in as consultant. Mike Tranghesi, the former Big east commissioner, being one where he came in and said, listen, obviously you've got to make sure you have the top level facilities and infrastructure of your program, but on top of it, and schedule people that outside of your league, make sure scheduling is very important. Schedule big names, get on TV every week, get that contract with espn and they've done all that. But also he, Mike told them you've got to go out and hire the best coaches. You've got to make sure. And the way to do that, obviously, is have everything in place, the infrastructure, the program, building the facilities, everything. But you've got to have the salaries as well, not only for the head coach, but for the assistants. And they've gone out and done that. I mean, all you have to do is go up and down the list and they've got great coaches at every institution and top level, high, high level coaches. And I think now you look at Nate Oates, you look at Bruce Pearl last night, now Todd Golden, Rick Barnes, I mean, the list is on and on and on. Now Texas has Sean Miller, now Porter Moser is at Oklahoma. And you know, we talked about Chris Beard at Ole Miss. I mean, these guys are the best of the best. And that's why the sec, along with the nil part of it, has risen up and they're above everyone else right now. And it's a great, it's a great platform to look at. It's a great model for the other leagues to say, wait a minute, what are they doing? We've got to follow that lead.
- [20:05]
Matt
Coach, I brought up at the beginning, the. What constitutes conference success you coached in the Big East, Big east is, you know, they're, they're, they're really like the unicorn of college athletics. They're, they're really truly a basketball conference first and then everything else. And there's no real football attached to it. So I know the different leagues can maybe view it differently. But as you see it, Coach, like what constitutes conference success? Can the ACC still hold their head high? The Duke made it as far as they did, or is that a. Well, that's a Duke thing?
- [20:43]
Chris Collins
No, I think you, you always can wave the flag if your team is in the Final Four for sure. And, and listen, the ACC wasn't great, but I think they will they will come back, as we just spoke about. But the SEC certainly has had an unbelievable year. We have two teams in the Final Four, and I thought their success leveled Tennessee and Alabama and Ole Miss. You know, they were right there at the end as well. I mean, just terrific teams. But I think the ACC's something to look up at. They've got to say, wait a minute, how did Duke do this? And certainly they will wave our flag, but we need to get better as a whole in the conference. There's no questioning about that. Everyone knows that. Everyone in the league knows it. And you talk to people within the conference, I think they're making strides to take care of that moving forward.
- [21:32]
Matt
And then there's the whole rev sharing that's coming as well. And you know, the SEC and the ACC and the Big Ten and the Big 12 arguably are going to be able to handle it a little differently than, say, the Big east schools where we know that a lot of that, that, that whole rev share model. And even I get a fruity whip headache, Coach, when I start to think about that a little bit. It's like, wait, you're going to put a cap on something in college athletics? What? What are we doing?
- [21:59]
Chris Collins
Yeah, I'm not sure what direction that's all going to go in and where the nil piece, where actually real nil name, image and likeness comes into play. So that'll all be something to be looked at moving forward on how each school handles it differently.
- [22:13]
Matt
Yeah, it's going to be, it'll be interesting to see, but we know that the SEC has risen up and of course, one of their teams will be in the Final four tomorrow night, 8:50pm Eastern. It'll be number one Florida, number one Houston, battling each other for the national championship. And you know, speaking of that, what was the turning point in the Duke Houston game last night? Well, we'll talk to a legendary coach about that next. It is countdown to Tip Off. I'm Andy Grush with the coach Tim Welsh here on ESPN Radio. Matt and Myron, the podcast.
- [23:07]
Chris Collins
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Matt
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Chris Collins
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- [23:25]
Matt
About capital gains or whatever, which is sort of like holding hands. Sorry.
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Chris Collins
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Matt
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Chris Collins
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Chris Collins
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Jim Boeheim
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- [24:09]
Matt
National Championship game will be played on Monday night and this afternoon. We know we're going to get the women. UConn Again, South Carolina, we got a lot to break down here. It is Sunday morning's countdown to tip off here on ESPN Radio and the ESPN app. We're presented by Progressive Insurance. I'm Andy Grash with the coach, Tim Welsh and I'll tell you, coach, speaking of coaches, we are, we are going to be joined by the legendary former head basketball coach at Syracuse University. He's a basketball hall of Famer. Coach Jim Boeheim is going to join us. But Coach Welsh, his row last night that the coach Bayheim was sitting in. Okay, Dana Altman, Chris Beard, Tubby Smith, Mark Few, Porter Moser, John Beeline, Scott Drew, Nate Oates and the gentleman who joins us now, Jim Boeheim with us here on ESPN Radio in the ESPN app. Coach, did you know you were going to be put into like the murderer's row of coaches there to watch the game last night?
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Myron
Well, usually they put the old coaches there. So I've been there for a while. But they had a couple young ones there too. But yeah, I mean it was a crazy night of basketball. And you know, I've never, I mean it's the worst, most devastating loss that I've ever seen in a final four. I've been to about 50 of them now and a row is almost incomprehensible. But you know, I, you read some of this stuff and the coach should have done that. This was a player's loss. This wasn't a coach's loss. You know, Duke didn't score for 11 minutes. That's not coaching. They had the lead, a six point lead with 30 seconds to go. I mean it's just a, was a kind of on the players. They just missed three throw and they didn't, didn't rebound the basketball. They made just one turnover. It was a huge turnover. But it was one of those losses that's just on the players, they just did not execute it all down the stretch to finish the game and, and give Houston credit. They had to make a three, they had to get an offensive rebound, they had to get a steal, and then they had to make the free throws. They did all those things. So Houston had a big part in that win, but of course Duke helped him.
- [26:49]
Chris Collins
Yeah, Jim, sitting there last night, I know watching it on television, I just, I couldn't get the feel that you had there. But did you feel like that? But was there a turning point or could you feel this happening? Or did you say Duke just has to make one play and they're going to win this game?
- [27:07]
Myron
Well, when it was 14, it was pretty much decided. But then all of a sudden it got down to eight and we were talking about it and when it got to six, I mean, now it's a. There's a chance. But I thought Calvin Sampson maybe the best coaching move of all time or the worst when he didn't foul six points up, what, 110 or something, and he let Duke run the clock all the way down and stopped him. But it was now still 6 with 30, some 35, whatever it was left. So it was a heck of a gamble. I knew I would have fouled and I think most coaches would have, but he let it run down and the guy hit the shot and then they had to get the steel. They got the steel and put it in and then they foul Duke. Duke has to miss. They miss, you know, then they foul on the rebound and 62% free throw shooter has to hit both shots. He does. And then they did a good defensive job to make Cooper Flag take a tough shot. But the story of the game really was Cooper Flag and Con Canal played great. And everybody else at Duke was just. Couldn't have played worse if they just tried. I mean, Proctor's been good all year. He just couldn't do anything. James, same thing. I've watched Malawatch all year. He's been a monster. He did not get a rebound nuke. You know, Houston just was physical with him on every play and Duke supporting cast just wasn't there. But Kelvin Sampson made a calculated move and it worked. And all the credit in the world to Calvin and he's a great coach. I've said many times for the last five years, Calvin Sampson is the coach of the five year period. What he's done, I don't think he's got a guy playing much in the NBA and he's beaten everybody that has a lot of NBA Players on their team.
- [29:17]
Matt
Coach, I want to follow up on a little something by the way. Jim Boeheim, legendary Syracuse head coach, Basketball hall of Famer, with us here on Countdown to tip off on ESPN Radio. Coach, you mentioned about Duke and a couple of guys standing out. You had a guy in Carmelo Anthony, who as a freshman was Superman in a, in a run to a national championship. Are those days over? Like I heard Rick Patino say, hey, I want veteran guys because you're not going to win a national championship with the way the game is set up with young guys anymore. Where do you kind of land on all of that? Are the days of the Carmelo's putting on a cape and just leading a team as a young guy? Are they kind of over with now because of the way teams are built?
- [30:04]
Myron
Well, Cooper flag just about did it last night. 27 points, whatever. Rebounds, assists, blocks, fields. Yeah, I mean a great player can still do it. You're going to have more veterans, you know, you have to take. I love Rick Patino, I hired him on his honeymoon. You have to take things, Rick says with a little grain of salt because I, I know he said that he's going to get transfer and he will, but I think he got three freshmen in the fall, didn't he? Unless I'm forgetting something, I'm not sure, maybe, maybe that didn't happen. I thought it did. But you know, you can have freshmen but you're going to have to have upperclassmen. As simple as that. You look at the teams here, Oklahoma raised their team, but Florida, Auburn, mostly transfer portal guys. You look at the elite eight teams, mostly transfer portal teams. Your coaches are bringing in four or five fourth year or fifth year players and normal freshmen can't play against them. And if you look at Rutgers, they had two of the top five freshmen in the country and they had some other guys that were pretty good but they couldn't win because they're going to the Big Ten against teams with fourth and fifth year players and it's, it's tough for freshmen. A Cooper flag can do it. Maybe next year a Cam Boozer can do it, maybe AJ Damascus can do it at byu. But it's only the super freshman that can help you right away.
- [31:47]
Chris Collins
Jim, speaking of Carmelo, obviously we wanted to touch base on him as well. And getting into the hall of Fame this weekend as well as your 2008 USA Olympic Gold mini winning team, the redeemed team as they were called, can you reflect back on not only Carmelo but on the Olympic Experience. The team that got inducted is going to be inducted in the fall.
- [32:10]
Myron
Well, I love Carmelo. He's given back to our school, our practice facility, our community. But he obviously was a great player. His finals 32 against Texas, 27 or something against Kansas was, was epic and was just a great player for us and has been a great alum for us even though being there one year and he's sending us his son who's a really good player. And I think Syracuse will bounce back this year with the freshman in the transfer class and keeping JJ Stalling and Donnie Freeman. So that's great. But Carmelo was great. He was great on the Olympic team and he's just been a great ambassador for our school and for basketball in general. Couldn't be more happy for him, the 2008 team. It was a great experience being with those guys. Kobe Bryant led the way. It was. We beat everybody by 40. And then when the Spain game got close in the gold medal game, Kobe Bryant took over and showed you people what, what they had to do. It was great experience being with those guys and coaching Carmelo Anthony. I kidded with him. I said, well, Carmelo got me into the hall 25 years ago. He of course he agreed with me as he would, but I had a few other players along the way that helped as well.
- [33:38]
Matt
Coach, I know there was some question about the ACC this year and maybe that was a contributing factor to what happened with Duke in the national semifinals here. How do do do do those two things to you sort of correlate at all?
- [33:58]
Myron
Well, I think the problem with Duke is the two great freshmen played great. The senior transfer portal guy and the junior who's been there, Proctor didn't show up. So it wasn't the freshman. 100 wasn't the freshman. And again transfer portal veteran guys are going to probably be the teams that get to the final four for the most part in the future we're going to have fewer upsets because of the loading up of veteran players going to the top teams. The money is doubling for people who are not aware out there. Basketball teams probably spent 6, 7, 8 million last year. They're going to spend 12 million this year. Football teams are spending 20 million. That 20 million dollar cap is nonsense. It's going to be 30 million because the collective are still there and there's an arms race and it's players to get players. I've pretty much confirmed that a player got $3 million this year for next year and I've heard 1.5 to 2.5 thrown around by all the coaches that I've talked to. So it's an arms race. The mid majors, if they have a good player, they're losing them and a mid major may pull an upset, but they're not going to the Final 4 anymore like VCU did or George Mason did or Butler did. It's not happening. You know, it's not happening. And you just, you've got to have a roster with veteran players. A freshman can fit in maybe here and there, but it's going to be veteran players and the big teams are only going to get stronger as we move forward.
- [35:57]
Matt
Well, Coach, thanks for the time today. We really do appreciate the, the breakdown. Congratulations on all of the hall of Fame nods for you and Carmelo and, and everything swirling around the, this Syracuse program as well. Thanks for the time, coach. We really appreciate it. We'll catch you down the road here on ESPN Radio.
- [36:16]
Myron
Good to be with you guys. Thank you.
- [36:17]
Matt
Thank you. There goes Jim Boeheim, basketball Hall of Famer coach. He's always short and sweet, you know, hey, the freshman played well, the seniors didn't. Boom. Well, here's your Duke loss.
- [36:28]
Chris Collins
The best, best memory I have for the Redeem team is I went to the practice back in 2008 or whatever it was, and it was Jim's day to teach the 23 zone to the Olympic team. And he was out there telling Kobe, talking to Kobe about the slides in the 23 zone while they were going to beat every team by 50. But Mike Krzyzewski said, jim, I want you to put the 23 zone in. And Kobe was laser focused on how to play the top of the two three zone. I'm like, we don't need the two threes out on this team. But Mike Shasheski, to his credit, gave Jim all the respect to put his defense in with that team. And Jim and Mike, what a great combination. Three gold medals for those two guys and, and now another hall of Fame nod.
- [37:13]
Matt
Yeah. And now with players getting 3 million in the portal, I mean that's, that's better than being a mid level first year. Better than a mid level first year salary in the NBA for crying out loud. But it's pretty amazing when you start to think about it. We will look ahead to the women's championship game later today. A lot on the line for Paige Becker's coach and I will get into that next. It's Sunday morning's Countdown to Tip off on ESPN Radio and the ESPN app. Matt and Myron, the podcast.
- [37:54]
Chris Collins
Wow. This house is cute, but can I really get in the game in this economy? I do have savings and I am responsible.
- [38:02]
Jim Boeheim
Ish.
- [38:03]
Chris Collins
I should bury it. I'm being wild. But what if I'm not being wild though? Could I actually score a kick off your home buying journey with Zillow's new buyability tool. It makes it easy to find out.
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Jim Boeheim
What you can afford so you can.
- [38:17]
Chris Collins
Get off the bench and onto the playing field with confidence. Check your buyability only on Zillow. Hey, I'm Brad Milke. You may know me as the host.
- [38:27]
Jim Boeheim
Of ABC Audio's daily news podcast, Start here.
- [38:31]
Chris Collins
But I'd like to add aspiring true crime expert to my resume and here's how I'm going to make it happen. Every week I'm going to unpack the biggest true crime story that everyone is talking about. ABC's got some unique access here, so I'll talk to the reporters and producers who have followed these cases for months, sometimes years. We'll bring you the latest developments and the larger context on the true crime stories you've been hearing about. Follow the crime scene for special access to the people who know these stories best.
- [39:06]
Matt
3:00Pm Eastern on ABC. It is the women's national championship game between number two seed Yukon. So not a two seed but, well, such is the year, I guess. And number one seed South Carolina, it's Gino Oriemma against Don Staley. If you were to ever come up with a big name battle between two massive brands in the women's game, it would be Yukon against South Carolina. It is Sunday morning's countdown to tip off here on ESPN Radio and the ESPN app along with a coach, Tim Welsh, I am Andy Grash. And of course ESPN radio is presented by Progressive Insurance and coach, if you were a scriptwriter in Hollywood, right, or if you were putting together a movie of the 2025 women's NCAA tournament, I think you would end it with Yukon and South Carolina. This is maybe the biggest battle you can get this year in college basketball.
- [40:10]
Chris Collins
Absolutely. The two titans, the two defending champion Dawn Staley, you know, rising to the highest level in the sport just like Gino has. Geno's held the torch, but now she's, she's right there with him. And, and obviously with total respect from Gino towards South Carolina, their program interesting. Like you said, the two seed, I mean they've been favored. They were favored in the semifinal game against a 1 seed. They're favored today and I just think it's going to be a great game. I don't think it's going to be the blowout that we saw earlier in the year when UConn rolled into Columbia and broke their long home court winning streak. I think South Carolina will learn from that. And I think Geno even said, I wish that hadn't happened because of the fact that, you know, I think maybe he's worried that his team may be too comfortable or overconfident. But that never happens with his teams. By the way, he'll find a the buttons to push to make sure they're not over competent stepping onto this floor and how can you be. The respect level is obviously off the charts for UConn and for both teams. And interesting to see how South Carolina can slow UConn down because they play so fast. They go up and down the floor, they space the court, they can play small, they can play big. And Sarah Strong as a freshman, she's not a freshman anymore. I mean, she's. As somebody said. I think Kelvin said that about Duke. He said, well, they're freshmen at the beginning of the year. Then they feel like you're sophomores and now they're pros. And that's kind of the way Sarah Strong reminds me of a person that's ready for the next level. And it's been fun to watch UConn's role, but it's also going to be fun to watch how Don Staley tries to slow down that UConn offense, which UCLA had no chance against.
- [41:57]
Matt
Well, I know that having Az Fudd and Paige Beckers in the bat makes a massive difference for Yukon coach. So it's almost like which, which one of those two ladies do you try to take out the game or slow down a little bit? Because it feels like with. When I watch Paige Beckers, which admittedly is not very often, but whatever they throw at her, she has the ability to work around it.
- [42:22]
Chris Collins
Yeah, I have watched a lot of her. She's just. If you're a basketball fan or really like to dig deep into the beauty of the game, it's. They, they're a must watch because of the fact of how they play the game. They move the ball, Gino moves her around all over the court. It's very hard to defend her because it's. It's hard to read what they're going to do with her. She'll be the point guard, she'll play on the wing, he'll put her down in the corner. They move, they slide her on the baseline. They, they run misdirection plays for her. She could. She's a terrific passer and if you don't play that middle ball screen correctly, she will bury you right in the mid post area, that right above the foul line. She's no one's better in the game than her at that mid range jump shot. And I think the only problem Gino has with her is that sometimes she's not, she's too unselfish. He wants her to be more aggressive as a scorer. They didn't need that the other night, but I think they're going to need it today because South Carolina is going to try to, you know, obviously they're going to try to control the tempo. They're going to use some clock in the half court, but also make sure they get good shots because if they don't and they turn it over like ucla did, then UConn's gonna get out and run and then the game will be over.
- [43:31]
Matt
Coach, I know there's a lot of talk around Paige Beckers and you look at some of the, the real superstar players who've gone on to play in the WNBA and elsewhere coming out of that UConn program, they have the ring on their finger. They were national champions. And I saw this graphic earlier today and I wanted to bring it to you because what kind of career has Paige Beckers had without the national championship? Well, if you compare her to Caitlin Clark, Caitlin Clark, two Final Fours, Paige is in four. Caitlin Clark a four time all American. Paige Becker's three time All American. Some injury stuff in there might have been a part of the issue for Paige. Conference player of the year, both three times Wooden Award winner. Caitlin Clark won it twice, Paige Beckers won it once. Career field goal percentage, Caitlin Clark's at 46%. And you got Paige Beckers and almost 53 and a half percent. And Coach, I think when you put it in that perspective and you realize what the national championship would mean to Paige Beckers, it would put her amongst the best of the best ever in the sport.
- [44:38]
Chris Collins
It would. And you know, whether she wins or loses, she'll have one or none. But the fact is she's right up there with the greats of UConn. And when you think of Taurasi and Rebecca Lobo, Maya Moore, Avi, Sue Bird, they all had multiple championships. But the game is the competition now in the women's game is so much at a higher level than it was 10, 15 years ago. There's 10 to 15 teams that are great every year. And that wasn't the case back in the early 2000s now UConn, and to their credit, they've brought the game up to their level and other coaches have brought up and come up to the Geno level because they've studied what he's done at UConn and been successful with it.
- [45:18]
Matt
It is the Sunday MORNING Countdown to tip off here on ESPN Radio and the ESPN app. Along with the coach, Tim Welsh, I am Andy Gresh. Of course, we just went through the women's national championship game, but how about a current college head coach who just got a job out west? We can talk to him about that, but he coached and played in a national championship game. We'll talk to that guy next here on ESPN Radio and the ESPN app. Matt and Myron, the podcast.
- [45:59]
Chris Collins
Rapper Sean.
- [46:00]
Matt
Diddy Combs was a king maker.
- [46:02]
Jim Boeheim
He had wealth, fame and power.
- [46:06]
Chris Collins
Until.
- [46:07]
Jim Boeheim
It all came crack, crashing down federal.
- [46:09]
Chris Collins
Investigators raiding two homes owned by hip hop mogul Sean Diddy Combs.
- [46:14]
Matt
I'm Brian Buckmire, an ABC News legal contributor. As Diddy heads to trial, we trace.
- [46:19]
Chris Collins
His remarkable rise and fall. And what could be next.
- [46:23]
Matt
Listen to Bad Rap the Case Against.
- [46:25]
Chris Collins
Diddy, a new series from ABC Audio.
- [46:28]
Jim Boeheim
Listen now wherever you get your podcasts.