This is the Drive Podcast with Josh Graham.
Now you're talking my language. You can hear the Drive weekday afternoons, 3 till 6, on WSJS. You are on a Thursday Drive. It is WSJS, News Talk Sports for the Triad, where our friend Ryan McGee, who's a guest on today's show, Pose this question in a front page story on ESBN.com, and I think it serves well, to be a question of the day for us. Who is your favorite team of all time?
Not your favorite program. Not your favorite pro Sports franchise. but a specific team, with a specific roster, in a specific year. Because for McGee, The answer to that question? the nineteen eighty three NC State men's basketball team.
the team that cut down Nets in New Mexico 41 years ago tonight. What is yours? The number 336-777-1600. That's how you could chime in. Plus, our YouTube replies are open.
Our Twitter mentions are open. Speaking of NC State. Don't look now But 2024 might just be the year of the Wolfpack. and not just because of basketball.
Now, with that said.
Some would argue that, regardless of what happens over the next eight months, it's already the year of the pack because of the last three weeks. Hard to really argue with them. The women's. The men's teams, both making the Final Four in the same year. The women's team for the first time since KO in 1998, over a quarter century ago, and the men's team since Jimmy V.
in 1983, 41 years ago. as unrealistic as it might seem for both teams to win, and cut down nets in Phoenix or Cleveland, respectively. What we've learned is... Probably shouldn't doubt the pack.
Something's going on. And it does seem like The ACC tournament title in DC lifted something. From the pack. Almost like there was this cloud that hung over the NC State NC State Athletic Department buildings. And suddenly, once they won in DC, The sun came out.
after decades of being in the wilderness and being Beneath a rain cloud, while the schools next to you thrived in the triangle, Duke, and North Carolina, respectively. Maybe the players don't notice this. Maybe even the coaches don't notice this. But the fans certainly do. It's a different vibe amongst them.
Just think about what we'd be talking about, what state fans would be talking about, if not for these runs. They'd be placing. unhealthy, unrealistic expectations on the football team for months. Inevitably causing them to lose to Tennessee in their first game of the year. Baseball, maybe something similar with that.
But now that that pressure is no longer there. This concept of NC state stuff no longer existing Around NC State. Perhaps This opens a door. for a lot more success. to come in twenty twenty four.
There's a good chance the good vibes could carry over to football and baseball. Elliott Avins team, even though they're coming off of a tough loss to my East Carolina Pirates, twelve to two a couple of nights ago. They're still top 20 in the country. There's still a team that went to Omaha just a few years ago, and 10 years ago when Trey Turner was on the team. Dave Noran, he might have his best team yet.
In Raleigh this year, you got Grayson McCall, who's an upgrade over Brendan Armstrong, NC State last year. Had an incredible season given where the expectations were, how they turned things around. Sure, you lose Peyton Wilson, you're gonna have to figure that one out, but There's a lot pointing in positive directions for NC State football, and it just. happens to coincide with Unprecedented levels of success for the men's and women's basketball programs at once getting to. The final four.
But The question of the day still holds. If Ryan McGee's Favorite team was the 1983 NC State Wolfpack. What is your favorite team? Team. Specific gear.
Roster team like you could recite all the stats that made you fall in love with sport. Or with a specific sport. that particularly resonated with you. Lance Wrightson. Half that graham cracker.
He was lucky enough to be a classmate with some of the guys on the 2009 Carolina basketball team that blew through the tournament.
So, that group will always be on a pedestal for his fandom. You can continue to write in on YouTube or chime in: 336-7-1600. Will Dalton, the executive producer of this show. How would you answer that question?
Well, Lance kind of stole my thunder there because that 2009 team was just an absolute juggernaut. And that's always going to be my favorite Torrey Hill team. It's always going to be my favorite sports team of any kind. And now I see we've got a visitor in the comments now. My wife.
Hey, it's Anthony from Subway. There's a story that maybe I'll save for weekly positivity in regards to that. Let's put a pin in that. I had not thought about that until since around 12.15 in the morning this morning. There's a good story with that that we can.
Get to then. See, 2009 must have been a great year for you, sports-wise. How old were you in 2009? Oh, I guess I was 12 or 13, and the Yankees. McGee was 12.
For me, it's probably the Carolina Hurricanes. I was 12 when they won the cup.
So that Stands out. The Yankees and the Tarheels winning in the same year. That's pretty good year. It's pretty good. It really was.
Did you watch your Hornets last night? I watched the uh the highlights today. Bally Sports. Hornet's analyst Terence Oglesby, whose You also know covering college basketball from the field of 68 will join us less than 10 minutes from now. Here's the best news for Hornet fans today.
Not a lot of that right now. There will be no more pain this season. Last night was the final letdown of a season full of letdowns. If you didn't watch them, like W.D., you're one of those that watch your team via watching highlights, have you even watched the Yankees play this year yet? Yeah, I've watched almost every game.
See? Thumbs up to you. They're not on Bally. Not just highlights, just checking. Yeah.
Charlotte last night lost it home. to a 19 win Blazers team. Nineteen wins. all that guarantees Charlotte a bottom four finish in the standings. They are tied for third worst record in the league with San Antonio with six or seven games to go, bottom three in the standings.
The bottom three teams. have the same odds at getting the number one pick. What made last night a letdown, though, is not just that the Hornets lost. Scoot Henderson outplaying Brandon Miller.
Now Pretty obvious that Brandon Miller's had a better rookie year than Scoote Henderson has. Just one Eastern Conference rookie of the year. This kind of feels like. Another game that was played in Charlotte, just kind of the inverse of it. Where there's no doubt that CJ Stroud had a better rookie year than Bryce Young, but Bryce Young outplayed C.J.
Stroud. in getting a win for the Carolina Panthers. late October. of last year. Excuse Anderson.
22 points, 10 assists. Brandon Miller, 21 points on 20 shots, one of eight from three. Scoot, he opened the door for Charlotte to win with two missed free throws. Charlotte couldn't grab a defensive rebound, though, which is what's Steve Clifford said was. What did the men at the end?
That was that was the game, was the way. that he put it. The best news for Hornet fans again The pain is over. This team cannot hurt you anymore. They can't hurt you anymore.
This is their final home stand of the season. You've Steve Clifford, he's done. Let me look at the schedule real quick. Is Charlotte going to win another basketball game this year? That's a question.
Let's have a look at it. Chocked full of questions.
So they have the magic at home. There's a loss. Magic has won 40 plus. They have things that they're actually playing for. Charlotte does not.
They have the thunder. And the Mavericks at home. Forget it. They're not winning those games. Then they go on the road.
Do you have any reason to believe that this team's going to win a road game? Why not? At the Hawks, at the Celtics, at the Cavaliers. I could see a win at the Hawks, maybe. Let me count those.
One, two, three, four, five, six. Yeah, so they have six games left. They're not finishing better than one in five the rest of the way. Jay Austin writes in. A team for him.
The 2023 Diamond Deeks of Omaha. Went to most of the games, all the post-game, except for See, this doesn't really qualify. We're mainly talking about teams that made you fall in love with sports. In a sense. I This kind of is asking about your childhood or formative teams.
'Cause I know I've known Jane Austen for Jay Austin for a long time. He's loved the Dicks. Longer than one year. But I get why your head probably goes there. I've I don't want to put answers into the heads of Deacon fans, but You're talking about...
Championship teams in the 90s. 2006, not just a magical year for my Carolina Hurricanes, but you have the ACC championship football team with Jim Grove.
So Fortunately, around here, regardless of who you root for, There are a lot of good teams to pick from.
So that is. A question of the day that we are mulling over as well. In addition to Terrence Oglesby joining the show from the Field of 68 Bally Sports Hornets, we're also going to visit with the aforementioned Ryan McGee, who asked that question and wrote that story. For ESBN.com, and this is going to be pretty cool. A lot of NC State-centric guests this week, with the Wolfpack being in the final four.
Tyler Lewis. who lives here in Winston-Salem. Former Wolfpack Point Guard. is going to be joining us in studio tracing. Live action, Tracy.
Make sure you're around at 5.30 when he... visits with us. But moving it along. What is the actual message? That the ACC sent the rest of college basketball this tournament.
tournament. Did The rest of college basketball learned their lesson, or are they viewing this as a fluke that just so happens to? correspond with three straight years of the ACC outperforming the seeds that they received. This is one of the questions we want to ask Terrence Oglesby and discuss. We'll also get into the Hornets with him.
when Terence joins us next on the drive. Josh Graham loves to talk sports. He also loves the way his new jeans highlight his man curves. Ooh, hot. Oh, yeah, that's hot.
You're on the drive with Josh Graham. A few housekeeping notes before we welcome in Terrence Oglesby, Field of 68, Valley Sports. Hornets. Our show, having a national championship watch party. On Monday.
Tried this With very little notice, regrettably, for the college football playoff national championship, yet you guys still turned out. We talked about it maybe for one or two shows and then Flood of people showed up and it was fantastic. We wanted to do something big for the college basketball season ending, and it's been a big college basketball season for us. Who knows? Maybe NC State will still be playing Monday night.
So, BJ's Brew House adjacent to Haynes Mall. Drop by, see us. Game starts a little after 9, 9:15-ish.
So we'll be set up around 8:30, hanging out for a few hours. We'd love to see you. There will be drink specials. There will be food specials. Having a great time in Winston-Salem.
And we have a couple things for you to support as well. Our YouTube channel, if you haven't already, search the drive with Josh Graham. Subscribe, ring the bell for notifications. W D told me to say that. Still don't quite understand it, but it's okay.
One of these days I will. We haven't quite figured out what the plan will be for Saturday's Final Four games. But We will probably have some content up. Who knows? Maybe it'll be from...
the capital city in Raleigh. Maybe. There might be something that we can work out in that regard, but that'll be YouTube-exclusive content from over the weekend. Make sure, again, you're subscribed to the YouTube channel. And then you have the podcast, same thing that you search.
Search the drive with Josh Graham. iTunes, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Anchor, We understand it. It's a three-hour show. You might not be able to catch the whole thing. You might even just catch 15 minutes on your drive home.
This is a way for you to make sure you don't miss when NC State, former NC State Guard. Tyler Lewis joins us in studio, or ESBN's Ryan McGee, that had that great write-up about the 83 pack, joins us next hour, or even Terrence Oglesby. We've got All of that on the podcast channel. All you have to do, again, search the drive of Josh Graham, rate, review. Subscribe.
That puts a bow on the housekeeping portion of The program? NC State is facing Purdue. Saturday night. In the final four, I haven't quite processed that completely. Terence Oglesby, Bally Sports Hornets, also you know from the field of 68.
He joins us now before we get into the Final Four. You and I talked all year long about ACC misperception and What did the ACC do again? I feel like the SpongeBob meme where the guy yells with his hands clenched: How many times do we have to teach you this lesson, old man? What message do you think the ACC sent to the rest of college basketball, if any. That that we need to take the basketball back from the computers.
That, like, people who are actually sitting and watching the game. Understood all year long that the ACC was a good league. The problem that we ran into is the metrics said that it wasn't a good league. And the reason the metrics said it wasn't a good league is because the bottom three teams in the league were so piss poor in the non-conference that it drug everybody down. This whole thing, the rising tide lifts all boats.
Well, the same could be said the other direction, because that's what happened at the bottom with Louisville losing to DePaul, losing to all these different teams, Georgia Tech, Notre Dame really struggling to get going. And the problem was those Notre Dame and Georgia Tech got better. And they ended up beating teams. And it's like, okay, so does that mean the teams at the top stink? No, it just means those teams got better and they're hard to deal with come conference time.
How many times we got to say the same thing? It's amazing. We have to have some basketball people making decisions because I'm tired of hearing, I'm not going to mention names, but guys that are on the mothership talk about why certain places are deserving of bids and why some aren't. It's gotten to a point now where you've been wrong enough now. And like somebody needs to either fix the selection process or fix the voices that are on there because obviously they're not seeing the same thing the basketball people are saying.
You and I talked about the net at this time last year. Maybe not to the degree of cooking numbers and the Big 12 specifically. Sure. The message is received this time, or are we going to do the same? You know, the same thing again where January rolls around, the metrics don't look good, and people start saying the ACC stinks again.
I think the metrics are going to look better next year. I think if they stick with it, I think it's going to look better next year. Is that because the net gets changed or the ACC games it? I talked to Jim Phillips about this a few weeks ago on the show and I've talked to to him privately about this. He says that he would be in favor of the nets criteria being changed a little bit when it comes to the value placed on You know, metric, talking about efficiency ratings offensively and defensively.
That's the hard part about it because you can't really. Switch that up. Like, it, it, like, the metrics are the metrics, and you can cap, you know. The amount you can win by, this is such a deep and dark conversation that we could go on and on and on about. I do I think you switch it?
No, but I think everybody's figured it out. The problem that we're going to run into, Josh, the Non-conference next year is going to be pitiful. Nobody's going to play anybody. Beat them up. Nobody's going to play anybody.
You're going to watch every team in the ACC play Mississippi Valley State twice. And Mississippi Valley State is going to make a ton of money because they're going to triple charge their fee to go and get their brains beat in by 20. That's where we're at. And it needs to be doctored a little bit. I think you bring back to, I think you also bring back how did you do in the last 10 games of the season?
I think that's a bigger factor than people realize because, like, Virginia did not belong in the NCAA tournament.
However, I would argue that Pitt did. I like so it's like There's a lot of things that need to be fixed. Um there needs to be better branding of the ACC, quite frankly. I I think they're Next year, I think that the unity thing among the coaches, and it started to get that way a little bit with Shire saying some things, with Brad Brownell saying some things. Forbes.
It's a difference between saying my league. Yeah, there's a difference between saying my league is tough and then the coaches really backing each other. That's a big difference.
So the Big East has it. The AC has it. The ACC kind of needs to jump on that train. And it stinks because I can't stand it when people are chanting SEC, SEC during football season. But that's where we're at.
That's where we're at. And there's too much money in those units not to really go all in and supporting each other from top to bottom. Terrence. I think it's going to be better. Terrence Ogles be with us.
Field is 68. Valley Sports Hornets getting to the games this weekend. Specifically with state. It's no longer a question can state win. It's...
How is it possible? For them to win against Purdue. What does the game look like? A type of game that favors NC State? You can take this in an officiating direction.
You can take it in a style of play direction. What needs to happen in order for State to win this game? I'm not going to go officiating. I think you get to a point where you can't punish people for just being bigger than the other team. And Zach Eady is bigger than even the biggest person.
So I'm not going to go officiating there. What needs to happen is they need to limit the other guys besides Zach Eady. Zach Eady, if he goes for 35 and 20, you have to live with it. You got to shut down those other people at this point because he's going to do that whether you foul him and put him on the line 20 times or not. I think you shut down the other people, and I think you have a big game from the perimeter.
The easy thing to say is, like, well, get the ball to DJ Burns and then make him, you know, attack Zach Edie and hopefully get him in foul trouble. I don't know that it's that easy. I know Burns is a big guy, but he's giving up what? Eight inches to Zach Eady. I mean, it's kind of crazy how big he is.
And also, you can tell who hasn't watched. You can also tell who hasn't watched the entire season because that's not who DJ Burns is. He's not the guy who is going to turn his shoulder inside and face up. He wants to fade away. He's more of a finesse guy anyway.
Yeah, exactly right. That's kind of the hard part about this. You know, can he space Zach Edie out? The teams that have had success against Purdue are the teams that have been able to space him out. If you look over the last two seasons, whether it was Fairleigh Dickinson or St.
Peter's, they were either setting down screens to where Edie would have to get out and guard on the perimeter, which he's done significantly better this season, or they would have to have a five-man that could pull him out away from the rim. I'm not sure that NC State has that guy, but what they do have is several guys that they can throw at him and beat him up. And, you know, if you the thing with NC State is they're deep enough in the front court to where they can throw a lot of bodies. I'm not sure how effective they're going to be against Zackeedy, but they can at least throw guys at him. Terrence Oglesby, getting to your Hornets corner of expertise.
Watched you last night as the Hornets played the Portland Trailblazers. What are the characteristics Charlotte. Cruising basketball. Yeah. What are the characteristics Charlotte should be looking for in its next coach now that we know Steve Clifford's stepping down?
Well, there's a list of names that came out. I don't have that right. Yeah. A bunch of assistants throughout. Yeah, a bunch of assistants that are young, have good energy, and I think will be able to communicate with Lamello, quite frankly, because he's kind of the guy that, like, hey, man, we need you to come and play now.
Like, That's part of being the main guy and being the highest paid guy. You got to play. And you have to be able, there has to be a middle ground. With Letting guys go and also understanding, like, hey, I have to hold people accountable on the defensive end of the floor. The guy from the Celtics makes sense.
I love what the Celtics have done from a creativity standpoint defensively. They're really mixing up some things in how they guard opponents' actions.
Sometimes they'll put Will Cornette or Cornette on the point guard. Just so that they could preemptively switch a lot of things, which I think is really unique and really cool.
So, that would throw it that direction. And then a coach that's. It's kind of a It's kind of a cat and mouse game with Lamello because he doesn't thrive in structure. He thrives in chaos, but you also have to structure it to a way to where he can win not just a couple of games in a regular season, but as you move forward, you're trying to win games in the playoffs. And so it's not an easy job to deal with Lamello Ball.
People are like, well, he has a lot of stats, this, that, a third. I would argue that some of his stats are pretty empty. You have to find a way to kind of mediate the flash and the talent to actual winning. And I would argue that Lamello's never won at any level he's ever been at. that's the scariest thing.
So you're going to have to teach Lamello how to win. And whenever you bring young people in, it's hard to do that. Who's the prize of this draft, you think, if Charlotte does get the top pick? They have a chance of getting the top pick, maybe the best odds if they finish bottom three. I think you're looking.
For role guys at this point, I think at number one in this draft, the SAR, the SAR kid, that's Olivier's little brother. I can't remember his first name, but it's a very good idea. Former deacon Olivier Czar. Yeah, former deacon Olivier Saro ends up in Kentucky. His little brother's really talented.
I can't remember his first name right now because I haven't jumped into draft coverage quite yet. I'm going to. But I would pick him number one. Versatility in the front court, ability to stretch out the defense, long arms, good quick twitch ability. He would be the number one pick in my mind.
After that, there's a researcher kid that's French who's supposed to be pretty good, and then it really falls off. Is it Williams, the best college prospect from Colorado? It depends on what you want. Like, that's kind of where I'm at with this one. This is not the Wimbinyama Brandon Miller draft.
This is more like you can get quality players, but I'm not sure you're going to get a whole lot of all-stars. You might have three or four all-star appearances in this draft. But not perennial guys.
So this is a good draft to try to build around what you already have. And good thing for the Hornets, they already have some pieces in place.
Somebody compared Reed Shepard to Kirk Heinrich the other day, and I'm not all that mad at it. I am not all that mad at that comparison. I think I like that too.
Well, I got about a minute or so. Sure. Brandon Miller, what's your favorite Brandon Miller story? You have either watching him in person this year or being around the staff, something you've heard said about him. When he took the time out of his day to come and hang out with my son for all of 15 seconds on his birthday, really?
What was that? How did that go? I have a video of it. I have a video of it. My brother, or my Eric Kendall, in the production or our producer, he gave us time to.
One day this year, I asked to bring my son, and my son came for his birthday on the Warriors Day a week ago or so. And uh Brandon took his time, uh hung out with My man Damon, and then basically every time he caught the ball the rest of the game, my son Damon's like, My boy's got it, my boy's got it, he's ready. But I have the interaction, and it's all of about 10, 15 seconds, but it's. He knows he's there to make this kid's day, and he took the time to do it. And Brandon.
You know, there were some things last year that. He by accident got involved with. This is a high-level human. He is somebody you build a franchise around. He is somebody that's going to be image conscience the whole time, and he's going to take the time to be that guy for your franchise.
Throw the book, throw everything you got at this guy and keep him as long as you can because I'm a real fan of not only his on-the-court potential, but his potential as a face of a major franchise. You're a franchise player as well, Terrence Oglesby. Field of 68 Bally Sports Hornets. Congrats on a busy year now that it's about 10 years. I see the light at the end of the tunnel, man.
No doubt. Clemson, next step from the Elite Eight is the Final Four. Maybe that's coming. We'll have to see you face to face sometime soon. Thank you so much for doing this.
Absolutely. Thanks for having me, guys. He was never voted most likely to succeed. You're such a loser. But then again, were you?
The very concept is unimaginable. You're on the drive with Josh Graham. Two old pitch. McCann play. Inside.
Base hit. Council ties it. Mullings will win it. James McCann gives it. The Order All's there.
Second one. Fuck off winning three nights. Yes. On a Sunday after We have Stone Temple Pilots that we're giving away. Stone Temple Pilots tickets, not the bam.
We're not giving away the bam. And we also have tickets to see Nathaniel Ratliff and the Night Sweats. The Nate Ratliff's going to be in Charlotte, Stone Temple Pilots, and Raleigh. 336-777-1600. If you want to call in now, all you have to do is tell us something good.
And you have tickets to either of those two shows. Your choice. Stone Temple Pilots going to be in Raleigh in September. As will Date Ratliff in the night sweat in Charlotte. 336-777-1600.
My O's, as you heard there, walked it off last night. Really stole the game. Down three to nothing. Dead for seven innings. And then they score four.
in the last two, that was Good? And There's also a lot of baseball news today to get to. Like Just here in the triad. We learned of the Dash being sold to Diamond baseball. Uh Holdings.
Diamond Baseball Holdings, which has owned a lot of minor league teams, seems to care a lot. About Minor league baseball and the history of it.
So that seems to be a positive thing for the Dash as their season gets started. get started sometime soon. elsewhere in the minor leagues by Baltimore Orioles. Triple A team, the Norfolk Tides, hung twenty-six in Charlotte. On the Charlotte Knights last night.
They're just raking a lot of guys that are going to be in the majors very soon, including the number one prospect in baseball, Jackson Holiday. And the biggest Major League Baseball headline today, the A's, are going to be playing at least three seasons. in Sacramento.
So they're moving from Oakland to Sacramento starting next year in a ballpark that holds about 8,000, I think I saw right. fourteen thousand with the lawn space. in center field. It was very weird hearing from the A's owner today. Talking about this in the stadium.
Saying, I can't wait to watch Aaron Judge hit home runs in this ballpark. All I can think is, who, what owner says he can't wait for a visiting player? The A's. Yeah, we can't wait to watch a visiting player come in here and hit home runs. Does the A's owner know the names of the players on his own team?
I doubt it. I don't know. Does he now? Not the greatest thing to say. Let's play.
To liven things up around here. Weekly Positivity. Oh, yeah. This is. A very complicated case, Maude.
Lot of ins, lot of outs. Lot of what have yous. Weekly positivity. Brought to you by Biscuit King. Biscuits.
Lexington. High point. That's where biscuit kings Emphasis on the S there are located Pay them a visit and grab yourself a... 15. Let's go before I get to This Anthony at Subway story that my wife, my wife, brought up in our YouTube chat here.
I think it is a funny story. Let's go to Steven, who's in Dobson. 33677-1600 if you want to see Stone Temple Pilot or. Nathaniel Ratliff in the Night Sweats. Steven, tell me something good.
Final Ford Basketball Weekend, baby. Wow. Wow. That that is uh good. Uh who are you rooting for?
Got a pack. I love that call. I don't want to hear another word out of Steven's mouth. I think he just did it succinctly. He did it as well as you can probably do it.
Very loudly. Two. I'll throw it. He's very excited. And if he's rooting for the pack, he probably should be.
Let's knock out one more. Let's go to Nathan. Who's in Asheboro? Hi, Nathan! Hey, what's up?
Uh, you know. It's a lot. My Orioles won last night. WD's Yankees won too. A lot of stuff going on in baseball.
There's the Final Four going on. Yeah, what's going on with you, Nathan?
Well, I I have never been So happy as to see NC State make it to the Final Four. I have been a lifelong NC State fan, and they are just. Making it happen.
So, tell me the plan. Saturday at 6:10. What is Nathan going to be doing? Where is he going to be? What are you going to be wearing?
What do you have? I am going to be At my house. Uh-huh. Rockin'. The red I got my flag flying right now.
Yeah. Mm-hmm. And We're gonna do it. We're going all the way. I love it.
That's As positive as it gets. Thank you for the call. Nathan 33677-1600 if you want to play along.
Alright. Let me get to this story very quickly.
So I've told you, WD, that my wife and I, along with my family, Have Booked. A cruise For Later this spring slash Summer. And While booking You gotta wait for certain checkpoints to start reserving given restaurants or Excursions, things of that nature, but you also want to check in. as early as you can so you can get on the boat as early as possible.
So Last night at midnight, We checked in at the earliest possible moment. For our Cruise. My sister, though, had some questions, her trying to do the same.
So, my wife and I are in bed, and I get a call from my sister at 12:15 in the morning. They call from Richmond, Virginia.
So pick it up. She fixes her problem very quickly. And then W D, we get back. to trying to go to sleep. Five minutes later, we did a call.
The phone rings. and it's a Richmond number that I don't recognize. And I'm thinking, oh, this is probably... Jessica's husband. We were just talking to him.
It's 12:15 in the morning. Who else would be calling? Five minutes removed from that. Pick up the call. Hey, Juan.
That's his name. And On the other line, the guy goes. Is this Anthony from Subway? Think you got the wrong number, dude. And Sarah Bradford and I realized Given the time of night that that call happened, I don't think he was looking to order Subway.
I think maybe, just possibly. This guy might have been up to shadier things. That's just my guess. Shout out to Anthony at Subway though. Let's go to Joey in Thomasville.
get one more call in here. Joey. Tell me something good. Hi, Joey. Can you hear me, Joey?
Hello. Joey. One more Call for Joey. I don't think Joey's there. Saddenly?
WD, do you want to tell me something good on the way out? I'm in a very uh Star Wars-y mood today. Oh, is it because Ryan McGee's joining us next down?
Well, it's that. I learned today that there's a new animated show coming out that I'm gonna watch. And there's also a new game out. It's not a new game, but it's a remastered game from a game from like 2005 that I used to play when I was a kid. And it's out, and so I'm gonna get it and play it today.
And I'm excited about that. How many hours are you going to play this game? At least a couple. Probably several. Till about what time?
When do you realize, alright, it's time to go to bed? Uh usually around mi midnight, one o'clock in the morning. When are you gonna start playing? Maybe around 11? That's Good?
Yeah. And that's been weekly. Positivity. No reaction to the Anthony from Subway story? I gotta be honest with you, I was on the phone with.
Yeah. There's a lot going on over here. Might have been one of the best stories I ever told. Oh play me some mountain music like grandma and grandpa used to play Then I'll float on down the river To Cage and Hideaway Like Tom Sawyer. Two instances on this show.
Whenever we're talking Mountaineers with Sean Clark or Dustin Kearns in that matter. Or when Ryan McGee of ESPN joins us. And usually, when we have McGee on, college football and baseball are on our minds. And rest assured, we'll get to those topics with McGee, who joins us now.
However, NC State is top of mind this week, and McGee wrote a feature story on ESBN.com about the 1983 Wolfpack and how it's his favorite sports team of all time, and wrote about how we all have that one team that really resonates with us and that we fall in love with and help us fall in love with the sport. McGee. Where were you 41 years ago tonight when the PAC upset Houston in the national championship game? Uh Ocean Isle Beach. It was an Ocean Isle Beach, spring break.
From Raleigh, North Carolina, and drove down. We were staying at a beach house with some friends of ours and The cool thing about it was This was the first year. that I ever like drew out a bracket. And so back then, you do really didn't do, you didn't do predictable brackets like you do now. But what I did was.
I had a big piece of cardboard. and a marker. And I drew out the bracket, like copied it from the newspaper. And you know, every team was written in black. And then NC State was written in red.
And You know, lo and behold, the first time I ever tracked a bracket, the team I was rooting for won. And that was based on the fact that North Carolina had won a year before. And kind of got it on my radar. And so, yeah, I was in middle school, and we were at the beach. I'll never forget, man, it ended.
And I didn't know what to do with myself. Like, I literally, so we're in like the back of the beach house where the TV is, and the game ended. I don't know what to do. I just jumped up and ran out of the room. And my mom came and found me and was like, Are you okay?
And I just was standing at the front door of the beach house crying. Because I didn't know, my brain did not know how to process what had happened. And then getting the red marker out and writing NC Style, man, I wish I still had that piece of cardboard. I hauled it around forever. Were you, how old were you?
I was uh I was I try not to date myself, but I was 12. See, I'm having crazy deja vu right now because my team, what I was thinking of when I read your story, was when I was 12, the 2006 Carolina Hurricanes. And what's crazy about it is that night that they won, I was at Wrightsville Beach and I was in a hotel room, and my parents couldn't care less. And they were asleep in one bed. And when Justin Williams hit the empty netter, I just knew I couldn't make a loud noise.
I just put both my arms up in the air, celebratory, because we just won the Stanley Cup.
So crazy synergistic stuff there, but it just feels in your story. And people who don't know, you're from Raleigh. You referenced the feel-like 24 shirts in your story, which, of course, is a playoff feels like 83. And all the times PAC fans have said that over the last four decades. Perhaps this is a hot take or sacrilege to ask, especially to you, but I'll throw it at you anyway.
Is what state has done over the last month even crazier in a sense than eighty-three? I think it's more difficult. Um, you know, what people don't remember is That 83 state team was good. And then Derek Wittenberg was hurt. And so that team, you know, they made the NCAA tournament the year before, and Valvano genuinely believed that that 83 team could make a run.
But when Wittenberg was hurt, you know, he famously said, you know, it was in the Virginia game, and I think it was, was it Othelle Wilson he landed on, and Derek Wittenberg didn't broke his foot. And Joe Valvano famously just flipped out in the press conference. Um, you know, press conferences in, like, four, four people in the room. But he fervently flipped out like the season's over. Like, is it really going to end now?
Because of this. Because he really genuinely believed the team had a chance. I just, I think, just in general, Winning is more difficult now. than it was back in the day. But that being said, What the 83 team did, and when you consider they beat Michael Jordan, Sam Perkins, Brad Darty, North Carolina in the tournament.
You know, people forget now, they barely got by Wake Forest in that first game.
Well, that was a multiple overtime game. Yeah. To beat Ralph Sampson, who was the best player in the country, all due respect to Lenny Bias and Michael Jordan, to beat him twice. And also to beat UNLV. during the tournament and to survive an overtime game.
You know, and they played all their games on, you know, as far away from Riley as you could possibly go, including the championship in Albuquerque.
So, so you can't take away from the difficulty of what they did. And Five Slam and Jama is the greatest team to ever won a championship. I mean, in my opinion. And so, but just in general, the day to day, week to week. the fact that there's just so many more teams, particularly now with transfers and six year players and all that stuff, I think that it's probably more difficult to win now.
But but so I'm not willing but I'm not willing to say that that what they've done Is more impressive or harder than what the 83 team did because the 83 team was, I still can't believe they did that. In the middle of that answer, I realized I just asked you the sports equivalent of: are the new Star Wars movies better than the old ones? I just realized I did that to you. Right. And it's, you know, it's Albert Polhulse versus.
Hank Aaron versus Babe Ruth, right? I mean, it's just, you know, you're always going to debate. It's, it's, you know, Could Wilt Chamberlain play in the NBA today? I mean, you know, it's all these questions that it's really difficult to. Compare eras.
Oh, wait. I just realized that you might be the biggest Star Wars nerd I know, except for Will Dalton, who actually believes the new ones are better than the old ones. You said the third one is the best one. Pre-class.
So, you know, I co-host the Star Wars podcast now with Clinton Yates and Ardo Cow. I didn't have that. We just had Billy D. Williams on. Never tell them the odds.
Available wherever your podcast gets your podcast, right? But we have that conversation all the time. And in fact, we just recorded an episode that'll drop soon. We had Teddy Brewski on. who is a hardcore Star Wars fan, and Teddy's 50 years old.
And then his son, who's an athlete at Ithaca, who's twenty, And we had that discussion about, you know, my daughter's 19 and she's, she's a, she's a sequel trilogy person. She just is. And so it is, um, every generation has their team. And that was kind of the point of the column, which is, it was a great moment. There by the Jim Valvano statue at Reynolds Coliseum when I was walking around campus this week, and there was a there was a like a granddad and his daughter, who was my age, you know, probably around fifty.
And then there her son, Who was a freshman? And as you said, they're taking their pictures and Dude's got on his 74 championship windbreaker, and she's got on her 83 championship. trucker hat and the kid had on his Feels Like 24 shirt. And so that kind of reminds you: everybody, every generation has their teams, you know, and so there's no way you're going to convince. A Yankee fan.
of the nineties and two thousands That Derek Jeter's teams were not better than Mickey Mantle's teams. And you know, and then your great-granddad's going to tell you that Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth seems to better.
So that's what's cool about sports: we all have our own teams, but we also have usually our shared team. And so that's to me, that's the beauty of what stays doing. Ryan McGee, ESPN with us, read that story on NC State that was on the front page yesterday of the website. Even though you work, do a lot of work at the SEC network. And the SEC launched this last cycle of realignment with Texas and Oklahoma three years ago.
You've said several times that the direction the sport is heading in bothers you because it, quote, feels too much like Sundays, close quote. Last night, the athletic reported a Super League model and is already starting, you know, that's starting to be pitched places. How does that and really all the sweeping changes we've seen in a small period of time in the sport you love hit you?
Well, the Super League thing's always been coming. I wrote a story. For ESPN the magazine. I went and looked it up. I found a startup for ESPN the magazine in 2012.
And it was about this. And the story was written in a response to, for folks that don't remember, Oklahoma and Texas were going to the Pac-12. Like it was done. And so it actually was a basketball preview issue story. And I talked to Bill Self, and I talked to Cal Parry, and I talked to these guys, and their feelings were hurt because no one asked them what they thought.
They just, you know, Bill Self was like, they asked the Kansas football coach what he thought. They didn't ask the Kansas basketball coach what he thought. And so, you know. The point is that the idea of a super conference, super league, whatever you want to call it. has existed for a long time.
I don't like it.
Now, Is it good for Marty and McGee? Yes. You know, and these are the same conversations that I've had with Nick Sabin and with Kirby Smart and with Jimbo Fisher when Jimbo was still coaching, but all these guys and Nick Sabin was still coaching. Right. And when they said This is great for us.
But they didn't know if it was good for college football or college sports in general because you're talking about Jimbo Fisher, who played quarterback at Samford. And you're talking about Nick Saban, a former defensive back at Kent State, and who coached at Toledo. And you're talking about Kirby Smart, who grew up in the shadow of Aldosta State. And so The question is: Is it good for collegiate athletics as a whole? This was always going to happen.
I mean, I'm not speaking out of school when I say, you know, my dad was a college president at Wingot University, he was the Division II representative. on the president's council, which is like the super friends. I mean, this is this is the group. And these are the cardinals of the Vatican of College Sports. And he would come back and tell me 20 years ago.
That he thought this would probably happen one day because he's in the room with. You know, the father whomever from Notre Dame and the chancellor of USC and the president of Miami. And so it's always been coming. I don't like it.
But it's always been headed that way. The problem is. And this is where the Saturday don't look like Sunday thing comes around is. I also feel that way about the basketball tournament. Yep.
And I, and, and, and if we've, we've. Haven't seen learned anything else this year. It's the beauty of this tournament. Why mess with this? You know, I don't, I mean, I get there's money and whatever, but just I don't understand that.
And I'm at odds with people that I work with on that because it ultimately would be good for the SEC if every school in the conference got into the tournament. But I don't. You'd earn that. And so I just I don't Why would you mess with the greatest thing you have going? And that's my concern: is when you start messing with the fabric of the game.
Now, I got a problem. Administrative stuff, realignment stuff, whatever. Once you really start messing with the fabric of what the sports look like. On a Tuesday night, on a Saturday afternoon.
Now I got a problem. Got a minute or so left. It's a big day for local minor league baseball with the Dash being sold to Diamond Baseball Holdings, which cares a lot about preserving minor league baseball. If you do a quick search on what they're about, you care a lot about minor league baseball and even wrote a book that this show inspired called Welcome to the Circus of Baseball. I just finished it over the winter.
It's outstanding. McGee. Has there been any fun follow-ups or any fun stories coming from the book being out in the last year? Book dropped a year ago today. And which is amazing.
And in fact, the Asheville Tourist McCormick Field has its home opener tonight, and it's the 100th anniversary of McCormick Field. They're charged 75 cents for tickets, sold it out in like an hour.
So it's awesome. But the best part has been Have been the, and this was the part I was sensitive about, and it was the dedication of the book, which is I dedicated it to the people who grind in Minor League Baseball every night. I was there one season. and the people that have done it for 30 years i want to make sure i did right by them And for the most part. They've all said and they've shared their stories.
And so, you know, there'd always be a sequel to this book of The Great Stories. That all these others.
Well, when I wrote the book with my dad about college football fishietting, all these other officials, I'm like, y'all could have written your own book. I mean, everybody's got stories, and everyone in Mile League Baseball. could have written a book, but so many people have almost been killed by the tarp. that it made me feel better. Because the tarp almost killed me twice in one summer.
So, yeah, that seems to be a common denominator. Congratulations on the book again. One-year anniversary of it, and a great book. Strongly recommend people pick it up if they haven't already. Ryan McGee, it's good to see you.
Best of luck to the pack on Saturday as well. Your pack on Saturday. Thanks for the time. Feels like 24. We'll see.
Look at you! And now he's doing this time once again. You're on the drive with Josh Graham. Tyler Lewis in studio with us. Do you know him from...
Being an NC State guard, but more recently, all the stuff you do with grassroots hoops and phenom hoops. Got some tournaments in the next couple weeks we'll ask you about in a second. But I remember watching you at NC State close to a decade ago, and there were some great players on that team.
So does that make it pretty easy for you to figure out who to root for this week? Um Def definitely. I mean, NC State always had a special place in my heart. I committed NC State as a Going into my junior year, I just fell in love with Raleigh fell in love with NC State and the fan base with Pac Nation just deserves this Final Four run. It's so special for the whole state of North Carolina and the ACC.
How quickly do you realize The drought and how deprived they've been of things like this. upon arriving on campus. Is that something you sense pretty quickly? You know, when I got to campus in 2012, they just came off that Sweet 16 run. Got three?
Yes, and we brought in three McDonald's All-Americans and. our expectations were very, very high. And I think at the time, you don't going into college, you don't understand how hard it is to win basketball games, especially in ACC, especially once you get to the tournament. I mean, our teams, both my freshman and sophomore year, I mean, our talent level was really, really good. Freshman year, Lorenzo Brown, CJ Leslie.
Richard Howell, Scott Wood. I mean, you had TJ Warren, Rodney Purvis, me. Um all on that team and then my sophomore year, TJ Warren, just blew up and Yeah. One ACC player of the year and basically carried us to the NCAA tournament. And and just going to that, it's like, wow, that was that could have been You know, that was 30 years from the championship.
Now it's 40. One. And it's just so special 'cause NC State's just so passionate and, you know. Like I said before, like their fan base is so... passionate like they just love it.
Like no matter, you know, good or bad, like I mean two really good years at NC State, and they just showed up and supports you nonstop. I'm glad you mentioned the McDonald's All Americans from that team because this is something we were discussing earlier this week. DJ Burns, he now owns a place in Like Mount Rushmore talking about NC State figures, or at least certain the 21st century. And that isn't to say he's the greatest, most talented player that states had. He's certainly very talented.
I mean, TJ Warren won ACC player of the year. The guy's still playing in the league.
So there's a different level of talent there. But in terms of achievement, I mean, DJ Burns is going to be the guy, you bring him back into the building. They point to him like they point at Wittenberg and point at David Thompson, which is a crazy thing to consider. But being around T.J. Warren, how many guys have you played with more talented than him?
Not a lot of guys. TJ is special. He's one of the best scorers I ever played with. Just made the game so much easier for me as a point guard, especially a past first point guard. You put him in positions to score and Nine times out of ten, he's getting a bucket.
The other guy was Rodney Purvis, too, who he transferred to UConn.
So. When's the last time we were in touch with Rodney Purvis? Do we know what Rod is Rodney Purvis gonna pull a AJ Hawk's sister move where since she was dating Brady Quinn, had half her jersey AJ Hawk, half her jersey, Brady Quinn, when Ohio State played Notre Dame. Like, I could picture that at the national championship game if it's UConn and NC State. We got Rodney Purvis wearing state and.
You can gear. I mean, that that would be. pretty hard for, you know, anyone to be a part of, you know. Obviously, I know the year Rodney set out at UConn in 2014, they won the championship that year, too.
So, you know, Rodney's such a You know, he was a really, really good person and a really good basketball player, still playing professionally.
So, um, But you know, like tho those those years are Years that you know, you look back at it and you just have to cherish. And then, speaking of, you know, DJ Burns, who you just went into earlier, it's like. How could you not love that kid? Like, that kid is absolutely amazing. You walk in the room, and somehow he just.
You feel like he's just going to light it up. You know, the smile on his face is so hard now. WD, find the clip of Zach Edie, who was talking about him in the last hour, because Zach Edie. Is going to win National Player of the Year for the second straight year, you would imagine. And He said something about Burns today that I thought was Spot on, and I'm glad somebody said it.
it feels like he's being talked about like he's this circus act. It's like, oh, look at this guy and how big he is. He could maybe play football. He could do... No, no, no, no, no.
This guy. It shows how little people have been watching basketball all year. Do we have this clip? Here was Zach Edie. just in the last couple hours talking about DJ Burns and some of the ways that he's being talked about that bothers him.
Yeah, uh I think it's kind of unfair the way people treat him. I think people kinda treat him like a like he's a sideshow or trial. He's a really good basketball player. Like, don't don't get that mistaken. Uh and we're gonna we're gonna give him that respect and we're gonna treat him like that because he's earned it.
But when you watch DJ Burns. What stands out to you? I think his footwork and his ability to finish. Over that right shoulder with the left hand, and also has that turnaround jumper, but also he's such a willing passer out of the post, too. And he has such a good vision that a lot of people it makes it really hard for him to stop because.
I mean, if you come double team, like he's such a great passer out of the post, like he's able to find open teammates. But it's really impossible to Guard them one-on-one, as you well know. You know, marvelous run that NC State has had. I mean, he's been. You know, just a monster down low.
Brian Geisinger brought this stat up to us a couple of days ago that Zach Eady has 150 more post-ups than anybody else in the country. Number two on that list, DJ Burns.
So the two most post-ups in the league going to be, or in the sport, going to be going head-to-head in the Final Four. Tyler Lewis is in the studio with us. Through the work you do with Phenom Hoops. I'm interested with it being the All-American game earlier this week. Have you had a chance to watch much of the guys that we're going to be seeing?
Play at our local schools. Drake Powell is a North Carolina guy going to North Carolina. You got. Isaiah Evans, who from Charlotte is going to be playing at Duke. Yeah, and then also keeping on the state train.
I mean, Paul McNeil, he was Gatorade Player of the Year two years ago. I mean, he could have. You know, easily been selected to the game as well. I mean, those three players are really, really good. And the thing that stands out to them, like, they're all a little bit different, Drake Palace.
I think Carolina fans are gonna love them as much as it kind of are. I'm not a big UNC fan, but Drake Powell is a special person, great kid. He has his head on straight. Um impacts the game in a variety of ways. Um Tremendous defender.
Isaiah Evans, one of the best scorers I've ever seen at the high school level, just gets it going in a variety of ways. shoots it extremely well from the perimeter, plays with so much energy. Um So confident out there on the court. And then Paul McNeil could just, you know, really light it up as well. You're all-American game, because you're an all-American yourself, as you mentioned.
Was that Marcus Smart. Marcus Page Who else was in this game?
So obviously TJ Rodney Marcus Page. Marcus Smart, Anthony Bennett, who was the number one picking that Shabazz Mohammed. I must have been to the Duke guys, Jefferson and 70%, Rashid Solman. Kyle Anderson. Ain't bad, man.
Yeah, no, it was a really good game. How'd you do in the game? Personally, our team lost and it wasn't. That's all that matters. It wasn't the best game in the world that I played in.
But it was really fun. And looking back at it, You know. If I had to give anyone advice on you doing that, just enjoy that whole week. Don't put so much pressure on yourself. It's like it's one game.
And where was your game played at? It was in Chicago.
Okay.
So I mean, you go to street. I mean, you see the Jordan statue with the McDonald's jersey on. It was really cool. And it's one thing that looking back, I wish I would have enjoyed it a little bit more instead of putting all that. Pressure on Just how I'm gonna perform that night.
I understand. We're being joined by Tyler Lewis here.
So you have not one, but two tournaments over the next couple of weeks?
Well we we Since beginning of March, we're at it fifteen straight weekends in a row.
So I think we have a total of seven tournaments here in April. To quote Armando Baycott after the Duke Carolina game to Cormac Ryan. You're insane, man. It's a lot of work, but it's really fun, especially being able to work with my dad and brothers and being able to help these kids try to reach their dreams and get to the next level. I think you know, just being able to be around the game is really fun.
We hear about How The transfer portal and NIL have affected the transfer Like obviously how players go from one school to another at the collegiate level. How have you noticed positively or negatively that impact high school recruiting? I mean, it definitely hurts high school kids because I think They're definitely looking at the portal a lot more. I mean, as you see, coaches are. Yeah.
I mean, as you see, NC State, what's. Seven transfers on DJ Burns and DJ Horne both transferred. Yeah, Casey Murcell is transferred. I mean. McConnell transfer.
Middle Brooks. Middle Brooks. Diara. I mean And then, you know, Alabama. I mean, their three leading scorers are all transfers.
So, I mean, I think the object of college basketball is, I mean, in order to be. Really good. I mean, you have to have older guys and you have to stay old. And I think it's really hurting these high school kids that these You know, when I transferred, we had to sit out a year. Um That you know, you can just go from transfer from one school to this, you know, ACC to ACC or whatever, and it's really hurting these high schools.
The offseasons that most interest me. Across the country is Duking Kentucky. Because when you look at Duke's roster, You know how many transfers they added? This past year? The answer is zero.
And they brought in all those great high school players. We'll see how many come back for a second year. Uh it'll be interesting to see how Duke builds. It'll be interesting to see how Kentucky builds because For Kentucky Standard, obviously, they haven't been so great in the tournament in recent years but have been great on the high school recruiting path. Duke, this season, should be defined as a success.
I mean, you finished second in the ACC into the Elite Eight, but since you lose to NC State, That muddies things a bit and you lose the first game in the ACC tournament.
So I think a lot of people follow. in any industry. Follow the leaders. and follow what the top programs do. And if those programs are going in the high school direction and having success with it, then hopefully that leads to good things.
Are there calendar related things that you think could make it better? For high school, Steve Forbes was with us last week talking about it doesn't make sense to him that we open up the portal while the postseason's going on. And it is a running joke that. College football, college basketball, the only sports that we watch where the postseason happens concurrently with the offseason. Yeah, I think it's really weird that, you know.
You'll have a guy in the portal, and maybe that team's still playing. Or it's just, I think it was Illinois' coach. He's like, I was preparing for an Elite Eight game and recruiting the portal. Yeah. Like, it's just.
I think it makes it weird. I wish they would open up the portal a little later, like after the season, or what could that help high schoolers too, or no? I think I mean, I think they are helping out high schools a little bit this year. They moved back the live periods. They used to have two live periods in April, so they moved it back.
to May. I wish they would do two in May instead of one in May. But um You know, I think that will help out. the high school kids because during during April last year it was probably one of the lowest attended You know, I think hi live peers for it's 'cause the coaches were recruiting the portal so much and so heavily, it's like Like, you know, the high school kids run the back burner. I understand it.
Tyler. Hanging out with us? Do you have any read? on this weekend's games like what Excites you. About watching these games.
Well, of of course I'm I'm ready to see the big man matchup, Zach Edie and DJ Burns. We call that the reverse Tyler Lewis matchup. Tyler Lewis is a little bit different than Zach Edie. I think. A little bit by a lot.
You're still taller than me, I think, though. Yes, and you know, being from and playing two years at NC State, like. you're just really happy for that fan base. We have to have a diehard like Wolfpack fan on our staff and instead of him coming to work our tournaments he he was able to go out to the Final Four.
So we were like, go for it, man. Like oh, is that Miles? No, we're um Donnie Bowie. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
So Donnie's going out to, um Phoenix and you know I'm I Actually, one of the coaches that coached me at Butler, um, he's uh he's on staff at uh um Purdue, so happy for, you know, Terry Johnson, who's on staff.
So That's his third final four. He went to two at Butler and now one at Purdue.
So I'm just really happy. Let me ask some questions of the day to you on the way out since we've got you here. Phenom hoops, check out what Tyler Lewis has going on because it is really cool, especially if you're a hoop head, and I know many people are around here. We were talking about our favorite teams. Brian McGee wrote a story on ESPN.com about it, and he joined us about an hour ago.
He said 1983, NC State. That's my favorite team.
So I'm not asking your favorite program, your favorite. Pro sports franchise. For me, we're looking at a specific year, a specific roster. You can rattle off every player on this team because it's what helped you fall in love with the sport in a sense. For me, the 2006 Carolina Hurricanes come to mind.
For WD, it's the 2009 Tar Heels. Who's that team for Tyler Lewis? Oof. Uh that that's really hard. Um Were you always college basketball first, or was it NBA?
Was there an NBA team that really got you engaged? I grew up loving like Steve Nash. Let's go. 2006 Five Reigns. Yeah, so, you know, I mean, I loved the game of basketball before that, especially.
I mean, I was. You know, 2005, probably 12 years old at the time. Yeah. But, you know, just being able to watch. him.
I guess those Jason Kidd days when the New Jersey Nets before. Um But, you know, growing up in North Carolina North Carolina, it's hard not to follow, you know, the th the four schools here in North Carolina, the ACC schools of You know, Wake, NC State, Carolina, Duke. And you and I are like the same age. It's hard not to. Jason Williams, that two thousand I guess one Duke team that won it.
Yeah. I mean I was nine years old at the time, or eight, nine years old. I think he I wore number 22 of my first number nine under basketball, just called the Jason Williams.
So I would probably say like that was. Kind of a key moment too. If you could choose, let's say money's no object. Would you rather Watch The final four with NC State in it. In Phoenix?
Or watch it Pick a spot on Hillsborough Street. Saturday. Pro probably in person. Like, it's just one of those things that's, I mean, You you wanna be there? Um I just think being there in person would be special.
I might need a recommendation for you though, because I'm going. I think we're going to ride down the Hillsborough Street just to see what it's about. Oh, it's going to be crazy down there.
So it's going to, like, those people are, like I said, one. Top five passionate fan bases in college sports. Happy for them, long deprived. Happy for guys like you that played for the program to Tyler Lewis. We'll have to get you in here more often.
It's crazy. 20 minutes just blew by. Yep. I would love to be in here more often. Thanks for having me.
