Wake's no-win situation

This is The Drive with Josh Graham Podcast.

Tune in to The Drive weekday afternoons 3-7 on Sports Hub Triad. On social media, Tondi Brown made it official last night he would be departing Wake Forest. And without him in Winston-Salem, John Curry, he's in a no-win position. Mac Brown, he once told us that you're either selling hope or you're selling success. Long before he showed signs of becoming the Hall of Fame coach he now is, Mac went 1-10 his first two years in Chapel Hill. But during those years, without on-the-field results to lean on, he had his bosses and the donors convinced he was setting the foundation for something successful long-term.

And he was right! Tondi Brown's departure takes away any hope of a successful basketball season next year for the Demon Deacons. I really don't care who the coach is, this roster doesn't consist of any players that right now I think could start for another ACC team. So while it's good they bring in a JUCO or I guess it's just a transfer from Houston Baptist and Ian DeBlois who averaged 19 points a game over there, I doubt as a secondary scoring option he's gonna have similar success in the ACC.

It's good news, Wake Forest today lands a transfer from Virginia Tech, former Mount Tabor standout Isaiah Wilkins. But that guy was averaging what, 5 points a game last year at Virginia Tech? Has 2 years of eligibility remaining. But this team, I don't see one guy other than Olivier Saar who'd be starting for any other ACC team. And I'm not convinced Olivier, after being a third-team all-ACC guy with a high upside, he's not gonna put his name into the draft considering it's a thinner draft. Or he's gonna say, much like Chon D, I have one year left of eligibility here, I'm going to transfer somewhere I can play in the NCAA tournament since I've never done so before. So John Curry, he's in a can't win situation.

No win here. If you fire Danny Manning, it's gonna be awful PR. You got pay cuts all over the place. Curry himself imposing a 10% pay cut. Dave Claus had a 10% pay cut.

All the other Wake Forest coaches taking a pay cut. Then you're going to fire Danny and buy him out, oh and at the same time hire somebody else? I was reading that last week 5 million more people in the United States became unemployed, filed for unemployment. That's about 22 million filing for unemployment. And you're gonna fire somebody and pay out $15 million? Agree to do so? Of course that's not all gonna happen right now.

But you're going to ostensibly pay that sum now during a national, make it international, global pandemic? That's not gonna be a good look. There's no chance of success to sell for next year. I'm somebody who was hopeful. If John D. was on the roster, if Olivier was on the roster, I thought this would be a team that could make the tournament like the 2017 team did.

I thought that was something that could happen. Without John D. there's no chance of that. So you can't sell hope for next year and there's no way you could really sell hope with Danny as the coach. So my prediction is that Curry is going to make a change off Manning. I think it's something he wants to do. I don't have any inside information on this.

Curry, he's kept it very close to the vest as we've discussed on this show. Sticking with him, it would be just too damaging to attendance. Next year, the attendance model, I mean it's already bad considering what we saw this past year. It's gonna get worse if Danny's the coach. I just can't foresee that happening.

It's all about the details. They are gonna iron something out. They're gonna buy out Danny Manning.

I don't know if it's gonna be 15 mil. I don't know the rest of the details privy to Danny's contract because they don't talk about contracts. But I believe John Curry has a plan and I'd be surprised if he's not moving off of Danny at this point. Because you can't sell on the field success. If he was gonna keep him around, he would have already said so. Since he hasn't, he either wants to move off of him and can't or wanted to do it already and couldn't.

Or he's going to do it and has a plan in place. You can tweet the show at sportsubtriad, 336-777-1600. If you're a Wake Forest basketball fan, I'm interested in what you think about this predicament John Curry is in at the moment. The NFL draft is one week away. And Robert, I have the three best outcomes for Carolina at number seven. The three best outcomes and I think the one that's most obvious would be if Tua fell to number seven.

If Tua fell to seven, Carolina races to the podium. The pick would be in immediately. Carolina going with the quarterback from Bama. He's the closest comp to Drew Brees we've seen come out. The most accurate passer I've ever seen as a prospect. Drew Brees worked with Joe Brady.

It just seems like it would be a ready-made fit. You wouldn't have to worry about draft position for the next handful of years. Tua would be the franchise quarterback and he would be given time to develop behind Teddy Bridgewater. Isaiah Simmons would be the next best outcome for Carolina. If Simmons fell to seven, Carolina has so many holes on defense.

D-line, secondary, linebacker losing Luke Kuechly. Simmons, he can fill so many different holes. He can do so much on the defensive side of the ball. He can rush the passer. He can fill running holes. He is excellent in pass defense.

Sound like somebody else you know? Kuechly, his big deal. It's intelligence. I've compared him to Peyton Manning. He's the closest thing I've seen on defense to a Peyton Manning level player who can figure things out, know what the play is going to be ahead of time, read passes, pick off quarterbacks left and right. Isaiah Simmons, he would be the perfect replacement to Kuechly even though I understand he would be playing more of an outside backer versus an inside backer. Great in pass defense, can fill the run.

I've seen him in person many times so maybe I'm biased to that. But Isaiah Simmons, that would be an ideal pick for Carolina. And the third option, the third outcome that I think would be one of the three best, trading down. Trade out of the pick. If Herbert fell to seven, maybe the Las Vegas Raiders say, we want to trade up and take him.

And they'll give you both their picks between 10 and 20. Maybe you get added first round value if there's a Herbert or Jordan Love that somebody wants to trade up and take a chance on. Trade back because there's a lot of good defensive line talent, there's a lot of guys you can grab. If you want to go secondary in the first round, maybe you trade back five spots. Take CJ Henderson who's just a speedster out of Florida. There are a lot of options if you trade down.

I think that would be the third best scenario because if you're trading down, that's also because people see players that they want to trade up and grab. Let's go to Mike in Elkin who wants in on Wake Forest basketball. Mike, what do you make of the current dynamic that I call a no-win situation for John Curry? If he lets Danny Manning go, it's going to be awful PR during a global pandemic. If he keeps him, man, that's going to look pretty bad too and no one's going to show up to Wake basketball games next year. What do you think, Mike? I agree with both of those, but I was convinced when I heard last night that Shaundi wouldn't be back for his senior year.

That's it. Danny's going to be let go. Coach Curry is supposedly going to speak with some of the reporters when decisions are made.

He hasn't talked to them yet. He's looking for a way, in my opinion, to try to let go of Danny without having to break the bank. I don't know who they're going to be able to get for a new coach if they do fire Danny because of the money being paid out. They may have to keep one of the assistants and promote him as an interim for a year until maybe the economic situation gets better.

Thanks for the call, Mike. I think what's interesting would be if you're a Wake Forest basketball fan and it's not economically feasible to hire a new basketball coach at the moment, Randolph Childress is on staff. Like if Danny Manning was let go and they promoted Randolph Childress and said, hey, this is going to be the coach for just one year, are you not excited to see what Randolph could do?

I was excited to see Timmy D coach for the Spurs that one time in Charlotte. I'm not saying that's going to happen. I haven't heard anything about Curry speaking to reporters. Believe me, that would be something I hear about. We've reached out to his office numerous times and we've been told that they would politely, that they will politely decline an interview at this time.

I get it. You don't want to answer any questions because you don't have answers to it right now. That's why you tell somebody who's doing an interview in Raleigh, our good friend Chris Lee.

Hey, I don't want to be asked anything about basketball. It's because something is going on. Chondi Brown last week, he tweets, hey, Danny Manning's going to be back and we're going to win at Wake Forest together. He's our coach.

Now that tweet's deleted and Chondi is leaving Wake. Something is going on behind the scenes that we don't know about. And we will get answers over the next few weeks.

We just don't have a lot of them this moment. Darren Vaught's going to join us in over 15 minutes, a little over 15 minutes as we have our throwback Thursday baseball segment. Today, it's going to be the Los Angeles Dodgers, but we're thrilled about the Michael Jordan docu-series that's going to launch on Sunday, the last dance. And coming up, in the spirit of that, I'll tell you why there will never be another team that's more popular and more universally beloved than the 90s Chicago Bulls.

This is The Drive. I'm convinced we're never going to see again a team that's as universally beloved as the 90s Chicago Bulls were. I think a lot of that has to do with social media. 20, 25 years ago it was possible to have a president that left office with a high approval rating. Today, in the age of social media, it doesn't matter if you're God Almighty walking out of office, you can't do everything. And you're going to be criticized for some of the things you don't do. And you're going to be nit-picked. That's just something that's bound to happen. And I don't think there's a team that ever escapes unscathed, or at least hasn't, over the last 10 to 15 years with the advent of Facebook and Twitter and the proliferation of the internet.

Think about it. Golden State. There's no reason why you should really dislike the way they play basketball. Steph Curry is so likable. He looks like a cartoon kids character. And he plays like it. He's relatable. He's fun. He's got a fun wife.

He's great on Twitter. Klay Thompson. I just saw the highlight from something I haven't watched in years yesterday, where he scored 60 points and only dribbled the basketball in that game 11 times.

Think about that one. 11 dribbles, 60 points for Klay Thompson in a game. Draymond Green. He could be colorful. He could be polarizing in the same way Dennis Rodman was fun and polarizing.

Maybe not in the same way as the worm, but you kind of get what I'm talking about here. I think if Golden State played in the 90s, they would be seen as the most beloved team out there. But since the Chicago Bulls played in that time instead, they were that team. No other team paralleled their greatness. Not Utah. Not the Rockets. They won those two years, but they didn't face MJ.

He was out playing baseball. We are drawn to greatness. We follow greatness. There's a reason why when Kentucky, when Duke, when North Carolina, when Kansas are playing in the Final Four, ratings go up.

When VCU plays Butler, when Butler goes up against UConn in that championship game, you get the lowest ratings of a championship game in years. We like watching greatness. Duke, great. Carolina, great.

Kansas, great. Chicago Bulls, great. Alabama, they draw ratings. Look at that contract the SEC just agreed to with ABC and ESPN. That's not really the SEC contract.

It's the right to carry Alabama games contract. The Chicago Bulls, they appealed to everybody. In the Eastern Conference, they played the Knicks. They played the Pacers.

You are relating to those in the big cities in the East. You're playing a hard-nosed style of basketball. They could pound it in the post. They had Dennis Rodman blocking shots. Scottie Pippen, he could be physical. Michael Jordan, just a very versatile, tough player.

Talked trash, gritty. It fit that era before hand checks of the NBA. But also, if you're watching out West, they're flashy. They have stars. And I think it's important that they played in the city of Chicago, so they're right there in the middle of the country, so people could relate to a team that's closer to home than if the Bulls played or if Michael Jordan and this team played closer to one of the coast.

I think all that matters. Michael Jordan, he was seen to be one of the coolest athletes. MJ, he's a lot cooler than LeBron. He's a lot, like, you don't see MJ posting TikTok videos.

What would that look like? Could you ever see Michael Jordan posting a TikTok video with his kids? I'm not knocking LeBron for doing so. I'm just saying LeBron's not as cool as Mike is. There's an element of curiosity, of mystery with Michael.

The same way there was mystery with David Bowie, Prince, other cool stars. Michael was that. But with social media, the Warriors, they add KD, they become villains. Like, LeBron James does a TV show, chooses to go play for the Miami Heat, he's a villain. You have several great teams, several great players that you could argue is the great player of the time, they get pitted against each other and you have to pick sides. Nobody's picking sides in the 90s. Nobody's saying, oh, Charles Barkley's better than Mike.

No! By the time you got to the mid-90s, Magic, he was gone. So was Larry Bird, so was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. So there was nobody who you could put side by side with Jordan, and no team you could put side by side with the Bulls. So I don't know if we're going to see something that level of dominance in the NBA again, and it's not going to be as long-spanning as the Bulls dominance with six titles. Golden State, it looked like it would be that way, but they went to five finals and they only won three of them.

And I thought that went a lot longer than I thought it would. You had to add one of the best players in the NBA halfway through just to keep it going the next few years. Social media is not going to allow for another team to be as beloved or as popular as the Chicago Bulls were in the 1990s.

Darren Bott's going to join us in ten minutes, sharing with Darren, throwback Thursday baseball, we're going to find the Imagine Dragons of the LA Dodgers, Robert Walsh producing this show, Aaron Gabriel in the control room as well. Big news today in college basketball, and really this is pro basketball news, it's a few big ticket ESPN Top 100 players deciding against playing college basketball, but not going overseas like an Emmanuel Moudier did, like the kid did last year whose name slips my mind. But instead going the G League route. Jalen Green is the ESPN 100 number one prospect and he decided that he was going to take a leap into the reshaped NBA professional pathway program. It's a G League initiative.

It's going to pay athletes $500,000 plus, it's a one year development program, there's media responsibilities for a guy like Jalen Green involved as well that will push things closer to $1 million. Some are saying, this is doomsday for college basketball, oh my god, they didn't make a move and now the G League is going to take all their stuff. Good luck getting people to get charged up about Canton going head to head with Rio Grande. Good luck with that one. Listen, I like the G League, we're good friends with the folks at the Greensboro Swarm, Joe Wolf's going to be our guest on tomorrow's show.

However, these things can coexist. NBA draft snobs, hardcore NBA fans, they're going to want to see where these prospects are. People follow LaMelo Ball when the Ball family did the Facebook live show. People are going to follow Jalen Green, it's going to happen. However, the one and done is going to be abolished in the next few years so a guy like Jalen Green, he's jumping to the NBA anyway. He's not going straight into the G League. The truth of the matter is, nobody talks about this, college basketball does provide things for these kids.

They do. Zion Williamson gets the massive shoe deal, becomes a household name where you only have to say the name Zion and everybody knows who you're talking about. Not because of Instagram, because he played at Duke, because he was on Sports Center every night. I don't know if Jalen Green is going to be on Sports Center every night because he's playing for this California G League team that's being created. So pump the brakes before you say that this is it for college basketball because a handful of prospects who probably would be jumping to the NBA straight out of high school, if this happened two years from now, decide that they're going to spend a year in the G League. Exposure exists in college basketball. They have the lucrative TV deals. They have the multi-billion dollar March Madness product. They have the brackets, which means they have a chance to give athletes enough recognition, enough exposure to elevate draft stock more than you would playing in the G League and also get massive endorsement deals in a way that these G League athletes likely aren't going to get either.

It just charges me up, man, when people say that college basketball, oh, these guys are leaving the go play G League ball. That's going to be the end of the sport. That's been long-spending decade after decade after decade and survived a lot worse than this, including a bribery scandal in New York with their champions. They survived that. They can survive this.

Yes, Rob? I agree with you that it's not going to be the end of college basketball, but on the other end that the G League is a good place for players to go if they do want to play and they do want to get paid for it. I think it's great. I'm sure the Greensboro Swarm would agree.

I'm interested to ask Joe Wolf about this tomorrow. Yeah, so this could have been a purely financial decision. I saw a lot of different numbers come out for him, but all of them way more money than he would make playing college basketball. Now, college basketball needs to adapt. It needs to change. It needs to allow for guys to do endorsement deals while they're in school. Sure, but the idea that they need to model things into paying athletes directly, I don't buy that yet.

I'm not going that far yet. All right, Darren Vaught from USA Baseball, our good friend, joins us every single week. It's one of my favorite segments.

It's something I look forward to. There are a lot of baseball fans out there. Even though we don't have a major league baseball team in North Carolina, baseball is just so big in this state. I miss going to Hopper's games and going to watch the Winston-Salem dash already. Last week, it would have been opening day. It's Thursday, so we're going to list off throwback Thursday Dodgers as we start sharing with Darren next.

We are sharing with Darren Vaught from The David Glenn Show. We like getting nostalgic with baseball. And since the Dodgers had one of the more interesting off seasons, bringing in Mookie Betts, bringing in David Price as well as a part of that deal. Also yesterday, being the anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking Major League Baseball's color barrier, it just feels right that the Dodgers be the team that we do today in our segment that you can play along with the Imagine Dragons of the Dodgers on Twitter at sportshubtriad. Darren, you and I were talking earlier today about the Dodgers specifically and they're the team that has the most to lose this year if the season is shortened or cancelled.

Yeah, no doubt about it. I think they, from a strictly baseball standpoint, are suffering the most with games not currently being played. Remember, Mookie Betts is in a contract year, so he essentially was a rental coming into this season.

And it's a top three talent in all of Major League Baseball. This is a team that notoriously has failed to get over the hump the past few years. This was supposed to be their year and it's all come to a screeching halt. I can't imagine if someone listening is a Dodgers fan, what you're thinking and going through is this season, it turns out, might not be played at all. To cheer those people up, we will play the Imagine Dragons of the LA Dodgers.

I feel a responsibility to explain this still every single week. The Nickelbacks of the 2000s were essentially, the idea was, we're not looking for the most memorable, we're not looking for the best guys. The most talented players. The Chipper Joneses of the world, the Alex Rodriguezes. No, we just want the memorable guys because we get nostalgic about old baseball names like Brian Roberts or Jay Gibbons.

Since I'm an Orioles fan. Robert, those would be Nickelbacks, not Imagine Dragons there. Just throwing that out there. So, we thought, okay, what's a band that fits that category to try and get people an idea of what we want? Oh, it's Nickelback.

The decade just ended, the Imagine Dragons, I think, are the last decade's Nickelback. So, give me the most memorable LA Dodgers of the last decade. Not the best guys. Darren, give me a list of guys that do not belong on this list so people don't send us on Twitter the wrong kind of player. Clayton Kershaw is the first and foremost that does not belong on this list. Probably Yasiel Puig.

I would maybe fight you that Yasiel Puig is too good or was too good. Bellinger, Turner, I don't think belong. Adrian Gonzalez, I don't think belongs. If you're an MVP candidate, I'd say Matt Kipp doesn't belong either or Zach Greinke.

Yeah, all of those fit and I think that's the extent of my list. And Kenley Jansen, he was the best closer for a two year stretch. I don't think he applies and also a little bit too young. Here's a question I have for you we need to establish for the rest of this game. Can great 2000s players that were too good to be Nickelbacks be Imagine Dragons as older players?

I think they can and I've got the top guy on my list that applies to him. Okay, who is it? I'm glad you're bringing this up. Andre Ethier.

Oh, that's good. I was thinking Jimmy Rollins. That's another thing too and we did this with the Nickelbacks. I don't associate Rollins as a Dodger. Yeah, I don't think he applies either. Same thing for Heron and Beckett.

They didn't play there long enough. Carl Crawford though. Yeah, that's another good one that fits right in with Ethier.

And I'll throw one more in this category, Chase Utley. Oh, for sure. Okay.

There it is, Robert. The top one on my list is Yasmani Grandal. I like it.

Okay, that's perfectly fine. I like Yasmani Grandal. I do too. Give me a pitcher on your list. A pitcher I have Chad Billingsley. Wow, Chad Billingsley. He's borderline Nickelback right there with like Rod Barajas or James Loney. But I'll count it.

I'll counter though. He played in the early 2010s at least. Like 2012, 2013, he was peak mediocre reliever for the Dodgers. I'll counter with Rich Hill. Hold on, which who?

Rich Hill. Yes. Is that better than Alex Wood? Yeah, it is. Wood made an all-star game.

And it was really dumb when he did that. So maybe a little, not too good, but just doesn't quite apply. You got Ethier on the list.

I had him written down as question marks right next to Howie Kendrick and D. Gordon. Oh, I like those. I like both of those.

I think they both apply. Okay, who else? Who else needs to be added to the list? I got two more names.

I've got one that I think we cannot go without. He was the second person on my list overall. He's a position player. I put him behind Andre Ethier, first baseman James Loney.

I put him in the Nickelback category, but yeah, Loney does apply. Yeah, he's an old player, man. He's an old player. How do you feel about Brandon McCarthy?

Ooh, yes, yes. Likable guy on Twitter, but also a pretty good reliever. But that is also why he's more memorable than good. It's because of his Twitter presence.

So I think that plays a factor. That's an excellent... The last name I got is Jock Peterson. Eh... Jock. Jock. Juan Arribe. It is the better of what decade we are doing this for, Jock. Juan Arribe, is going to be an answer.

I feel like I can do this until we die, and Arribe is gonna be an answer. Close this out, give me the next best one of your list. You'll like this one because this was an older version of this guy.

It probably would have been a Nickelback as well. Jerry Harrison, Jr. That's a great one to finish up with. Darren, it's good to hear your voice.

Stay safe my friend. How did things go with with our good friend Michael Kedire on the USA Baseball pod? Yeah, we dropped that episode yesterday so it's available on Apple podcast, Spotify, Google podcast, wherever you listen in.

It's again covering the bases, the official podcast of USA Baseball. He and I were on the phone for over an hour. I think in total the episode is just over an hour like 101 in length and he was awesome. Did you mention to him that he's a Nickelback?

I did and he liked my case. This isn't in the interview but while I had him on the phone I explained to the segment which is again very very hard to do and not be long-winded. He understands how he might be a Nickelback but would be too good to be an Imagine Dragon because of course both of his all-star appearances were past 2010 and he was in the home run derby, the NL batting champ in 2013.

So he likes the idea that he's a Nickelback but too good to be an Imagine Dragon. Good stuff Darren. Good to hear from you man. Thanks for doing this. Likewise. That's Darren Vaught.

I have a simple question to ask you guys. It's something I've been thinking about all week. The draft's gonna be virtual.

Robert's gonna continue playing cuts here. Roger Goodell, he's gonna be announcing the picks from his closet or from his basement, not from his closet. What do you think Goodell's basement looks like? Oh it's probably swanky.

Oh it's late. Oh yeah yeah yeah it's it's like granite countertops with the... In the basement?

Oh yeah. I bet you it looks like a library. Black leather. No mahogany leather.

Oh there you go there you go with like a decanter on a nice silver tray with some good thick crystal glasses and some whiskey stones. Goodell needs to do this right. He can't have a backdrop. I don't want him to have a backdrop.

I don't want him to have a banner. I want to see a bookshelf, maybe a pet running around. It has to be like a white cat as if he's a super villain.

How about that? He just turns his chair around stroking a white cat when he announces each pick. He's gonna be wearing a person.

Like a mink. I see him allowing fans to boo him. There's gonna be some opportunity there. Yeah let random fans join the zoom call just to boo him. I think the Carolina Panthers every single team is having two fans be a part of the broadcast so when a team picks a player it pans to these two people. What opportunity there is for you to be on national television.

I would moon the camera so quick. Ravens would would disown me as a fan because very first thing I would just moon it so quick. People I know who have met Goodell they say he's so different than he seems on camera and that he's actually a really likable guy. The image of him being the shield and all that that's what the owners want him to be. The owners want him to be a meat shield out there protecting them from criticism.

So I'm hopeful about the draft a week from today. I really am. The way I look at Goodell is he's like one of Adam Sandler's friends off Billy Madison. He's just kind of along for the ride man. Let's let Adam Sandler tell him whatever to do. He's Norm Macdonald? Exactly he's like hey man. Or he's Mr. Penguin?

He couldn't hit it. I see what you're doing. It's nudie magazine day.

Mr. Penguin. Up next, what gives me hope John Curry will fix the Wake basketball program. Keep it here on the drive.

No mercy, no pity, no fear. You're on the drive with Josh Graham. So Robert just notified me he has big big breaking news that he's not gonna bring us right now but in 15 minutes he's not kidding around though it is national news and he wanted me to emphasize he's not kidding.

No joke. 15 minutes we'll get to that. Adam Gold our early afternoon host now joining us and I'm looking at the NFL draft being one week away and all I'm thinking about right now I probably should have better things on my mind but Roger Goodell what do you think his basement looks like? Oh it's it's cluttered I'm sure he's got a lot of old magazines probably some old Boys Life magazine. I was a Boys Life reader as a kid so I'm sure he's got them and then a highlight.

I always did the you know do the search for the objects the hidden objects please to love those so I'm sure he's got a lot of those. Mad Libs? Maybe Mad Libs. The news last night Chondi Brown he officially announces he's gonna be leaving Wake Forest he says okay I'm gonna go through the NBA draft process and as Danny Manning told us last week that that's not much of a surprise the surprising part was him saying yeah if I decide to return to college I'm going to enter the transfer portal. I think this presents a no-win situation for John Curry if he wants to make a change it's gonna be a bad PR look if he does so if he keeps Danny well it was already the worst attendance we've seen in a year at the Joel Coliseum ever I don't know how much further that can go down and your mind what's a worse look for Wake buying out Danny in the next month or keeping him yet another year now that this team can't win without Chondi on the roster. Well it's a net zero today because didn't Isaiah Wilkins announce that he was transferring from Virginia Tech to Wake right? Yeah I guess Mount Tabor great. Five points a game at Virginia Tech. I don't know if it's a net zero or not I actually talked about this earlier today and my feeling is that the time to move on from Danny what is probably passed based on the current climate probably not as much willing buyout money you don't know what everything is going to look like come to fall anyway so I think it's a ride with Danny Manning type year because to be perfectly honest and I said this there's John Curry who sat in our studio oh I don't know how many months ago when he first got the job and he was doing kind of the rubber chicken tour he's a smart dude he gets it he knows and then this is going to be a financial decision for the university will attendance be bad if they're bad yeah continuity is always better unless it's bad continuity and that's what right now what Danny Manning's got too many players too much player attrition too many guys who really have no business going to the NBA draft going through it and then transferring you can't get guys good good enough players to the finish line how many transfers is this in the Manning era guys that he recruited and guys who are going nowhere like I mean where's Darryl Moore going where's mid igloo going well I mean Jalen Hoard didn't get drafted last year I mean it's fine if Sharon Wright jr. transfers out but Tondy Brown and these other guys were meaningful players I mean it's just that that's gonna be what defines Danny no yeah well again I get back to the fact that it's guys that you recruited if you recruit players and then they leave and it's not like what goes on at times at Duke with like an Alex O'Connell or a semi-ogele you guys you you you you know you go through the process recruiting these guys and they don't get on the court enough so now it's a playing time issue I mean Tony Brown was a three-year starter I mean it's not a playing time issue not with him wasn't a playing time issue with the other guys if there's a disconnect somewhere it doesn't win enough even when the players that they you know the good players that they have and I've argued that there's enough talent there to be a better you know team in the win lost top but they just haven't been able to do it I look it's I've been saying for years that it's probably time to move on from Danny but it's a fine the finances and the climate is just not going to allow them to do it I don't think right now Adam gold with us here listen to the Adam gold show noon to three right here on sports obtrieties on Twitter at a gold fan so a lot of people I've already seen think pieces posted somehow it's happened in just two or three hours that the G League they now bring in the ESPN number one prospect of the 2020 class a kid that was once committed to Michigan is a five-star he's now gonna be going into the G League as well in this revamped path for high school prospects a one-year developmental program in the G League some are hand-wringing and saying this is gonna be part of the end for college basketball this is a real issue on the other end of it while the one and done is gonna be abolished in the next few years and college basketball there are always benefits to the guys who end up playing in terms of exposure and other elements the NIL legislation that's being considered and that's supposed to be suggestions are supposed to be brought up in the next month or so and hopefully enacted next year might change things as well how significant do you believe this headline to be and how big of a problem is it for college basketball I think I think we've had it there are there are no good developments here and I include the two players the two players are not going to a better situation than they would deal with in college basketball college basketball is the better place for them to develop as players the Gilly the G League these guys will both be playing against grown men who are desperately trying to make a career for themselves in pro basketball but this is not a first-year problem I've been saying this for years and I've been told that I was crazy the college game has created a climate that for whatever reason is not friendly to obvious one-year players I'll go back to Adam Silver when they made the announcement that they were going to get rid of the one-year do the one-year waiting rule when he said the college game doesn't seem to want these players that is the dumbest thing in the history of sports if the college game doesn't want great talented players most of whom by the way are good students Zion Williamson was a good student but you're creating a situation where these guys aren't welcome and they're sort of blamed for the problems of the sport the NBA didn't want one-year players which is why they put the rule in David Stern wanted to go to two years of a waiting period but it was fought by the Players Association mellow ball went to Australia RJ Hampton did the same thing there are there are kids who have decided I don't want to play in college I'm going to go overseas some had different reasons some was academic but for the most part it's because hey I don't have to go to school I can get money if the college game got off their rear ends and understood that name image and likeness the real you know open market for players like this was beneficial to their own game then this would this would cease to be a serious problem except for the kids who are academically ineligible and that's okay nobody says you have to go to school but they have screwed this up from the start by being very nearsighted and this is where we are it's a problem it's going to get worse not getting better we're going to have more and more players each year who opt to go elsewhere but the college game we're going to talk to Danny to Johnny Dawkins excuse me next hour about this particular issue also he'll share some Michael Jordan stories as well going head-to-head with him in the early 1980s Adam Gold with us our early afternoon host from the Adam Gold show before we let you go an anonymous NFL scout said offensive lineman bakai Beckton Beckton who played at Louisville quote loves to cook and eat more than football so I simply ask you what's more important to Adam Gold radio or food well maybe one leads to the other so we we have to at least understand that but if well the the answer to the question really is of course cooking the culinary arts are more important than than doing a competent semi-confident radio show but that is the height of being overly football II when that is the that's the takeaway that Beckton likes to cook he just pushed a car man yeah I think that's that's pretty good analysis there he pushed a car by the way how did we even start the conversation Rob has breaking news on a national level and that's gonna wait 15 minutes so you and I can be us about whatever I think it's Fox football now this breaking news is gonna be brought to us Robert says it's big breaking news it's huge us do you just want to get to it right now sure yeah all right Robert has his big breaking news what exactly do you have here all right big breaking news I know you guys have been waiting on it long enough I don't want to drag this out any longer than what is you and I'm not gonna keep you waiting not one second more for this breaking certainly not a day and a half you're not gonna keep us we're not at all it's big news the cat that interrupted the Giants and Cowboys game last year has been adopted and signed to the San Diego scratching post guys I am ecstatic huge absolutely yeah that's that's massive that's enormous news the captain score got into the end zone we look forward to hearing you tomorrow Adam and hopefully this breaking news doesn't completely up in what you have planned tomorrow well I'm going to call Tony the tiger for expert analysis tomorrow so that'll be on the show yeah we got Joe exotic to add an adjust a little bit that's that's Adam Goldie's on Twitter at a gold fan it's excellent stuff as always doing two three you can listen to the Adam Gold show right here on sports hub try at are you sure Schefter didn't scoop you he did not scoop me but I have more breaking news Josh this is unfortunate one sec don't don't bring the breaking news to me do you have more breaking news that we can bring later yeah I can I can hold off it's okay it's it's huge news we got it we got to pay the bills around here Robert we only have so much time for breaking news Robert has more breaking news apparently is it big big breaking news it's huge oh my gosh on top of that three realistic home run scenarios for the Carolina Panthers at number seven in next week's draft this is the drive we are one week away from the draft and when the team you cover closely doesn't make the playoffs and has a top 10 pick you naturally become a draft expert not to mention in our case college sports are huge around here so I already have an opinion on most of these guys anyway Johnny Dawkins he's gonna share Michael Jordan stories with us in 15 minutes okay with trades included I have mocked the first 10 picks of the draft I reserve the right to adjust a few things if need be next Thursday afternoon but I've given this a lot of thought so I don't expect that to happen let's dive right in since everybody seems to have a mock draft now with the quarterback Josh Graham wants a part of the action Josh predicts the top 10 picks of the 2020 NFL draft the pick is in here we go the Cincinnati Bengals are now on the clock and this is the most easy selection Joe burrow is gonna be the number one pick to the Cincinnati Bengals he's the safest pick at quarterback no injuries with them Ohio kid best case he's Aaron Rodgers worst case he's Tony Romo so Cincinnati is going to get a good quarterback with burrow now on the clock the Washington Redskins with the number two pick chase Young's the guy Ron Rivera has always had the best player available mentality as important as needs are when you're picking in the top five it's always about trying to find a guy you thinks gonna be a future Hall of Famer that's why I didn't crush Dave Gettleman's pick of Saquon Barkley number two I'm not gonna knock anybody who gets somebody who you could deem to be a future Hall of Famer chase young is that Ron drafts a lot of defensive players defensive minded coach young is the pick at number two number three the Detroit Lions same mentality as the Redskins best player available it's Jeff Okuda they have a lot of needs including corner so I think they'll have no issue taking Okuda they might field some trade calls but I think in the end they will stay at the pick go best player available somebody who's gonna be in the league for a very long time you're facing Aaron Rodgers the next handful of years you need somebody who can lock up guys one-on-one Okuda can do that out of Ohio State number four we've got our first trade on the clock in the place of the New York Giants it's the LA Chargers moving in front of the Dolphins to select Tua why Tua over Herbert I think there's a lot more tape on Tua being excellent it's easier to evaluate players in the SEC when they're facing NFL talent and on top of that the Chargers they need a star quarterback they need to sell hope to their non-existent fan base in Los Angeles Tua does that I think there's no pressure on him coming off an injury to play early on with to rod Taylor there Tua's the pick and the Chargers are moving into the fourth spot where the Giants were in order to make the Tua selection number five the Miami Dolphins they go quarterback they go Justin Herbert I believe all along that they've valued Herbert more than Tua just because you don't get your chance to put your hands on it Miami they were team if they wanted to they could drive up and be there for a workout with Tua they can't fly there's a way you could do so safely no reports out there say that the Dolphins have met with Tua in person I think they will be perfectly okay going with Herbert at number five so the Chargers trade up to take Tua at four the Dolphins have their guy at quarterback at number five it's Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert the Giants are now on the clock at number six Dave Gettleman's probably thinking okay the Chargers they're trying to take a quarterback here odds are we're gonna be able to get either the offensive tackle that we want or Isaiah Simmons in this spot I think the Giants go with the hog Molly if I know anything about Dave Gettleman he loves his big dudes and Tristan Wurfs is a versatile athletic offensive lineman that's as sure of a thing you're gonna find in the draft I haven't felt this confident about an offensive lineman since Quentin Nelson who's now one of the best in the league for the Indianapolis Colts Tristan Wurfs not Isaiah Simmons is the pick at number six for the Giants they're gonna protect their quarterback they drafted last year protect Saquon Barkley who they took two years ago it's gonna be worse which means Carolina races to the podium Clemson linebacker Isaiah Simmons falling to Carolina they need a defensive player he's gonna be Kuechly successor very smart guy great system great in pass coverage I think it's a great fit versatile player they have so many needs on defense so this is gonna be the guy they build around and it's gonna be a good look to have KK short on the defensive line Simmons at the next level with Shaq Thompson who you just gave a lot of money to and Dante Jackson is somebody the Panthers like in the secondary it's a great building piece Carolina needs to go defense I think Simmons is the guy number eight the Arizona Cardinals on the clock I don't buy the report that general managers are concerned Makai Becton the offensive lineman out of Louisville enjoys cooking and eating more than football that is an example of draft day or draft week spin the Cardinals they're gonna get an offensive lineman to protect their investment in Kyler Murray they have already traded to bring in DeAndre Hopkins they have players that really should magnify this offense but it doesn't mean anything if you can't protect Kyler they're gonna do that with the offensive tackle out of Louisville Makai Becton the pick is in at number nine the Jacksonville Jaguars go wide receiver CD lamb it's one of my strongest draft convictions that lamb is the best receiver in this draft as a Blitnikov voter I charted wide receivers every single week and lamb I think he's more diverse as a receiver than Judy he has a better build he did more because he needed to with Oklahoma it wasn't the ideal situation or at least not as ideal as it was for Judy and Alabama alongside rugs who is just a burner Devante Smith who had a ton of clutch catches in college and Jalen Waddle who's a great return man I think they go lamb because past history has showed us the Jaguars they lean on guys in the Big 12 including former Blitnikov winning wide receiver DeeDee Westbrook who's been productive in Jacksonville so I think they go back to the Oklahoma well CD lamb is the first wide receiver off the board at number nine and rounding out my top ten picks in next week's NFL draft the Cleveland Browns select offensive lineman Jedrick Wills out of Alabama I just think he has a little bit more upside than Thomas I've heard interviews with Wills and he's an entertaining guy great story he dealt with more bruisers than anybody you're gonna find SEC guys generally do that a lot of great Alabama offensive linemen translating to the pro so Jedrick Wills to the Cleveland Browns my number ten pick so to recap things really quickly Joe Burrow to the Bengals number one chase young to the Redskins number two Jeff Okuda the corner out of Ohio State to Detroit number three a trade sends the Chargers from number six to number four in the place of the Giants they take their quarterback in Tua Justin Herbert to the Dolphins at number five Tristan worse might be the biggest surprise pick of the top ten the Giants go with him go with the hog Molly Dave Gettleman loves the hog Molly's picks that at number six over Isaiah Simmons the Panthers race to the podium to take Simmons at seven but I Becton offensive lineman out of Louisville is now gonna be protecting Kyler Murray's blindside Jacksonville takes the first wide receiver that being CD lamb and Jedrick Wills out of Alabama the offensive lineman goes to Cleveland as the Browns they have a ton of weapons and now they need to protect bail Baker Oh speaking of the Browns it turns out mooses reporting at WF AN and New York might not have been very accurate because Adam Schefter and others have now reported that OBJ is not even on the block and no conversations have taken place between the Browns and the Vikings it just doesn't make any sense the Vikings they had Stefan Diggs there he was a headache they got rid of them because they have Adam Thielen they didn't need Stefan Diggs why bring in a receiver who's a bigger headache if OBJ isn't happy in Cleveland what makes you think he's gonna be happy in Minneapolis and also he has a 14 million dollar salary the Vikings only have 12 million dollars in cap space they still have to pay all these rookies they're about the draft so none of it made any sense and that's why I'm surprised or I'm not surprised the reporting was debunked earlier today by Schefter and others okay former Blue Devil great Johnny Dawkins is gonna share Michael Jordan stories with us next on The Drive