I Can't Take Him Seriously

This is The Drive with Josh Graham Podcast. We are killing it online. Tune into The Drive weekday afternoons, 3-7 on Wash J Yachts.

So glad to have you on a Thursday Drive. It is WSJS, News Talk Sports for the Triad. A lot of basketball on the agenda today. Both North Carolina and Wake Forest holding scrimmages last night. Joel Barry, Stan Cotton, guests on today's show.

Let's hit on where our feet are at. in Winston-Salem right now. Largely because Hunter Salas and Cam Hildreff are no longer wearing black and gold. Wake Forest has completely flown under the radar. heading into this ACC basketball season.

You'd think If you finish top five in the league, Three of the last four years, you might get a little bit more respect, a little bit more benefit of the doubt, but no. Steve Forbes is Deeks. Pick to finished. Eleventh. out of 18 teams.

Even with that being the case, though. You should expect Wake. to exceed those expectations and more specifically To be better. offensively, even without the services. of Salas.

of Hildriff. Of others from last year's team. proven players. And last night in a win. over East Tennessee State.

Wake showed once again. It's made progress. Making strides. Towards being better offensively. 15 of 33 from three, 57% from the field.

Wake's going to be better offensively. And if that doesn't make sense to you, You gotta understand. that the problems the Deeks had last year were structural issues, not talent issues.

Some might think, well, Josh, how are they going to be better with Out. Those two players may be their two best guards. two of the better guards that they've had in recent seasons.

Well, neither of those guys play point guard.

Now is the issue. It's why the ball didn't move around nearly enough, and Wake finished 13th in the ACC in scoring. They're not going to be that low this year. There's no question who the point guard is. It's Nate Calmies, who had 12 assists last night.

There's no question who your starting two guard is. It's Makai Mason. who grew up on the same streets as Nate Cowmey, so don't worry about chemistry. either. These guys have known each other since they were kids.

They played AAU basketball together. Mackai Mason had twenty four points, hit five threes in the game. There's no question. Sebastian Aikens, he is a true point guard as well. coming off of the bench.

When Cal Meese isn't in the game. The offense. It's going to resemble more of an NBA system. That's why Steve Forbes. Hired former Hornets assistant.

Dick Friedman. Nick Friedman spending pretty much his entire career in pro basketball. Steve Forbes, his childhood friend, one of his best friends, is the head coach of the Sixers, Nick Nurse. Can guarantee you that conversations have happened between those two. Regarding offensive basketball and how to integrate that.

in the collegiate ranks.

So, expect to see the ball move around in a five-out system. Cooper Schweger, you would have expected the transfer coming in. To be your starting five, he's not healthy right now, dealing with an ankle injury. Maybe you have him back. As early as next weekend.

Steve Borf said he's going to likely miss the opener against American. But until that happens, it's probably Trey Spillers as your small ball five. Omaha Blue filling in as the four. If you want to go smaller than that, you can maybe put in the Purdue transfer. Miles Colvin, son of former Patriot Super Bowl champion Roosevelt Colvin.

But the real key for Wake Forest this year is going to be Jukeris. The Deeks This is a crazy stat. The Deeks are the only team in the ACC. that has had a first team all ACC player in each of the last four seasons. Duke hasn't done this.

Carolina hasn't done this. Going through the list. It was Elotis Williams, ACC Player of the Year. Ty Appleby, ACC Player of the Year runner-up. And then Hunter Salis, first team all ACC.

the last couple of seasons. Juke Harris is the guy you circle on this team that has a capability of potentially being that type of player. And if he is.

Well, then that's how Wake Forrest gets into the NTIA tournament discussion and gets in for the first time in Steve Forbes' tenure. Juke's the best freshman that Steve's had in his time in Winston. And The other time There was a lot of excitement. For a guy similar to Jukes Build. or pretty close to it, was Bobby Clintman.

And there was the debacle with his agent and him going to play overseas. After just one year in Winston-Salem, It also should Sounds good you know. Alarm bells in your head, or maybe not alarm bells, but it should. trigger something in your memory. The last time Wake Forest had a really exciting freshman stick around, For a second year, Well, that was John Collins the last time that...

Wake Forest made the NCAA tournament in 2017. Had a terrific First team all ACC sophomore season. And Jukaris is capable Yeah. making that type of jump. Wake up.

opens things up against American at Joel Coliseum on Monday night. On X at Josh Graham Show at WSJS Radio. It's where we're streaming video in addition to YouTube and Twitch. Will Dalton's under a lot of stress right now because. He just now got around to the Panthers.

Coordinator sound. And we're going to play whatever he has for us in the next 10 minutes. How's that coming along, Will?

Well, I'm listening to a Jiro Everett right now. How much fun is that? Is it more fun or less fun when you're under the clock? It's not fun being under the clock. It's not as fun listening to these guys say nothing.

No, it's not, because I'm trying to find the nugget, and it's easier to find the nugget when I have time to dig for it. Gotta We're going to find out what Will Dalton procures for us. in about 10 minutes. This is gonna be Will's curation. Of Panther Coordinator sound.

I look forward to it each and every week just because of the impossible nature of the task. of making these guys interesting. That's what makes it impossible. And also entertaining because You know, people like the chore. People like the effort that's being exuded and like the fact that they don't have to be the ones that exude that effort.

or exert it. You just They just get to look at you and or look at us and point and laugh. A little bit. Nobody was laughing. At ECU pitcher Treya Savage last night, though.

After what he did against Toronto uh against the LA Dodgers. Treya Savage. East Carolina Pirate? His game five is going to be remembered. Forever.

Baseball. has a special way. of valuing history. Baseball values history more than any other sport. Because the stats hold up better in that sport than any other.

It goes back so much further.

So there are things that you pull and when you do things that have never been done before It just means more. When you say that qualifier, with Major League Baseball, especially if it's in the World Series. And Trey set some historical marks last night. 12K's most strikeouts for any rookie in World Series history. Nuts.

The last time they had double figure strikeouts. As a rookie It was nineteen forty-nine. 12K's the most strikeouts without a walk. For any pitcher, rookie or not. He struck out every player in the Dodger order.

And the backdrop of this performance, it can't be underscored, it can't be overlooked. This happened against Shohei Otani, against the reigning champs, inside Dodger Stadium with the World Series tied. At two games a piece. If Toronto goes on to win it all by winning tomorrow night or on Saturday, Treya Savage is a legend in Canada. for the rest of time.

But around here Trey Story resonates strongly. Seventeen months ago. Trey watched. Or Che uh outdueled. Wake Forest.

Chase Burns in a Elimination game in Greenville, America during the NCAA tournament. That was only 17 months ago. And now he's in the World Series. He started the season. In single A.

The guy's salary is fifty-seven grand. And he's striking out. Shohei Otani. Who's worth seventy million dollars per year? I think that's right.

Want to make sure I get his annual salary right? Shohei Otani. Is making an average annual salary.

Well, I mean, you could do the deferments and see it differently, but. On average. He's making $70 million a year. Striking out. having no success against the guy making fifty seven grand.

And that's why it's such a great story. An ECU pirate. An ECU pirate through the first seven innings? And then to close things out. Jeff Hoffman, another ECU guy.

You have The moment you've all been waiting for You're on the drive with Josh Graham. I like that music, baby. Joe Berry likes it well. Oh yeah. We hear you, ACC Network.

Tar Heel legend. He's ready to go. Kansas. Eight days from now, it's going to play North Carolina finishing a home and home. This is finishing a home and home of sorts.

I was on the ACC. Basketball, podcast. Podcast with you and Taylor Tannenbaum. And now, this is the return visit in the home and home. It's good to have you, North Carolina.

Beating down B-Dots Winston-Salem State Rams last night. Beat him by 40, but he was sitting there. courtside and had his gear on. He was looking He was looking fine. It's good to have him back in the building.

Caleb Wilson. Another great outing. everywhere I go, JB, people are wanting to make comps. I'm at the Panther game on Sunday, and a friend walks up and says he reminds me of him of college Carmelo Anthony. I've heard Tyler Hansborough compare him to Marvin Williams.

I heard someone else say he looks like Harrison Ingram. What do you see when you see Caleb Wilson, who went for twenty three last night? Look, I'm going to take a different path. I just see him as Caleb Wilson. Um I just think he's so dominant.

And look, I get the comparisons. I get trying to, you know. compare what he can do to other folks, but I think this is where we celebrate a kid and just, you know. What he's really able to do, and he does it in his own way. Like, I think he's very raw.

But you obviously see the athletic ability. You see the difference maker he makes with on the defensive end, just his length. And then also, like, I think he's just so great at the unscripted plays. Like, you know, you're out of. Defenses are out of sorts, and then all of a sudden, his athletic ability.

And his size to be able to stretch out at the rim. uh ends up taking over Um I just, yeah, I'm not going to compare him to anyone. But then let me put it differently. When's the last time you were this excited about a Tar Heel freshman coming in? Yeah, I mean, I think it's.

It's been a while. Yeah. Maybe Cole Anthony? Five, six years. Yeah, Cole Anthony, I mean, it's, yeah, it's been a minute.

So I think all the hype and Seeing him be that top recruit that Carolina's kind of used to having back in the day with some of the classes they brought in. I think this is it, this just excites the crowd. But yeah, Josh, you make a good point. I mean, it's been a long time since you've had. A Carolina freshman brings in this type of buzz.

No, the thing that's nuts is there are some stats that. It's hard to really wrap your mind around. Last segment, we were talking about: hey, Wake Forest is the only team in the ACC to have. First team, all ACC players the last four seasons. They're the only team to do that.

Another stat that might blow people away is. North Carolina hasn't had a top 14 pick, a lottery pick, since Kobe White and Cam Johnson in 2019. That's going to be seven years, JB. How's that hit you? You know, I think it goes with uh I just think it goes with the times.

I just think it's, you know, with the whole transfer, and now there are different avenues for guys to take. that is a little bit different than back in the day.

So I'm not surprised. Um, but at the same time, I am because there are like that was a norm for Carolina, and it's not just to have you know, one and you know, Cam Johnson was a little bit of a surprise, but it wasn't rare to see multiple guys being top picks. Um And so, I, but I do, I do think, Josh, I think it's just the times, but. You know, I think like we look at. I think someone mentioned it about how all the talent is spread out now.

Where it's not just the ACC. You know, being have all the talent or the big 12 or the SEC. It's spread out all over the place.

So it's not condensed and consolidated like it used to be in earlier times.

So I just think you got to kind of. The pass has to be the pass, and we have to be able to be flexible to see all these different, you know. These new things that are going to happen with the talent just being able to be spread out more. Driving your point home of how surprising it was that Cam Johnson was a lottery pick that year. Wow.

That was still by far one of the best reactions to a guy getting drafted, which is it was very authentic, man. And I I can hear that anytime, and I know exactly who it is. Wow, bro. Kobe White, very excited for Cam Johnson in 2019. Oh, man.

Honestly, JB, Joel Berry with us here, really pumped. For this recruiting class coming in. It's It gets talked about as a big three. And Man, if you're Caleb Wilson and you're feeling like you're slided not in that group, You outplayed DeBonsa last week. You got Darren Peterson in the Smith Center next week.

And last I checked, You get to sign up for 40 twice against Cam Boozer. How long's the list? I mean, Mikkel Brown at Louisville. How long's that list of freshmen Joel Berry is excited to watch? Yeah, I think this group of freshmen that are coming in, I mean, just the what I, Josh, what I'm so Surprised about is like how polished these dudes are.

Yeah. Like, look at AJ. I mean, the fact that he has the awareness to be able to say, hey, I can't. blow past anyone. Let me stop and post up and draw a double team or to rise up over someone and finish.

You look at Cam Boozer going into a hostile place in Tennessee. and destroying tendency and doing it with maturity. doing it with confidence. Michael Brown might be the one that has kind of like been trying to find a little bit, but even against Bucknell. He came out and started shooting the ball.

Like everyone expected him to shoot it. And then. Darren Peterson came into Louisville and just felt like he. Like he's been playing college basketball his entire life. I mean the dude Like it was crazy, but I just'm very impressed with how these guys just look so polished.

and look ready for the spotlight. and just keeping it in ACC. Man, Cam Boozer is going to give people a lot of problems. A lot of problems. Joe Berry with us.

Let's get to Wake Forest.

So There was no video broadcast. Stan Cotton was in the building. He's going to join us at 5:30. He was our eyes and ears. But everything I've been hearing behind the scenes.

What I've seen on stat sheets tells me that this is going to be a better offense than what it was last year. And that might surprise people because Hunter Salas and Cam Hildreff aren't there anymore. But the Deeks, 13th out of 18 teams. In scoring offense a year ago, it just felt disjointed. The ball wasn't moving around the way it needed to.

Now you insert Nate Calmes who had 12 assists last night. Makai Mason, a true shooting guard, who, as I told you guys, grew up on the same street as each other in Gilbert, Arizona. He had 24 points. Last night, Um Sam Friedman. Or Nick Friedman, excuse me.

Nick Friedman's brought in to be an assistant here. You worked with Nick with the Greensboro Swarm, and Bakai Mason was on the broadcast last night giving a lot of credit for what Wake did offensively to Nick.

So when people say, an NBA type offense or Ways that things can change from an MBA lens. What do they mean, and what type of impact do you think? Coach Friedman might have on Wake Forest. Yeah, first off, Nick and I, we have built a great relationship. We still text all the time.

There are times we get on a phone call and talk for like 45 minutes about basketball. First and foremost, he's a great dude, and I'm so happy for him to be on the coaching staff and being able to have this opportunity. Secondly, he's a great offensive mind, just knows basketball in general. But the energy and the pop that he brings to offense, he just gets very excited about it. And um just that modern, you know.

What everyone talks about, NBA, it's more of getting the ball moving, getting the ball, giving the ball energy. I think that's where a lot of guys fall into trouble. You know, even just one over dribble can mess up the rhythm of an offense. And I think that's what Nick, he always stressed. Like, we did a lot of Zoom actions where we hit the big and we come off or hit a guard on that baseline, on the sideline, and we get, you know, going to it with pace.

Like, if you're into practice, you'll hear Nick talk about all that pace, you know, getting the ball to pop, getting ball energy, get it moving around because that's just hard to guard. And so I think that's what Nick brings to the table, and just part of him in his offensive strategy. And I think that's why we're going to see a different offense from Wake Forest. What you're describing, isn't that exactly what they were missing last year? They were.

They were. I think I like there were a lot of times Hunter Salas and Cam Hildreth. Would just kind of, you know, had the ball in their hand, and then they get to the end of the clock and don't know what to do with it. And part of that, too, is that they just didn't have any spacing on the floor because they didn't shoot the ball from the three-wheel. Like, you don't have to have Crazy numbers from the three, but you at least have to be respectable, you know.

And I just think they weren't respectable from the three.

So once. You know, other teams aren't stupid. They're just going to, you know. Condense the floor and make you play in crowds. And that's what they were doing all last season.

Joe Barry. It's so good to see you, and I'm so glad college basketball season starts. In earnest, I'm right there with you Monday, man. Which means we'll be chatting more often and I'll be seeing you face to face more often. Thanks for doing this, and we'll talk sometime soon.

Always, man. Always glad to be here. No doubt. There he goes. Joel Berry, make sure to check out the podcast.

I mean, we have the ACC Network on in our studio all the time. And. It's always great to visit with JB. All throughout the year. Make sure if you haven't already, you're subscribed to the podcast.

Search the Drive with Josh Graham, iTunes, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, the best hour of what we do available on demand for you. Buy again. Search of the Drive with Josh Graham. YouTube, the Mike Jones interview. Who?

From UNCG, you can find that on our channel as well, and on the podcast fee, however, and wherever you listen or watch. We greatly appreciate that. That. What are you smiling about? You know, we're supposed to have Panthers coordinator sound today.

Is there no Panthers coordinator sound today? And we have yet to have that drop, so. Your boy needs to go dig up some cliffs. Is really stressing it because Panther coordinators met with the media this morning. And we do not have the video for Will Dalton to pour over, and he might have to do it during.

The program. I want to hear Tracy Smith talking about the weather in Green Bay. It's one of those deals that. You lament it, you complain about it. This is hard work, whatever.

But then the moment that it's taken away from you. I don't like that. You miss it. I do. You miss the coordinator sound because you need it.

You thrive off it. It makes you better. It's my juice. It's your it's your muse. Yeah.

That also could apply to where we're going. It's just like Christmas.

somebody we once knew very well. Oh, no, no, will, will I not suppose to do that?

Next. It's the drive with John Scream. W S J L Yes. Anybody else? Starting to get a little bit of anxiety.

Wondering. Who's going to fill? These massive college football jobs. There's a chance. We used to And some people still do.

Rank what the best jobs in college football are. This is the best job, L S U. Look at all the championships. Edwards Ronan. less miles and Dick Sabin have won.

Maybe it's Ohio State. Maybe it's Michigan. Here's a thought. Maybe there isn't a good college football job. in 2025.

Maybe there isn't, except for the fact that you get paid. oodles of money to not coach. The moment that things go south. Maybe in that sense, It's a good job. But given what college football has become, Where Everybody expects to be in the playoff now that it's 12.

And thus, when you're not in the playoff. You get fired. It's a real question to ask. Does Penn State fire James Franklin? If it's still a 14 playoff.

The expectation is just a little bit different. And if you're not in the top four, well, then maybe there's a little bit more understanding. And if the standard is that absurdly high, And still, as things are trying to... Become more regulated, and you have rev share and The job isn't as enjoyable for coaches as it was five, six years ago. It's more of a year-round job than it's ever been.

They pay you a ton of money to do it. No one's asking you to feel sympathetic for them. But Not a coincidence. Dave Clausen, Tony Bennett. Coaches stepping away, saying no mas.

Made a ton. Enough to go away.

So, maybe there isn't a great college football job anymore. But don't tell our friend Matt Rule that. He's not going to go to Penn State as alma mater. Because he's now Signed an extension. Through 2032.

With Nebraska. He did. And What he saw on the tape said Nebraska is home. Quick. The overly dramatic.

Social media video Posted today. With the caption Home. Life and the key to progress is always living in the things that you do have and working at the things you don't have. You know, I always believed that you just be quiet. Eventually, God will tell you where he wants you to get.

University of Nebraska's football program. Mr. Matt Rule. If you have something that you're passionate about, and I'm passionate about Nebraska football, why leave it? Why not just double down on it?

Welcome over to the Green Seats in all the sports. A great city to live in and a great state with great people. Why wouldn't he just stay here and make this great? Like, why does Coach Osmond stay so long? Personally, so I mean why you know why why wouldn't I wanna stay?

I want to be part of the movement that returns Nebraska to its rightful place. Let history. Tell your story. Does anybody else just start belly laughing anytime you hear him? Can anybody really take him seriously?

What's really good is when he starts that fast talking under the dramatic music. That it that that really had me crack it up. I was hoping that the punctuating point was. It to become A national sensation or a household name. Whatever it was.

Respect the Panther. Hashtag O O U one of us. Dave and Clemens, 17, 336-777-1600. Dave, what do you have for us? What's up, JG?

It is amazing how crazy things can turn in college football nowadays in three weeks. And case in point is James Franklin in Penn State. Just a couple of weeks ago, College Game Day was They were the number two team in the nation playing or and that game went to overtime and they were leading in that game. Double OT. Yeah, th and three weeks later He's fired.

Yeah. And I think a lot of it, in my opinion, has to do with the media. And in June and July. Why, you know, what they did. to Archmanning rating Texas number one.

Number two. Ellis, you look at all. these coaches that have been fired. all these preseason rankings that You know, the media cast upon these guys. I'm looking at.

This week's games, this week's games, Penn State and Ohio State, that was supposed to be number two versus number three in the preseason polls. That is nowhere close to what that game is. Florida, Georgia. Georgia was five. Florida was 15.

So that was a 5-15 matchup if you look back at week one. Florida's fired their coach. Miami, SMU. SMU came into this season ranked 16th. Miami was 10.

Like, these looked like great matchups week one, but it panned out that these teams were not nearly as good. And all the teams that aren't good, that aren't living up to those preseason rankings and expectations, those coaches are fired. Yeah, but Texas Vanderbilt. No. I appreciate the call.

Yeah. Dave. and Clement. It did shake out to be. the big weekend before college the first college football playoff ranking drops.

And it has lost its lustre. To say the least. Don't don't we have nice grass? How many of these do you have in the can? Uh, do you have any more before we could move on?

No, I think that was about it. Don't we have nice grass? I just walked out of here. I was like, I wish my heart looked like this. Oh, now it can, Matt.

Now it can. Talking about things that lost its luster, Luca Bogobat's absence overshadowed North Carolina's exhibition last night. The whole situation's very confusing. Been making a lot of phone calls about this today. He has An American visa.

He enrolls in classes, the transfer from Montenegro. He enrolls in time for the start of fall classes, which means the school did admit him. for him to be in classes. The NCAA has cleared him. Yeah, he's still in street clothes because the university is trying to clear up his transcript.

Remember when Caleb Love? tried to transfer out to Michigan. But something came up with credits transferring, and everyone thought that was a Michigan problem. Maybe it was a North Carolina problem. And maybe this is a problem we're seeing again.

where there's some frustration About Why this is taking so long from North Carolina's end. what to classify the twenty two year old as and How many credits and APR? Believe it or not, APR still matters in 2025. As a reminder, Bogavat. He is a projected starter for this team.

He's replacing a first-round draft pick. North Carolina hasn't had a lot of those in recent years. He's replacing Drake Powell. Luka was the alternative to Andrei Stelyakovich, who chose Illinois over the Tar Heels, the transfer from Cal. If Carolina will.

is replacing R.J. Davis. And Drake Powell. With Kyan Evans slash Seth Trimble. And Jaron Stevenson?

That's a problem. regardless of how good you think. Caleb Wilson is. If not for Luca, we'd be spending all our show talking about Caleb, but we can't do that in good faith. Because we don't know if this guy's gonna play.

And by the way, If we're going to criticize Coaches. Criticize people in that industry, criticize players. Then we should be able to criticize people in our own industry too. How does Hubert Davis sit up there for 10 and a half minutes and not one person ask him about Luca Bogobatz? Not one person asks, is he going to play on Monday?

No. Now they'll say, oh well he addressed it in Utah. Things have changed in the last four days, maybe. It'd be fair to ask the basketball coach, rather than asking him why he wore a tie, whether Luca Bogobat's a starter, is going to be out there. And I feel comfortable.

having that criticism because you know if I was in that room, I'm asking that question. You know that. It's the question. No problem. It should be.

It is the question. It should be. It's the question right now. Our job is to ask questions of these people. That fans want the answers to.

That's the whole reason why we exist. Nobody asking that question blows me away. 23 points, 10 boards for Caleb Wilson. You know what? This is what the fans want.

Just play the dunk. Show the dunk against Winston-Salem State. Roll tape. For those watching on YouTube, Twitch and X. Baseline.

Yeah, and again, holy smokes, he hammers it. Shout out to Rod Baxley. Hashtag dunks that make you cuss. Yeah, Rod. It's one of those.

Yeah. One of those. The opener is Monday. For North Carolina, we'll see if Luca Bogobats is out. on the floor.

Last week, we went five and three with our picks.

So now the train's on the tracks, Will. The train's moving. It's picking up steam, it's left the station.

So what do we got in college this week? How about a six-pack?

Next. Look!

Now he's done his time and skin.

Now back to the drive with Josh Graham. Tap of the four, Collection second, that's the words, double play, a World Series. Masterpiece Trega Savage, twelve Ks. No walks. WD, even though you're rooting for the Dodgers.

Yes. Did it touch your heart at all, your cold heart? to see An ECU guy, an ECU rookie. Do that. Yeah, it was it was nice to see that.

Shame it had to be for Toronto, but hey, good for him. Good for him. I hope the Dodgers get it done on the road. Best bets We're five and three this week. You're a monster.

thirty two and thirty five on the year Had a rough two or three weeks, but we've Picked up the pieces to get back to this point. We've got a six-pack of college picks. We'll focus on the NFL tomorrow. It's time. For this week's best bets.

I'm not a betting duck. Care to make it interesting? You know you do. You're on. Call me in on this.

Your best bet. But my money's on the other team. This is Josh's Best Bats.

Okay. Got some pics. That I love And you're gonna hate. By the way. Last week's strategy was just to hand out all underdogs.

and hand out six college picks, five and one on the NF or on college, five and one on college. But there is a favorite that we're taking this week, and it's at noon. Will Dalton I told you in the car on Sunday. To remind me of something on Thursday, and you reminded me of this earlier today. What did I tell you to remind me of?

That. If the Texas line stayed Under three. Just don't overthink it. Don't try to talk yourself out of it. Just take it.

Take it. And that's exactly what we're doing. Texas minus two and a half against Vanderbilt. But Josh, but, Josh. Josh.

Arch Manning, might not play. The Josh Diego Pavi. Yeah. Josh! Texas almost lost to control.

Talking in Mississippi's dead. This is Texas versus Vanderbilt. This game's in DKR, unlike the last two weeks. And if you've watched the way Arch Manning plays, it hasn't really helped that much that he's out there anyway. Texas.

Minus. A two and a half points. Might be my favorite college pick of the week. That's how much we like it. Will Dalton?

You know what else is disgusting, but we're gonna do? You know what this week is? It's the world's largest Cocktail party. In Jacksonville. It is the Georgia Bulldogs.

Fifth in the country, facing who? The Florida Gators. Uh-huh. Ask me who I like. Who do you like?

Really? First game without a head coach. generally leads to the team playing better. You play loser. You're not worried about the guy getting fired.

Let's not forget. Billy Napier was fired after a win. They're coming off a bye week. Florida got a lot of talent. That's never been a concern.

I think they got something for the Dogs, and I think that Georgia defense isn't good.

So on a neutral field, Seven and a half points, too many. Florida. plus seven and a half. Send me that cash up, fam. Another pick that again is terrifying.

Texas Tech is a wagon. that just kills everything in its sight by a million. Yeah, I took K-State last week when everybody loved Kansas, and K-State blew out. KU. in the Sunflower Showdown.

Well, I'm writing Ema again. K-State Plus seven and a half points. Why? Texas Tech's a little banged up. Texas Tech is going into Manhattan, Kansas.

And Texas Tech. Who do they have next week, Will? Oh! Unbeaten BYU, maybe game day in town in Lubbock. That looks like a classic look-ahead spot to me.

Too many points against a K-State team that, again, a lot of talent got off to a slow start, but is playing its best football at the right time. We're going Wildcats plus seven and a half. Points.

Well Dalton That takes us to the evening session. In prime time, a game that you're going to. Georgia Tech. NC State. Carter Finlay Stadium.

Do I have the cajonas to take the wolf pack? I don't. I'm gonna take the over. 58 and a half, that's not enough points, Will. This might be 45 to 42.

I see a lot of points. Why? I have no faith in state's defense, and you know what? Georgia Tech, you can move the ball on them a little bit too. Duke showed that a little.

Just Couldn't punch it in in the red area, which is a little frustrating.

So. We're going over 58 and a half Georgia Tech. NC State. We got two more. Two more.

Buckle up. Wake Forest. is visiting Tallahassee. Deacons. plus 10 and a half points.

Ask yourself a question. What on earth have you seen? That makes you think Florida State deserves to lay 10 and a half against any ACC team. They are 1-11 straight up. In ACC games, the last two seasons.

And Wake Forest. Should be six and one. They should be knocking on the door of the top 25. It's a 5-2 team that plays defense, that really bows up. You know who looks banged up?

Tommy Castellano is at quarterback for Florida State. And if he can't run, that guy isn't effective at all. Not against his weight defense, certainly.

So 10 and a half points? You think Wake's afraid? Wake's looking at FSU leaking oil. They have beaten FSU three of the last four times they've played. I think Wake can win this game on the field.

We're taking the Deeks plus 10 and a half in Tallahassee. And lastly, do you know where College Game Day's at this week? Is it It's not the Georgia game, is it? They are not in Jacksonville. Oh, did they go to Tennessee?

No, they did not. No, there are two games I don't want any part of this weekend. North Carolina Syracuse is one of them. You can have it. You can have that game tomorrow on Halloween.

If you hate your. If you hate your money and your well-being, you can bet on that football game. The other one's Tennessee and Oklahoma. You can have that as well, it's all yours. Cincinnati is at Utah.

Utah Scary place to place Rice Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake. But it ain't scary enough to lay 10 and a half points when I don't know if Utah's quarterbacks playing in this game. You know who is the higher-ranked team in this game? That would be our guy, Will. Friend of the show, Scott Satterfields.

Cincinnati Bearcats are 7-1. Put some respect. On the 5-0 Big 12 record for Cincinnati. They should be unbeaten. Their only loss was entering the red zone against Nebraska at Arrowhead Stadium at the start of the year.

We're betting on our guy, Scott Satterfield, plus the 10.5 at Utah at Rice Eccles. Seemed that cash out.

So in review, again, picks I love and you're going to hate. Texas minus two and a half against Vandi. Florida plus seven and a half against the Georgia Budows. K-State plus seven and a half at home against Texas Tech. We like The uh What was our next game on the list here?

I got way too many on the card. It's getting hard. NC State, Georgia Tech, over 58.5 points in Raleigh. Wake Forest, plus 10.5 points at FSU. And we like Cincinnati.

Plus 10 and a half. At Utah. Send me that cash out, man. Fire it up. That music can only mean one person's joining this show.

It's the voice of the Deeks. 30th year. Stan Cotton. Look at that fit. Whoa.

If you've been around 30 years, you have one of these, right? You got the old school sweatshirt. This is encouraging people to watch in a video format on YouTube, Twitch, and X. It is the year 2025. It fits that way.

But it might as well have been 1949 last night because. We were all gathered around the radio. Fireside chat style, listening to your voice. To gleam information because there was no video broadcast from Freedom Hall. Stan Cotton, how many texts, how many calls are you getting?

Because you were the eyes and ears for the entire triad last night, it felt like that was funny, gotten a lot, because it's it's very unique that there isn't video access to games now. It's funny, I saw about half of it where I was located. I had a horrible seat. even though I was right by the bench. I'm looking at the back of Matt Woodley.

Coach Friedman and Coach Forbes all night. They spill powder into my gear. The Wi-Fi kept going off, and I'm sitting there by myself and trying to access stats, and I'm like. I don't know. The decks are stacked against me, but it was a fun game and it was fun to.

you know, be the only access to those who couldn't get there. That was kind of that was a throwback to them. I don't know. 70s at least. when there weren't a ton of games on T V at least.

So anyway, it was a lot of fun and a good couple of days, I think, for the Digs. Before we get into the basketball that we saw, I'd be remiss if I didn't bring up why you were sitting there by yourself, and that's because this is year thirty for you, but it's year one without Dinger by your side. What words can you share? About The significance. of him to your career.

Oh man. That's a great question. He's been my partner at Wake for 29 years and you know, kind of lost without him really. But hopefully he'll he'll. Use the extra time he's got wisely and spend it relaxing and hanging out with his grandkids and his family, whom he dearly loves.

Mark's very passionate about two things. It's family number one and basketball number two.

So he's still going to work some for the for the Spurs. But uh yeah it just In terms of basketball and What He means to me. Guys, I'm not sure I've got the words to really. express the gratitude I've got. Mark and I are very close friends, number one.

But he has taught me so much about basketball. And he had this unique ability, I think, to because he knew so much about the game, to communicate that in a way that Listeners could consume regardless of their basketball IQ. And he did it with, you know, he had this big booming voice, he's got this big booming personality. And he was just, I can't imagine a better person in that role. And for me to have been the lucky one.

To sit there for 29 years with Mark. It was just, again, I can't express. what that really, really means.

So it was kind of weird. uh not having more but uh He put his time in with his coaching background at Wake and the time 35 years on the radio, 29 with me. Four decades is probably enough, you know. And anyway, it was just. Uh kind of bittersweet last night.

You know what else is weird? This is what we led the show if to day. Wake is going to be without Hunter Salas and Cam Hildreff.

So It's probably a less talented. talented backcourt. But it's probably going to be a more effective backcourt. Wake Forest was thirteenth in the ACC offensively last year, averaging about seventy points per game, because it seems that last year it was more of a structural issue. then it was a talent issue.

Neither of those two players we just mentioned. Is a point guard, and pretty clearly, Nate Calmes, who had 12 assists last night. Is that. And even Sebastian Aikens off the bench, and Makai Mason, he's pretty clearly a two-guard just by watching this team. How well described do you think the roles are?

How well. Just uh allotted, do you think the roles are for each guy on this team? Pretty well. You know, I mean, last year, you know, Coach Forbes had to try to kind of cram a score. quer peg into a round hole at times and and it showed But last night, you know, the roles are well defined.

I think the flow was really, really good. They played really, really fast. They're able to do that because. Each of those guards that you mentioned and others knows exactly what his roles is, and they can change somewhat, you know, depending on. The defenses and things like that.

But 23 total assist and 33 made field goals last night. That's unbelievable. Coach Forbes in our post-game coverage said he thought our three-point shot selection was elite. And that's because of the way the ball moved around and got to open shooters who didn't have a defender on them. And I think obviously that's one of the reasons why the three-point percentage was so high after it was so low last year, 29% last year and almost 50% last night.

Uh now can we keep up that that uh That pace? Probably not. But Wake made 16 threes against East Carolina in the scrimmage a couple weeks ago. You know, made what, 17, whatever it was last night again.

So, I don't know. I like what I saw last night. That was the first time for me outside of. You know, practice scrimmage. to to see the flow and and all that kind of I I It felt good, it really did now.

When the red light goes on and the games fall either into a win column or a loss column, the vice Kind of tightens a little bit, as you guys know.

So we'll see how they respond. But fun group, deep group, especially in the backcourt. They've got some combinations, and we'll see how it shakes out starting next week. Nick Friedman, the big off-season addition to. Steve Forbes' coaching staff.

Joel Berry was with us talking about his experiences in pro basketball working with Nick. What have you heard behind the scenes on the ways Nick Friedman has impacted Wake's offense?

Well, just a You know, a fresh set of eyes and a different approach to offensive basketball. And The coaches seem to really, really welcome that and they really, really like him. He is grafted into this staff very easily and very well. The players love him. And I had Mikai Mason on the post-game show last night, and one of the first things out of his mouth was: hey, Tip of the cap to Coach Friedman.

They just, I don't know, there's something about. His approach to the game, the way he teaches them, coaches them. And he does it mostly with a smile on his face. Just something about his personality is kind of inviting. He brings you in, very approachable guy.

And I think that has resonated with this basketball team and the staff. uh as much as the players so I think he's a a great addition to this team and Again, we'll see how these things develop through the course of the regular season, but so far, so really. Uh really good. Stan Cotton, he's with us here. Voice of the Deeks.

Last night, no visuals for all of us on ECU East Tennessee State from Freedom Hall, but Stan Cotton was in the building.

Okay, take us behind the scenes. One more on this. Was Steve Forbes playing tour guide for you, showing you this? Oh, this is a cool spot, and here's a place to go. Where did we go?

How did they celebrate Steve? What was the reception like for Steve? Remember, this is the one other place, at least in D1, that Steve Forbes was a head coach prior to being hired at. Wake Boris. Yeah, he won 130 games in five years and lost only 43.

Uh Tuesday night. He was up a little earlier than most of us and it was inducted into the East Tennessee State Hall of Fame. That's not why the basketball game. happened. Uh but East Tennessee took advantage of that.

They were always going to put him In the Hall of Fame, it was just a matter of when, and this was a perfect time to do that.

So I got the sense that. And I knew because of my ties to the East Tennessee area. that they really loved him in Johnson City. And I think that was evident last night. There weren't any tours for me.

He was too busy. Just shaking hands, taking pictures, autographs, all those types of things. They gave him a ball and a ceremony before tip-off. And you could just tell that it was. A way for that community, that basketball program, that university to say, thank you, Steve Forbes, for what you did.

for this basketball team. And it was, you know, an interesting matchup between Between him and Brooke Savage, his longtime assistant, three years at Wake Forest and at other places before Winston-Salem. But those two went head to head. There's a Uh Ton of mutual respect and love between those two.

So it was fun to watch that. And I really think Coach Savage has got, he's won, what, 38 games the last couple of years there.

So I think he's got them kind of back on. You know, at least getting close to where Steve had them five years ago.

So it was a lot of fun, good trip. I think it was very productive for Wake on a lot of fronts. Speaking of Brooks Savage, We got Stan Cotton joining us here. Brooks is a Baltimore Orioles fan. Named after Brooks Robinson.

Figured I should throw that out there. And We can't bring up the name Savage without bringing up Trey Yusavage, who had 12 strikeouts, no walks last night, that World Series record for a rookie. The pride of East Carolina His last conversation. College start. Was called by Stan Cotton in Greenville, America.

Do you want to remind people? It was Chase Burns against Treya Savage in an elimination game. Do you want to remind the people just how bonkers this game was 17 months ago? Yeah, I mean, it was crazy. Wake was facing elimination in East Carolina.

Yesavich had a great outing and East Carolina, the offensive attack backed him up and had a walk off in the bottom of the ninth. Um We're in the ninth inning. I can't remember how that bracket shook out. I can't remember if East Carolina was the home or the visiting team that game. It doesn't really matter.

Wake did walk it off. Or, no, no, ECU did walk it off.

So they were bottom nine. Yeah, yeah, correct.

So I, you know, I kept, I remember. Because Larry Sorensen did the game with me, and obviously we know his pitching resume. Hall of Fame major leaguer. I remember I just kept looking over at Larry like. Whew, because you know, we were thinking Chase Burns, right?

And the kind of year that he had, we were thinking, okay. And Jay's pitched pretty well, but Holy smokes, he was... Yeah. And I had honestly, Josh, kind of after that, you know, put all that to bed, kind of forgotten that name. But honestly, until.

The rule of series, I'm like. And I texted Larry and I went. Yeah, that's who that is. Like, holy smokes, his rise, has it not been meteoric? this last just what, six, seven weeks, But man, oh man, he's the talk of the town right now.

Seven and a third innings in that game against Wake Forest, and Wake had a or ECU had a four to one lead And then Wake scored five runs in the ninth to go up six to four. ECU then responded By scoring three in the bottom of the ninth to walk it off. A crazy game. I was not at that game. The guy who got the last out in the World Series last night.

Jeff Hoffman. Another East Carolina pitcher. I was at his last game in Greenville in 2014. Sixteen strikeouts, and he needed the last two strikeouts he had. He blew his elbow already.

and could only throw off-speed pitches. had to get Tommy John a week later. But 16K's back in 2014.

So East Carolina, a big win for my alma mater. last night. Let's get into football. Stan Cotton with us. You're going to be down in Tallahassee very soon.

Very intriguing game. Certainly vibes are in different places where you're at. Where Wake Forest is at and where Florida State is at the moment, 1 and 11 in ACC play the last two years. But What has been your favorite part? Of the Jake Dickert story.

Already exceeding the win total of the last two Wake Forest teams that we've seen. and doing so in year one. Who had on his or her bingo card that Wake would be playing for bowl eligibility in game number eight this year. Better question, who had it that they should already have bull eligibility because of how Georgia Tech ended? There is that.

There is that. But you know, I Uh I just I think the way this His team has bought into him. and this staff so quickly and so just Full tilt, they're all in. You know, Jake is a guy and you've you've been around him. You know, he's got a lot of energy, youthful guy, but it's genuine.

You know, none of that, I don't think any of it is fabricated. That's Jake, that's who he is. And I think his team really has taken on uh hi his mentality his approach that just All out, give it everything you got, play 60 minutes, see where you are, go to the next one, forget about the last one. I mean, you know, the Georgia tech. Loss was heartbreaking.

And you've talked about it a lot on your show. But this team just kept moving, kept battling, and nobody else has figured out a way to beat SMU other than Wake. Make it the last play of the game. How about that? win it or lose it and and that's what happened in that crazy game Uh last week.

Um I you know, it's an interesting game coming up at Florida State, you know. FSU's had its second open date, so they've been kind of waiting around for Wake to get there. They've lost four straight after those first three wins, including the victory over Alabama. Uh And they're wrestlers down here in Tallahassee with Coach Norvell, and I get it, especially in the landscape. of football today.

Um And so you got kind of two teams. Coming from two different directions. And, you know, Florida State's still Florida State. They got great athletes. You don't beat Alabama without them.

Um And we'll see how it shakes out. Wake one its last trip down there by 10. The last. Back in twenty two. The athletes, Florida State's still Florida State.

But the allure, like I'm thinking about how big of a deal it was when Wake won there in 2006. I mean, Wakes won three of the last four against them, including the last time they were there. And they see the headlines. The players see it, and they look at their own record and think. Wait, why are we ten point underdogs?

Yeah, the the the lusters uh Diminished a little bit. I don't think there's any question, but I still think you go into Dote Campbell on a Saturday night, it's homecoming. Um You know, they're going to have the war horse going and all that good stuff. It's going to be crazy. There's going to be a lot of people there.

It's going to be rowdy and. And they still believe, I think they're upset with their coach right now, but I think the fan base. You know, they say, hey, we're going to turn it around. You know, I don't know. I don't know what we're going to see.

But Still, Florida State's got a lot of good players. They really, really do. I don't know what's happened these last four weeks. uh last four games necessarily. Uh Especially in the context of you know, the the fast start three and oh So we'll see.

You know, they've had some time to figure it out. Maybe. They'll play like a cornered dog, you know, with its back against the wall. We'll see. I kind of expect that, quite honestly.

Um And we'll see if Wake can continue to just. Do what it takes, right? It doesn't have to be pretty necessarily or fancy, just do what it takes. We'll see you when you get back from Tallahassee Monday night. For the season opener against who will?

For Wake Forest, who's Wake Force playing Monday? You could be American. America. That's what we say. That's how we say it around our state.

Not to be confused. Not to be confused with the service academies, not to be confused with USA, which is South Alabama. Yeah, it's just Merck. Stan Cotton, good to see you. Great to hear you last night.

Very important that you were there. And we'll talk sometime soon, or more specifically on Monday. Thanks for doing this. Thanks as always guys. Have a good one.