Josh Graham on WSJS Sports. Glad to have you. on a Monday drive. We're at midnight tonight. The calendar flips to March.
Remind me not to follow John Rothstein at around midnight. And in the ACC You got a handful of teams fighting to get into the dance. Pretty much everybody other than. The one team That's a true national title contender. Obviously talking about Duke.
I don't say this lightly either. They're every bit a national title contender. In the past, Odds are that's probably not the case. I certainly wouldn't say it. For as much as I get labeled as a Duke Lover, Dookie G.
You love Zion Williamson more than anybody. And by the way, yeah If you didn't like watching Zion when he was here, that's a you problem, not a me problem. I remember saying a few years ago, As good as that Duke team was, I didn't think they were a national title contender. They didn't have enough shooting. I didn't think the team two years ago, before the pandemic hit.
I didn't think that team could contend either. 2018, I really liked the makeup of that team with Grayson Allen, Marvin Bagley. Wendell Carter, it was a good mix of experience and youth. This year's team reminds me a lot. of the 2015 national title team.
With Okefor and Jones and Justice Winslow. It certainly reminds me more of a team like that. them One of these teams flush with one and done freshmen freshmen that lose in round one. Like Jabari Parker did in 2014 in Raleigh. That was to Mercer or in Greensboro, the team with Austin Rivers that lost to Lehigh.
If those are the two options. You are incredibly young. You have all these lottery picks who are 18, 19 years old. Duke's either going to lose in the first round or get to the final four. I'd be more likely to say it's the latter.
I'd say that's what this team is. And the reason why I feel differently about Duke now than I even felt, say, going into the weekend. Saturday proved to me Just how much this team has grown. And they've grown up fast. That's evident.
Now that they've won seven straight games away from Cameron. Usually, this is the way things usually work. When you're a younger team. You struggle more. away from your normal routine.
When you're not able to sleep in your own bed. When the place is a little bit more hostile When you see different sight lines. And Saturday. I don't think you're going to see sight lines. Quite like what you saw at the Carrier Dome with 31,000 people, the biggest college basketball crowd this year.
And Duke was completely unfazed by it. They dropped 97 points. They won by 25. It was their widest margin in an ACC basketball game this year. That Spells Positive things for March.
They're going to win the ACC. When they beat Pittsburgh tomorrow. They're going to clinch their first regular season ACC crown. in a dozen years. The reason why they haven't won it in the last dozen years That coincides almost directly with the amount of time Coach K has recruited one and done players.
It takes longer for those teams to come together. Pajel. And while that's happening. There's turbulence. Enough turbulence that prevents you from winning the conference championship over a large sample.
So the fact that this year's team's doing it With Two 18-year-old starters and a 19-year-old? That tells me this team's different. They're playing their best basketball right now. It's not just seven straight on the road, it's six straight overall. That's the longest win streak Duke's had.
Since they started 7-0. And in that 7-0 stretch, yeah, you got the win against Gonzaga and against Kentucky, but you also have wins against Army. Campbell. Gardner Webb. It's a little bit different.
The meat grinder you go through. in ma high major conference play than what you deal with in non-conference.
Meanwhile, The six teams that were ranked in front of Duke going into the weekend. They all lost. First time that's ever happened, the top six teams. lost on the same day. Duke didn't it, and right now they're ranked number four.
So, some of you might hear this and think. Da. They're number four in the country. Of course, they're a national title contender. But I'm sure there's another faction that thinks, oh, well, Another young dupe team.
They're susceptible to losing early in the tournament. That's what's going to happen with this group. I don't think that's going to happen. Apollo. He's fine.
That was a concern going into the weekend. Seven straight games. Where he's been Sub-par, or I guess over a seven-game sample, he averaged just 13 points per game. When the first seven games of ACC play, he averaged 20.
Well, he exceeded twenty points for the first time in a month against the Orange. He got in the middle of that zone and dished out nine assists. That's a season high for him. Only one turnover. He hit three, something he hasn't been doing a lot lately.
Four of seven. Twenty-one in the game. He needs to be the best player for Duke for them to get where they want to go. And Saturday, that's a good sign that they're headed in the right direction. I think this Duke team.
is national championship worthy That doesn't mean they're going to win it. That'll depend on matchups, but they are one of those teams that can. 3367's up at 7, 1600. Let's go to Mark and Greensboro, who wants it on the show. Mark.
What do you have for me today? Yeah, I think um You're you're pretty spot on. I just think that the cup of things and I know that maybe you don't think so. I know Coach Kay doesn't think so. This ACC is in an Absolutely terrible league right now.
I love a lot of the coaches in the league. I think. I think they're you know, it's a it's a high major group for sure. But if you look at the net rankings, you look at some of the quad one wins that some of these teams don't have, I mean, Duke isn't exactly getting Match tested in this conference the way those teams that you mentioned before. That's my first point.
The second point is. I mean, Duke should is probably one of the most talented. They're not going to ever get out talented when it comes to that's a word in the NCA tournament. You know what I mean? Like they're going to always have two or three of the best players on the floor.
That being said, you watched what happened to Gonzaga the other night If they face a St. Mary's type team or a Virginia-style type team and they get frustrated because the team is just just never wavering, just kind of does what they do and they don't miss. I mean, any team can lose that game, and you know that. I'm just saying. I think the the The difference is this ACC year is that.
It's just not a very good ACC. Four teams, five tops. Get in, right? Yeah. I think five teams likely get in.
There's a chance for six. But that's very unlikely. What are the six? Like, which ones are you? I mean, I think four are locks.
I don't know. Four locks, the four top. And then the question becomes North Carolina. And Virginia Tech, after winning at Miami, is the one team that still has an outside shot. But if they lose.
any game between now and getting to Thursday.
Well, then they probably have to win Thursday too, but I can't rule them out in the context of. Do they have to win an ACC championship to get in? I don't think I'm quite there yet if the committee's telling us that the net rankings really matter and their net rankings really high.
So you're saying you have obviously Duke, you have Miami, you have Notre Dame. Wait. And North Carolina. Probably Carolina, most likely. They're not keeping a.
even a last four by North Carolina. If North Carolina wins twenty twenty two games, They're in. Those are the five that I have. I just can't rule out Virginia Tech yet. I can rule out Virginia and Syracuse saying they have to win the league now, the the tournament to get in.
Virginia Tech's the only one that I'm still holding out a little bit of hope for. No, I got you. And honestly, the only last thing I'll say, man, good show. Really excited about the direction. You guys are doing a great job.
I think the only two conferences You take Duke as the outlaw in the ACC. The Big Twelve and the SEC You can throw even some of the Big Ten in there. These conferences are better this year. There's a lot of debate going into which conference Big East is pretty decent. I like it.
I really like Tennessee, and I was a long shot. Like, if you want to bet on a five or a sixty. I can see UConn doing something. They got a lot of talent. If they get some shooting.
They just beat them all over the weekend. Those are my two dark horses, Tennessee. We watched that team last week. Thanks for the call, Mark. Appreciate it.
That. The Big Twelve no doubt is better than the ACC this year. And Chris Patola Is somebody that got put on a lot of ACC games over the years because he's really good and they put the good announcers on the really good games. This year, not so much. He's been doing a lot of Big Twelve games.
Spatola, in addition to being A former Duke assistant. Just works for ESPN and gets put on these really good basketball games. He's going to join us at 5:30 and. We'll talk about The Big Twelve versus the A C C in a handful of other things too when he drops by. Two days removed.
From that Duke Syracuse game. QS is at the Smith Center tonight, and it's senior night. And much like that game Saturday, I don't really like the oranges chances here. I think Carolina wins. I think Carolina wins comfortably.
Because they're catching the orange at the absolute perfect time. Under normal circumstances, I think this game would be a problem for the Tar Heels. Almost one year ago today. March 1st. twenty twenty one.
We saw the last time Carolina faced this zone. And they had issues. 20 turnovers in the game. thirty eight per cent shooting. They lost in the dome.
Hopefully Cable blove. R.J. Davis. Armando Bakot? have learned their lessons since then.
Arma. We shall see. I'd be worried about it. One day prep and you got Syracuse, that's tough. The reason I'm not concerned for tonight It's 'cause the orange They are tired.
They are demoralized. and they are depleted. This is Game 5. of five games in ten days. Coach K said.
It was because of the exhaustion that came along with four games in eight days. He nearly fell out. In the first half of that Wake Forest game. Remember, he wasn't there for the second half? He said, man, four games in eight days it hit me.
Now imagine five and ten. And Jim Behim's got Coach K on has three years on Coach K. Seventy seven years old.
Now, I'm hoping the best for Jim Bayhawk. I'm just saying it's tough. For coaches, for players. Especially after you just got lit up by 25 points. Gave up 97 in the game.
You don't have Jesse Edwards. You couldn't stop Duke from getting into the paint.
Now you're going to stop the guy who, for the first time in Tariel history, had 20, 15, and 5. Tell him who I'm talking about, Luke Ned Carney. Who am I talking about? Yeah! That guy's gonna go off!
The heels have made great strides. Talk about Duke making strides. Carolina. There They're headed in the right direction. They proved they learned their lessons.
You had that one day turnaround. Carolina's had issues with it? No, not last week. They beat Louisville. And it's senior day.
And they're 14 and 2 at home. They're not going to lose tonight. Not to this, Sarah Houstein. They're catching them right at the perfect time. You are listening to WSGS, Winston-Salem, and Greensboro, WPC, and Burlington, WMFR High Point.
Those signals. Make up WSJS support. Uh Jason writes in, stop! Every time you pick the heels to cruise, they lose. Please stop.
Well, no, didn't I just say Carolina would blap? Wait, I said Carolina would win a close game. against state on Saturday. and it turned out to be a blowout. I don't think that's true.
I said they probably would win against Louisville as well. I've been Hey, after the Pittsburgh game, I was still the one saying Carolina's going to make the tournament. I'm not a jinx! Not If I was... I'd embrace it.
It's not what I am here. Mm-mm. Not taking credit for that. Not taking blame, I should say. Chris Patola, in a little less than 30 minutes.
We're a couple minutes behind here. We need to dive right into the five. We're gonna be here a while. Would you like to talk? Talk to me!
You're on the drive with Josh Graham on WSJS Sports. Near the top and points blasting power blaze. They screw rod, rod, rod, they screw rod, rod. And if he says a word, the league will make it. Hayes Purmar, gonna join us in studio shortly.
On Twitter. at DHPIV where he puts out videos such as that. Talking about Rod Brindemore. Getting screwed yesterday. The Carolina hurricanes.
doing some work. The Charlotte Hornets. Not so much. Charlotte. Going to have the back end of a doubleheader tonight.
Last night they played maybe the worst team in the league of Detroit. We're beaten at the buzzer. Tonight, they play the defending NBA Champs. On the road in Milwaukee But it is worth noting. Not too long ago.
Charlotte played Milwaukee on back-to-back nights and won both games.
So Can they do it again? Given the way things have trended for them, I wouldn't be too optimistic, but can't really rule that out. The man that Is the the performer that you just heard a second ago with his latest hit. They screw rod rod.
Okay. It's not a third rod in there, right? When they sing it, they do they screw rod, rod, rod, they screw rod, rod. But I think the title of the I think is just they screw rod rod. See, you're a pretty fun guy.
So I think you probably appreciate some. of the coaches that like to mix it up. Could be a bit looser on things like Steve Forbes. Sure. He's a big Yeah, he's a big fan of what we do.
We have him on the show quite often. But I think earlier today. he earned even more points. With you because during basketball season, he posted this on his social media. He went to the theater last night.
He went to watch The Lion King. at Tanger Center.
So earlier today, I asked Coach Forbes. About his experience there, in addition to some other things, but for now. This is Coach Forbes talking about His experience out at the theater last night. I love Broadway. It was really good, you know, and unfortunately, not unfortunately, but You know.
As I was sitting there, somebody snapped a picture of me from the balcony. and tweeted at me if that was me. with a mask on.
So um Yes, my bald head. I'm gonna start wearing a hat when I go to the... over the tanger center i'm going to hamilton in april Uh I went to wicked in uh October And so, um I'm trying to get some culture in my life, Josh. That's what he's doing, Hayes. Um I need to hear uh before I'm w willing to dub him like a fan of the theater.
I mean this guy's just like showing up for these you know headliners like I I mean he's doing it in basketball season he's he's not watching the Tony's or uh he's not he's not playing the Hades Town soundtrack, you know, in his car. Uh you want me to text him to see if he's watching the Tony's uh no like I don't think he uh um If if if he's not buying m musicals on C D, I mean, I know you don't do that anymore, but like, if you're not listening to musicals outside of going to the musicals yourself, what's the last CD you bought? Oh, I don't know. I get your point. We don't buy a lot of CDs, but I'm saying I've got my CD cases that I've got a whole section of musicals: Sound of Music, Oliver, Chess.
Tommy Uh Oklahoma, Music Man. I'm going to see Hugh Jackman. In Music Man in a in a few weeks, in April. We'll visit with Steve Forbes next week and we'll get to the bottom of this. And he didn't tell us what he thought of those musicals.
Like, he's like, I've seen Wicked, I've seen Were They Good? He didn't go see Hamilton. He said he enjoyed the lions. He's going to see Hamilton. Wicked, to me, is a little bit overrated.
I'm not a huge. Is that Santag? Not Idina Menzel anymore, who's she's not leading it anymore. I'm talking about the person who wrote it. I think that's a Son tag musical.
Um yeah.
So Hayes Permar still on the fence on Steve Forbes. That's fine. From a musical to a musical segment that we do. It's called Skips or Plays. Let's play the game.
Hayes Permar is somewhat of a Renaissance man, an expert in the finer things, but he hangs his hat on music. Love says God, and he's the friend of Satan. He was like, Oh, six, getting busy with the sticks, been watching big Mike and Lil Trip. I just need his ion and someone he can dunk on. Today, Hayes will decide if this music is smash or trash.
Glows or blows. It's time for skips or plays with Hayes. Bad news, Robert isn't in today. What?
So I've chosen three songs here. You've got Luke. You did not tell me this when you asked me if I could come Monday. I needed to be told that Robert wasn't going to be there as part of the package. I might have reconsidered.
This is unbelievably unbelievable. Can I make it up to you? A fast one has been pulled on me. Also, Steven Schwartz wrote Wicked. I knew it was Steven somebody with an I make it up to you here?
You could try. Coach K. is coaching his final home game at Cameron. On Saturday. And you got tickets for me?
I don't. That would make it up for me. But I have three songs in honor of Coach K. Oh, God. That I'll throw your way just to see what you think of them.
And it starts with something I learned from the K and the Crazies podcast that Darren Vought's been working on. Kay says that his favorite Cameron tradition is the playing of this song, This Is Cascada's Every Time We Touch. Everything. Every time we touch, I get this feeling. And every time we kiss, I swear I can fly.
Can't you feel my heart beat fast? I want this to last. Luke's raising the roof right now. That's a huge pass. Oh yeah!
Also partly because yeah. We did this uh we used to play Cascada in the um At Camp Seagull in the summers, sort of doing the like ironic techno thing too, and like, you know, at the dances, the kids would like to go crazy, you know? But it A couple things. When did this song come out? Like late 90s, early 2000s?
Yeah. When did it become a Cameron tradition? Probably around 2005, 2006.
So, like, late in the game to me. Right. This song actually came out in 2006, so that can't be possible. It came out in 06? Yeah.
So August of 05. There we go. Because I remember, yes, I remember playing that in the summer of 2006. Um Yeah, so it can't have become a tradition until like, you know, late aughts, right? Which means it's only a tradition that's like 15 years old.
It's not that cool. An idea. Mariana Rivera His final time he came out to enter Sandman at Yankee Stadium. They had the band out there to play it. Get Cascada.
To perform live Saturday. I don't even know what Cascada does. Is Cascada like a DJ or is this like people actually playing instruments? I don't even know. No, I think it's a.
Is it all electronic music? It's a group. It's a group, Cascada. And then they have a lead singer who's the blonde girl in the music video. But is it not just a group of people all working computers that are playing music?
No, they have a singer. They play instruments? I don't know if they play instruments, but you got a singer. I don't know. All right.
I think her name is Natalie Horler, according to the internet. Yeah, let's get her there. Let's do it. She could sing the national anthem too. But no, that's a bad song.
It's a pass.
Okay, so we're 0 for 1. Skip, whatever. Skips. It's a skips. Robert never would have picked that song.
Terrible choice. Coach Kaye, at one point, might have been in an interview with David Glenn on a show you used to work on. He admitted He had a huge celebrity crush. And there's a picture that you can find on social media. of Coach K with the reddest face When meeting this celebrity, That celebrity is Beyonce.
This is Halo. Remember those walls I built? Oh baby they're tumbling down And they didn't even put up a fight. They didn't even make You want the beehive to come for you? Yeah, I do, because this is a skill.
I don't need like inspiration of Beyoncé. I need like either Sweet Beyonce, Love on Top, which would be a good first dance song. Love on Top, or like, you know, Grindin' Out Beyonce, or put a ring on it, Beyonce, Single Ladies. I don't need commercial inspiration, Beyonce. This is a skip.
Hate it. A lot of good selections out there, and you didn't pick one. You can find Seth Avet covering that song, though. Really good stuff on the guitar, on the acoustic. I think Cold Play might have done it too.
which is why I really like that song.
Okay. It's not whether or not I like it though, it's whether or not Hayes does. True. Skips or plays with Hayes. There should be celebrities at Cameron on Saturday.
Right. There should be. And I think Maybe there's a chance. that Duke Superfam Two chains. Could make an appearance at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
I don't know that he makes the cut, man. You think two change is big enough? Maybe he makes the cut. I think he's got it. This is, I'm different.
Yeah, yeah, but then what I mean? I'm different, yeah, I'm different. I'm different, yeah, I'm different. I'm different, yeah, I'm different. This is a skip.
I've never heard this song before. Never heard this song before. You've never heard this song! I'm not a big two-chains guy. That's an OFC.
I would say his former name, but I don't think I could say it on the radio. I did know his former identity. If it was Dufflebag Boy, would this have been a play? Maybe. Maybe.
Man, I made a mistake probably going this path. I probably should have done Celebrity Duke fan Tupac, but he couldn't make it into the building. No, he's alive. He's around. He's hanging out in Johnson County, just kicking it.
He's got that big house offside off of 70. No, you said it, Bess. You said it, Bess. If. Tupac.
We know for sure that conspiracy theory is dead because he didn't show up for the halftime show. Yeah, he might have. That would have been the time to bring back. Mark it down, Josh Graham. 0 for 3, 3 skips.
The other one I probably should have done that I didn't even realize it until now. If I'm gonna do celebrity. rapper that's a Duke fan, you gotta go Fat Joe in that spot. I I remember being there right before the pandemic hit, two years ago, and I was bopping my head to a Fat Joe song at the Duke Carolina game, and then I looked over my left shoulder about as close as you are to me, And it's Fat Joe. While Fat Joe's playing.
We can do, we've done this: the who can call Cameron on game day and say, I need tickets and still get in. It's like Obama, Beyonce is probably on the list. Let's revisit that. That's the question that we're asking. 336-777-1600.
How many people are on your list right now as a tease here, Hayes? Yeah, like, I don't even think. There's a difference between who can get tickets and who can call on game day and say I know, I know, I'm just saying it's shit. Short. It's very short.
Who's on the list? Give us somebody, 336-777-1600 that calls Duke on game day and can get into the building for Duke Carolina. We'll explore that topic next. This is Sport Center. Labor talks continue for an eighth consecutive day between Major League Baseball and the Players Union.
If there's no new CBA by the end of negotiations today, opening day, March 31st, will be canceled, along with potentially a week's worth of games. Derek Jeter, stepping down as Marlin's CEO, said the vision for the future of the franchise is different than the one he signed up to lead. The Marlins' reluctance to spend is why Jeter's leaving, explains ESPN's Jeff Passen. Derek Jeter was anticipating having $10 to $15 million more dollars to spend in free agency after they went out and got Abasail Garcia before the lockout started. And that $10 to $15 million disappeared during the lockout.
I understand building from a farm system is an important part of this, but the Marlins got to go spend money at some point. And if they weren't going to do that, Derek Jeter wasn't going to stick around for it. The agent for Kyler Murray released a statement today, said the Cardinals' quarterback wants to remain in Arizona long-term and win a Super Bowl. Also said they recently sent the team a contract. Proposal that is in line with the current QB market.
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Unbalanced and a little out of control, you're on the drive with Josh Graham on WSJS Sports. It's not. Getting out of here with uh Pace permarine. Having fervent debate. During the timeout, he brings in Orange Gatorade.
I'm trying to be nice, saying, I think that's the best Gatorade flavor. And Hayes is like, well, actually, I think the citrus flavor. Citrus cooler. It's sometimes hard to find, but it's. Isn't that the Pink-ish.
That's like orange. It's orange as well.
So you're telling me Orange is the best flavor. No, there's orange flavor, and then there's the citrus cooler that's also orange-colored. Nah. or blue. Those are the two best flavors.
They're the two best flavors of Gatorade. This is common knowledge. Living Lime, Orange, and. And Citrus Cooler is number one. See, what's the point?
Am I using the right name? Is it Citrus Cooler? That's right.
Now I have to look it up. Let's ask the important question. Yeah, Citrus Cooler. What is the best Gatorade flavor number one? And number two, How big of a celebrity do you have to be?
in order to call up Duke the day of the game. Duke Carolina Saturday. and get into the building. I have some names here, Hayes. Good.
For the week of the game. Obama Yeah, he's in. Obama can get in. Beyonce. Yeah, she's on my list.
With a plus one. Jay-Z? If it's Jay-Z. No, I don't think Jay gets in. I think it's like what I'm doing with my wedding right now.
Some people get plus ones, but if you're not married. Yeah, like you're just a boyfriend or girlfriend. I ain't giving you the $150 plate. It's not happening. Nope.
Fiance? Coach K's got a crush on you. Not on Jay-Z. He doesn't want Jay there. Nope.
H to the is it you're not getting in here? No, stop. You mean into the is of? That's what you're doing. That's what I meant to do.
Into the iszo. Into the is out. Get out of here. Yeah. Uh who else?
LeBron. Hff yeah. He coached him too. LeBron's got to get it. LeBron might be there.
I don't know his game schedule. You have to check the Lakers' game schedule. Yeah, they play on Saturday night. He might want to skip it anyway. He might want to skip it.
You're saying. Trying to think. Anyone on the Spurs? Trey Jones. No, not day of.
Sorry, Trey. He plays the Hornets right before the game. Yeah, I mean, if Trey Jones is smart, he lined it up and he's got tickets and he's fine. But Trey Jones cannot hit them up on Friday and be like, can I come to the game Saturday? I'm trying to think of who in Hollywood.
Like George Clooney, no, DiCaprio. I don't think so. I don't think Leonardo DiCaprio could just call Duke Super fan Jason Garrett. Again, he probably lined one up early, but he better have because he's not showing up. He's not going to be like, I'm Jason Garrett.
I've been to like three or four games. They'll be like, sorry.
So you essentially have to be a president. Or Beyoncé slash Jays. Lynn Manuel Miranda? No. Maybe only if Kay pulled strings to go see like original remember like when the original cast of Hamilton?
Was was doing the show. That was like a big deal.
So if k Kay pulled some strings and saw original Hitler. LeManuel Miranda needs a favor. I owe him one. That's right.
So. Let's assume that they don't need favors done for them. That's not a big enough name. Who else is like big in the rock? Roy Williams.
Not day of. Not day of. Hmm. He told DeCourcy that he's not going to be there Saturday. Would Duke have honored Roy if he showed up?
No, no way. I think they would have. No, what? On Kay's last day? No.
The question is: will there be with I would like to set odds on will there be a current or former president? Like Jimmy Carter's not going. Nope. But you got Clinton. Bush Trump Trump.
Obama. Obama or Biden. If you got current. Like it, it'd be long on Hillary called in. But if you throw a president, no, not a president.
So Bill has to be there with her. If Hillary's like, I want to watch a basketball game. Yeah, I mean, sorry. Lily made a brave run, but she didn't win. Bill did.
Yeah. So if Trump calls in, he's in. Yes, I think so. Dick Vital. Yeah.
Dig Vital yeah, Dig Vitale gets in.
Okay. K K might have Vital sitting on the bench. 336-777-1600. Here's the other thing. How big a five-star recruit do you have to be to be like, hey, I'd like to make one of my official visits and I'd like it to be the UNC game.
You need to commit. Like Kiel's? I bet you that's what Kay says back. If you commit, Yeah, but it's got to come to this. But he's not doing that for Joey Baker.
No, he's not. Like Ben Caro, he can get Zion. Yeah, the future Zion, the future of Bencaro. Zion. Oof.
Nah, he's kept such a low profile. He can't show up day of. If. So you're saying. Zion can't show up today.
There's got to be a blanket rule on former players. What?
Any former players, they've been. But doesn't it depend on the former player? Like Leightner. If he says I can make it now. No, sorry.
Reddick? No. And he you know how he had to be The Pelicans do not play on Saturday. You know how to handle it with four points. They're going to be a lot.
The entire New Orleans Pelicans are going to be at the game on Saturday, considering that's where all the Duke people are. Since they don't play on Saturday, I guarantee you, Brandon Ingram is going to be in the house. You're going to have Zion in the house. I don't think so. I think they politely put the word out that they'd love to have.
Every former player comes back to a game this year, but then don't plan on coming to the UNC game. They're trying to get 100 former players into this game, is what I've been told. I could see that. We'll see what happens. Anyone you want to throw at Hayes, Luke Nat Carney?
I don't know. We've exhausted the list almost of people. Try to think like anybody else in the world of sports. Like Belichick, Brady get in Dave. Brady gets in there.
Peyton Manning gets in. LeBron already keeps playing on Saturday. Yeah. Grant Hill Day of? I don't know, he was injured for a long time.
Naance. Yeah. Nah, this is regular season. This is the SBN stuff, Nance. I'll see you.
We'll see you in a couple of weeks. I'll see you in a couple of weeks. Because you know he's going to be at Duke's Regional. Yeah, you pretty much told us that he's like, I don't schedule these things, but that's the other thing. You know, Nance is going to be at every Duke NCAA tournament game because it might be.
Kay's last game. That's right.
So Nance will be there. 100%. He's not starting with Jim Spinarkle and I and Eagle. Oh, Jim Spinarkle is one of the former players. Former Duke guy, but I'm just saying, Nanceki.
Nance would be on the call. Kay would be like. Mike. I never even coached you. It'll be Nansen Raftery for Duke all the way home.
Let's get to some sound here. Kevin Keats. Saturday can't get in game day. Uh-oh. No, no, I don't think.
I don't think he would get in either. Kevin Keats, I asked him.
Some variation of Hey, what gives you optimism about the direction the program's headed in? Just to see what he would say. And the question the answer started with him saying, I love where the program's at. That's what he said verbatim. And the answer ended this way.
I hate injuries. I hate them. But on every team, there's one guy that you can't afford to get hurt. And on our team was Manny Bates. But if you look at the foundation that we're building and the guys who are playing, take you about this now.
I've got Ernest Ross, who's a top 50 to 75 guy who's going to be really good. We show clips. Greg Gant, who you guys haven't seen, has now lost about 20 pounds. He's playing great. You add Manny back, which we'll talk about that.
And then you got Taquemon Smith and Breon. And then Casey Marcelle and Cam Hayes. It's a pretty dumb good team. I do feel like they could have been anywhere from a top 25 to 30. Top 30 program with many mates, but unfortunately, we don't have them.
So I'm excited about the future of the program. Halfway through the soda machine was like push. Please. Making some sound there. Uh I get what Keats is doing.
You gotta say those things. I don't think with Manny Bates, you're a top 25, top 30 team. I don't think that's what you are. Also related to that. Um You're you're speaking As confidently as I can say, it's going to be dark outside when I leave this studio today.
Keats is saying, oh man, we've got. Betty Bates, Darian Sebron, Torrey. Quavion Smith. And I'm sitting there thinking, Do you know that? Yeah.
That's not how the game works these days, unfortunately. oftentimes. It is. He's not wrong in the. That was probably the one guy that they couldn't lose, right?
I agree with that. That's their most valuable player. That's Ariana. Where, but, and. Bates is also a fringe NBA talent, right?
I mean, that's a when you're talking about having an NBA guy versus not having an NBA guy, I do think that's a pretty big deal. Top 25, top 30. Might be a little bit of a reach, but uh What was your takeaway from State Carolina Saturday? I think that uh States Keats's offense Is not good in the sense of what we think about being a college offense, right? Because.
You know, we think of coaches are the personalities in college basketball.
So think of Roy Williams' secondary break, or, you know, back in the day, it was Duke taking a lot of threes before everybody else, keeping the floor spread, using the stretch four, right? Smart, innovative things. Keynes is not known for that.
However, In the game of basketball on the NBA level, and in a lot of ways it's played, pick and roll is like. The big thing, and he does a heck of a lot of that.
So, if he has good players, the pick and roll tends to work. Who was the point guard the past couple years? It was really good at it. His name escapes me. At State.
C.J. Bryce? No, he was at State the past couple years. Devin Daniels? No.
Who's hurt? Dennis Smith Jr. No, I'll go look him up. Cam Hayes? No, he was I I I don't if he wasn't there last year, he was there two years ago.
The pandemic m makes me feel like oh yeah, C. J. Bryce was a point guard. Oh, oh, you're talking about Torin Dorn. No, I'll find him though.
Uh Zara Luke Nakarney, you're a state guy. I'm look I've I've literally said all the people you've said to myself and they haven't golly. I'm gonna find them up in a bracket during the break and If he's not a point guard, I'm going to punch him. He's a point guard. We're not going all the way back to Cat Barber, are we?
No, no. Good lord. Google NC State roster 2020 and Del Negro. Chris Gorciani, no. In Janatzer?
Good lord. But my point is: when he has somebody who's good at pick and roll, he lets him run it. But as your team gets bad and more frustrated at Silver Brown. it uh it falls apart more quickly. A pick and roll team.
It doesn't make you a totally one-on-one team, but it could devolve into that pretty quickly. Terry Cannon? No Shaquille Moore? I know he transferred. All right, maybe I got to go back to 2019.
But he's pretty recently. God, hold on, I'll find this guy. This is kind of amazing. He was an all-ACC player. Yeah, Markel Johnson.
There it is. Markel Johnson. Yeah, in my head, I wanted to say Marquise Johnson. I knew that wasn't right. Markel Johnson.
Markel Johnson was great at running the pick and roll. Because he was a good shooter and a relatively good passer. And I think it's good for guys like Tequevian Smith and. Sebron to run pick and roll. I think that's good for them.
I think it's good for them in the next level. But when your team is struggling, It's hard to say, like when you say run the offense, and the offense is just again, one dude trying to dribble off a screen and then shoot, it becomes harder and harder to create energy off that offense. And I think that's what their problem is now. You are listening to WSGS Winston-Salem and Greensboro, WPC in Burlington, WMFR High Point. Those signals make up WSGS Sports.
With Hayes Purmar hanging out with us in the studio. We get into the big four. Get your fours out. Sail with the pilot For the sea. Oh, I Big party for Markel Johnson.
That's my guy. Clearly. Massive 2 Chains fan, Hayes Permar, hanging out in the studio with us from Sports Channel 8. Number four. On the big four today, things that are going on right now.
Let's get into what happened yesterday. The Hornets lose at the buzzer against the Detroit Pistons.
Now need to try and bounce back against the defending champs. They won Friday against the Raptors, though, didn't they? That is correct. That was only their second win in February. That's not good.
Not the greatest month. Let's get to March. March is going to be their month. That's right.
Turning the page on to March. That's what we're going to do. ACC women's basketball wrapped up. It's regular season. The ACC Women's Tournament is going to be in Greensboro this week.
Starting on Wednesday, not Tuesday. Starts on Wednesday. And the championship on Sunday, just like. The men really should do, but. Not gonna get we need a travel day, man.
Need a travel day in that at all. Also yesterday at college baseball. Tommy Tanks. Too soon to talk about Tommy Tanks. At Etsy State, nine home runs.
So far this season he might have hit two before Two today. I don't even know if they play. He's just hitting home runs every day. He can't keep this up, right? I don't know.
Like, I don't even know how many games they play in a season in college baseball. What's the PED policies in college baseball? You're going there? No, I'm just wondering. Accusations of steroids right out of the gate.
Josh Graham, put your tweet that out. Tommy White, Tommy Tanks, all about it. I'm also pro-steroids and sports. Throwing that out there, too. I was at ECU baseball yesterday.
It's not steroids. It's been NC State's problem. They need to keep him from getting COVID. That's right.
If he gets COVID, then they're going to take him off the field for the rest of the season. Yeah. Insane policy. ECU beat. North Carolina handed them their first loss yesterday.
I was there. It was cold. February baseball, not a great idea to be outside for. Don't love that at all. But I was out there, and Honor Hayes Permar may or may not have stood on the bar at 519 out there in Eastern North Carolina.
What?
How many games are in a Cows baseball season? Like 40? 50? 52. I don't know.
So, how many home runs is this guy going to hit? 52. We put an over, under at 50. Other dudes that hit 50 homers and got a nice one. No one's hitting 50 home runs at college baseball.
What's a great season? Like 30? Luke, where are we setting this? 25? How many home runs?
Um I'm gonna be careful. I'm gonna say over under 40, 42. I'm just gonna say that. That's ridiculous. He's at nine already.
He's got nine through eight games. He's not February. He's not keeping that pace up. I'm sorry. Tommy Tanks.
Could be over 42. Over 42. I got the over. What do you think the leader? No, I think 30 is the number.
I think 30 is your over-under. I think 30 is what it is. How are you setting this number, Luke? I am just thinking of a number that is kind of lines up with the amount of games that he might play in this season.
Well, he's gonna get a few days off. Everyone does.
Now they need to play him in those midweek games when they play like William Peace University. Or East Carolina, considering how things have started for the Pirates. True. Just gotta let him eat. Let me see what the leader in home runs did.
So we could stop Just gas bagging. I'm setting it at 30. That's a good season. Yeah. Visit this later.
Number three on the big four today. The number three story people are talking about in sports. We got another AP top 25. After the top six teams of college basketball all lost on Saturday, Gadaga remains at number one nationally. Commanding Forty-six.
Of The 61 first place votes. Arizona, number two, Baylor number three, Duke in at number four. They got 11 of the first-place votes, considering they were the seventh-ranked team and not coming off a loss on Saturday. How is Duke not higher when everyone above them lost? An Arizona is a fraud.
I haven't seen them play all year. There's no way there's no way that this good. Arizona might be my favorite team in the country this year. Arizona's like the college basketball equivalent of two chains because I don't know anything about them.
Well, Seth Davis brought up, he tweeted, he brought up a good point on Saturday. He said, everyone losing is kind of like nobody losing. Cause you know who do who do you move up? Duke didn't lose. They beat Syracuse on the road by 25.
Move them up. But how far do you go or how far should you drop if you lose? I guess your point is that Gonzaga still shouldn't be number one. Because they lost? No, I'm not saying that everybody in the top six all have to be behind, you know, the people that were seven and eight, but it seems like there would have been some filtering down.
And I don't believe in Arizona. I'm just saying that right now. There's no way Lud Olson. Still has his team playing that well, okay? I love that Lou Olson's name's being brought up.
I think that's Steve Forbes' favorite college coach, Lou Dolson. Number two on the big four. The number two story in sports, North Carolina, Syracuse, tonight, 7 o'clock. It's senior night. For the Tar Heels, but I am less interested in talking about senior knight for the Tar Heels than I am.
Getting back to Hubert Davis. I don't know why Hubert continues to do this.
Well, I know why Hubert continues to do it. I just don't think it's that smart. He was not asked about Player of the Year. He was not asked. Whether or not he thought his guy should win it.
Or even be all ACC. He chose to go down this path. After North Carolina's win against state. But I'm I'm gonna do it for for a front player. It's not even close that he's ACC player.
his consistency and his dominance and he was putting up numbers that Nobody has done before, and so for him to continue to play the way that he has. It's it shouldn't even take any time to vote. Yeah, I'm good. Nobody's close! Why even look at the break?
Just give it to him. And you might think there's another way, there's no other way you could go about doing this. Number one, you don't have to do that, you weren't asked. And if you were asked, How about handle it the way? The coach For the guy who's going to win the award, handled it.
This was Steve Forb earlier today when asked about Alandis Williams. I am not one to lobby for my players. Um I believe that They stand on their merit. And so I'm not real big on me getting on. you know, this type of uh environment and and pushing for my players.
I think you guys are smart, you see it, you know, you look at the numbers and like I do and You use your eyes and not your ears. Was that a shot by Hubert or a shot by Forbes at Hubert? Maybe. Definitely. Forbes seems like he's gonna be an interesting dude.
I like him around. Just don't know if he's a big Broadway guy yet. Yeah, I need to get some of his takes. Jit Going to the Tanger Center doth not a Broadway guy make. Yeah.
Player of the year is a rap. I appreciate Randolph Childress for being as forceful as I felt about it. for a while now. Saying that that's his. That race is over.
And I'm right. I think he's right on that. When you lead the league and point to this issue, That's done. And it's not an Eric Green situation where Eric Green played on the worst team and won the award. No.
This. Wake is a tournament team. He's the most valuable guy on the team. And Leads team points in the serve. That guy should win the award.
What about would you give consideration to Mandy Bates? NC State would have been a top 25 team, and without him. They're like, I don't know where they are. But that's a lot. That's a big drop-off.
Are you with me on Coach KB and Coach of the Year? I think you've got to consider Manny Bates for. Coach K, coach of the year. You're not going to Steve Forbes? No.
Why not? I think When you're the only team that's ranked. And you're ranked in the top five. Right. You did the best job.
That's the thing, like. I I hate this precedent we've now set where it's Who was the media most wrong about when those media are probably all focused on Like football in mid-October versus basketball. I had Wake Forrest in my top 10 preseason. Geisinger did as well. Their top five, top six.
All right. But hold on. The flip side, I agree with you. It shouldn't be the who did we think was going to suck but didn't suck award, which is usually what it is, right? But the flip side is.
If like if you're not using some sort of subjective Criteria in your own head, then it's like Who who won the league? But Duke has.
So people say, why is it impressive that Duke wins the league? My answer to that is. Coach K hasn't done it in a dozen years. Why? Because he has young teams.
And this team is very young. Three freshmen are starting. And he's doing it and running away with it. And also, I don't want a Josh Pazner embarrassing. Coach of the year situation where he's in the NIT.
I'm with no team right now other than Duke that I know is going to be in the tournament right now. But I'm with you, but then how on any other year, like if we went back and said, all right, that Jazz Passer was a stupid one, that Dave Lado one was stupid, if you're not. If the answer, to me, it's like if it's not going to be somewhat subjective, like, I. How can you justify it just not being the coach who wins the conference?
So, okay, here's how. You got it.
Somebody who finished second. do a better job of coaching than the guy that finished first. In an individual year. An individual year. You're right.
And I think you can make the argument for K, which a lot of people aren't doing, and I'm making that argument. But I also think People say it can't be a career achievement award. Why can't it in the context of Coach Kak? He hasn't won it since 2000. Herb Syndek won that award in the last 20 years.
You're throwing out a lot of things, but you're not answering my question. What?
Why isn't it just whoever wins the league every year?
Well, I think like bas based on your reasoning for it not being the person who overcame the are you making the argument that a coach that wins the league or that's picked to win the league can't win the award period? That if you're picked to win the league, you can't win. That's kind of how it's worked out. That is the way it's worked out. And I think that's kind of stupid, right?
I agree. Dabo Sweeney's one of them football players. But my only point is: Yes, we all agree that if you literally are Boston College and you walked out there and the only players you could get. On your team for the season were hamsters. You had 12 hamsters on your team, but you coach these hamsters up.
I'm not talking about small players, I'm talking about literal hamsters. Give Earl Grant the 12 hamsters, but these hamsters make threes. They're spicy on D. And you go five, if you go 500 in the league, you win. Like you knock off.
I don't care if your only wins are against Georgia Tech, Clemson, you know, Virginia Tech. You didn't beat whatever. If you win half your games with hamsters, we can all agree, like, man, that was a better coaching job than the people that, you know, even the guy that went undefeated with actual humans, right? But beyond holding. Hold one second.
Beyond that, hold one second. How do you separate who was the coach of the year from who coached their team to win the league? What's a more incendiary headline for us to put up, Luke? Josh Graham. Is alleging that Tommy Tanks is using steroids or Hayes Permar is suggesting that Steve Forbes or that Wake Forest players are hamsters.
No, I what? I didn't say anything about Wake Forest players. I thought we were Boston College players. No, no, he said Boston College, but we're talking about Wake Forest being the team that's overachieved.
So essentially, Steve Orbs is coaching hamsters, and that needs to be done. I was trying to take an actual team out of it. But that's my whole point: if. There's not even a number one on the big four today. Fuck this back.
I'm going back. No Tommy Tank slander in my presence, please.
Sorry? I did. That's Josh Graham. Yeah. So, my thing is, there's no way to differentiate between if you won the league, then you did the best coach ever.
You're the only one not answering my question. Who's the coach of the year? Who won the league? Coach K. Then he's the coach of the year.
Boom. We're in agreement. I love that. Are you sticking around? Did you have to go?
I better roll.
Okay, get out of here. On Twitter at DHPIV. What was the number one thing of the day? Oh, the number one thing of the day. There's a restaurant in Oregon that closed its doors because.
Not COVID. Uh Freshly washed towels apparently are very combustible. And They spontaneously combust sometimes and that forced a restaurant to close for months. That's a sketch story. No, it's true.
Like they just reopened in the last week. Spontaneously combustible towels. I think there's some employee shenanigans going on there. Oh, is that right? Yeah, I don't believe that.
Yeah. Well, it is Oregon. Just going to throw that out there. This went way too long. We got Graham's grades that we're going to do.
Sometime, maybe in the next 15 minutes. At 77 years old, is Jim Boheim? for sure done after the end of this season. Is he done?
Well actually, he gave a pretty strong signal. I called the Chamber of Doughy Pale Bodies and they said you're their president. You're on the drive with Josh Graham on WSJS Sports. Um It's senior night. But the North Carolina Tar Heels.
Brady Manick gonna be recognized. Fifth year COVID senior. one of the greater Shooters that Oklahoma's ever had, and certainly an important player for the Tar Heels this season, but. Leaky Black's gonna be the one that takes center stage. He's had The type of career that I think is worth celebrating In that He's a throwback.
We've gotten to know. leaky the last few years. And he's a guy that's overcome so much. Just to get to this night. He was injured.
really his first two seasons in Chapel Hill. leaving us wondered Wondering whether or not he'll ever amount to anything. There were some who wrote him off After one year calling him a disappointment. Many more after his second season. Oh, he's not going to be much of a scorer.
And even though that was right. That did not mean he wasn't going to be an impact player. He was even banged up on Saturday. Looks like he's going to be able to go, according to what Armando Beckhot said after the game. Armando.
Just got bruised, a little nicked up. He should be fine. And Hubert Davis said. Leaky wanted to play in the second half, but Obviously. Carolina held him out.
It's not like you really needed him in the second half of that game. Leaky. Here's what makes him rare. He's completely cool not being a star. He's fine doing all the dirty work, all the glue guy stuff.
and not be in a star. And doing it. How many guys are wired that way any more? Other than Armando He is the most valuable guy on this team. His defense and His leadership.
Some of you are just rolling your eyes when I bring up leadership. It's almost become a cliché now. But what does it mean? To me It's being a public face that can answer questions after things Go wrong. When things go poorly.
And we've seen Tar Heels over the years be that guy. When things were going wrong... On the 2020 team? There were older guys there to answer the questions. After the 2009 championship, which was followed by the NIT team in 2010, Marcus Gignard, he was that guy.
He's going to answer difficult questions.
Sometimes you gotta be able to do it. Leakey's been that guy. Tough loss? Let's throw Leakey out there. And he's having to answer tough questions.
And in terms of consistency, Game in, game out. He's one of the best defensive players in the league. I don't think he'll win Defensive Player of the Year. I think that's going to be Reespeakman. And Charlie Moore is around And that too.
If I had to do an all-defensive team, I think it's going to be. Probably these five. I think it'll be leaky. Beakman. I think Jake Laravia is going to be on that list.
Charlie Moore And Mark Williams, I think those will be the five guys. who are all defensive in the ACC, but We'll see when we get to that point. Leakey, he's had a career that's worth celebrating. Chris Patola, former Duke Assistant, now with ESBN. going to join us in about 10 minutes.
Before we get to him, let's Let's get to some press conference sound. Because Hubert Davis Is at it again. Saturday, I was in the room. We haven't seen Hubert face to face in a press conference. since the first week of December, Georgia Tech game.
So it's been close to three months since we've seen Hubert face to face. And You might remember back in January He said Armando Bakot, he is the player of the year in the ACC and it's not close. I know every coach that does. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Not ready for that.
I thought you were going to play the other clip. Are mine? trying to communicate with our eyes. We're doing some Eye contact here, Luke. That's what we're trying to do right now.
So he said that then, And that was followed a week later with two 20-point losses on the road. And it looked kind of ridiculous because The second end of that back-to-back. was against Wake Forest, where Hubert said something that seemed to contradict that. Wake Forrest, Alandis Williams and Jake LaRavier are better than any guy we have on the team. Doesn't seem like both those things could be true.
We have the player of the year one week, and it's not close. The week. After that, Well, we didn't have either one of the two best guys on the floor.
Something doesn't add up there. He was not asked directly. Hey, do you think five is the ACC player of the year? After he had a historic performance, no Tar Heels ever had. 20, 15, and 5 in the same game.
He wasn't asked that. No. He was asked about. you know, big hot broadly. And He got Hubert Davis decided to take it back to what he said in January.
Listen. I know every coach does this for their player, but I'm going to do it for my player. It's not even Coach Betty's ACC player here. His consistency and his dominance, and he's putting up numbers that Nobody has done before, and so for him to continue to play the way that he has, it's. It shouldn't even take any time to vote.
Hubert. This insults our intelligence. It's what it does. When he says this guy should win and it's not even close. Like deep.
I don't think his intent is malicious. That's not what I'm saying here. And when you say it's not close, you're disrespecting the other candidates. That's what When you say it's not close, you say it's so clear, this guy's so much better than everybody else, you shouldn't even think about it. Shouldn't even think about it.
Because It's Baycott, it's so clear. Right now I don't even think he's in my top two. I still think it's Paolo 2 and Alondis Williams 1. If you're thinking to yourself though. Gosh.
Every coach does this. Hubert said so after all. Listen to this sound to day From unlike Hubert Davis. Steve Forbes being asked directly. If he thought Alondez Williams was going to be the player of the year.
and how he views the player of the year voting. And this is the guy that actually has the player of the year. Here's how Steve Forbes answered that question. I am not one to lobby for my players. Um I believe that They stand on their merit.
And so I'm not real big on me getting on, you know, this type of. environment and pushing for my players. I think You guys are smart. You see it. You know, you look at the numbers and like I do.
You use your eyes and not your ears. That had to be a shot at Hubert Davis. Just had to be. B dot who's probably on his way to Chapel Hill right now. getting set for the senior night at seven o'clock, He tweeted out Damn.
Coach Forbes just drew a line in the sand as far as I'm concerned an hour ago. Right around the time we played this clip. Hashtag shotspire.
Now I don't think Kind of like I don't think Hubert said anything malicious. towards Alanis Williams. I don't think This was malicious on Forbes' part. But Forbes is What's the best way to describe Forbes? He is very online.
He'll tweet things out like he's going to Broadway, he's going to watch The Lion King. At Tanger Center last night, that's... It's what he's going to do.
So he he's online. And when I put out that video Saturday that went viral of Hubert Zayn, Armanda Becott's the player of the year, and it's not even close. Armanda. I guarantee you he saw that and this was a direct response to that. And that's fine.
And also, I think Steve Forbes is right, by the way. Like, who's listening to Hubert Davis and saying, you know what? I wasn't I wasn't going to vote five, Player of the Year. We can do that before, but now that he says it's not even close. Like who Why even look?
You know? I'm just going to take his word for it. I'm just going to take my piece of paper, even though I'm pretty sure this is done digitally now. I'm not even going to look at the other candidates. I'm just going to write his name down.
And I'm just going to send it in. Like, who else could even be in consideration? Huber says so. Come on Yeah. I think it insults our intelligence a little bit.
Now I'm not I'm not gonna act offended by it But Come on. 3367 1600. Chris Patola. This should be a good conversation. Every time we have Spatol on, he says something interesting.
More than one thing that's interesting. I remember a year ago we had him on. We were talking about, hey, Coach K. Want to rule it out that he's going to be done coaching soon. And he said, Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised about it either.
And keep an eye on Tommy Yameker. It's a guy they might want to hire over there. Turns out Duke offered that guy the job. Spitola knows things more than he leads on because He's married to Coach Kay's one of Coach Kay's daughters. And he used to be an assistant coach.
on Coach Kay's staff. And now the guy works for ESPN.
So What better guy to have on? In a week that a lot of people are going to be talking about Coach K and Getting ready for his final home game against North Carolina on Saturday, Chris Patola joins us next on the drive. on what the answer to that question is, and we'll get to that next. Perfect. Uh Uh Chris Patolla joining us now.
From ESBN. And It's a big week for the ACC. Obviously, with your relationship with Coach K, we'll get into the stuff going on. This week, his final road game is going to be against a former assistant in Jeff Capel tomorrow night. Then you got the big game Saturday against North Carolina.
But before we get into the ACC, Duke Carolina, Coach K, all that stuff. In addition to covering the ACC, you've covered a lot of Big 12 hoops this year.
So I wanted to cover a couple of things here. Starting with Alondis Williams, you saw him a lot at Oklahoma, so how surprised have you been? To see him right now being what Randolph Childress describes as the runaway ACC player of the year. Yeah, he he's been he's been terrific. I I wouldn't necessarily couch it as runaway.
I you know, I look, I think I think he certainly is the player of the year, but I think it marginalizes the year that Baycott and Van Carroll have had. But he I mean, he certainly has made his mark I'm shocked, to be honest with you, Josh. I saw him a lot when he was at Oklahoma. And he was a good player. He was a role player.
averaged about eight points a game. And he was a good passer. I didn't know he was as good a passer as he's been this season.
So I've been blown away. You know, I think it's a product of A, the Big 12 is a better conference than the ACC.
So, you know, I don't, I think a guy. like that who's been playing in such a physical talented league comes over to this league and it's a little bit of a different level.
So I think that's helped. But I think Steve Forbes has done a great job with him too, Josh. I think he's given him a lot of freedom. He's put the ball in his hands. He didn't have the ball in his hand nearly as much.
at Oklahoma for Longkruger as he has at Wake. He's got some b I think better players around him. uh here at Wake.
So it's I mean, look, anytime you're doing something for the first time, in this case, obviously, leading the league in points and assists, that's never been done with the stable of players that have come through this league. That's a hell of a season. Chris Patola from ESBM with us here. Another Big Twelve thing that's being bandied about today. In addition to doing the show, I do some writing with ACC Sports.com, and I was discussing this with my friend Brian Geisiger.
Bob Balvano earlier today said that if Louisville contacted Baylor coach Scott Drew based on mutual friends that they both have, He's saying that Scott Drew would listen to them. And every coach that I've talked to, they always point to Louisville's facilities saying, They might have the best facilities in America. But how do you see that job? How attractive do you think the Cardinals position is going to be. Yeah.
I think it's I think it depends on the NCAA thing. That's the first thing. And then You know, look, Scott Drew, I I think he's a fantastic coach, obviously. But you're talking about a different world. I mean, you're like, he's been down there in Texas for a long time, and there are recruiting pipelines and there's a lot that he has established down there That um You know, I don't know how that would translate to Louisville.
Now, I look, I think. the world has become more globalized when it comes to recruiting. And obviously, Scott Drew is a national name, so that may not have an impact But the first thing I would say to Scott, just after having conversations with Chris Mack, is. you better make sure that that NCAA thing is going to be cleared up in the near term.
So that would kind of be the thing that I would say. But Look, I mean, that's a program that led the nation in revenue in college basketball. You mentioned the facilities. And it's it's a program that that you know the league AC the ACC needs to be good. Like the ACC needs Syracuse and Louisville to be good at basketball.
And it's one of the reasons that the league has been down, is that those two programs Have just not been what they need to be in order for this league to be at its height.
So I think we're dying for that program to get back to some semblance of being good, and I have no doubts in Scott Drew's ability to recruit. or his ability to coach. I just you know, it would be a very different change from where he's at now. Chris Spatola with us here. Shoot him a follow on Twitter at Chris underscore Spitola.
I want to transition what you just said there about these top programs need to play like top programs. They all need to be good. And it transitioned to something I've been talking about for the last week. I've always believed that it's good in theory to say you're a guy that always tells the truth. But one of the things that's tough to do when you try to tell the truth all the time is.
There are times it's unpopular to do so.
Sometimes the truth might tick some people off. And the reality of what we've seen in the ACC this year is it's not a one. Team A one-bid league, but there is only one contender in this conference. And I don't remember the last time we've seen that. And it's Duke that's ranked right now in the top five.
And when I see this coach of the year conversation, I've been the only one. It feels like I'm on an island out here saying Coach K should win the award. And we have Steve Forbes on all throughout the season, and he's done a great job. But just like we saw with Mike Young last year, there's going to be another Steve Forbes-like story next year. There's not going to be another Coach K who hasn't won the league in 12 years.
And if he beats Pittsburgh tomorrow, is going to win the ACC for the first time in that time and the first time with a one-and-done roster. Where do you stand on the coach of the year conversation in the ACC?
Well, look, if I obviously, if I come on here and say that Coach Kaye deserves Coach of the Year, you'll get even more reaction than you're getting probably already. Look, I this conversation about Coach of the Year with Coach Kay, go over the for not even the forty years he's coached, Josh, go over the last twenty five. I mean, you can make there have been years where you could make far more compelling cases that he should be Coach of the Year and he hasn't gotten the award. for whatever reason. We don't have to relitigate those reasons.
But Yeah, I mean I I I I think you have a reasonable argument there. But I think you also have to look at what the award actually represents. And I think I'm not saying it represents that to me. But I think for some people, it's sort of become an award of, okay, who didn't you expect to be good? Oh, that team's good.
Well, that guy's the coach of the year. Um and so I think Look, I think Coach has done a really nice job with this team because I don't think you can win young anymore in college basketball, and it's not an excuse for anything. At times, I think it's been an explanation for the way in which Duke has played. But at the end of the day, this team has done all of those things you're talking about. playing pretty much three freshmen, starting three freshmen at this point in the season.
Um So you know, look, I think he is certainly deserving. That's not to take away some of the job that Steve Forbes has done. I think Steve is absolutely a worthy coach of the year. But you know, Josh, like at the end of the day, is it is it also is there a I don't think it's wrong to say Let's also factor in a little bit of a legacy thing here. Are we really going to have tunnel vision and just say, well, in this given year, Steve Forbes has done a better job?
Like I would be okay if voters said, you know what, Kay's done a hell of a job. Team's going to win the league. And oh, by the way, thanks for 40 years. Here's your coach of the year. I don't think there's anything wrong with that.
And he hasn't won it in 22 years. Your colleague Seth Greenberg has won it twice since then. And Herb Sindak has that award more recently than Coach K has.
So half his career, literally, he hasn't won that award, which kind of makes you wonder the purpose of the award altogether. Chris Spatola went this year from ESPN. I'm interested what you think of this Duke team. I think. The metrics of watching them Trending towards March, a lot different than many of these other one-and-done teams that might have had even more talent, like the Zion team that just didn't have much shooting on it.
Even to a degree, the 2015 team that won the national title, they didn't have a dismissal on this team going into the month of February. This Duke team is going to win the league. None of the other one-and-done teams can say that. Granted, a down ACC, I understand it. But seven straight road wins, and maybe their most impressive road win, winning by 25 this past weekend.
Paolo Boncaro trending upwards. The last 13 points of the Virginia game were scored by their two youngest players, Kiels and A.J. Griffin. I I think they're playing their best basketball last night and You see the teams losing on Saturday. Duke was not one of those teams.
I think this team could win the national championship. Do you? I think they certainly could, Josh. The thing that I would caution, everything you just said, and you kind of alluded to this. You've got to understand who they're playing against.
You know, that's one of the advantages that I have in kind of calling uh games in other conferences. Like You know, I gotta tell you, I mean, anybody who's watched Big 12 games, like, There is a, I think, a physicality deficit with Duke. I think there's a concern I have about how they've executed late in games. Do they defend well enough over a forty minute game in a game where you're going to have to get stops against older, more physical teams that I think they've seen In the ACC.
So look, I I understand the run that they've been on, but if if And I don't remember all the teams, but I know BC was in there. I know Clinton was in there. The weight game, they almost lost. because of how they played down the stretch of that game. And that game was in Cameron Florida State is just completely decimated.
Obviously, Virginia, a game that was a one, one, two possession game laid, and then Syracuse stinks. I I just I I think they are playing I don't know if they're playing their best basketball of the year, I think in that period where they beat Gonzaga. I think that was a period where Wendell Moore was playing better, and I think they were playing. probably their best basketball, but there's no question they're on a run. There's no question that Mark Williams, if he continues to play this way, I've said all year, he represents the ceiling.
If Mark Williams can be a factor on both ends, then I think that is representative Of Duke Sealing, then yeah, I think they could certainly get on a run. But it comes down to matchups, Josh. Like, this is one of my things about the tournament this year. Like, last year, You could put any teams in front of Gonzaga and Baylor, and they were going to beat those teams outside of putting Baylor in front of Gonzaga. But matchups did not matter.
I think matchups are a big part of this year's tournament. And when people get their bracket, I think you're going to have to dive into how teams match up against one another. And I do think with this Duke team, I think matchups are very, very dependent for them in terms of how far they can advance. Chris Patola, former Duke Assistant ESPN analyst, joining us here. Let's close with.
The end of the Coach K era. His final home game coming up this Saturday. Did the excerpts of Ian O'Connor's new book. On Tommy Amaker and John Shire and Kay's part of trying to push. uh Amaker to turn down the job, which he did in order for Shire to get hired.
Did By the way, Duke, neither Kay nor Duke denied anything that was reported. Did it surprise you at all? Because I know before all this happened, you came on the show and said Tommy Amaker is going to be a player for that job. And now we know he was. Yes.
I mean, look, it surprised me, but I think people overestimate how much in the know I am. I mean, I that was just sort of my as an analyst take. Like I just I thought Tommy was deserving of that position. I didn't even know John was in the running, if I'm being candid, Josh. Like, I did not know that John would even be in the running.
until like his name and I know he's done a great job as an assistant. I know he's been a very good recruiter, I just didn't think that he was in the running. And so I guess surprise was more so. In two ways. One, that John was even in consideration, and then two, that based on Ian's reporting, that it kind of went down the way that it did.
Like the administration allegedly wanted Tommy and Coach K wanted John and You know, that was a little bit, those details I had not known.
So. So those were a little bit surprising. But look, I think John's going to do a very good job. I think he's certainly capable of doing. a really good job.
you know, people need to understand, and I'm sure he understands this, like life there at Duke is not going to be the same as it was under Coach Kay for John. Like there there's there's a lot of a lot of people and a lot of institutions at Duke that have been waiting to sort of rein that program in. once Coach Kay's gone.
So I think John's going to have to figure that out Over the next few years here. But he's certainly capable, and I hope they got the right guy. Do you think that's something Coach K? is preparing for as well, and it's why he wants to keep his fingerprints on the program. And you even have that fund that he's been pouring into for the last twenty-two years.
Yeah, I well, look, I I think Tommy would have been Certainly very capable of navigating those waters for a host of reasons we don't have to get into now. But I.
So, you know. I I I think Coach Kaye First of all, he has every right to be as involved as he wants to be, and ultimately that's going to be up to John. Um But yeah, I think certainly with John there, I think there is Certainly a recency bias, if if you will. I mean, they obviously he's going to be able to. He has been closer to John over the last few years than he would have been to Tommy.
I don't think that's necessarily why he wanted John. to be able to navigate some of those things I'm talking about. But I don't I don't think it necessarily hurts and I don't think it necessarily hurts you know to have him still around the premises and uh if if you're shyer. Oh, and what do you think Saturday's going to be like? I think it's going to be unlike any scene we have seen.
And I hope and I look, I know ESPN is Here's my thing, Josh, and I'll have a very an open moment of honesty with you, okay? What I hope, and I'm fine, like look, there's people who hate Coach K, there's people who resent him, and there's people who love him. I hope everybody who's got their issues with Coach K, can set those aside for the evening. and just appreciate not not only what he's done for the game, but what Duke under Coach K has meant to college basketball. Like this property This Duke Coach K property has been massive.
For the growth of college basketball and the consumption of college basketball. And a lot of it has to do with that polarizing element. And we're losing that.
Now that doesn't mean, look, if Duke keeps winning, then obviously Duke as a brand and as a property in college basketball is going to continue to remain valuable. But I don't know if it ever reaches the level that we've seen under Coach Kaye. It's been as somebody who covers the sport and played the sport and coached the sport. I think we might have lost Chris Patola. Maybe a Carolina fan or a Coach Kay Hayter got his phone line.
Tough times. But I'm with him. Hopefully we can kind of remove all the vial and all that stuff and on Saturday. Just appreciate the fact that one of the people that you either love to watch coach and Uh love to watch his teams play or love to hate. Gonna be the last time you get a chance to do that in the building.
He helped make very, very famous.
Okay. We've got ticket to the house to do in a second. And we've got a women's basketball ACC bracket. And is it too soon to start talking college baseball? We get to all that to close things out next.
Yeah.
