Fans weigh in on UNC; Darin Gantt on Panthers trade

But let's get to today's fan poll and we will open it up for calls because why not? It's a Monday and there's a lot of stuff to get to. Let's do the listener poll, fan poll.

It is a fantastic thing. I put it up there this morning at 6 14 a.m. and question is very simple. What's the biggest Monday topic? Answer A, UNC gives NIT the Heisman. Answer 2, Duke wins the ACC tournament. Answer C, Panthers trade for number one.

And answer answer answer answer Roman numeral four. And the answer yeah. The answer uh Caine's offense MIA.

Until about 10 minutes ago the Caine's offense being missing in action was first. The Panthers trading for the first overall pick is once again number one. 36.8% there, 34.8% uh looking for the Carolina Hurricanes goal scoring. The third choice UNC giving the NIT the Heisman and the fourth choice Duke winning the ACC championship. UNC getting 18.3% of the vote.

That's where I want to start because I think it's the biggest deal today. Hurricanes offense is what it is. The Panthers trading for number one is a big big deal but this is an ongoing story because there's a lot that is going to happen between now and the draft. No they are not trading down.

Stop it. And Duke winning the ACC championship we are going to talk about it. But to me the story of today is the decision last night for North Carolina to skip the NIT.

Thanks but no thanks. Contrary to popular opinion on social media North Carolina has not routinely done this. That was actually said.

I don't know who but I was reading it in my time like what are you talking about? It's never happened. Not in the modern era of college basketball.

Not in an expanded field. Granted they haven't been in this position very often. But in the two years since they expanded to 64 teams they went to the NIT. Matt Dougherty went to the NIT. They lost in the third round.

They were eligible. They lost a ton of games one year and they didn't even make the NIT because they weren't eligible. But Matt Dougherty went in his third year and they lost to Georgetown in the third round.

And Roy Williams had a team that had the likes of like I'm not even kidding here. Ed Davis was a first round NBA draft pick. Tyler Zeller who was a first round NBA draft pick. John Henson who was a first round NBA draft pick.

The Ware twins who then transferred and played at UCLA. Like that team went to the NIT. Why is this team above it? And that's the way I look at it.

I get the humanity of it. I get the disappointment of their season and how they were built up, built up, built up by other people. And ultimately they didn't meet anybody's expectations. Obviously their own. But also everybody else's. And they heard about it for five months. I get it.

But where did where did the lack of leadership in the program allow it to manifest itself in that we could just pull the plug? Ah, we're done. I was told that sports builds character, helps to build character. I was told about that. I was told about how you fight through.

I know like people sent me the quotes from the Hubert Davis introductory press conference. We're always going to play. We're always going to be there. We're always going to fight. I guess until we decide we don't want to.

Disappointing. I get it that they got Davis love black. I can understand them not wanting to play.

I can absolutely understand that. I also remember hearing Caleb Love said, I'll play. I remember I know Dennis, you talked to Caleb Love before we get to call us here. I did. You said you talked to Caleb Love. You talked to Armando Baker. He said he doesn't want to, but he'll do what the coach tells you to do. And he said, I'll do what the coach tells you to do.

That's right. So where's Hubert? I love Hubert Davis. It pains me to call foul, if you will, on Hubert Davis. I love Hubert Davis. I loved him last year. I love him this year.

I will always love that guy, but it bothers me that this was somehow a collaborative effort when it should have been Hubert saying, we're playing. Who's playing North Carolina, show it up to the NIT. Who's coming. You don't want to play. That's fine.

You have the right to opt out because it isn't about the four or five guys who might not want to play. It's about the program. My feeling on that. 8 6 0 5 fan, 8 6 0 5 3 2 6. Todd and Kinston. Todd, what's going on?

Hey, how's it going? First of all, I just want to give a shout out to Brian Hall. It was good hearing from him.

I went to school with him back at Our Lady of Grace in Greensboro. It's good to see that he's going to Sacramento since we ain't going anywhere. But I mean, last time I checked, sports was a dictatorship and I think Hubert has given this team way too much power. He should have said, we're going. If nothing else, I'm going to develop some guys that didn't get a whole lot of play in time because chances are we may lose some of these guys. And I would just like, he was not going to come out and say it, but I would like, you know, Roy's two cents on this decision. And I'm just wondering if Bubba Cunningham was in on this because we probably would have had the first two games if we won in Chapel Hill.

Yes. You don't know what kind of home crowd that would be though. And I think they were probably, there were probably some people who were leery of a half filled Smith Center, but that to me, that's a secondary concern.

Also, the finances involved is a secondary concern for me. The primary concern is it's not about the players. It's not about these guys deciding. It's about the program. I mean, with all respect to Armando Bacot and Caleb Love and RJ Davis and Leaky Black, and to a lesser extent, Pete Nance, the program is going to be around well after their basketball playing is done.

This is about the university in North Carolina. And I don't think you let players make these decisions. I mean, I'm not completely ignoring what they went through.

I'm not ignoring it at all. I recognize how difficult this year must've been. But to me, Hubert Davis is like, should be, we are playing, we are accepting this bid. Who's going to show up and play.

Yeah. I just, I hate it for Leaky Black because I would have loved to have seen him play a little bit more. And I just feel like Armando is just worried about his next appearance on Outer Banks. We didn't need that kind of loaded comment there, Todd. What's the resentment towards Armando who gave it all this year? I mean, I like Armando. I just, I feel like he should have manned up and said, hey, let's go. Let's win as many games as we're able to win.

Let's keep playing. Like I said, there is a disappointment that is natural for all of those guys. And I think Armando, I think he wore the weight of this entire season on his face this year.

I really do. But I think Armando would have played if the team was going to go. He said, I, cause I know Dennis, you talked to him, but the clip I heard, you know, he said, I don't want to go. I want to go, but if Hubert, they say we'll go, then I'll play. I'll do whatever the head coach tells me to do. So if, so to me, this decision should have been Hubert Davis's alone to make.

And it should have been about the program, not about the, the feelings of players who were completely crushed and heartbroken over the way their season went, which again, I absolutely understand. Absolutely understand. All right. Keep it, keep holding it down in Kingston, Todd. All right. Appreciate it. Take it easy.

You got it. Mike is in Wilmington. Mike, what's going on?

Well, I hate to say this. I wish Hubert would have just said, no, we're going. Y'all don't, if you see anybody doesn't want to go, just stay home because he, he needs to develop those young kids because the heat is going to be on him next year after this season, because I blame Hubert and I'm sorry. I like Hubert like you, but he totally found this season up, not playing the younger player, not giving them the playing time that they needed to develop.

I mean, I'm not, it's hard to argue. Look, I wish they would have played their bench more. We're not in practice.

So it's hard. It's hard to say why that, why we didn't see those guys play, right? But they were all recruited for a reason and it would have been nice.

This would have been a great opportunity. Even if Baycott, like Baycott doesn't have to leave the room. He's not going to have to leave the program.

We can simply say Armando Baycott's ankle needs rest. And there's no sense in him fighting through paying to play in the NIT. Oh yeah. Right. We could have easily done that. That would, nobody would have been upset about that. They got, it's been a great player for this team, but it also, listen, Roy went, but Dave Smith went a couple of times to the NIT back in the early seventies before they expanded the field. Yeah.

But I don't want, I don't want to go back and use a pre, like a bygone era because everything is different than the truth. No, no, no, I get it. But still, it is about the development of the younger players and the Heat will be on Hubert starting next year. Yeah.

I mean, I don't, I don't disagree with that. The Heat's always going to be on the head coach. The Heat was on Hubert last year too. The Heat's on Hubert this year.

I don't think Hubert is going to get fired anytime soon. Mike and Wilmington, I appreciate your, your time. It is about the young guys, but it's also about, this is the program. And if you want to say, well, what benefit is there to playing in the NIT?

Well, I would just say, why do we have it? Why did they feel it was okay to go in 2010? Why did they feel it was okay to go in 20, in 2003? And the reason is they must have saw, have seen some benefit in 2010. This era is not that much different than 2010. So miss me with the, the NIT isn't good enough for us.

Miss me with that because there's a lot of good programs that are in it. Villanova, Michigan, others, Clemson is top seed. So I don't buy that. You're not going to convince me with, whoa, wait, what, what can we benefit? Again, there are seven players who could play. If the veteran players who played the lion's share of the minutes don't want to play, we got seven players who could play. And if they don't all want to play, they don't all want to play.

I bet you got a bunch of kids who busted their ass in practice who would play. I don't care if they're walk-ons go out, get drilled, but the program should have played the venture X card from Capitol one gives you premium travel benefits. Perfect for seeing Taylor Swift, the era's tour presented by Capitol one.

Oh, I do love her. Earn five times miles on flights and 10 times miles on hotels through Capitol one travel. Enjoy your stay in suite 13. Well, 13 that's Taylor's lucky number. The venture X card from Capitol one what's in your wallet terms apply.

See capital one.com for details. Panthers trading for number one, which happened Friday afternoon is winning the poll right now. Darren Gantt panthers.com. I thought we should ask the old guy. There's got to be a lot of excitement running through mint street.

These days. Take me. I don't know how far behind the scenes you can you can take me but take me behind the scenes to the the excitement running through the building.

Well, I think obviously there should be a excitement. They haven't been in this position since 2011 when some guy named Cam Newton came in with the first pick in the draft and and while we don't know that this next guy might turn into a Cam Newton or anything approaching it. What you do know is they've got a shot to get off the wheel and this was kind of always the intent as I wrote on panthers.com. This was probably coming the minute you put this staff together when you get Frank Reich and he says, Oh yeah, I can get you Jim Caldwell. I can get you Thomas Brown.

I can get you Josh McCown. You didn't bring all those guys in to coach mid-grade free agents or leftovers or seventh round picks. You got those guys because you believe they can make a difference for you on offense.

And now if you want to empower that star-studded coaching staff you you give them something like this and and we don't know how that's going to turn out and I think that's probably the the biggest takeaway for me is right now there is excitement about getting to that spot but if anybody who does what I do for anyone tells you oh they're absolutely doing this to go get fill in the blank that person lying to you and you should remember it because they're just trying to sound more authoritative than they can possibly be because they don't know yet. So you how many quarterbacks do you think they really like right now? I think I think a lot of this you know you go into the evaluation process when you were still picking ninth and I think as you looked at that group it runs four deep. I mean it was the four first round guys. It was Young. It was Stroud.

It was Levis. It was Richardson in some order and your mileage may vary depending on which team you happen to work for but I think I think they kind of looked at that clump before and those are still the guys you know that I think you've got to look at and and you know they have been um you know I think it's obvious that they want to continue to look at all those guys. They'll go to all the pro days. They'll show faith uh in Columbus, in Kentucky, in Alabama, at Florida um the end of the month and and they'll be seen at all these places to kind of keep everybody in the mind. I mean I think there is some probably um I don't want to say uncertainty but I think there's they're willing to play this thing out and and do the long play on this one and see you know if they get to Columbus and they go out and have a stake with CJ Stroud and they decide this is absolutely the guys and maybe they go that way but maybe they show up in Tuscaloosa the next day and have the same experience with Bryce Young and think wait a minute we got to rethink this.

So I think there are still some options for the coming uh weeks but I think by and large just the opportunity to to change the trajectory of that position was the reason they did this. Darren Gant, panthers.com, joining us here on the Adam Gold Show. We ask the old guy as often as he'll allow us to ask him. I remember the conversation that we had back in 2011 going into that draft and you were of the month. You remember that? Oh yes. I don't remember what I had for breakfast. I remember you know what you're gonna remember this too because you said uh don't overthink it. Cam Newton was the number one pick so my question here is do we have anybody that even approaches that ilk? No no I don't think so not yet. I think it's become more complicated and and I tell you what I mean if you if you had asked me this on December 1st right I would have said that Bryce Young is probably that guy and and just because you can say whatever you want about his size he did this at the highest level um against the highest level defenses really successfully and I don't know that I would have necessarily put CJ Stroud into that category until the Georgia game and I think that one kind of made everybody recalibrate a little bit and say oh okay well he is he might not just be an ordinary Ohio State quarterback he might be that guy and I think when you see him in that setting now you know we're going to parse this thing out over the next six and a half seven weeks to the infinite degree but I don't think there is that cam guy I mean Mike Mayock's evaluation at the time notwithstanding that Lane Gabbard would be a better NFL quarterback than Cam Newton which I don't think has turned out and oh by the way Mike Mayock's not a general manager anymore um yeah other than that I don't necessarily see that clear cut because I think there are arguments you can make in in the favor of either one of them look you raised the you brought the name up of the guy that I think is the best quarterback in the draft the guy who reads the defense is the best throws the ball accuracy accurately most accurately he's the best guy but he's 5'10 and about 185 pounds with quarters in his pocket and I my fear is that forget about the uh the fact that he's 5'10 Russell Wilson is 5'10 but he'll he's only right he's just right he's only he's only 185 pounds and he doesn't have the frame that's going to get that much bigger so I'm afraid he'll break and Adam he weighed 204 pounds at the scouting combine did you not get the memo I I I missed that one and I'm also not buying it drank a gap perhaps he drank a gallon of water before he got on the scale I don't know but um yeah I mean I I do think if we run the risk of saying something that will be viewed as silly 10 years from now if you if you get hung up okay 204 maybe that's but with the difference between 198 and 191 make it I don't know how much of a difference does it have to be I mean is he little he is of course I mean he's smaller than the prototype and there's going to be that concern but I I just think the thing that stands out to me he doesn't play a little guy's game he he plays a regular sized quarterbacks game he's reading defenses he's making checks at the line he's doing NFL stuff you know he's been playing for Bill O'Brien and that's an NFL offense right um so I I like his ability to do it at the NFL level and you know I I think there are certain things that will change the way you think about him I mean obviously these guys are trying to keep Bradley Boseman around and if you keep your center and what is a really good offensive line then I think you automatically feel better about it but with any of these guys it's going to be about who you surround them with yes you know the best thing the best thing that happened to Cam Newton in 11 you know even though he and Steve weren't a successful long-term relationship uh the best thing they did for Cam in 11 was go out and sign a trade for a Greg Olson and sign him a Jeremy Shockey yep and have a couple of those guys so I think no matter who it it is these first few hours of free agency our first couple days of free agency I should say maybe you trade for a target whether it's a receiver or a tight end I think you have to consider those in unison um and you've got to give him help you you bring up you actually went to my next question it'll be my last one for Darren Gant at Darren Gant on Twitter asktheoldguypanthers.com that with the trade of DJ Moore with including DJ Moore in the deal there basically are no receivers no like credible top flight receivers at on mid street right now so if you bring in a quarterback be it Young or be it Stroud or Richardson or Levis then they don't have anybody to throw to they need seven new bodies they need a bunch of wide receivers they need at least two tight ends and they need a running back out of the backfield that can catch the ball that's a lot to get to I know they have their draft picks they have one which they're going to use in a quarterback they have an early second they've got a third they've got two fourths they can certainly restock there but that's what they have to do no right yeah it would be a perfect situation if you had DJ Moore and Christian McCaffrey here oh wait without DJ Moore and Christian McCaffrey you don't have the picks to make this deal so um you know I think realistically yeah sure I mean would you have wanted to give DJ Moore in this deal I don't think the Bears do it when they did it without DJ in that deal because you know they're thinking of it the same way I mean they've got a Justin Fields problem that they're trying to figure out and and they need to give him a premier receiver to see if he can be his best self um so I think they were insistent on DJ being part of this for this to get done in March I mean if not then I think they might have ridden it out until April and tried to see who was going to offer the the biggest collection of picks because I mean honestly going from one to nine is not ideal for the Bears if you don't get DJ Moore because it takes you out of the mix for those uh top end pass rushers and top end defensive players and some of those big targets like that so I I think you know it's unfortunate it's something you've got to overcome but it was also the cost of doing business and frankly you know franchise level quarterbacks are harder to find than DJ Moore level wide receivers and even though DJ Moore level wide receiver is very very good yeah I I agree I uh I it's hard to understand why teams draft wide receivers really high when there are look no offense to DJ Moore there are so many wide receivers that come uh into the league whether it's uh second round third round undrafted like Adam Thielen I'd push back on that a little bit I mean Adam Thielen's of the world are really rare and and while I do believe that the law of supply and demand dictates that there are more qualified receivers coming into the league than there were 20 years ago DJ's still really good I mean himself from that group pretty effective it's not a knock on DJ I'm not in any way criticizing DJ Moore I think he's a very good wide receiver I don't look at DJ Moore as an elite one number one wide receiver I look at him as a good wide receiver that maybe is better suited to being a pretty tough you're a pretty tough grader there must not be very many elite ones if DJ doesn't count do we do we disagree on just how we might disagree on just how good DJ Moore is I like him we might okay I think he's really good I I don't know where you draw the line at a lead as at eight as at ten as at fifteen I think he's one of those guys I think he's yeah because he's so physical because he's got run after the catch ability and because he can go yard like you saw him do in Atlanta um yeah I think he's pretty special now is he Devante Adams but Devante Adams might be a top five or a top four or whatever so I'm with you on that also was Devante Adams a first round pick gosh I don't think so he had the benefit he had the benefit of playing with that Aaron Rogers who's helped a lot of uh and and that's the other thing to me not to extend this segment way beyond its expiration date uh but that's another thing I think you got to remember about DJ is not just that he was consistently productive he did it with about a million different quarterbacks going back to his Maryland days uh through his career here I mean he never had the opportunity to play with that kind of guy and still and I mean to me if you believe Justin Fields is going to be a good one then we'll find out oh I I don't believe that Justin Fields is going to be a good one uh and DJ Moore was hamstring skeptical I am so cynical DJ Moore was hamstrung by his uh by the quarterbacks he played with so he might be way better than even I give him credit because of the quarterbacks he played with Darren Gantt you've got to always look on the bright side that's what's gotten me through life if you threw to DJ Moore he'd be in the hall of fame already you're the man I appreciate it yeah he needs to wait at least five years all right we'll we'll visit again you got it well we love asking the old guy Darren Gantt at panthers.com at Darren Gantt with two t's for extra talent the venture x card from capital one gives you premium travel benefits perfect for seeing taylor swift the eras tour presented by capital one oh I do love her earn five times miles on flights and 10 times miles on hotels through capital one travel enjoy your stay in sweet 13. whoa 13 that's taylor's lucky number the venture x card from capital one what's in your wallet terms apply see capitalone.com for details this week at macy's discover great deals on spring updates for you and your home refresh your look with michael kohr's handbag shoes and more 250 and under get 50 to 70 percent off suits lasers and pants for him and shop select great value small appliances 99.95 and under plus get contact-free curbside pickup or pickup in store today at macy's details at macy's.com pick up savings off sale and clearance prices exclusion supplies by the way the raiders are finalizing a deal with jimmy garoppolo hey look at that so you you understand that i am a recovering jets fan right i'm no longer a jets fan i could care less they are but i have familiarity with them and for those people who remain jet fans and i know many i can't figure out why but i know many why you are still a jets fan i feel for you if the aaron rogers thing doesn't work out what's plan b i curious about that zack wilson right what's plan b if the aaron rogers thing doesn't doesn't pan out because to be honest plan a should have been jimmy garoppolo plan b should have been derek carr carr is not that good good garoppolo is not that good but if you don't if rogers decides tomorrow that you know what i'm just gonna stay in green bay or i'm gonna retire or i want to play somewhere else what's plan b so it pretty much the jets have to be all in on aaron rogers at this point have to by the way there's still a rumor that tom brady's going to 49ers is that amazing i just find that utterly of course utterly amazing all right so we should play some bets place your bets place your bets i bet you slice into the woods 100 bucks gambling is illegal with bushwood sir and i never slide damn it okay you can hold i owe you all right sir i actually won one of my uh soccer wagers over the weekend which i think had everything kind of yeah exactly and everton to uh win a match and good for everton for winning a match my uh my liverpool my reds just wet the bed at south hampton oh no i'm sorry i had bournemouth i get those two mixed up like how do you lose to a team that was last at the bottom of the table after beating man you seven nil how do you do that you can't explain you you can't explain huh exact that's exactly right huh yeah yeah yeah yeah anyway uh you go first dennis cox all right i'm gonna go right to the playing games tomorrow pit mississippi state give me the panthers plus 110 on the money line panthers plus 110 very very narrow uh i have not delved into these games just yet i am uh i am waiting i am waiting to delve into them uh all right the buffalo sabers and the montreal canadians are both in a a very difficult spot they are both getting a lot of plus money love uh the canadians are home to the colorado avalanche could they do it dennis at plus 210 yeah they can all right well let's see if they can do it at plus 210 right there okay money line plus 210 to canadians i've i've gone to the canadians a lot lately not even sure that they have uh really come through for me all that often well let's see if they do today they just might well maybe not go ahead you're nc state plays crayton in the first round out in denver on friday no thursday give me the wolf pack plus 180 okay give me the wolf pack plus 180 it's not that best not that uh bad i mean they're they're an underdog to crayton but it's just a slight underdog i wouldn't that's why i like points is 180 translate to four points something like that is 180 translate to four points something like that let's see four points uh actually it is friday by the way yes right i got it wrong uh five and a half five and a half okay it's a little bit more than i expected it's friday uh by the way unc ashville a my a plus 17 and a half okay that makes uh that makes a ton of sense yeah all right so we've got uh jerona and atletico madrid in la liga today it's the it's the monday night spectacular for la liga today give me an alvaro morada anytime goal at plus 160 i'm sure he will no idea who he is neither do i i really don't know who that doesn't matter but you're getting value that's all that matters it's not that much value plus 160 but he must score a lot of goals if he's only plus 160 all right that's where we are national champion kansas plus 1200 kansas well that's that's pretty good yeah that's pretty good all right should we do that should we do something like that if you want to go for it you want to do plus 3300 for the duke blue devils to win the national championship plus 3500 oh give it to me give it plus 3500 duke to win the national champion same odds as kentucky really yeah duke's better than kentucky i think yeah they are the venture x card from capital one gives you premium travel benefits perfect for seeing taylor swift the eras tour presented by capital one oh i do love her earn five times miles on flights and 10 times miles on hotels through capital one travel enjoy your stay in suite 13. whoa 13 that's taylor's lucky number the venture x card from capital one what's in your wallet terms apply see capital one.com for details