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Let's give them a show. The drive starts now on WSJS. Welcome in. You're on a Thursday drive right here on WSJS News Talk Sports for the Triad. I'm Will Dalton, also known as The W D.

An MLB opening official. opening day where there's actually games going on during the day is upon us. More on that a little bit later on. But we have to start with what's going on in Raleigh. Because Will Wade, it would seem.

is officially going to be going. To L S U How do I know that? Because he put out a statement. This isn't just Jeff Goodman reporting. This isn't just Pete Dammel.

This isn't just the people that. Pat Pride, this is Will Wade putting out a statement himself. And we'll get to that statement in just a second. But LSU. has assembled the Avengers.

A fiery and Too many very dislikable coaches. Kim Mulkey to start with the women's basketball program. The only difference between her and the next two about the name, she's actually won something. She's won titles before. Then you got lame kiffin.

You got that. And now you can add Will Wade. to that collection. How does that sound to you, Morgan? Those are some heavy hitters and wild characters.

We need to get a press conference with all three of those at the same table. I would pay good money to see that. Don't think we're ever going to get it.

However, I cannot wait to watch Will Wade's introductory press conference at LSU. Can't wait to see it. Um Willway ditched NC State after one. disappointing season. He came in.

Like a WWE character.

So what he did. And You know, he tried to play dress up as Jim Valvano. And if you don't know what I mean by that, he tried to essentially emulate that picture of Jim Valvano. Right before he passed away of cancer, you know, holding the basketball, and then you had all the other basketballs in the background on the court. You've all seen the photo by now.

Will Wade tried to recreate that photo when he came in last year. Which that's even more of a laughable thing now, even if it was back then. Um Then he came into his introductory presser. All guns blazing. Make sure you got that on camera.

We're going to the tournament. They did get in the tournament, first four.

Okay. You accomplished that, but. It was nothing compared to the season that he Hyped up. amongst NC State fans, which it's interesting because One would have thought Will Wade and NC State fans were a match made in heaven just because of. How fired up NC State fans can get about the program, and how fired up Will Wade got.

talking about. NC State and their fans and them coming together and all that. But You had the red reckoning. Blood's red, not blue. In fact, You know what?

Instead of just going over all of his greatest hits, We'll play a clip for you. This was. Half a year ago, this was right before the season started, Will Wade is raving about NC State. and you know what this is about to look like going into the season. I think the red reckoning is that This is about everybody being in it together.

And I think when all of us are in it together, NC State's a force multiplier. When I mean in it together, it means starts with our administration. They're all in. They want to win. Then it goes to our players and our staff.

We're all in. We want to win. Then it goes to our fans. They're all in. They've been all in.

They want to win. All right? And all of us together are a force. You know, we're NC State, we're red. You know, blood's red, right?

Not blue. Blood's red.

So red. And then it's going to be a reckoning for the ACC and for college basketball. You're going to have to deal with this. You hadn't had to deal with this because we hadn't always been on the same page. It's such a joke.

It really is. Um To listen back to that now.

Okay. It it makes you laugh. It really does. In fact, Meant to play this right at the top. My apologies for not giving you what you deserve as the audience here, because somebody forgot to send Will Wade the memo, or maybe they did, and he just never got it.

It's something that Phillip Rivers gave us many years ago that we reiterate for you and Will Wade now. You gotta be tough. You gotta be mentally and physically tough. It Wolfpack ain't for soft. It ain't for soft people.

No, it's not. No, it is not. And... Will Wade apparently never got that memo. He never got it.

When you look at some of the numbers, okay, enough about the press conferences and all that. And the Bloviating going into the season. Let's look at what they did in the season. They were a first-four team, sure. But gosh, they were so streaky as a team.

Shout out to our guys, Ovius and Julio. Over in Raleigh, we had Joe Gilio on the show yesterday. He pulled this stat. I want to give credit where it's due here. He pulled this stat and he shared it on their show earlier this afternoon.

NC State trailed at halftime in seven ACC games this year, and it went on to go one and six. in those games. That those were in that span, Virginia. Louisville Miami, Virginia, Duke. Stanford and SMU, which was the one game that they won, that SMU game.

What do all those teams have in common? They were NCAA tournament teams. And I still can't get over the game against Louisville. where they go to the Yum Center and they lose by 41. Yeah, Morgan's making a face over there.

How do you like that, Morgan? Taking a face? I mean, I get it's Louisville. But 41. That's a hard loss right there.

And I get it. Early in the season is one thing, but. Once you get into conference play, you should have these things worked out where you're not losing by 30 or 40 points in a night. It's true. But you know what they turned around and they did when they got back to Raleigh after that game?

Yeah. They host Miami. And it's that game where they go on an 11-0 run down the stretch of the second half. But then right after going on that 11-0 run, they proceed. to let Miami go on an 8-0 run.

Under the course of a minute, It's about 52 seconds when Miami started this run, and State blows a seven-point lead, and they lose the game. That's how they responded to that. Yeah. Not terrific.

So, NC State fans, you have every right to be pissed off today, just to make it frank. Because Will Wade just played you for a year like a game of monopoly. That's what he just went and did. And nobody quite crashes out like NC State fans. The internet has been a wonderful place to be today.

It really has. It has not let us down. And I genuinely do feel bad for NC State fans. This is not me laughing at you, maybe a little, but it. Nobody crashes out like Pac fans.

And they've had me rolling all day. Like, this is a beautiful example. This is Dave Doran. After that whole deal with Steve Smith and comments, I guess Steve Smith made earlier in the year. I've since forgotten what the comments were, but.

The internet's undefeated, and then this is just another example of it right here. Uh And I tell Steve Smith in the studio this ain't a basketball school. He can kiss my ass. It's true. Dave Doran, he laid it out pretty well right there.

Mm. Will Wade. He only cared about himself. And that's clear with his actions here. And that's clear with how like how we talked about his players.

You know, I get it. Like, he would notoriously try to coach his players through the media. or talk to his players through the media. Which I get it on Maybe one or two circumstances when you're just trying to make a point. But when you do it all the time, And when you literally roll your eyes at a question in Dayton about what are you going to remember about this year's team, as if, like, the heck with them.

If I'm a player, like, why do I want to play for you? Like, if I can play for state, I can play for somebody else that's going to pay me as well. Like, Why do I want that? Like, I'm a former athlete, and so I can speak on this a little bit. I don't want to play for a coach like that that talks about me that way or rolls his eyes when he's asked what is he gonna think about our team or remember about it.

Like, nah, miss me with that. Speaking of Dayton. Think this is a great time to replay the or no, this was um. This was in Charlotte. After the ACC tournament, it's a great opportunity.

To replay Will Wade when he was asked about the LSU job and he He was ready to move on to NC State next year. That's what he wanted to talk about. I'm excited at NC State. I was hired at NC State to do a job. This wasn't going to take one year.

I've already met with our administration about next year and some of the changes that we need to make and some of the things that we need to do to put this program where it deserves long term. Again. NC State fans, you have a right. to be. Really, really upset.

You have every right to feel that way. Here's the last thing we'll say to put a button on this right now. Here was the statement. that Will Wade put out earlier today. I'm not going to read all that.

Because I don't think I should read all that, but I'll paraphrase some of it. I want to take a moment to sincerely thank North Carolina State University Athletic Director Bu Corrigan and the entire administration for the opportunity to be a part of something special, really. What was special about it? Clearly it wasn't 'cause you bounced. Uh He goes on to say this was not an easy decision.

Yeah, okay. Because of how much respect and appreciation I have for this program in the university, but the opportunity to return to Louisiana State University is deeply personal. Yeah. I bet that $14 million NIL package is pretty personal too. It's a chance to go home to a place that means a great deal to me and my family.

Lastly, and he didn't put the lastly part, I added that myself. I'll always be grateful for my time here, the relationships we built. Buddy, you weren't even here a full calendar year, and the foundation we helped strengthen. NC State is positioned for continued success, and I'll be cheering them. on moving forward.

I call Cap on that last part. Will Wade has bounced. He's headed to LSU. Morgan Corson is the executive producer of this show. How are we feeling over there about all this?

I mean,. Where is LSU getting all this money?

So they've spent $196 million on buyouts and contracts for coaches and players between football and basketball in the last year. And that's. There's 40 million in there for an approximated roster for football. There's not one for basketball. And they don't have his next contract in there for Will Wade either.

So, where's all the Baton Rouge money coming from? Will Wade, I imagine, is not cheering on NC State. After you leave like this in the way he did? I don't think so. But I mean Louisiana State, you got yourself a guy.

Congrats. Mm-hmm. I mean He was the head coach there for five years and then got in trouble for paying players. Federal wiretap investigation. But that's legal now.

So I don't know. LSU.

well weighed, they seem to be made for each other. Uh by the way. We're going to have an opportunity for you, or multiple opportunities, for you to win tickets on today's show. But let me get to this very quickly. Because Yesterday was technically MLB opening day.

This is really opening night. A lot of people don't like the standalone nighttime game, just one game on the first. Day of the MLB year. They would much prefer it be like it is right now, where you've got games going on all afternoon. You'd rather have that.

Like right now I've got the O's and the Twins because I want to watch the Orioles hopefully lose. Gonna hope for that. But about last night. First ever broadcast on Netflix. Yankees?

Couple of Yankee fans in this studio right now. Yankees beat the Giants seven to nothing in spite Of Aaron Judge, almost called him Aaron Rodgers, Aaron Judge going 0 for 5. with four K's. What did you make of that, by the way, Yankee fan Worgan? They looked good.

They looked really good. John Carlos Stanton still looks slow as dirt, but. They looked real good, and they absolutely smoked the Giants last night. I love to see that. But there was a good crowd out there, and the environment seemed really nice.

I mean, Netflix had some issues, but first broadcast going to give it to them. They'll figure it out.

So let's bring that up very quickly. The Netflix piece of this. I thought Netflix came out all guns a blazing and did Overall, a pretty terrific job. Like, it's never going to be a perfect project. Like, people complain.

People just want something to complain about half the time. I thought Netflix did a very, very good job in spite of it not being perfect. Like right here, if you're watching on our YouTube. Uh Or extreme. And if you're not, you should be.

You see Burt Kreischer coming out of a trolley. to do the starting lineups and to fire the people up. in San Francisco, in the bay there. I love this. Like, this was it.

When this happened right out of the gate and you had The Giants players coming out of a trolley, and then on the other side, you had the Yankees players coming through a couple of taxis. Like, this is terrific. It's great.

So I was already in on that point. But Maybe a couple of the downsides. The ABS challenge system, while I loved it. Right here was the first ever ABS challenge, and Morgan's already rolling his eye, he's already ready for this. They were doing an interview.

With The new head coach of the San Francisco Giants, Coach Vitalo from Tennessee, where he was before with the Vols. They're doing an interview with him. Right as the first ABS challenge ever is done. Here it is. He's got good stuff, so it's battle, you know, a battle that you're going to see each hat bat.

I see your guys talking after they face Max Freed. What are they sharing? What do they see? I think just the shapes of the pitches. I think there's a couple things that are different than maybe in the past or some things that they've seen in particular tonight.

So they're just trying to communicate and stay ahead of the game. Appreciate it, Tony. Thank you so much. Patty. Yeah, Laura, thanks.

We've had our first ABS challenge. Yeah, so that I guess that could be a little difficult because you don't know that they're about to do that.

So they might want to figure out something with that. But. Uh the score bug. Did you have any issues with the the little score bug down there? I thought it looked great, but one thing I did not like, the text was small.

So I have a smaller T V. I guess it's medium size. I have a 40 inch T V and I could not for the life of me read the names On the score bug. While I was sitting on my couch. I had to like get up close and see who the pitcher or the batter was because I was squinting and couldn't see it.

See, this is the beauty for me, not the flex or anything of having twenty twenty vision, you know. I have 20, 20 vision. You do? I do. And it was still tough?

It was tough. Yeah. Like I said, it wasn't a perfect product, but I mean, when you got Burt Kreischer out there, Matt Vashkurzian on the call, you got Jameis Winston out here doing side quests. Like, again, if you're watching on YouTube, here he comes with a rake out of the dugout. Just ready to roll.

Nobody Jameis Winston is quite literally the king of side quests. Morgan, you like that? That's pretty good, right? I love Jameis Winston. Even from college to now, he's just been a goofball, and I love him.

I love him for it. It's terrific.

So. I thought the first broadcast on Netflix was a massive success, and the Yankees winning also helped that as well. From the stand to the studio. It's showtime, put it on the line. Buckle up, we on fire.

This is The Drive, the triad's longest-running live sports talk show.

So, I gotta say, I'm pretty excited about this new segment we're about to debut, but very quickly, before we get to that, some of the YouTube comments here. Like our guy Jay Davis. He's busy in the comments here. It says NC State should hire Archie Miller. He won't leave.

And I bet Kevin Keats is somewhere laughing. Oh, he absolutely is. Archie Miller, I don't hate that. In fact, I think he was somebody that was considered a candidate a year ago. Yeah.

Now, NC State's about to have their third head coach in three years. And then um Jay Davis also adds that He is, in fact, laughing at NC State fans, and that he's pretty sure that they were laughing when Hubert Davis got fired. He has a good chance of that. Good chance of that.

Okay. Here's what we're going to do. It's a segment that we call this or that. And what it is. It's quite literally that.

This or that, where I'm given a list of.

something like Here pretty soon with the NFL draft coming up, we're going to do an NFL draft version of this or that where I'm giving, you know, who could be the second quarterback taken off the board? Is it this guy or is it this guy?

So this is what we're going to do. With a sweet sixteen lineup. It's this or that. It's a quick pick'em. Let's do it right now.

It's this or that with Will Dalton. Two choices. One answer. No offense, sitting. You're in or you're out.

This or that. Terrific imaging for this. I love that. All right, Morgan. What do we have here?

First, we're going to start off with the Thursday games, as we should. Number 2, Purdue versus number 11, Texas. I like Purdue in this spot. Texas, it's been a great run. They were the team that beat NC State in the first four in Dayton, as we know.

Purdue's got a very efficient offense. I think that makes them a pretty safe pick here. Nebraska vs. number nine Iowa. The Cornhuskers have looked good, man.

They've been. I don't know if they've been slept on necessarily because I can't speak for all of you out there, but Nebraska seems like a nice pick here. That's who I am going to pick here. Iowa. Had the buzzer beater or the game winner, of course, this past weekend to take out Florida.

That's nice, but. I think I like the Corn Huskers here. Number one Arizona versus number four Arkansas Well, I have Arizona going to the national title game against Duke. That might be a pick for one of my other ones, spoiler alert.

So I like Arizona. Um They've got the depth. They got the offensive firepower. And as great as Darius Akuff has been. Cool.

Kind of been a one-man show, and he's going up against a buzzsaw in Arizona. Number two Houston. Number three, Illinois. Kelvin Sampson, he's got his team rolling again this year. It's nice to see them back in the mix.

They've got great defenses, we know. They've been able to limit their opponents because of that in the tournament. They've got great experience as well, which is very important in the tournament.

So. I think it's going to be a good game, but I think Houston pulls it out.

Now, on to the Friday slate of games. Number one: Duke Blue Devils versus the St. John's. St. John's.

I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. Um. This is probably the game I'm most excited for. Rick Bettino going up against John Shire and There is a chance we're going to hear the clip a little bit later on.

But there is a 50-50 chance that Caleb Foster is going to give it a go tomorrow night. Legitimately. It's incredible. St. John's, they fall to the devil's.

Oh. The number one Michigan Wolverines versus number four Alabama. I like Michigan in this spot. I do. Um Michigan, they've kind of had a nice run in this region so far.

I was hoping Virginia would ultimately be a team that could get... To a spot to take out Michigan, but Virginia obviously did not make it to this point. Alabama, they've had a great year as well, but I think Michigan's size and consistency is going to pull them through against the Crimson Tide. Number two, Yukon versus number three, Michigan State. Ah, Hurley versus Izzo.

The other great matchup in that eastern round. region. I'm going with um I'm going to go with Michigan State here. Michigan State gets it done. Uh I I kinda was leaning towards UConn.

But I think I I think Tom is oh I think his experience in these spots is going to pull them through. I'm very excited about the possibility of a Duke-Michigan State game. I've seen several brackets that have Michigan State beating Duke in the Elite Eight. I don't foresee that happening, but I like Michigan State to get through UConn. That's all for Dan Hurley this year.

And the last Sweet 16 matchup. Number two, Iowa State. Versus number six, Tennessee. Hmm. Give me Iowa State, actually.

Give me Iowa State. They play very balanced. I've liked what I've seen from them. TJ Osselberger. We're going to hear from him in just a minute.

He was asked about the Carolina job yesterday. They handle their business. They're going to get it done and move things along to the elite eight where they will meet Michigan. That's been our first edition. Yeah.

Of this Or that. If you have Thoughts on any of these picks that I've made? That was fun. I enjoyed that. If you have thoughts on any of these picks, would love to hear from you.

336-777-1-600. Or. If you'd like to win some tickets.

So we actually have some Brian Adams tickets to give away. We've got actually three pairs. of Brian Adams tickets. If you can come on air and give me... This answer.

Who do you either like for the Carolina head coaching job, or who do you like? For the NC State head coaching job. Come on, Eric, give us a suggestion. And you will win a pair of Brian Adams' tickets. Do we where is he going to be performing at, Morgan?

You got the information over there. In the Spectrum Center in Charlotte. Hey, home of the red hot Charlotte Hornets, who are going to be back in action tonight. 336. 777-1600 is the number to call if you want in.

You just have to answer. Who does Carolina get as their next head coach, or who does NC State get? Who do you prefer they get? Uh for their next head. Coach.

Speaking of those options though, Yeah.

Alright, I think all the levels are set. Showtime!

Now? Welcome to the drive, setting the sports agenda before dinner. Back at it on a Thursday drive right here on WSJS. More opportunities for you to win some tickets here in just a few minutes. But Going to our YouTube comments here.

Because We heard from a couple of the possible UNC candidates yesterday. TJ Otselberger, of course, Iowa State, Tommy Lloyd of Arizona. And According to 4UNC, here, he says Otselberger has taken his name out of the running per Pete Nakos of 24-7. And I do see here. Where Jeff Goodman.

Well Was they were doing some stuff on the field of 68. It was he and Rob Doster. And according to Goodman, T.J. Ottzenberger, and this was a quote: TJ Ottzelberger is not in the mix at Carolina and by his own doing. He was in their first tier, according to sources, but he's a different dude.

Um, So that fits with what we heard TJ Otzelberger say yesterday when he met with media and. was asked about such things. We'll do it live. We'll do it live! That's not TJ Ozelberger.

What's that? No, we have opening day action that I'm going to cut through. And give you some scores here. Let's get to it. The Brewers and White Sox are in the top of the seventh inning.

Brewers are leading that one 11-1. Wow. Brew crew. Bottom of the seventh, the Nationals are up big on the cubbies. Eight to three.

Shout out to the Nets. At the end of the fifth inning the Twins and Orioles are at zero apiece. And the Red Sox and Reds just started, along with a few others. Oh! At the end of the first, the Tigers are up 4-0 on the Padres.

Bottom of the first, the Rangers are down 2-0 to the Phillies. And we just got our first final of the day. Yeah. The Mets beat the Pirates 11-7. Paul Skeens out before he pitched a complete inning.

He got two outs, you guys. Two outs. And then City Field gave him a standing ovation as he walked off the mound. Oof. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

It happens. Thank you so much for interrupting my segment for that. What do we call that live action? We'll do it live. We'll do it live!

Oh, I wish the FCC would let me finish that clip and play a little more of it, but I digress.

Now can we hear from TJ Otzelberger and what he had to say about the Carolina job that he's apparently no longer or what I don't know that he was ever interested in it. Any speculation with me and any other jobs or opportunities is not true. I'm the coach of the Cyclones, thrilled to be the coach of the Cyclones. And what I can say to you even more as we move forward together is the alignment on our campus with Dr. Cook, Jamie Pollard is amazing and we're thrilled and excited about our future together.

So there you go.

Now, before today, I would have been like, okay, well, what's he supposed to say? Oh, yeah, totally thinking about that Carolina job. We'll get to that after this tournament running. No. That's typically that's never how that works, but again, per several of our sources in college basketball.

TJ Otselberger has taken his name out of that. mix as well. Tommy Lloyd, though That's a di that's a different That's a different one because You know, I've been trying to do as much due diligence as possible on this, listening to people that are very plugged, like Brendan Marks of the Athletic, friend of the show. Um, And Tommy Lloyd is interesting because he's a Mark Phew protege. And that Mark Few is somebody I think Carolina was.

Or a lot of people, Carolina fans, were interested in possibly filling Roy Williams' spot with. Once they ultimately, and then they ultimately went with Hubert Davis, but. Tommy Lloyd is an interesting one because that is a name where you could potentially. Preserve some of the Carolina family people that are a little upset about it because Roy Williams, again, Mark Few, that's his guy.

So there's some ties there, is what I'm getting at. But Tommy Lloyd, of course, was asked about this yesterday in his media availability. And here's what he had to say. What I'll say, Seth, is I already have one of the best jobs in the country. And one thing we talk about in our program all the time, and I think I've gotten better at, and I think our team has been crushing it this year, is just the ability to have full focus and be present in the moment.

And so I think we have a great team. I think we have a chance to advance in this tournament game by game, but I'm not delusional. I know we could lose tomorrow. Um but This team deserves my full focus.

So there's not one thing. that is gonna knock me off my path. I'm 100% focused on Arizona basketball. He didn't say no. That's not a no.

You see. And many of you already know this because you're sports fans and you're plugged into these things and you're always watching press conferences and what people say. Maybe you are, maybe you aren't. I don't know. Um But when somebody is asked about a job opening like that, And their na 'cause that's that's what happens here is like you have a full twenty four hours where we talked yesterday about Huber Davis has been fired.

Here's all the names that could realistically replace him. And then that gets to the reporters. At an Iowa State, on the Arizona beat, whoever it happens to be, Florida with Todd Golden and when these people meet with the coaches. that are still playing because they're going to do press availabilities, they're going to be asked about it. And It's always what they don't necessarily say that you should be watching for, not what they do say.

And that was not a no from Tommy Lloyd.

So. I maintain that my three That and from Most favorite. To least In terms of the three realistic candidates for Carolina, it goes Billy Donovan. Who they got worked last night. You were telling me about this, Morgan.

Yeah, they lost like a hundred and fifty to f one thirty seven, but they were only down, but the seventy sixers gave up one hundred and thirty seven to the Bulls.

So that says more about the Sixers than I think it does the The Bulls. I mean the Bulls stink. But they put up 137. Yeah, that doesn't mean they can defend it very well, though. True.

Which is all the more reason why I've read this in several places where despite a great contract and all that. There are people close to Billy Donovan that are saying Maybe she'd get out. while they're trying to change Then They're changing the chapter in Chicago, but have they ever really made a good chapter lately? Because they have not demonstrated to be able to put a good team together for any amount of time.

So I'm glad Kobe White's out of there and he's bawling out for Charlotte. We'll get to them in a minute. But. I think it's time for Billy Donovan to go back to college. I think he'd be better suited that way.

Um Then you've, of course, got Tommy Lloyd. That's my second favorite. for a lot of the reasons I just laid out, the mark few ties and all that. Plus, the dude actually made Caleb Love a good basketball player, an efficient, a more efficient basketball player, and a Pac-12 player of the year. He's worked with Henry Vesar, like so.

There's some Carolina items there as well. And then third on that list is Dusty Mae. I like Dusty May for that job. Morgan does not like that. Why don't you like that?

Why? He's got to stay in Michigan. Why does he have to stay in Michigan? For what? I mean, he's built up a good.

He's built a good program at Michigan. Like, I don't think we can deny that. A top two or top three program consistently this year. And. I don't know if you want to go throw that away to go to UNC where they're barely making the tournament, you know?

Well, if Dusty Mae goes there, they wouldn't barely make the tournament. They'd be winning championships again. Anywho. TJ Osselberg was my dark horse, though.

So I guess I had him in the right spot. Get him out of there. Anyway, those are my three. Who do you want to see take the job, Morgan? I haven't asked you that.

For NC State or UNC? Or both? I think at UNC, I I like uh I was going to say also Berger, but the guy from Arizona. Yeah. I like him, Tommy Lloyd.

I don't think you can get the guy from Florida Golden. I don't think you can get Golden from Florida. It's going to take a lot to get him. And he's already got a really good program. He won a national championship last year.

I don't know if he wants to leave there. I don't know that he does. And you're not getting Hurley. I saw someone say Izzo, you're not getting Izzo either. No.

At this point, he's not going anywhere. But who do you like for NC State? I have a list here actually. I looked at it.

So uh Flynn Clayman of HPU, no one's throwing his name around. He only has one year coaching experience as a heads coach position, so it m probably won't work, but he took a pretty good team to And beat an amazing Wisconsin team. Wisconsin, yeah. Amazing Wisconsin. I don't take that name.

Um And Justin Gainey, the Tennessee assistant, a lot of traction's coming with that one.

So he's been their assistant coach for. Gosh, three years now and they've turned that program around real well.

So those are my two for NC State. The gainy one's interesting.

So is Archie Miller, as Jay Davis pointed out in our YouTube comments. By the way, I will pose the question to you again for a chance to win some tickets. It's not hard. You can come on air and talk to me. It's okay.

You know, it's all good here. For a chance to win some. Tickets. Wake Forest and Cal. Going to be in action this weekend.

To win a pair of tickets to that game. Just come on air. And let us know. Either who do you like for the Carolina job or who do you like for the NC State job? 336-777-1600 is.

The number to call. All right. Coming up next, though. Oh, by the way, that is brought to you by Poncho Villas. Mexican and seafood restaurants.

They got them in High Point and Winston-Salem. That's two of my favorite foods: Mexican and seafood.

So let's just throw them together in one spot. Why don't we? Bringing you. The best authentic Mexican food in the triad. Facts, feelings, and the occasional bad idea.

I'm a kid, I'm a kid, I'm a kid. I'm locked in. Welcome to The Drive, the Triad's longest-running live sports talk show. All right, it's time for the fun stuff. We get to the sixth man of the Tar Heels B Dot in a little over five minutes, but we have to address this.

So Rory McIlroy. He has released his Menu This is what they do every year. The master champion, when they meet again in April, and this will be held on April 7th. They have a champions dinner, a master's club dinner, is what it's called. And uh the champion gets to design.

The menu, which, if you follow golf like that, you already know that. But for the other people out there that don't, that's how it works.

So here's Rory's menu. Here it is. Yeah. Uh for his appetizers, and boy, this is a beauty. Peach and ricotta flatbread.

Balsamic, hot honey, and basil on that bad boy. I like the sound of that. I really do. Bacon wrapped dates with some goat cheese and almonds. Rock shrimp.

Timpura And grilled elk sliders. Grilled elk sliders. Dude, that is just He's got some roasted garlic aioli on that.

Okay. Now we get to the first course, and I'm a big fan of this one. 'Cause I like seafood. Yellowfin tuna. Car Pacchio.

All right. Then the main course, Wagu. It's probably not Wagu, but I'm nailed it. Wagu, filet mignon, or seared salmon. The dessert?

Sticky toffee pudding. Your thoughts, Morgan? I don't trust Wagoo. It just looks weird. Like, uh, the meat doesn't look marbled correctly.

Okay. And that just messes with me. Like, that cow didn't probably feed properly or something. That's just. Doesn't seem right.

Do you have your own master's menu to reveal to the good people of the triad? Oh, do I? Lay it on us. Let's hear it. I picked four appetizers.

I got mozzarella sticks. Mozzarella sticks at the Masters.

Sorry, mine's probably not gonna be much better. Go ahead. Pretzel bites, like the soft pretzel bites where you can dip it in the cheese. I can get on board with that. Potato salad.

And mac and cheese. Mac and cheese with mozzarella sticks. It's an option. Boy, yeah, there's that. First course?

Yeah. Bacon cheeseburger sliders on sweet rolls. With like an aioli sauce? That's interesting.

Okay. And then my mains, you have chicken fried steak with the mashed potatoes with the white gravy on top.

Okay. Or a ribeye steak with green beans and some mashed potatoes.

Some carbs in this dish. Oh, yes. And dessert. Wait for this. You haven't even heard of carbs yet.

French vanilla ice cream topped with southern fried apples and deep fried Oreos. Deep fried Oreos. Dude, what are we at the fair? Oh my okay. Here's mine very quickly.

very quickly.

So I'm a I'm a big breakfast guy, so for my appetizers, I'm going breakfast nachos. Breakfast nachos gonna have some uh crispy tortilla chips. Scrambled eggs and breakfast sausage, crispy bacon bits and jalapenos. A little cheddar cheese on there. I actually want to make that for myself.

That sounds good. That sounds amazing. Uh pepperoni breakfast pizzas. Smoked salmon and everything bagel bites. I I'm a fan of this.

First course. Uh we're just gonna go with the Small little mini pizzas.

So we're gonna do I thin and crispy pizzas.

So you can eat more of it? With the main course though. Seared. Salmon. Blackened salmon as well.

That's what I like. And then for the dessert, classic New York-style cheesecake. That's what we do. Yeah. Your team.

Your take. Let's get the show going. Your drive home. Uh oh, uh oh. Should be joined by the six-man of the Tar Heels B Dot.

any minute now, but We just revealed our master's menus, and apparently, Doug in Winston-Salem takes issue with Morgan's menus specifically. Doug, go right ahead. I mean, you guys have got to you you've lost your mind. Jack Nicholas, Ben Ben Crenshaw, are you trying to kill these guys? Are you trying to kill them?

They they don't eat stuff like that, mozzarella sticks, Jack Nicholas at the master. I mean, you might as well go get their Pomindo cheese sandwiches for $1.25. That's where you can put. Yeah, they're that they're a dollar twenty five. I mean, it's uh but yeah, but um yeah, he's trying to kill them.

He's trying to kill them with all that. And then the other players, they don't eat that stuff. These guys are fit. They they uh it's not like back in the day where they drank and smoked and and messed around and stuff. They don't do that stuff today.

So I don't think that menu That menu's not going to fly. That's just not going to fly. I'm down with the salmon. I can get on like that. with some yeah, I like it.

I don't know about blackened. I don't know. I don't know if they'll go for blackening, but I'm down with the salmon. I am, you know, but you didn't put banana pudding on there. Why didn't you?

You have potato salad. I don't know why you don't have banana pudding on there. I mean, you know, if you're gonna go and do that, I mean, it doesn't make sense. But Yeah, why didn't you put banana pudding on there? What's up?

I'm not a big banana pudding guy. And no chier wine either. I didn't see no chier wine on there, so I don't, you know. He's going to do all that.

Well, to be fair, they didn't put beverages on it, so I mean, they didn't really give us the option. But I agree, cheer one. Introduce the good people of Augusta to that. To Salisbury, North Carolina cheer wine. Not just any chair wine, corporate headquarters, Salisbury, North Carolina.

How about that? You got that right, Maria.

Okay, what would you put on the menu? Like, just give us a main course. I'm good with the salmon. I'm with him on the wagu. That's a little iffy to me.

So maybe some nice pork chops would be good. Love it.

Some salmon would be good.

Some asparagus. I like me some asparagus now, especially if it's cooked right. Yeah, I'm down with asparagus. Maybe some Dewey's sugar cake for dessert. Ooh, now that's an idea.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then uh you know, just a a regular salad, strawberries, like a like uh you know, a strawberry fruit salad or something like that. I love it. Yeah, you know there's going to be wine there. All that stuff's going to be there already, but.

Yeah. Good stuff, Doug. I appreciate the call for sure. Yeah, we got to get some cheer wine in the proceedings there. Gotta make that happen.

No, you don't like cheer one? Absolutely not. What planet do you live on? A real one. I don't know.

True wine's disgusting. Careful. You are in Winston-Salem. I know where I'm at. I'm going to board up the windows, make sure nobody comes here for you, because that's a very good thing.

I'm not from the area, though.

So I was introduced to it about nine years ago. Yeah. And it's not my thing. I can see why people like it, but it's just not for me. I'm more of a Dr.

Pepper guy. I like Dr. Pepper. I can get on board. I'm from Dr.

Pepper country.

So I was born like 20 minutes from Waco, Texas, which is where Dr. Pepper's from.

So that's why. Love Dr. Pepper. Ab about a year ago on this very show, we were talking about Baylor. And instead of Waco, I called it Waco.

Oh no.

Sometimes it just happens that way. You learn words for the first time, and you don't realize that you've been saying it wrong all this time. Uh if you have a master's menu. three three six seven seven seven one six hundred. I'm getting hungry now just thinking about all this.

Speaking of being hungry As we're waiting for the six-man of the Tar Heels B-Dot to get here.

Okay. Oh, well, there he is. I didn't even see him there. Let me get him in the studio here. I'm sure he's going to give me a hard time for this.

That could make for some good radio. Dot! How long you been there? I'm here, bro. I've been here.

Oh, five minutes. No, I'm joking. I'm joking. I'm actually, so I'm out with my daughter. I was the chaperone for her school trip today.

We were actually about to go to the Hornets game. We're heading to the Hornets game in a second. They did a tour of the spectrum. And we were just getting something to eat. And I was filling out the tab, and I was like, oh my gosh, I completely forgot.

And I ran outside. I apologize, WD. What's happening, man? This is the six-man of the Tar Heels, a B-Dot, who's joined us now. The Hurt Man.

The Hurt Man is my name now. Oh boy, have we got some stuff to talk about?

So, Andrew. Knicks, Hornets tonight. You're going to be there for that. Maybe we can talk about that in just a minute, but let's start with. the breaking news of today and that is Will Wade is going to jump ship from NC State after one very disappointing year, considering how he hyped it up to be.

As the sixth man of the Tar Heels, how funny was this to you? Yeah. Not very as people are laughing in the background, yeah. Just guys, this just happened to want to just come have a conversation right in front of me. Um, no, it wasn't very funny to me, WD.

Like, I can't even front. Like, I wanted to laugh at them, like, I wanted to little brother this and little brother that, but we're in such peril right now that I can't even laugh at them. It's funny on my Instagram, on my ex the other day. Before Will Wade left, I made a comment that said, Damn, we have no coach. We don't know who's staying on the roster.

We don't know what we're going to do in the portal. We are basically turned into NC State with one decision. People did not like that. They were like, oh, you know, NC State, this, NC State, that.

Well, now neither of us have a coach. Will Wade's headed back to LSU. Hubert Davis, God knows what he's doing, still unpacking his office there on campus. Like If we aren't anymore like NC State today, I don't know when we ever will be. Like.

It's very shocking and sad if you are a Wolfpack fan, in all seriousness, because. I thought they had a guy in wheel weight. I really thought they had to. Did you buy into it? The Red Reckoning?

Did you drink the Red Reckoning Kool-Aid? I drank the Red Reckoning Kool-Aid. I drank the Will Wade water. I thought that he was what NC State needed. And for him to leave after one year, dude, like we talk so much.

I saw Jay Billis point out that we talked so much about. Players being in the transfer portal and giving them a hard time and not having any allegiance, et cetera, et cetera. But we never have these conversations about these coaches. Like what Will Wade did. Is disgusting.

And I hope that the buyout was so expensive that it cripples LSU for at least the next two years. I'd like to get your reaction to something.

So Rick Patino. As Duke is prepared to face St. John's tomorrow, and it sounds like there's a good chance Caleb Foster is going to play, which is insane. But Rick Petino said that there's no difference between an NC State and North Carolina, essentially trying to say that blue bloods no longer really have. the type of advantage as they once did.

How do you react to this news? Yeah. I react by changing my parlay because I was rooting for Patino. And then he talks out the side of his neck like this and it's like, yo. Let's go blue devils.

Let's teach this fool a lesson about blue blood. Because see, like, I'm really getting agitated with this whole who's a blue blood, we're not a blue blood, they're not a blue blood conversation. You don't lose your blue blood identity because you have a rough patch. Right. You cannot negate.

The Dean Smith, the Roy Williams, the Guthridge, even the Dowdy Errors. You cannot. erase those like they never happened because we hit like a little downward spiral over the past couple years when you look at the last five years in totality that is living in the moment and that is very very ignorant Like when you talk about Blue Bloods, Kansas, Kentucky, Carolina, UCLA, that will never change. That will never change.

Now you can add teams that start to do things like a Villanova, a UConn, and even a Duke. But they ain't original blue bloods. Blue bloods is UCLA, Carolina, Kansas, and Kentucky. Period. That don't change.

So, anybody speaking, now I understand that there is a more balanced landscape now because St. John's can kick out money that NC State can kick out, and NC State can kick out money that Clemson, and Clemson can kick out money to Carolina. I get that part. But it still does not negate those three letters that are on the front of that jersey, U-N-C. That still means something, Jack.

It does. I mean, you could make the argument that. Yes, Carolina has not been up to Carolina standards for the most part of the last. Five years. But what, and even the last couple under Roy, but why are we still talking about them the way we do?

Because of that logo. That's why. Exactly. That's what I was saying when they had this whole conversation about Carolina not being relevant. The fact that we're not even in the round of 16, didn't even make it to the round of 32, and we're still leading every single ESPN or whatever sports break, even before HD got let go, we're still leading every sports break.

Why? Because we're relevant. We are to Carolina basketball, what the Yankees are to baseball, what the Cowboys are to the NFL, and what the Knicks are, and the Lakers are, and the Celtics are to the NBA. We are the flagship. institution.

Couldn't agree more. And you're about to watch the hornets beat, said New York Knicks here in just a minute. I'm talking about clicking belt to him. That's right. I'm so excited.

My daughter is here with her friends, man. Like one of my partners, he wants to meet Mello. And I don't say, well, I got to walk away because they can hear me. But one of my friends, Fly Ty, he's the arena host.

So we got to get to the gym by 6, 6:15 so that I can get them a little meet and greet with Mello Ball. They're going to lose their minds. They're going to lose their minds. Six, seven. Gotta gotta get one of those.

Let me ask you this because again, six men of the Torah Heels B Dot. Did you have an issue with how they drug this thing out with Hubert Davis over the course of like five days and then asked him to come up with a plan? You know, according to the reporting of how it all went down, they asked him to put together a plan of what next year in the future might look like, and then they still moved on anyway. Did you take issue with that? Absolutely.

Um This was one of the first times that it didn't feel like a Carolina family at all. The way they sat there, and I said this on Believe in Heels Hoops. with Dez and PJ, the way they allowed Coach HD to sort of sway in the wind in these social media streets and allowed everybody to say anything they wanted to say about Hubert Davis. Um That was disrespectful to say the least. It was distasteful.

Um again, Hubert Davis is a Pillar of the Carolina community, whether as a player, as an assistant, as a journalist, and a broadcaster, and as a head coach. Hubert Davis gave us two of the best wins in the rivalry that will never be erased. If nothing else, you have to show him more respect than allowing the social media streets to assassinate his character. destroy his image. And then Force him out, fire him.

You think about that, HD? Carolina fired their head coach. We haven't fired a head coach ever. Even Matt Daugherty, they allowed him to resign. And again, they asked HD to do the same thing, but you got to look at this.

HD just gave up one of the worst losses in tournament history. True indeed. That still ain't an 8 and 20 season. Dardie had us 8 and 20, my boy. Yes, you have to get up out of here.

HD felt like he still had more in the tank, still had more to give, man. And so, of course, he didn't want to come up with an idea of what should happen next year and who to let go on his staff and all of that. But yes, I do think that the PR team at Carolina should be reprimanded and/or fired. They have handled this horrifically. They've handled, Dan said that too, they've handled this entire year.

horrifically from football with Billy.

So basketball with HD, the Carolina PR department has been horrendous.

Okay. So we had a caller call in. And pass along this message, and they wanted me to ask you this question as we're talking about who could fill the Carolina job. And there's a lot of talk, and it seems like they're more than likely going to go outside the Carolina family for the first time in our lifetimes. But this caller asked: Could one of the UNC family hires be Jeff Lebo?

Could that be a fit? I don't think so. And I love Jeff Lebo. I respect all the guys on that bench. I respect all the guys on that staff.

But I really just don't think we have anybody in the Carolina family that can step up to the plate. I hear the Jerry Stackhouse, and you know me, WD, I'm unapologetically black. I root for all things black, and I would love Jerry Stackhouse. Hell, I would love a coaching staff of Jerry Stackhouse, Rashi Wallace, Vince Carter, and Anton Jamison, or Ed Coda, and Anton Jamison, or Jeff McGinnis and Anton Jamison. Black that thing out, urban that thing out.

But I know, as well as many other common sense folks, that it's going to be a snowball and a microwave time period before we ever see another black coach at the helm at Carolina. That aside, I don't think there's so Stackhouse, I think, is out. Yeah. Lebo, I don't think he has enough head coaching experience. to make this to make that play like he isn't any different than hd Um This next hire has to be a...

Home run, bro. Like out the park. And I really don't know who that is. What's even more scary is the fact that the transfer portal opens up in about 10 days. We don't know who's gonna be on the roster.

We don't know who's. uh who's who's even available You dig what I'm saying? I do. We don't even have a coach to go and find anybody in the portal that opens up in 10 days.

So things like that scare me, man. Like, I think this was an emotional decision. You know, like when you're in a relationship and you find out something heartbreaking about your girlfriend, so you go and you do something stupid that you can't bounce back from? That's what I think Carolina has done in this moment. I think they've made an emotional decision.

They've listened to the social media keyboard warriors, and they fired a coach who they did not really give enough time to fix this situation. And that's disheartening. I have a personal relationship with HD, so it's kind of difficult for me to just talk about this from a space of, well, I don't know who the next coach should be. I really, really honestly, WD today, I really don't give a damn who the next head coach for Carolina is because the way that the previous head coach was treated just isn't sitting right with my spirit. I would like to say, though, NC State.

should call another coach who was in the 919. And his name is LaVelle Moten, and they should have his ass in a wolf pack coat. Before the end of the weekend, because when you think about people, coaches who have a pipeline to the NBA. LaVelle Motin is one of those guys. LaVelle Motin has connections with the USA team, the USA, the teen teams, the Olympic teams.

He's plugged in. Jason Tatum is his nephew. Like, if there's anybody that can get you a pipeline to the NBA, relevant now, a proven winner. It's LaVelle Moten and he should at least get a phone call. I love that.

I did not even think about Lavelle Moten, but... I love it. I love it so much. That's why I'm here, WD. That's why I'm here.

Last thing for you: are you aware of the Masters Champions dinner that goes on? You know, I don't do nothing about no masters, man. Not since 1865. You know, I ain't gave a damn about no masters since 1865.

Okay, well, here's what it is: it's where the champion comes up with their own menu for the champion's dinner right before the next masters. And here's what. Uh Rory McElroy. Came up with. What the hell is that?

It's his menu here. I can't even pronounce some of that stuff, WD. Yeah, it is tough to pronounce them. You got peach riscata flatbread, bacon wrapped date, rock shrimp, tempura, grilled elk sliders at your appetizers. Your first course, yellow fin tuna carpeccio.

I think that's how you pronounce that. Main course is either wagyu filet mignon or seared salmon. The dessert is sticky toffee pudding. If I ask B Dot. To put together his own master's dinner menu as you're shaking your head at me.

What would it consist of? Go. A bunch of black people first. And then, when we got this whole table full of black people, we're gonna have like, we're gonna have maybe some oyster Rockefeller as an appetizer. I'm gonna get that from Jimmy's famous seafood up there.

Or I might do like little small chicken and waffles, like little miniature chicken and waffles for the appetizer, right? Then for your main course, I want to do some. I'm gonna keep it super urban. I'm gonna do some fried, some buttermilk fried chicken. Or Or you can get a riby steak.

We're gonna do some sweet potatoes and some collard greens and some turkey necks in them holes and a grilled skillet cornbread. And then for your dessert, we're gonna do um Maybe a peach cobbler with some vanilla ice cream on top, or apple pie warmed up, of course, with some vanilla ice cream on top, and wash all that down with some Casa Migos reposado. Man. Can I come to this thing when it goes down? I want in on that.

WD, you know you always invited to the cookout, whether it's a master's cookout or not. You know damn well. Sixth Man of the Tar Heels B. Dottie's about to go watch the Hornets beat the Knicks for the first time this year. Thanks for doing it as always.

We'll talk to you here very soon. Hey love you, WD. Be good, man. Keep kicking ass on the drive, boy.