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The drive starts now on WSJS. Here we go. It is a Thursday drive right here on WSJS, News Talk Sports for the Triad. And as you can see, I'm coming to you from somewhere different today. I'm Will Dalton rocking with you on a Thursday.
W D. Also known as that. And we are live here at the Mountaineer Spring Tour Foothills Brewery. Tasting room. That's where we're at.
We're live on location, having a good time. Got some great guests lined up. Gonna talk to Dustin Kearns, App State basketball coach, Doug Gillen, the AD over there. And then Dow Loggins, the football coach, gonna join us in hour number two. And yeah, Josh Graham snuck his way onto my show as well.
That's gonna happen. But We'll get to Dustin Kearns in about 15 minutes to kick off the App State portion of the proceedings. But we got to start with the main event in this state tonight, and that is. The Carolina Hurricanes going up against the Montreal Canadiens Eastern Conference Finals. Game one.
Morgan, hit the horn, hit it. You know. Keynes fans have been waiting a long time for this. And it'll just mean like a shot to go to the Stanley Cup again. I I mean like for this game tonight.
So This is an 11-day break for the Kanes. And that's the longest break from The second round to the Eastern or to a conference finals period since 1919. That's how far back you have to go to see this type of break. And the Kanes have got a long break between their first. You know, two series when they swept.
the senators waiting on the flyers. But this one's a little bit different, and they fared pretty well in one break, one layoff. We'll see what they do with a second one. But One of the things I think you should, like, if you're a Hurricanes fan, I imagine you are if you're listening to this show. The one thing I would say that you should keep an eye on and not.
Overlook in this Montreal Canadiens team is their youth. They're young, man. They're young, they're opportunistic, they're scrappy. And much like we saw around here with the Charlotte Hornets earlier in the year. They are a young team who's rolling, and they're naive enough to believe that they can beat anybody.
It's not in their minds that, oh, we're going up against the big, bad hurricanes. They're not thinking that way. They're just cruising, they're rolling right now.
So that's something. That can absolutely be dangerous. That's something that absolutely should not be overlooked if you're the hurricanes. If you're a Hurricanes fan, that's something to keep an eye on. But on the Kane side of things, the one thing I will say is.
I feel like this team really Takes the shape and mentality and mindset of Rod Brindemore. And what I mean by that is like. I mean the dude sets an example for his players. Like... They don't call him Rob the Bod for a reason.
Like, he's in there working out. He's in the gym. He's on the ice working out with the players in practice. And. I don't believe that he's going to allow this team to have this long 11-day break.
and just be like a little laxadaisical. I don't think that's gonna happen. And the reason I don't think that's gonna happen is because it hasn't happened yet in these playoffs. Like there's been so many situations, whether it's the Kane's cruising, Whether it's been the canes getting down in certain spots, not as many of those, but a few. or overtime spots they have stayed consistent.
They've stayed steady, they've stayed disciplined, and they've continued to play the way they want to play. And I think a lot of that has to do with Rod Brendemore and the mentality that he's instilled on this team. That is something On the Kane side of things, that I think is important to think about going into tonight. I'm sure you've heard it plenty by now. The 0-3 record the Kanes have against Montreal in the regular season.
Which Some people take stock of that, some people don't.
Some people look at that and they go, well, the regular season and the playoffs are two different seasons, which I tend to agree with that. But sometimes there can be some similarities because, I mean, when we looked at the Kanes and the Flyers in the regular season, they didn't finish one game in regulation. It all went to shootouts or overtime. And we saw quite a bit of that in their playoff series as well.
So The O for three against Montreal. Maybe you put stock in it, maybe you don't, but what I do put stock in is the fact that. I think Despite having swept the first two series as fast as they did, 8-0, first team to do that since 85, the Oilers. I feel like Rod is going to know that on the outside people are thinking, oh, they're just rested and they're ready to go. But I think Rod is going to have his team thinking about that 0-3 record against the Canadians, and I also think.
They're gonna They're gonna be hungrier because of that, in my opinion. Like I think Rod is gonna have this team even more so. Ready. to play and I think they're gonna be ready to go. The thing is The question I have ultimately Is this going to be the series that Sebastian Aho Dispatch.
Seth Jarvis. Is this going to be the series that they really... Come alive offensively. They've done some good things out there on the ice. Don't get me wrong.
Rod Brendemore was talking about that. We were talking about that with Joe Gilio yesterday of the OVs and Gilio podcast. But as Gilio pointed out, at the end of the day, You're paying them the way you're paying them. Because you need them to score. And they haven't done a ton of that so far in these playoffs, which, in a weird way, actually kind of makes the Kanes even more scary when you look at the fact that that's just something that's like the cap is just ready to pop off on that.
And maybe this is going to be the series that it happens.
So, Canadians, Kanes, tonight, 8 o'clock puck drop in Rollywood. We're fired up. We're ready for it.
Sound the horn one more time. 336-777-1600. That is. the number to call. Morgan Corson is back at At headquarters, he's back in the studio making the magic happen, making sure I don't go off the air or anything.
Morgan, is anything broken over there? Are we okay? We're pretty good right now. I just heard some thunder and lightning outside, so that's not a great sign. But yeah, especially when you're doing a live remote, that's never good.
One lightning strike, and boom, off. We're done. Fingers crossed, though. Oh, yeah. Fingers crossed.
But again,. Appreciate him back in the studio making the magic happen. We're going to be joined by Dustin Kearns, App State basketball coach, here in just a little bit. As we're over at Foothills Brewery Tasting Room for the Mountaineer Spring Tour, they were in Greensboro last night.
Now we're here in Winston-Salem.
So, you know what would be funny, Morgan? What's that? Wouldn't it be funny if somebody goes, hey, you know what? The Dallas Mavericks, there's a head coaching vacancy now, there's an opening. Wouldn't it be kind of cool if John Shire got a call for that?
Wouldn't it be cool? That'd be pretty interesting.
Well, it's not just a theory apparently anymore, because... No no sooner than maybe a Duke fan could wonder that. We get a report today by Brett Siegel of Clutch Points reporting. That Dallas is in fact expected to reach out to John Shire. This is a report that's coming out today now.
Let me just say this before I scare any Duke fans or maybe like, oh, you're doing a clickbait type of thing. I don't think John Shire is going to the Dallas Mavericks. I think he's set at Duke. I think he's got a great thing going there. And I think he wants to continue to build upon that.
He's still chasing that natty. He hadn't gotten there yet. And I mean, could you imagine losing the way he has the last two. The Elite Eight this year and the Final Four last year, and then bouncing to Dallas. Could you imagine that?
I don't know if that would be the greatest look. At the end of the day, who cares? Like, it's the NBA. You're getting an opportunity. But.
While I don't think it's gonna happen, here's why it would make sense. And many of you probably already know where I'm going with this. There's four Duke guys already on this team. A few guys that John Shire has coached very recently. One of them, the obvious name of the bunch, is Cooper Flag.
developed a very good relationship with John Shire last year. Then you also have Kyrie Irving, Duke Guy. Marvin Bagley, Duke guy that Dallas acquired this year in a trade. And then Derek Lively, who John Shire coached just a couple at two, three, whatever it was years ago. It would make a lot of sense.
So. I personally do not believe John Shire is going to jump to the NBA right now. I don't see that happening. I just I think he's got it too good at Duke right now. But the opportunity to coach Cooper Flag, Derek Lively, a couple of guys you already have bonds with.
That's intriguing. That's certainly intriguing. And I think this is Masai Yugiri really kind of. You know, he's trying to set a new table. He's trying to start fresh.
And You know, I think it was very surprising that they fired Jason Kidd the way they did after five seasons, and he just inked a four-year extension just a couple of years ago, what, two years ago in 2024? And It once Masayujiri took over. I think he wanted to clean the slate. completely of. The Nico Harrison debacle?
And all remnants of the Luka Doncic trade to the Lakers. I think that's what he's doing here. Boy, what a name to bring in. What a fresh start. What a reboot to have in Dallas.
than if you brought in John Shire to reunite with Cooper Flag. Derek Lively, join in with Kyrie Irving, Marvin Bagley, and everybody else over there in Dallas, but those are your Duke guys. You want to talk about an instant reset? Like... Man, give Messiah Ujiri a raise now if he could pull that off somehow and convince John Shire to come over from Duke.
But that. It's just a report today.
Something interesting that I saw.
Something to keep an eye on. Just saying.
Okay. Like I mentioned, we got a great group of guests today. And it starts with Dustin Kearns, head coach of App State basketball. going to join us here in just a couple of minutes. And I'm curious some of his thoughts.
I mean, one, you know, the uh at lost in the first round of the Sunbelt Tournament um this year, so I want to maybe get some of Dustin Kern's reflections on that. Plus, this is the first time we've gotten to talk to him. Sense The NCAA tournament was expanded to 76 teams. I want to get his thoughts on that and you know, how he thinks that could impact. App State.
And now, the moment you've all been waiting for. This is the drive. Talking sports the right way. Back at it on the drive as we are live from the Foothills Brewery Tasting Room. And we got our first guest of the day as we get all things App State swinging here on the drive.
It is Dustin Kearns, the head coach of App State Basketball. Welcome back to the drive. Good to have you.
Well, it's great to be on the drive, man. Always. I love it, man.
So. What is your favorite part about coming out to events like this? Because I mean it puts App State and all things Boone on display for everybody here in the triad. I know you guys go to a lot of different spots for this, but what are some of your favorite things about doing this? You know, just meeting so many great fans and people.
You know, App State truly has a great fan base. very passionate, but also just great people that Love their school and appreciate the work that we put in. It's always just great. you know, seeing so many great fans and you know see some alumni and things like that. What are some of the more unique I mean, 'cause App State, they have such a passionate fan base around here in the triad.
What are some of the things that make them such a unique fan base in your mind? Yeah, I just think they're real. You know, I think that this is a real experience, it's a real fan base. They're truly passionate, and I feel like the genuine recognizes genuine. And I think that that's part of what makes app state.
family special is they truly embrace one another. And it's like... It's like a weird, everybody looks familiar. And I say that in the sense of Like everybody feels like family. And it doesn't matter whether you go to Charlotte, Raleigh, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Hickory.
Boon, like everybody feels like family, and when you see that A on somebody, like, it's just this. instant icebreaker. to go up and have an easy conversation because you share a passion. Dustin Kearns with us on WSJS, the head coach of App State Basketball. Getting to a little bit of hoop matters.
I know you guys were near the top of the Sunbelt again this past year, and I know the, you know. Got a little bit I came up short in the tournament a little bit more than what you wanted.
Now that you've had a little time to process and evaluate things, what are some things you take away from this past year? Yeah, I'm proud of that group. You know, certainly. one game out of one in the regular season for the second time in three years. And, you know, we had to go on the road and beat a very good team that had won 16 and I think 0 at home.
Uh maybe one loss, but Um You know, and we just were right there. We had an injury in the tournament. That's part of sports. But that group accomplished something and most importantly they helped sustain success, which is really hard in 2026, is to sustain success. And so proud of that group to maintain.
um you know, this winning stretch of App State basketball and in the sunboat.
So This is the first time I've gotten to talk to a college basketball coach since the expansion and the NCAA tournament, so I'm really fascinated by what you think of that because they pay me to talk into a microphone about it and have my own thoughts. But I'm curious as somebody who actually has to live in that world and deal with these things, what was your reaction to the NCAA tournament expanding from 68 to 76? Yeah, I've got mixed feelings. I think there's. You know, there's part of me that, you know, obviously you get eight more teams into it.
Is more exciting, right? Especially for hopefully, you know, mid-majors like ourselves. I think you go back a couple years ago and I think we were 70 in the net, so would that have possibly put us in? Maybe, right? Like, I don't know, it would have given us a better shot, right?
But I'm also mixed reviews because I think it's I think it's the most, I'm biased, but I think it's the most prestigious. sporting event in the world that has not been really mess with. And so I think that The c true invitation of it, and it's not an invitation, but like in the sense of you've got to earn your way in. The way everybody earns their way in, and I just don't want it to turn into. Um I hope it doesn't turn into, you know, The quote, some of the bowl games that just people have lost interest in, right?
Like now, football has shifted to. And I know getting to a ball game is great, and it's a great thing, but... Everybody's kind of a little bit more focused on the playoff, and people have forgot about, you know. the holiday bowl which 20 years ago was an exciting bowl to wise, right? And I hope it doesn't turn into you know, those first Incoming games turns into like there's just no interest, right?
I still hope that. uh our nation which you know in March turns to you know the NCA tournament and That's the beauty of sports, right? Like it's unpredictable. It's beautiful. But it's also cruel.
And the buzzer beaters in March Madness or the upsets of the mid-majors like ourselves of what makes America go crazy and the brackets and all that stuff. I hope it still remains. I will be more than good with it if it remains the same sort of harmony and electricity. in those arenas that it Provides and in office buildings at noon on a Thursday. And But I'll be disappointed if those you know, these uncoming games.
you know, loses interest. Um so. I've got mixed feelings on it. Dustin Kearns, the head coach of AppSafe Basketball, with us here on WSJS.
So, the next thing I had for you is a little bit of an extension of what we just talked about right there. You know, just the health of the game in general. You know, what type of concerns do you potentially have when you see players getting poached or things like that? And now you've got players coming that got drafted a few years ago into college basketball, and there's a weird gray area that some people are trying to finesse. What type of concerns do you have about the health of the game right now?
Yeah, that's a great question, and I've gotten asked that a few times, and I don't know if I have a great answer. Um other than I just I I I think that Um We've got to just maintain the integrity of sports, the integrity of the game, and I think once you do that. You know, everything will be fine. I understand rules change. I mean, shoot, back in the 80s, there wasn't a three-point shot.
Then we had the three-point shot, then it's grown back, and it's moved back. And so I understand rules and things change and evolve and I think there are some positives in the new college landscape. I think that's a good idea. you know, from someone that just, you know, is a head coach with you know quote boots on the ground. You know, I think that And I say we, and I'm generalizing we as college coaches.
I just think we want a little bit more clarity, a little bit more structure. You know, in our defense in the last seven years, There has been a significant rule change every year, whether it's Interconference transfer, whether it's a one-time transfer, then it's an any-time transfer, then it's the house settlement, and then it's the Juko rule, and then it's the COVID rule. And now we've got this five and five rule. And so It just constantly changes. And I don't know if anything's really sticking, right?
Like, we just want some consistency. And once again, I say we, I'm generalizing that. I just think we want some consistency, some clarity, and some real structure. Can you imagine?
Okay, the day after the Super Bowl. the NFL having complete free agency. Mm-hmm. No salary cap. Mayhem.
Well, that's what we're doing. The day after the national championship, college basketball portal opened. Complete free agency, no salary cap.
So my point is. What we're doing is Not really you know, heard of and when you get to, you know, major Entertainment, which is, you know, I understand college sports has now become a billion-dollar entertainment industry. We understand that. But let's get some, like the NFL, like Major League Baseball, like the NBA, let's get some structure, let's get some clarity. And let's move forward.
Like, I think there's a lot of good. I think there's a lot of positives with what's going on. I think young people and their families, their lives are impacted in a great way. Education is still valued. Um You know People still enjoy still supporting their college and their school, but let's just get Let's get a little bit more clarity, let's get a little bit more structural, and let's roll with it.
Last thing for you here.
So, Josh Graham, who I know you're familiar with, he prepared me well. He did that. And he told me about Dollywood. Yeah. And I've never been.
I've got to say that. You've got to go.
Well, so I'm going to take some days off here sometime soon, and I might want to go.
So, what are some of the things I need to be looking out for when I do this? First and foremost, a couple things. Um One Blazing Fury, one of the old school roller coasters that goes underground. Yeah Uh you know I would say Possibly, I've ridden that thing three hundred times in my lifetime. Wow.
Um,. And then Dolly cinnamon bread.
Okay, I've heard about the bread. Yeah, yeah, so you gotta, it's gonna be a long line. It's worth it, trust me. You gotta get a couple loaves of the cinnamon bread, take one home, eat one there, take one home, get two of them. Josh, I'm sure he's done that several times.
But You know, those would be a couple things that come to mind. I think that Dollywood is one of the sleeper. You know, amusement parks around. I grew up in East Tennessee, so going to Dollywood was. kind of a big thing for the summer.
It's like, hey, we're going to Dollywood, and that was a big event. And so Those were the two things that jumped to mind: Blazing Fury and the cinnamon bread. I'm getting the cinnamon bread. That's what I'm doing. I'm going to Dollywood.
I'm sold on it. I'm sold on it. Dustin Kearns. App State Basketball Coach, thank you so much for the time. Appreciate you stopping by and have a good time here tonight.
This is a good setup. Always great to be on the drive and go mountaineers take the stairs. No scripts, no safe takes, no chance. You're bored. Can't stop, won't stop.
We're just too good at getting. You're on the triad's longest-running live sports talk show, The Drive. All right, back at it from Foothills Brewery. tasting room. We're live on location here.
It is The App State Mountaineer Spring Tour, which we always enjoy every year. It's my first time actually being out at it. As uh As Jay Davis in our comments here points out, wow, WD, you finally get to take a field trip. Yes, I do. Yes, I do.
Thank you. Thank you so much. I want to talk about Bill Belichick, though, right now. Oh, by the way. Thought I should pass this along.
Dave Doran, gonna be one of the siren sounders for the Kanes tonight.
So. When Dave Doran steps up to the podium, this is what you're going to hear tonight. There it is. Look alive over there, Morgan. Oh man.
Okay. So Bill Belichick has been... Uh very likable lately. Very yeah, bad. But you've been hearing a lot of that.
Very personable, you might say. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, we spoke with Joe Gilio yesterday a little bit about this. Mm-hmm. He he's been on this podcast tour. And You know, if you're wondering what the occasion is, no, he doesn't have a book coming out.
No, he doesn't have a. Docu series or some other kind of series coming out. We don't know what the actual reason is. But there's definitely some Good guesses. One is clearly trying to repair his image a little bit, do a little PR, as it were.
For whatever the reason, I mean, Bill Belichick comes across as somebody that really doesn't care what people think about him. That's kind of the the grumpy thing. Facade, he puts on, which I don't think it's a facade. Uh maybe a little bit with the media when he doesn't want to give them anything, but Yeah, yeah. If he's trying to repair his image from anything.
It's One, trying to get in better graces with Hall of Fame voters. Perhaps. Maybe Repair some of his Repair some of the conversation around him when it comes to Carolina football, which was a disaster in year one. Perhaps maybe trying to erase some of the Jordan Hudson stuff that went on over the last year. whatever it happens to be.
Maybe that's some of it. Um And like I said, like he he joined Uh Bar stool. He he joined uh Pardon my take. And he also joined Sean Hannity's podcast, which that was very random, was not expecting that duo, but. Whatever.
But on the Barstool one specifically, very, very likable he came across. And. But I think that's a good idea. likable and very open in those interviews. Because of the reasons I just laid out, but he also might be Trying to get himself in position.
To get an NFL job again, maybe. But. But let's back up a little bit and go back to some of the Jordan Hudson stuff and specifically that CBS interview that was an absolute debacle. And that time he did have a book coming out, which is why he went on that show and then didn't really do media anymore after that, after how that went. But.
He did speak on and have some thoughts about the CBS interview. When he went on with Sean Hannity, hang out with Sean Hannity, that's his podcast. When he's not on Fox News, and here's what he had to say about the CBS interview. As we've seen recently, uh there have been more editing problems and they go back to Over a couple of years, multiple examples of editing and Interview process and all that, you know, I thought that the interview I had with him was. done very deceptively and um I've asked for the transcript from them and they won't give it to me.
They've done that with others. I'm not really sure what that policy is. I do agree that we should be able to see the full interview.
Now, that was almost a year ago, so that's not going to be happening, but. I don't know. I always wondered why they didn't release the full clip, and maybe it's because... If they did, it would make Bill Belichick and Jordan Hudson look even worse than they already did. Maybe that's it, but I don't know.
Release the tapes, I say. Let us see what we're missing. But. I'm moving it to the NFL job piece of this, which is what my real takeaway was.
Well in this pardon my take clip. And in this podcast in general. He made a real effort. A real effort to seem likable and personable, even more so than Sean Hannity's podcast. And in this clip, I think he's positioning himself potentially to take the Jets' job.
That. could very well be open a year from now. If we're keeping it a buck? And The reason I say it Th this was Bill Balachak on Pardon My Take. I can't stand coffee.
Okay. I can't stand it. And you get all your energy. I can't stand to look at coffee. I can't stand the taste of coffee.
I'm going to cut all of this. I can't stand the smell of coffee. I can't even eat coffee ice cream. Let me test you here right now. Gun to your head.
Coffee? or the New York Jets. Oh wow! That's a bit of a gone. Remember.
Undefeated, unscored on, head coached in the archouts twice. Yep. Never lost the game, never gave up a point. That's a great point. That man does not like the Jets.
We know this. But I believe that he is possessed. I think he very well could be doing all of this to try and get back in good favor, to get an NFL job, and specifically, maybe. The New York Jets.
Now, they did ask the question about the Jets, so he didn't just go on there by himself and volunteer. Hey, yeah, Jets. But he didn't not like he didn't dismiss it either.
So And the Jets, like I said. A year from now, they're they're a franchise that could be looking for a head coach to go south again with Aaron Glenn. And they're the type of franchise that would absolutely bring back Bill Belichick if given the opportunity, I bet. Because they're the Jets. J E T S Jets, Jets, Jets.
Am I right?
So that that's what I think could be happening with this PR tour he's doing.
Now We get to Dalton's dollars. Stack it up, stack it, stack, gotta stack it up. Get the money, get the money on the sound up. It's time to cash in. Welcome to Dalton's Dollars.
Show me the money. Breaking down the board and building the bankroll.
Alright, last night we split. Just had two picks, just two, went one and one. The first one was Taking the avalanche to cover as one and a half point favorites, that didn't work out at all. Vegas handling their business in game one of that series. But we did take the Spurs Thunder over.
Shout out to the Thunder evening up that series on home floor. That one did cash. Show me the fighter! Mm-hmm. So one and one last night, that puts our record, our summer bet record, puts it at nine and six.
So still in the green, still doing good. We're going to add a little more to the pot tonight. Put four picks on the card, starting with the Canes and the Canadiens tonight in Raleigh, game one of that series. I'm just gonna go under five and a half goals that are supposed to be scored in this. Show me the fire!
Yeah. I think the Kanes win tonight. I think they handle their business. I'm not too worried about the rest, the 11-day layoff. Not too worried about that.
But I don't think they're going to sit here and light it up and run it up either. I think it's going to be under five and a half.
So that's the first pick. I am going to take the canes to win by. They're going to cover their spread at one and a half point favorites. STROVE DIVELING!
Okay. Nick's Cavs. Game two of that series tonight. Knicks. Uh With the 22-point comeback, Cleveland blowing that one.
Game two of that one tonight. I think the next cover is six and a half point faves. I do. Drop me divided! Mm-hmm.
That's what we like that. We like it a lot. And sticking with that game. Just to confirm how much I like it, we're going to go with. Cat.
Carl Anthony Towns. I think he's going to go over 17.5 points. He averaged. He's averaged 17 a game in these playoffs, so that's right around the mark. But I think tonight he's going to go over 17 and a half.
Shall be delighted! Yeah. So that is what's on the card. Four picks. Four.
Canadians Keynes under the total of five and a half. Keynes. Cover as one and a half point favorites. The Knicks cover against Cleveland, six and a half point favorites, and Carl Anthony Towns goes over 17.5. points.
Chips to the table. That's what we're doing, Morgan. How do you like that? I don't mind it actually. Not bad, right?
Yeah, the only one I'm a little like eh about is the canes. Oh, really? You got doubts? You got doubts over there? Not major doubts.
Just enough, though, to have it in my head and confuse me a little bit. I don't know how fast these canes are going to come out. 11 days. I mean, four or five days is something, but we've seen in a lot of different sports how 11 days of rest can affect you. I'm not 100% sold on them coming out in the first period and rocking the world.
We'll see. We'll see what Josh. I mean, Josh Graham is the super Kane fan around here. We're going to see what he thinks about it next hour. But.
Yeah. We'll get to that in hour number two. By the way, Thunderspurt, did you see that dunk, Stefan Castle? Over Josh Hartenstein. He put him in a blender last night.
Did you see that? Yeah, I did. It was spectacular. The dunk of the playoffs. That series is going to get interesting because there's some injury concerns now for both sides.
We'll get to that a little later on in the five things at five. We are here live at Foothills Brewery Tasting Room in Winston-Salem. For the Mountaineer Spring Tour. They were in Greensboro last night, so they're making the rounds. We had Dustin Kearns earlier this hour.
If you missed that, you can catch that on our Best of Podcast, The Drive with Will Dalton, Apple Spotify, wherever you get your podcast, that is for you. Yeah. And now. On with the show. Showtime.
The sports conversation starts here. You're on the drive. Oh play me some album music like grandma Handpaw used to play Then I floor On down the river to Cage and Hide Away. Back at it on the drive right here on WSJS. And We're back at it at Foothills Brewery Tasting Room, awaiting to be joined by Doug Gillen, who is the AD.
of App State. Athletics and Excited to sit down with him. This is the first time I've really got to interview him since taking over this show. You know, a lot of things have happened since then. You know, the NCAA tournament has expanded to 76 teams, like we just talked about with Dustin Kearns and the Conwood.
And almost like in a chain reaction, that led to. Almost instant ramp up in the conversation about the college football playoff expanding to possibly 24 teams, and then that picked up even more last week when Jim Phillips was talking about it at ACC Spring Meetings.
So there's a number of items on the docket for Doug Gillen. when he joins us. Very excited. about that. I will take this opportunity, Morgan, to point out that the The Mandalorian Grogu movie drops tomorrow.
Are you aware of this? I knew it was happening, I was not aware it was tomorrow though. Can I be honest for a second? Please. I'm not excited about it.
How so? How come? And you know what? Like, I am a massive Star Wars nerd. The entire triad knows this.
And, like, I'm just not that excited about it. I don't think the trailers look good. I don't think I mean those who know know. Shout out to Joe Obias, the other half of the Ovius and Gilio podcast. We had Joe Gilio on.
yesterday and One of the things I talked to Joe Obias about, I asked him at ACC. the ACC tournament if he thought this movie was going to be good. And he was like, nah, I don't think so. And the reason it's not going to be good because Season three of that show kinda It kind of, I don't want, I'm not going to spoil anything for anybody that hasn't seen it. But it just kinda left things off on like a okay now what?
You know what I mean? You ever seen shows like that, Morgan? Yeah, I have. Where it's like the first couple of seasons ramp up. And then it's like you take all, just everything concludes in a season, and then they try to make something new the following season, or like in this case, they make a movie out of it.
And it's just... All the trailers look like it's just another adventure. That's what it looks like to me.
So I don't know. I'm not overly Excited about it to be and that bums me out because I'm a massive Star Wars nerd. Like, I would much rather go watch the new, I'd much rather go watch Michael again. I'd rather go watch the Michael Jackson movie again than go see The Mandalorian Grogu. What?
I've never actually seen Mandalorian Grogu. Dude, you are missing it. Oh, you haven't seen it? I haven't seen The Mandalorian show. I'm not too plugged into Star Wars like that.
I heard major mixed reviews about it, so I never touched it.
Okay, so You're missing out, dude. I'm telling you.
So That that comes out tomorrow. I probably will still go see it. I mean, I need to go see it because, like,. I need to I need to have thoughts, I need to know what's gonna happen. But um Oh, well look what the cat drug in.
That's not Doug Gillen. What are you doing here? Yeah. Well, this is the part where you tell people who you is.
Well, I'm WD. No, no, like, if you say, what are you doing here? Uh-huh.
Some people aren't watching, and they don't know who you are. Even with my voice.
Well, if they don't know the voice, they're not real fans of the show. This is Josh Graham, everybody. Hi, everybody. Hello. Good to see you.
Rocking the App State gear. Love it. See, this is the beauty. A Foothills Brewery. That's great.
There are multiple locations. And you didn't tell me which one to go to. And like the departed, I just ended up in the right place. This is how you know I'm like an undercover cop and get discovered. But apparently, that's what's happened to our good friend Doug Gillen, who's going to be here soon.
He went to the wrong one. See, but there are several locations because you got the downtown location. Love the Nashville hot chicken sandwich. Yes. Highly recommend.
And then here, what makes this spot great, you can explore the studio space a little bit. Explore the space. Explore the studio space. And there's a lot more options. There is upset beer.
There is a lot of options. But I looked at the wall and I got intimidated. I don't easily get intimidated, but I was intimidated when I looked at that wall of beer.
Well, it's good to have you here. Apologies for not speaking. To be fair, I didn't even know there were two Foothill Breweries. No, I figured you didn't. This is me just trying to make a departed joke.
Oh, okay. Anytime we could squeeze in a movie. Let's talk college basketball. Let's. Because there is a topic that you and I discussed.
the other day. That was not. That is now a report. Tolmanzek, it's a manifestation. That's.
It's not like a thing that we saw and said, oh, this is something that would be interesting. No, I. went all of our ball on it and I spoke it. Into existence, but the mistake I made was not speaking it in a public forum like my national talk show in Westwood One each night, and instead just you on a conversation. Thus, it's going to have to wait till 11 p.m.
tonight. You can listen on WS show. Oh, so this is what we call a tease. It's what we call a tease, but my gift to you is that we can get to it first with you. Oh, that makes me very happy.
I was worried you weren't going to discuss it with me right now. I'm happy. It's got to save it for your show. No, no, no, no, no. Anything that's mine is yours.
I love that mentality.
Well, I don't think he's going to go to the Mavericks. I don't believe that. I don't know what the you haven't said what the story is yet.
So the report is that the Dallas Mavericks are going to be reaching out to John Shire. Yes. About the head coaching vacancy. And he should. And there are four Dookies on this team, two of which John Shire coached.
and Cooper Flag and Derek Lively.
So, I mean, what better way to start a new chapter for the Mavericks than bring in John Shire, who he already has connections with Cooper and Derek Lively? And Marvin Bagley, and kind of Kyrie, except when Kyrie said some things about some anti-Semitic comments that John had issues with and spoke about that we don't really need to dig into right now. Brother. Yes, hashtag Brotherhood. But there is some meat on that bone.
And also, let's not forget. Because Of Billy Donovan deciding to move out of the position as Bulls coach. Chicago is open too. Yeah. We saw the headline that Todd Golden was going to be pursued by the Warriors if Steve Kerr didn't return.
Steve Kerr's returning. That's the Florida head coach of Todd Golden. Na. There is an argument to be made. That The best coaches you can find on the market are college basketball coaches versus NBA coaches, considering it's a 12-month job.
Out of the year, and when you take that guy out of college and put him in the NBA, it's like taking a weighted vest off of them, and they're just going to be that much better. And there's an appeal. For college coaches, to jump to the NBA, because you get paid a ton and it's less work, right?
So That's part of the logic. With Shire. This guy has been an incredible basketball coach. The last two years has only lost, I think, six games in the last two seasons. I think that's right.
And every single one has to be an Avengers movie in order for them to lose.
So it would be wise for them to look at him, not just on the merits of, oh, he knows Cooper, oh, he knows Marvin Bagley, oh, he knows Derek Lively. But also, this guy's a hell of a basketball coach, and he has already the vibe and the bravado that an NBA coach brings. Since we only have a few minutes left here, I want to give you the floor to talk some Keynes Canadiens. Oh, thank you. How are you feeling?
I'm scared, Will. Are you scared? I'm scared. I'm scared of Montreal. I don't like this matchup.
I'm worried about tonight because what you have here. Is diametrically opposed teams. You have one team that is crazy experienced in Carolina, eight straight playoff appearances. You have another that's made the playoffs for consecutive years but hasn't been out of the first round for the last four seasons. You have one team that is so rested, it's the most rested team since 1919.
You're talking about 12 days off. Montreal has had back-to-back game sevens. Carolina has gone the shortest amount of games you can play. Montreal's gone the absolute longest you can play through two series. And you have a different style of play too.
When Montreal relies on its top line with stars that score it, like Suzuki, Carolina does it by committee. It's a lot of depth. It could be a different guy, a different night, but you don't have high-level star power on this team. That's why Florida beat them in past years. Also, Florida had a better goalie in addition to high-level star power.
And while Freddie Anderson's been great, I don't think he's as good as Dobish from Montreal.
So this, it scares me. It scares me, and tonight scares me. But Carolina can ease those concerns if they win tonight. Tonight is so, so, so super important when it comes to this series, because just imagine the vibes, Will. The scaries.
Carolina's been to three Eastern Conference finals, and they've won exactly one game in those three conference finals. If they lose tonight, the scaries that will appear. And the urgency and the butt clinching ahead of game two is going to be freaking intense. Win tonight. It scares me.
Jay Davis in our comments says you owe him for the Hornets' prediction at the beginning of the year. What was that? I don't know. That they were going to win a ton of games? I did say they were going to win 13, but I'm going to win.
I took the over 27 and a half wins. That was easy. I profited off of that. How was their play? I think also part of that prediction from him, if I remember correctly, was that they would make the playoffs too.
I don't know. That didn't happen. Yeah, I know it didn't.
So, punting, I see that you're tweeting out yesterday that you're punting on the Orioles already. In May, it's going to be May. Until they sweep a team, I'm done. Like, I'm not going to talk about them again other than when I'm asked. And I'm not going to talk about them again unless they sweep a series.
Until that happens, I'm done. I'm done. They're dead to me.
Well, the Yankees lost to the Blue Jays last night, so that made me upset. But, you know, still rolling, not really worried about it. Glad you could be here. This is Let me know if you need any more from me because I'm just rolling around. This is why people go up and hang out here.
Will Dalton turns group chat arguments into live radio. The Drive, the Triad's longest-running live sports talk show. Oh play me some mountain music like grandma And Paul used to play Then I'll flow. On down the river to Cage and Light Away. Doug, we had to get the good music in here for you.
We had to do it. Doug Gillen. The App State AD with us here on WSJS. How you been doing, man? It's good to see you.
I've been doing great. It's good to see you too. It's been too long. Yeah, love being down here in Winston. I spent 10 years in Winston.
All my children were born in Winston, so it's always cool being back. I love that. I was asking Dustin Kearns earlier what makes this so special, you know, being able to come down here and on this entire tour and just share App State. With all the fans all around the state. What makes this fan base so unique, do you think?
The passion. You know, I mean, a lot of fan bases have passion. This certainly is, you know, the App State fan base and their passion is right up there with any fan base in the country, in my opinion. And we've been, yeah, we're, you know, from Georgia to Charlotte to Greensboro here in huge crowds, a lot of energy. You know, it's been great.
And I tell everybody, like, nobody's going to win or lose tonight. We're not going to worry about lines or concession lines or any of that stuff. But we're going to just have some good fellowship and really embrace, obviously, the Appalachian legacy. How much fun has it been to follow what App State Baseball's been up to?
Well Today hasn't been great. It did not go good today. It wasn't the last time I looked, but they've been doing really, really well to finish third in that league regular season, 17 wins in conference, the most in our history. It's really, really a nice job with what Kermit's done. You know, went to the tournament as a third seat, got beat yesterday, 6'5.
And, you know, we're playing coastal, and they're getting on us pretty good right now. Coastal is a good program, but so is App State. Doug Gillen, the App State AD with us here on WSJS. I'm glad you're here because we haven't had a chance to really talk to you since a couple of. Issues have taken place in the NCAA.
And the first one on the docket here is the expansion of the NCAA tournament, going from 68 teams. to 76. What was your reaction to that and how do you think that could benefit Hap State.
Well, um You know, I've got I'm a little bit mixed, to be honest with you. You know, I thought the tournament worked really, really well. When you expanded it before and you had a couple play-in games, I think that was kind of. You know, okay, right? You know, you just kind of grew up with a 64, right?
That's kind of the deal, right?
So I guess I understand it. The thing that always makes me hesitant is: this is just another ploy for us to get a. You know, pick a power for a conference, pick a 500 record, and say that team's better than the winner of whatever conference or the number two seed of the Sun Belt. Right?
So it'll be interesting. cautiously optimistic. that this is just not a ploy to put more power for teams in a tournament. You know, we need more. You know, we got all the stats about the lack of Cinderella's this year, and certainly RevShare has hurt that, in my opinion, when you're paying for backups and third and fourth position players.
So. Without being too long-winded, I hope it allows more opportunities. uh across the board. You know, it's interesting too because what What that move did, I feel like, is it ramped up the conversation about okay, now what about a college football playoff expansion? And then, you know, you had Jim Phillips at the ACC Spring meetings last week kind of ramping that conversation up.
Do you think a 24-team college football playoff expansion would be a good idea or should it just stay where it is? That's another great question. You know, I think you just keep toying with it, right? I mean, like, when is enough enough? Every year it's something.
Every year it's something, and you know, this kind of basketball thing, there's a little cheer chatter, and then all of a sudden, boom, here it is. And now, you know, I just read what people are saying from different conferences. You know, I think we have got so many issues right now. You know, when you have rosters that are $50 million and you have free agency every year, maybe we should focus on that. Potentially we should focus on that before we start expanding tournaments.
And really, we should start controlling our own spending. It's out of control. And so I think those are some of the things that I think make more sense to spend our intellectual energy on than should we expand the tournament. You know, we just got into this, 12, and now is it 16 is 24? We just, now all of a sudden we're going to expand the tournament.
How about getting our ship in order first? And ship. Ship. I didn't. It was a P.
I got to enunciate that P a little bit better. That's it. That's it. Yep. Sorry.
No, you're good, man. Doug Gillen, the App State AD, with their keeping things interesting. That's what you say right here. You gotta keep things interesting. It was the P.
It was. Always keeping the loose around here. App State football.
So just a crushing end of the season last year. Dow Loggins first year. How excited and fired up are you for what he's got cooked up for us in year two? Very. Barry, I think, you know, the one thing that Coach Loggers does an amazing job in recruiting.
You know, and I think by the time we got last year, again, you know, talk about choppiness. You know, we went into spring ball. You had two portal windows. You know, we think, I won't name players or positions. We think, hey, we had a very important starter ready to go, and then you got the second portal window, and then there goes, you know, probably our best player.
And then, you know, on the other side, we had, you know, probably was going to be our starting. Right tackle got hurt, and so we came out of spring, really depleted just out of the get-go. And so, Coach Loggins did a good job trying to put everything together. You look back on it. When they called and said, You want to go play in a bowl game?
We had already had our exit meetings. But, you know, when you ask a group of young men if they want to go play one more football game, the answer is yes, then you go do it. And I think we learned something. I thought we coached well in that game. And I think we're very optimistic as we move forward.
I know you're very busy. I know you want to mingle the room here, so we won't keep you much longer. Last thing for you here: Doug Gillen, the App State AD, joining us on WSJS. I thought Steve Wilkes coming back to The Rock was so cool. I mean, I'm a Panther fan, and so Panther fans felt very fondly of him.
Sure. And just the way he carries himself, just the way he goes about his business, and to see him come back to The Rock in the role that he's at, I thought it was such a cool thing. But how excited are you to have Steve Wilkes back up there? I can't put it into words, really. I mean, I think, you know, I've known Steve, I've been into the app 11 years, I've met him my first year.
We've stayed in contact every year ever since then, become friends, and we happened to be in Charlotte doing one of these a couple months ago. And I just said, hey, would you ever think about coming back around if you had the opportunity and the time? And he's like, he's all about the A. He goes, I'll do anything for Appalachian. And so it's been great having him.
You know, I just think he's a great person, and he loves Appalachian as much as anybody. And when he starts telling Sparky Woods and Jerry Moore stories, it's amazing, right? And there's a thing, it's a phenomenon. There's magic on the mountain. We talk about that, but there's this boonerang effect, too.
You know, you can go, but you always come home. And this was really cool to have Coach Wilkes home. He was just with him at a lunch today in Charlotte. Then we had another event over at Forsyth Country Club, was with him there. And now we have this event.
So we've had three Appalachian events in the last five hours, and he's been at every one of them. And to see folks just, you know, just listening to every word, right? Like me, I mean, I've heard him for the last two weeks, we've been going around doing this, but it's amazing, long-winded story. Could not be more thankful. For everything he's doing for Appalachia.
Well, we appreciate you joining this show very much. I love this event. This is the first time I've got to do the show from this event. You came up to me and said, You get to sit in the big chair now. That's like we just had to get rid of that other guy, right?
Yeah, get him out of here. And he still comes up. But you still can't keep him away.
Well, it's the food. I think he wasn't. Welcome over there, Eve. I don't even know what that is. It's free food.
But it's awesome for Josh to see all his success as well. Yes, it is. It's really cool. Thank you so much for the time, Doug. We'll let you get back to the room.
We'll come up and see you on the rock here very soon. Let's do it. And we appreciate the time. You got it. Thank you.
