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Back for another season! This week on Check the Net, Impact89’s College Basketball Podcast, join Colin, Kylee, and Eli as they kick off the new school year talking about coaching changes that happened over the summer!
Creators & Guests
What is Check the Net on Impact 89FM?
Are you a fan of college hoops? Check the Net is a podcast that covers everything about the world of college basketball. Whether it is discussions regarding top teams and weekly rankings, updates on transfer portal and coaching news, or commentary on the latest major stories from around the game, Check the Net has got you covered. The podcast covers both men’s and women’s basketball across all Division I conferences. Check the Net is available through Impact 89FM’s website, as well as via all major audio platforms.
Welcome everyone to the first episode, season 3 of Check the Net Impact 89FM's men's and women's college basketball podcast. I'm your host, Colin Pearson, and I am joined today by my classy cohost, Kylie Tabler and eLifeLickema. How are you guys doing?
Kylee:I'm so excited to be here. Oh my gosh. We're back. Back.
Eli:So excited to be here as a full time cohost.
Colin:Yeah. Yeah. Alright. I did not prompt you guys with this, but we're gonna start with some introductions. So I'm gonna start, and I'll let you guys think.
Colin:I'm Colin. I'm a civil engineering major, a 3rd year student at Michigan State University. I have a lot of fun. I love soccer and basketball. Yeah.
Kylee:Kylie, what you got? Yeah. So my name is Kylie, Kylie Tabler for you. I am a 3rd year student studying social relations and policy, and then I have a minor in peace and justice studies. All super, really cool things.
Kylee:I'm also an honors college student. Fun fact. That's where I met both Colin and Eli, my friends here. I love basketball. I've been playing basketball since I was I played basketball since from 10 to 18, so I played for a very long time, and I've been watching it for about that same amount of time.
Kylee:Super passionate about it. But, yeah, there you go.
Eli:Hey, y'all. I'm Eli. I am also a 3rd year honors college student. I study urban and regional planning with a minor in environment and health, but I am a huge soccer, hockey, and basketball fan. So I'm really excited to be here.
Eli:Where?
Colin:Awesome. Well, thank you guys for the introduction. I know I, like, really just literally threw that at you right now.
Kylee:Yeah.
Colin:We're gonna start out let's give a quick intro of, like, what we're gonna talk about today, because it is the first episode. So normally, when we get into the season, we're just gonna recap women's and men's, what's happened across the board, some of the crazy upsets, all that fun stuff. But being preseason, this episode, we are gonna talk about everything that happened this summer with the coaches.
Kylee:Yes.
Colin:And so last year, we did not do a coaching changes episode. And this year, the coaching carousel has gone just insane. It's been bonkers. Especially, I mean, even starting, like, in the middle of March madness, we had some of these announcements come out. Yeah.
Colin:And so we have a lot to talk about when it comes to coaching changes. There's some fun stuff in there too. So without further ado, let's get started on the women's side. Alright. Kylie, you wanna kick it off?
Kylee:Yeah. So I think one of the most surprising coaching changes was, the change for Iowa. Lisa Bluder, after 24 years, stepped down, the winningest coach in big 10 women's history, which I think is super awesome. She's been replaced by her coach, Jan Jensen. I kind of half saw this coming and half didn't.
Kylee:I think that we're gonna be in a very different era for Iowa women's basketball. Obviously, like, the Caitlin Clark collegiate era is officially over. It has been brought to a close. So I think if there was any time that she was gonna leave, I think now it's a good time. It'll be a good transition to bring in kind of those newer player, for those, like, newer players to kind of step up into roles and having a coach who does have that winning experience support them, and just kinda bring, like, new perspective, I think, is really great.
Kylee:I am excited to watch them this year, specifically Hannah Stalke and her development, but I think this is a pretty good change.
Colin:Yeah. I would agree with that. I mean, Lisa Bluder, obviously, one of the greats of coaching all time Mhmm. Men's or women's side. She's, you know, the winningest coach in Big 10 history, like you mentioned.
Colin:But I do think being able to keep that consistency with the assistant coach stepping up into that head coaching role, I think it's really exciting for Iowa, rather than trying to start something new. You can just build off what Lisa Bluder has put together over the last 24 years. And so that's really exciting.
Eli:I think we're gonna see a lot less of the recruiting and transfer in and out turnover that you usually see when you have an outside coach hire where they wanna remake the program in their own image. But by promoting Jan Jensen, Iowa has really decided they wanna continue on the pipeline and the standard that Lisa Bluder set because for the past
Colin:I mean, why wouldn't you want to?
Eli:Because as long as Jan has been at Iowa Women's Basketball, she's been talking to the same recruits. She's been going she's been going to their visits. She's been hosting them on campus. She's still in touch with all of the same recruits. Iowa is not gonna see any step back on any of the admin side from her.
Colin:Yeah. It's it's really impressive, for Iowa to be able to make that hire of Jean Jensen, really classy of them too, I think.
Kylee:Oh, yeah. Definitely.
Colin:I'm really excited for that. The big ten's going to be crazy this year with 4 new teams, including UCLA
Kylee:excited. And
Colin:USC. I mean, we're just gonna see a lot of crazy things going on in the big ten. And so to be able to you know, with a new coach, no matter what, you know, you really don't have a choice of getting a new coach because Lisa Bluder did retire. But you do at least keep some consistency there and hopefully keep yourself at the top of
Eli:the cap. I think that demonstrates such an incredible confidence in Lisa's selection of assistant coaches that she has such an incredible team there in Iowa City that they have the talent pool to just promote one of their own.
Colin:Yeah. Yeah. And I think, moving on to the next team, very similar story. Devastating. Actually devastating.
Colin:Another top level all time coach, was replaced by one of her assistant coaches who once played for her. Of course, we're talking about Tara Vanderveer, from Stanford, retiring after 38 years, the winningest coach ever in college basketball, men's or women's, just an incredible, incredible coach. And she's being replaced by someone who played on the 1992 national championship team for Stanford. And she's been a guard coach at Stanford since 2007. She's not new to this school.
Colin:Mhmm. And so this is, Kate Pei, for reference that's replacing Tara Van Der Veer. And so I wanna know you guys' thoughts on that. I know I my first thought when I heard Kate Pei, I did a little bit of research on her because I had heard the name once or twice, but wasn't sure where. She played in the WNBA for a few years as well, and I think that experience is really gonna help elevate, Stanford's program.
Colin:And then just like Iowa, being able to promote from within is really, really cool for a program like that.
Kylee:Yeah. I will say, the only thing that would make me a little bit like, I have a few reservations. My main one is they did have a decent amount of transfers out of Stanford with, kind of the the retirement and then the hire of the new coach. I don't know if it's because they just like, those specific players just thought maybe it's, like, their time to go do something else, and, like, that's also valid. But there's always that, like, fear or, like, thought of, like, what if it's because specifically because of the coaching change?
Kylee:And then my other thing was I do understand, like, WNBA experience is great. However, the game now is so much different than what it was in the early 2000. So we'll see how greatly that impacts, just kind of, like, her coaching and coaching style and things like that. But I don't wanna, like, be super negative about it. I think, again, hiring from within is great because they've I mean, she's been around since I mean, Kate Pay has been been around since 2007.
Kylee:That's huge.
Colin:Mhmm. So, I think since 2007 as the guard coach Yeah. And then assistant coach. And the guards out of Stanford have been one of the highlights of
Eli:all of
Colin:their teams. Yes. So that really speaks speaks a lot to that. Yeah. But, Eli, what are your thoughts on that?
Eli:I think that Kylie raises a really, really good point. At a program like Stanford where these coaches have such long tenures, something that you can worry about is, are they keeping up with the adaptive nature of college athletics? And especially with Stanford in the ACC this year, where they're facing heavyweight programs like Notre Dame on the regular, is Stanford prepared to deal with that?
Colin:Yeah. Like Notre Dame, like North Carolina, Duke, like I mean, I forgot they were even in the ACC.
Kylee:Yeah. Again, conference realignment sucks because now I have to rethink about every single conference again.
Colin:Yeah. Our next 4 episodes, which are the conference previews, are going to be very, very interesting.
Kylee:Yeah.
Colin:Because when Kylie predicts Arizona at the top of the big twelve, no one's gonna see it coming.
Kylee:No. No. They'll be like, bro, what?
Colin:You know? And so conference realignment is gonna get really crazy really quick. I don't know what to think about, like
Kylee:My thoughts aren't even there for them.
Colin:I don't even have confidence restrictions. Come back to that stuff because Yeah. It there's so much craziness around that.
Kylee:So much research.
Colin:Texas being in the SEC now. Barf. Washington State being in the West Coast Conference with Gonzaga and Saint Mary's.
Kylee:Barf.
Colin:I I kinda like that one.
Kylee:I I mean For basketball? I mean, basketball. Yeah. But just, like, in general, I just feel like it doesn't it just just feels wrong. I'm sorry.
Kylee:It all feels wrong. Why are there why is the SB 8 10 have West Coast teams?
Eli:And and we'll get more into that in our conference previews. But just to bring it back to Stanford for a second
Colin:Yeah.
Eli:I do wanna point out that they lost 6 3 forward, Keke Iriyafen, to USC.
Colin:Mhmm. They did. So
Eli:she'll be playing in the big ten this year, and she averaged 20 points per game for the Cardinals last season.
Colin:Yeah. I do think Stanford is gonna have, you know, Kate Pay is gonna have a little bit of an adjustment period. Yeah. Particularly because they did lose so many players to the transfer portal and just to the WNBA draft, and graduation and whatnot. And, you know, it's you're a new coach.
Colin:Yeah. Kinda stepping into a new role that hasn't been filled by a different person in 38 years.
Kylee:Right.
Colin:You know? So so Stanford's really, gonna have to adjust for a second there, because it's been 38 years since there's been a new coach. Yeah. And that's gonna take a second.
Kylee:They'll be alright, though. They'll be alright, I think.
Colin:Yeah. For sure. Switching conferences and switching kinda sides of the country, let's talk about Tennessee. Because Tennessee, another one that had a very, very different coaching hire. I feel like it wasn't my it it definitely surprised me when I got the news when I heard this news.
Colin:Yeah. Kylie, do you wanna talk about it or Eli?
Kylee:I do because I don't understand. I don't get it. Yeah. But, so Tennessee coach Kelly Harper got fired. 3 time national champion as a player for Tennessee in the nineties.
Kylee:I really don't understand. I get maybe maybe she wasn't the best recruiter or, you know, things like that. However, they have still been a consistently good team, a consistent March Madness team, you know, like, a consistent, like you know, they're strong. Like, I guess it's because she wasn't beating, I don't know, like, a South Carolina or LSU, like, the national champions who were very much, like, heads and shoulders, in my opinion, for the most part, above a lot of their competition in college basketball, like, for throughout their their time with those teams. But I just don't understand why to get rid of her.
Kylee:She's been replaced by Kim Caldwell who is coming from Marshall. Marshall had a really good year last year, made the tournament, which was awe which was awesome. And then, Con, didn't you say that this was her 1st year in d one?
Colin:I do wanna say that, Kim Caldwell got to Marshall last year. She had been a d 2 coach for a few years before that, at Glenville State where she played. Glenville State won the 2022 national championship, which is when she was hired at Marshall. She made it 1 year at Marshall, was the Sunbelt coach of the year. They had a great year.
Colin:They made the tournament. Oh. And then she immediately left for Tennessee. I wanna go back to Kelly Harper being fired because she was also coach of the year in 2019 for the conference.
Kylee:Yeah. Because what?
Colin:She she's made the last the last 4 years, she has made the tournament with her team, including a a sweet 16 or 2. 2 sweet sixteens, I think. Like Yeah. What what are we doing? Why would you
Kylee:Why would you do that?
Colin:She's a she's a young coach. Like, you gotta give her a little bit more time. And, like, if there was any year that she was going to go crazy, it was the year after South Carolina and LSU have lost a bunch of people this year. So I'm I'm confused there as well.
Eli:And this is really a situation where those admin things that I talked about when we talked about Iowa, I'm worried about Tennessee's recruiting reach and how well I I just don't know if coach Caldwell is prepared to use a program like Tennessee's resources effectively. Yeah.
Colin:You know? Especially just 2 years out of d 2. Right. You know, That's
Kylee:Going from the Sun Belt to a much bigger conference in the s c c SEC and then, like, a much more powerful conference, 2 completely different games. Like, I understand, you know, they're both d one, both whatever, but it's it's like comparing apples and oranges. Like, I'm sorry. It's just it's so different. And her only being there for a year, like, I get it.
Kylee:She had a great season, but you never know if that's because of coaching or because she already had a very good established team because that can always make a difference, and she was able to kinda tweak a couple things, and then they were able to go and make the tournament.
Eli:Regardless of our concerns, I'm very excited to watch Tennessee women's basketball this year because I think this could be a very volatile team. Her Marshall team averaged 86 points a game last season.
Kylee:Mhmm.
Colin:Yeah. They were definitely an offensive powerhouse last year. I know we talked about them quite often.
Kylee:Yeah.
Colin:Including a few of their players, we kinda named as, like, players of the week Yeah. Because they were just a very strong team. But I I'm just a little bit worried about Tennessee. I'm also a little bit confused why they would hire someone out of the Sunbelt and not someone out of a Power 4 conference
Kylee:Yeah.
Colin:Being, you know, the high level women's basketball program they are at Tennessee. Mhmm. That confuses me a little bit, but I don't know the backstory there from admin side. So I don't have a whole lot more to say there.
Eli:The other thing I'm interested in is she didn't take any players with her. There were no transfers from Marshall to Tennessee this season.
Colin:That's very interesting.
Kylee:Yeah. I'm
Colin:glad you brought that up because I would have totally thought 1 or 2 of those martial players would have followed, especially being how good they were.
Kylee:Yeah. That that's
Eli:Roshala Scott, their guard who averaged 21 points per game last season transferred to James Madison.
Colin:Interesting. Well, there's a lot to think about there.
Kylee:Yeah. That's a lot to unpack, I feel.
Colin:There's a lot to unpack with Tennessee. And so that's one we're gonna have to keep an eye on, I think, this whole season, just to see how Kim Caldwell ends up doing. And, at this rate, I think she needs to make a final 4 to keep her job. And that scares me a little bit for her as well, just, based on Kelly Harper being fired for making sweet sixteens.
Kylee:Right. Yeah.
Colin:I Feel like the stakes are quite high over there at Tennessee. Maybe expectations are a little higher than necessary.
Kylee:We were we were talking about me and Collin talked about this a little bit before we started recording. I think that in, unfortunately, in, like, the world today, you there are such high expectations in sports when you come in as a new coach. Like, you're expected to go in and produce results, like and, like, by results, I mean, you're supposed to go in and produce final fours, national championships within your first, like, year or 2. That is the least realistic thing I've ever heard in my entire life, but, unfortunately, that's the expectation. And I really hope that that's not why she was fired because she has a very great resume.
Kylee:Like, looking at what she has on paper, she looks like a great coach, someone I would love to hire if I'm a university looking for a coach, especially one of, like, a a bigger university. So I don't know. I just feel like the standards are set way too high for new coaches.
Colin:I do wanna comment. She wasn't hired by anyone. Yeah. At least not at the d one level that I could find. And so I don't know where she's going next, but I think she will find another job because that resume speaks for itself.
Colin:You know? So, anyways, let's move on a little bit. We've got a few more teams to talk about. Another SEC school, and then 2 ACCs. Who should we start with?
Kylee:Let's just do the other SEC school, I guess.
Eli:Yeah. Let's talk about Kentucky.
Colin:Why not? Alright. So, Kentucky's old coach, Kyra Elzey, I may be saying that incorrectly. I believe that's correct, though. She left Kentucky to become an assistant coach at Duke this year.
Colin:And that confuses me a little bit, because she was the head coach at Kentucky, and so it feels like a step down. However, she was struggling in the SEC. She had an overall record at Kentucky of 61 and 60, conference record of 23 and 40. And so it may have been kind of a mutual parting. The hire for Kentucky is a big deal in my opinion, and that's what I wanna talk about a lot more here.
Colin:Mhmm. Kenny Brooks was who Kentucky hired, and he is coming from Virginia Tech, who has been just incredible over the past few seasons, including a 30 win season in 2023, a final four appearance, a conference championship in the ACC. I think he's gonna have some growing pains in Kentucky personally because Yeah. There's just not a whole lot he's bringing with him.
Eli:And he's gonna be doing it with a completely new roster.
Kylee:Completely new.
Eli:Kentucky had 9 transfers out that all found homes over this off season. He's bringing with him 3 former Hokies.
Kylee:Yes. Yeah. Which ones is he bringing with him?
Eli:He's bringing freshman Gabby Brooks, who did not play for the Hokies last season, freshman Clara Strack, and senior guard Georgia Amor.
Colin:That will be huge. Georgia Amor is a big player
Kylee:to bring with you.
Colin:Is so talented. Yeah. So that will be very interesting to see, just because Kenny Brooks is essentially building a team from scratch. He is, you know, if you're not a baker, you know, you gotta figure out how to bake a cake.
Eli:I did not envy him doing it in the SEC.
Colin:No. Especially not with, you know, Tennessee with all of their talent sticking around for the most part. South Carolina, LSU Genuinely, Texas and Oklahoma. Talent. Texas and Oklahoma now.
Colin:Yeah. There's a lot a lot. And another team we're gonna yeah. There's, there's a lot going on in the SEC. And so,
Kylee:Best of luck, man.
Colin:Yeah. Kenny Brooks
Eli:is Have fun.
Colin:I think if of all the coaching hires, that may be my favorite coaching hire though.
Eli:It's a great hire. Yeah. He just has a lot of work to do.
Colin:Yes. So, speaking of, let's talk about Virginia Tech because that's where he left.
Eli:Let's do it.
Colin:Yes. So obviously, Kenny Brooks left by choice for Kentucky because I'm sure Kentucky was willing to pay him more than Virginia Tech, and that's probably just what it ended up coming down to. Yeah. Virginia Tech decided to replace Kenny Brooks with Megan Duffy, the coach for Marquette. And so she was a Notre Dame player back in the early 2000, played WNBA from 06 to 09.
Colin:And Marquette, when she was coached for the last 5 years, was a pretty good team. 3 NCAA tournaments, the WNIT. They probably would have made 4 n I or NCAA tournaments, if it weren't for COVID canceling the one. She had a 100 and 10 46 record at Marquette, which is a pretty solid record Yeah. Especially for a big east with, you know, Yukon and Xavier and whatnot.
Colin:You know, on the women's side, there's a lot of strong teams on the big east. So, I wanna know you guys' thoughts on that with Virginia Tech being kind of, in that weird in between right now in the ACC.
Eli:I think and this might be an unpopular opinion. I think this is a slam dunk hire because Megan Duffy looking over her resume screams consistency to me as a head coach. And that is something that I think in new look ACC is what you're really, really gonna need, because ACC teams are not used to traveling. Big 10 teams and SEC teams, even before this year were flying from Nebraska to New Jersey and Texas to South Carolina. ACC teams have been stuck on the West Coast in the same time zone for the last 20 years.
Eli:East Coast. So these are teams that are now going to have to adjust to playing games in California and Texas, and that's not easy to guide a program through.
Colin:No. Especially not when those programs are Stanford and Cal on the other coast. Like, those are strong women's programs.
Eli:I think that ACC programs need a strong hand at the reins, and that is what I think Megan Duffy absolutely has the potential to be. Yeah.
Kylee:No. I think that's a that's a fair assessment. It'll be interesting to see. I don't know how many people kinda transferred out besides those 3, if any others did, because they had a pretty decent team last year. They definitely would've went farther, I think, in the NCAA tournament.
Kylee:They had a really bad late, like, season injury, which put a big damper on their, like, their pursuit. But they were a very good team, and I think, I think she'll come in, and she'll, like Eli's right. It she's gonna be consistent, and that's what a lot of people are gonna, like, want. That's what they're gonna need, and I think it'll it'll be end up being pretty good for them.
Eli:Yeah. Those are the only 3 out transfers from VTech.
Kylee:So Okay. I was wondering I'm wondering also curious about how many they graduated because I know they were relatively old, I think.
Colin:They graduated a few, I think. Yeah. I don't remember how much
Kylee:I was gonna I remember is because one of them did transfer from MSU. So I was, I want I don't know if she graduated, but, yeah, I was just curious.
Colin:Yeah. So, my one worry with Megan Duffy is that she kinda has this really strong recruiting base in the Midwest. Yeah. But she is gonna have to adjust to a pretty much no Midwest schedule. And so it's all East Coast and all West Coast and Texas.
Colin:And so you essentially skip out on the Midwest, which is where she's been used to recruiting for the last 5, 10, 15 years at Notre Dame even. Mhmm. And so you just have to wonder, will how quickly will she be able to adjust to that recruiting, all those changes?
Kylee:Yeah. I think too, though, that might be an advantage that she'll have over some of those other coaches, though, is that she can recruit from the Midwest, and not, you know, everyone can do that. So I think there's always it's like there's gonna be a
Colin:problem that I've been sword, and you gotta
Kylee:It'll it'll take time, but yeah. Yeah.
Colin:I think we have one more team to talk about briefly on the women's side. Kylie, I'll let you take this one.
Kylee:Okay. So I'm slightly upset about this, but I guess that's just me. So, Katie oh goodness.
Colin:Meyer.
Kylee:Meyer? Okay. 19 year head coach, retired from Miami, had 10 tournament appearances and won elite 8, which was last year. She'll stay at at Miami as an adviser for, like, the athletic performance, so she's still gonna be there. And, and is,
Colin:I think, a big key piece to this.
Kylee:Definitely. And she'll be able to kinda advise their new hire, which is Tricia Colop from University of Toledo. She coached her for 16 seasons. I remember going to those camps and meeting her and watching her coach. Real really great coach.
Kylee:Past 3 seasons, she's been 86 and 17 at UT.
Colin:Which is incredibly impressive.
Kylee:Record.
Colin:Especially for a group of 5 school.
Kylee:Yes. Dominating the Mac. I believe 2 years ago, she had a, NCAA tournament win. Yes. I forget against who, though.
Kylee:But she had an NCAA tournament win, has beat notable programs recently like the the University of Michigan, who has a pretty decent basketball program. So I'm excited for for her to get this really great opportunity, but that's also moving to to 2 different climates, 2 different regions, of the country, and she's going to a much bigger university. So I think it'll definitely be that, like, learning curve of, you know, I'm used to, like, the small MACD one, and now it's like, oh my gosh. Like, this is, like, actually, like it's the real, like, deal, I guess. Yeah.
Colin:But
Kylee:I'm excited about it, to be honest.
Colin:I looked it up. They beat number 5 Iowa State as a 12 seed Incredible. In 2023.
Kylee:Heck yeah.
Colin:And then got beat by Tennessee the next game.
Kylee:I mean, real.
Eli:Honestly, Kylie, I wanna know what you think that coach Kolob will be able to do with a program that has a much more of a national footprint because, you know, we all know the Mac. It's trusty. It's half in Ohio.
Kylee:Yes. But
Eli:Miami will be all over the country this season, and that's a chance for coach Kolob to really put on her really show off her coaching skills and her coaching experience. So how do you think that'll affect Miami's recruit base for the next couple of years?
Kylee:I think it'll definitely expand it too. I don't look I think it'll expand her recruiting base. Again, she's gonna learn how to recruit in each different region because they are gonna be traveling so much. Also, she's I think there's this, like, I don't know, this stigma around, like, smaller, like like, high school institutions where they don't produce those talent. She has received a lot of talent from, like, the area that I grew up in and a lot of talent from, like, surrounding areas where they're smaller, and making sure, like, that you pay attention to those because you can take and you can mold someone who has the skills, the work ethic, the drive, and might just need, like, a little bit of extra effort in bringing them to that big program.
Kylee:Like, there's a good chance they're gonna come in, and they're actually gonna stunt, and they're gonna shine. So I think it will, coming from a more, like, humble beginnings of, like, a smaller, university, I think will be a really great thing
Eli:for her. Think she's gonna have a larger an outsized impact, one could say, on the South Florida recruiting
Kylee:side. Definitely.
Colin:Yeah. Being in South Florida, I think, is a huge advantage there, just because the recruiting in South Florida for women's basketball and basketball in general is really, really strong. You know? There are very good high school teams down there, a lot of great high school players. And I think, being such a good recruiter at the, like, smaller school, smaller player levels, and being able to mold those players is gonna be a big piece of this, this team coming come next year and future years.
Colin:So I'm excited for that too. Yes. I'm really curious to see how next year will go for Miami, especially with what we've talked about with the ACC, Stanford, and Virginia Tech, and all of them. It could be a growing period just Yeah. Like all the other ones.
Kylee:It's probably going to be.
Colin:And it probably will be. But she is she is a great recruiter and has a lot of good opportunities here, so could be interesting. Quick question. What coach does everyone think will be the biggest game changer? I think Eli and I agree.
Colin:I mentioned mine earlier. Kenny Brooks, going from Virginia Tech to Kentucky, I think he is going to be a very big game changer for Kentucky in particular. Blank slate, SAC program, blank check from the AD. Yeah. Ex exactly.
Kylee:That's real. I don't know. I guess is game changer? Can that be, like, taken in any, like, connotation? I didn't write,
Colin:like, a definition next to it, so you are free to define it however you want.
Kylee:Gonna be, like, Kim Caldwell. I think it's gonna be in very interesting change. I know she's coming into a very established program. However, there's a lot of things that can go right and a lot of things that can go wrong. I just think that it'll it'll be interesting to see which way it's gonna go.
Kylee:I think for Kenny Brooks that I think he's going to be very he's gonna be successful at Kentucky. Right? And I I wouldn't be shocked if he's I won't be shocked if he's gonna be successful right off the bat, honestly, with bringing with bringing in a few players with him. Georgia O'Moirions in particular was a very, very good player. Mhmm.
Kylee:I think that he'll still be able to make a pretty good impact. I'm not a 100% sure if that's gonna be the same case with Kim Caldwell.
Colin:Yeah. Alright. Well, let's hop on over to the men's side because there is a lot of coaching carousel stuff that went around on the men's side.
Kylee:During March Madness?
Colin:During March Madness was a lot of this. And so we have a ton to talk about, but a lot less information about these coaches, a lot less on their back stories. The big, like I have, like, a line of them here. And so we'll start with 1 team
Kylee:That we always wanna talk about.
Colin:Just like talking about and like making fun of. And then after that, we've got a line of, like, 4 teams in a row that steal that stole coaches from each other.
Kylee:Which is so funny.
Colin:And so we'll we'll go from there. But let's, of course, start with the team down the road, down in Ann Arbor. Yeah. The University of Michigan who has had just a very embarrassing last couple of seasons under Juwan Howard. Dwan Howard started out really, really strong.
Kylee:Well, we all know why.
Colin:And we're discovering that it was mostly because of his players and not Yes. Because of his recruiting.
Kylee:It was the beeline recruits.
Colin:It was the beeline recruits.
Kylee:And the ones who were coached by him.
Colin:Yeah. And so the the next coach, we all know, will have a heck of a time trying to rebuild. Yeah. But if there's any coach that can do it, unfortunately, I think this is the one that can do it. And of course, I'm talking about Dusty May, who coached a Florida Atlantic University team to a final 4 2 years ago, and then took him to the tournament again last year as a at large seed, even though they weren't conference champs.
Colin:And so there's a lot to talk about with that. I respect Dusty May a lot. He's an incredible recruiter, and his team atmosphere seems to be one of the big key selling points for any players trying to go there.
Eli:And if there's any program that needs a new atmosphere, it's
Colin:Michigan. Yeah.
Eli:That that's that's a program that really had its national reputation kind of marred last season. And
Kylee:Oh, yeah.
Eli:Most definitely. Dusty May, as the kind of recruiter he is, he cannot have that if he wants to maintain his draw for that top level talent. So we've seen him hitting the transfer portal really, really hard this off season because I think he's going to go into a season where I'm sure he's gonna win. He might even win a lot. But I think his main goal this season is going to be rebuilding Michigan basketball's image on the national stage.
Colin:Yeah. It's mostly going to be about image and, like, being able to win the, like, super high ranked games is maybe not even going to be the highest priority in a big ten that's as chaotic as it is with a bunch of West Coast teams now, and no no strong, 9 foot player at Purdue. And
Kylee:There's another one coming in.
Colin:Eli just spit out the water he was drinking, laughing at me. So, we just I'm not
Eli:sure they'll find one in a supply closet.
Kylee:Oh, they already did. Oh, they already did. He's a freshman. Yeah.
Eli:Of course they
Colin:did. So there's there's a lot of questions for Dusty May and and Michigan. Like, who how competitive will they be this year and in the future? But Michigan is willing to shell out a lot of money, it sounds like.
Kylee:Which is super fair.
Colin:Rebuild this program.
Kylee:Yeah. Because when you're going from being, like, genuinely, like, listen y'all. I was a Michigan fan for a very long time before I came to MSU, so I was very into Michigan basketball. When you are one of, like like, honestly, throughout, like, the 20 tens, early, like, like, 20 basically, the Beeline era.
Colin:Yeah. You are Marcelli and then Beeline.
Kylee:Yeah. Like, if you when you are one of the top basketball programs in the country, like, honestly, in the country, like, when you're competing for the big ten every single year, when you're competing for national championship every single year, when you're making sweet sixteens, elite eights every, like, every year, you like, that's what people expect, and then you go and you win, like, what, 10 games this year
Colin:Yeah.
Kylee:If that. It it's a huge like, it it hurts. Like, honestly, like, if I'm a U of M student, it's like, oh my gosh. Like, it hurts. If I'm a fan, if I'm the coaches, and if I'm one of the players, like, it's like it did not have to be this way.
Kylee:I thought Juwon Howard was Howard was an iffy hire anyway. I get he was an alumni, and, you know, I I can understand that he had a lot of, like, good coming with him. I just wasn't I didn't have a whole lot of confidence in him. I think that this is a great hire, like, a really, really good hire. I think they'll do pretty well, honestly, this year in the big ten.
Kylee:I they're not gonna win I don't think they're gonna win the big ten, but I definitely think that they'll be in the top half of the big ten.
Colin:I think they could make a tournament this year.
Kylee:I agree. Yes. Unfortunately. Yeah. Yeah.
Kylee:Unfortunately for us.
Colin:Should we hop onto that coaching carousel and take it for a spin?
Eli:Yeah. This is literally for a long one. Yeah.
Colin:Yeah. We're we've got 5 schools to staff at. Four schools. Four schools and the NBA team, actually.
Eli:Let's do it.
Kylee:Which is funny.
Colin:Yeah. We'll just we'll start with the NBA team. The Phoenix Suns lost their assistant coach, Kevin Young, to BYU who, ended up hiring Kevin Young as their head coach. Kevin Young's been a assistant or assistant head coach in the NBA since 20 16. He was g league coach prior to that.
Colin:And in 2023, he was the highest paid assistant coach in the NBA. He had multiple interviews for head coach in the NBA. And so it's kinda interesting to me that he didn't stick around an extra year or 2 and actually get a head coaching job.
Kylee:He coulda had an NBA job.
Colin:But, for BYU, that is one of the best hires you can make. You know, hiring a NBA coach to be your coach really just puts you on the map, if you will, especially in a big twelve schedule with some of the chaos that's going to unfold this year. Yeah. With the addition of teams such as Arizona
Kylee:Yes.
Colin:And Colorado. Like, these are some of the best teams, and I'm really excited for this.
Kylee:Honestly, though, picking up an NBA coach can really be a good thing or a bad thing because there is just such a there's a different dynamic in the NBA than there is in college. Because when you're in the NBA, like, you've got people playing until they're in their, like, late thirties and forties. So it there's there's always that different dynamic of whether they're, like, a player or if they're, like, a friend, like, kind of thing. I think when you get to the when you're at the college level, there's still very that level of respect and, like, that, like, command almost where, like, they know like, the players know that, like, this is my coach. Like, while he might be a like, they're might they might be a great support system for me, and, you know, like, you they're super easy to talk to, things like that, they're still a coach.
Kylee:So I'm just wondering how, coach Young is gonna approach that that for that transition from NBA to the college level.
Colin:Yeah. And I wonder about that too. The other part of my questions with that is he has never, you know, been a recruiter because he's always been an NBA coach or a g league coach. Yeah. And so he's never been on the recruiting side of things.
Colin:And so he's really gonna have to rely on those assistant coaches and some of the other staff members to, almost teach him recruiting. Yeah.
Kylee:You know? Because it's very different.
Colin:Very, very different at the college level. You know, you're not doing a draft. This is you are trying to find the most random players at high schools. And when you're out in the middle of Utah, it's a little bit harder to do. Yeah.
Colin:And so a lot of questions there. BYU needed a new head coach because their old one left for Kentucky. That's Mark Pope. What a great guy.
Kylee:What's a Kentucky?
Colin:So Kentucky was looking for a new coach, obviously. There's
Eli:Because of something we'll talk about next.
Colin:Yeah. We'll get to that in a second. But Mark Pope was, I think, a great hire, because he was so strong at BYU, and he was really a master of that Utah recruiting. And so to have him in the SEC will be very interesting. His style of play as a coach, I don't think matches the SEC.
Colin:No. And I think it'll provide some really interesting dynamics
Kylee:I agree.
Colin:In his games.
Kylee:Yeah. It'll be very interesting. You know, again, coming from out in the middle of Utah to, to the state of Kentucky, is is very interesting. The Midwest is a very competitive place, especially when it comes to, like, recruiting. So it'll it'll be interesting to see how he adapts to it.
Kylee:And yeah.
Eli:Yeah. I I just wanna take a step back and talk about how impressive it was that he was able to turn Brigham Young University
Colin:Real.
Eli:Into a big twelve powerhouse in the 2 years that he coached that team in the
Colin:A big twelve basketball powerhouse nonetheless. That's real.
Eli:That's an an incredible job. And with the history of Kentucky basketball, the expectations of Kentucky basketball are always basically championship or bust. Yes. So that's going to be very, very different than BYU, obviously. But with the resources and with just the prestige that comes from that as he hits the recruiting trail with the prestige of Kentucky basketball behind him, I think he could do a lot of damage on the national basketball scene.
Colin:Yeah. And I think the big thing he brings, talking about his play style a little bit more, he really coached a very defensive team at BYU. There was a lot of defense played. There was really good defense, and the SEC doesn't know how to deal with defense. And so I think Yeah.
Colin:Going into Kentucky, with a defensive mindset almost Could be
Kylee:a culture shock.
Colin:It's It's going to be a culture shock for the entire rest of the SEC.
Eli:Remember when we
Colin:bought the
Eli:team for him? Oakland?
Kylee:Yes. Exactly. Greatest day of my life.
Eli:Because they couldn't play 3 point defense.
Colin:Or when Auburn lost to Yale in the tournament. It was the exact same thing because none of them have any, like, defense, played against them for the most part Right. In an SEC schedule.
Kylee:They just aim to outscore each other.
Colin:Yeah. And so BYU was a fairly high scoring team. Yeah. But their biggest strength was their defense, and that's what kept them alive in the big twelve. I think that kind of play is going to be very interesting to watch from Kentucky.
Kylee:Yeah. Defense is more impactful than offense. I'm sorry. If you can lock up players for, you know, even if it's half the game, that's a huge impact. Like, you will get points.
Kylee:Like, you'll get buckets. You could win a game 2 to 4. You wanna get 4 to 2, and it's a win. But if you if you hold them to that, then
Colin:Heck, that's half of what UConn has done the past 2 years. They played incredible defense. Yep.
Eli:Last year, the 3 of us watched Michigan State in the Breslin play close games for, like, 38 minutes and then play clampdown defense for, like, 90 seconds, go on a 10 o run, and win the game. Yeah. Yeah. Because the defense wins basketball games.
Colin:Yeah. Yeah. And Kentucky is gonna have a lot of fun with that. But the reason Kentucky needed a new coach to begin with is because John Calipari was fired.
Kylee:Bye bye.
Colin:And on that note, John Calipari was hired by Arkansas, another SEC school.
Kylee:That'll be fun. Incredible.
Colin:I'll be honest. Incredible. I felt like John Calipari was a really good coach for Kentucky, and I felt like Kentucky should have kept him another few years, because he did regularly make the tournament and regularly compete very well in the SEC. And I think he just needed a few more years of, like, his recruits rather than that transition period.
Eli:Because Kentucky's freshman last year were incredible.
Colin:Yeah. If you let them do another year or 2 under John Calipari, they are going to be a national championship. The problem is, like, 2
Eli:of them went to the NBA.
Colin:Well Yeah.
Kylee:Yes. And they're not gonna be good if they can't play defense.
Colin:But Arkansas, notable SEC, laughingstock in the basketball world, has just hired themselves just an incredible coach. Yeah. And that's you know, I will say give a lot of credit to Eric Musselman, their former coach from last year and the year before, who did a lot of work at Arkansas and kinda built it back into, like, hey. We have a basketball program.
Kylee:Yes.
Colin:Because Arkansas was really irrelevant for a while.
Kylee:Still kind of are.
Colin:John Calipari's hiring at Arkansas is gonna be really, really fun.
Kylee:Yeah.
Colin:Especially being that he's staying in the same conference.
Kylee:Yeah. I cannot I'll be tuning in to that game, that that Kentucky, Arkansas game.
Eli:We'll be watching.
Kylee:I will be sad. And Cali Perry brought some of his players with him.
Colin:He did. Quite a few of them. Yeah. 4, I believe.
Kylee:Yeah. I will be sad.
Colin:That. Yeah. Eli double checked me on that. I don't remember who. I'd have 4 in my head, and that could very much be wrong.
Colin:But, yeah, Arkansas, needed a new coach when Eric Musselman left for USC. And I didn't write that one down as a notable as a crazy notable hire, but I do think that's a pretty important hire. Yeah. Because USC did need a new coach. They were in the market for 1 at least.
Colin:And I think Eric Musselman's a good coach, and I think, he coaches much better big 10 style than SEC style, which is why he struggled in the SEC a little bit.
Kylee:And the and USC needs a rebuild.
Colin:USC definitely
Kylee:needs Really bad.
Colin:It's it's going to be a long rebuild.
Kylee:An embarrassing and disastrous past couple years for them.
Eli:Yeah. Yeah.
Colin:So Yeah. Even with Brownie James, it was
Kylee:Isaiah Collier, Brownie James.
Colin:They they had the talent. They just couldn't play good basketball.
Kylee:They just couldn't do it.
Colin:And so I don't know what the hurdle. Yeah. So, anyway, a lot of big hires there. Should we hop off the carousel and just go on to some of the other
Kylee:big hires? The not so fun
Eli:ones, really. Well, these some of these are fun.
Colin:Let's get a little smaller. Yeah. Well yeah. You know? Let's go with Washington, another big ten school first.
Colin:Danny Sprinkle, one of my favorite coaches from last year, who used to coach for Utah State
Eli:Counting them to a Mountain West championship last season.
Colin:Which is very impressive considering Mountain West. 6 Mountain West Schools made the tournament last year.
Kylee:Yeah. Then they all flopped, so we really got our hopes up.
Colin:We we did really get our hopes up. But Danny Sprinkle, really impressive coach. I have listened to a few of his, like, pregame speeches and stuff. He's just a really he seems to create a really good team atmosphere as well. He has a talent for that, it seems.
Colin:And so him being hired by Washington is really interesting. Because let's be honest, when was last time Washington was, like, a basketball powerhouse?
Kylee:When Kelsey Plum paid played for the women's team.
Colin:Yeah. Exactly.
Eli:That's when.
Colin:Yeah. And so Washington moving into the big ten has decided to actually invest into basketball and hire Danny Sprinkle, and I think that's a really exciting
Kylee:The big ten is a basketball conference, and I'm tired of people arguing with me about it. Yeah.
Colin:I'm I'm sorry.
Eli:I'm excited to see UW with a spark. I think I think a a Washington team that plays like I don't wanna say plays like they care, but kind of
Kylee:plays like they care.
Colin:No. That's I think the best way to put it in just a
Eli:would be good.
Colin:Yeah. It could be really cool to watch. I I think it will be really cool to watch. I'm excited to see what Danny Sprinkle can kinda bring to Washington and pep talk them into, like, actually competing and recruit the good players. Yeah.
Colin:Actually invest in a basketball program.
Eli:Because he's that's not a coach that's going from Utah to Virginia or whatever. He's bringing a western recruiting footprint with him.
Colin:Yes. Bring a western recruiting footprint with him and bringing a resume of I rebuilt a team or I built a team, essentially. Because Utah State was not a powerhouse needs.
Eli:Which is what Washington
Colin:needs. Another notable hire simply because we're in the state of Michigan. Yes. The most embarrassing team in college basketball, arguably, over the past decade or so has been Detroit Mercy.
Eli:They managed to win a game last season. We don't
Colin:know how. Yeah.
Kylee:Single game. So proud of them.
Colin:They were yeah. That they were the ones that allowed Michigan to not claim the title of worst team in Michigan. So I just wanna congratulate them for their hire of MSU's former assistant coach, Mark Montgomery. Yes. Really great assistant coach for MSU.
Colin:We will miss him greatly.
Kylee:Indeed.
Colin:He's just a very cool guy. But I think he is that spark that Detroit Mercy needs to, like, compete in the Horizon League.
Kylee:I forgot his
Colin:early lead. You know, Horizon League is a tough conference for basketball. You have a Youngstown State. You have Oakland. You have, you know, Green Bay.
Colin:Some of these schools that are pretty good. Milwaukee as well. A lot of these schools are, generally speaking, pretty good at basketball. And so, Detroit Mercy needs that spark, and I think Mark Montgomery can at least start to rebuild.
Kylee:Yeah. I I I have faith in him. I want nothing but the best for for him and his endeavors at Detroit Mercy.
Eli:Yeah.
Colin:So Eli, you wanna talk about the next one?
Eli:Sure. So Louisville, as we all know, is another program that has suffered in image and on the courts in the last couple
Colin:of years. I'll love it. That's a great way to put it. Yeah.
Eli:But we they've poached Pat Kelsey from is it is that College of Charleston?
Colin:College of Charleston.
Eli:Yes. College of Charleston, which has been incredibly successful back to back tournament berth, if I'm not mistaken.
Colin:Yep. 12 seed last year.
Eli:12 seed last year
Colin:I think a 13th year before.
Eli:Was a popular pick to make the upset. We talked a lot about them in our bracket reaction because we talked a lot about their matchup with the University of Alabama because as we all know, Charleston played clampdown defense. Yeah. We were, you know, defense playing in SEC school.
Colin:Yes. And it and they did play a very good game. Alabama squeaked by.
Eli:But yeah.
Colin:So
Eli:I I think this is a great hire for Louisville for a school and a program that really needs just to start over, basically. Yeah. Because it's kind of been an uncontrolled slide downhill.
Colin:Yeah. Kenny Payne, the he led a very historic collapse of the Louisville Cardinals from a national champion team the year before he got there to what it is now. It's just gone downhill, downhill, downhill. And it's and when you thought you hit rock bottom, they just kept going down. And so And
Eli:it was so impressive because Louisville's basketball team last couple of years has had incredible blue chip talent, top 100 recruits out of high school.
Colin:5 recruits.
Eli:Top 5 recruits out of high school. Yeah. And they've remained terrible.
Kylee:It's so, like, it's so bad that you just don't wanna look away. Yeah. You're just like, oh, I wanna see what happens in actual nature.
Colin:It's like a dead battery in your car. You really just need a jump start, but, like
Eli:No. You need a you need a new battery. Right?
Colin:You need
Kylee:a new battery. Car.
Colin:Yeah. You thought you needed a jump start, and what you really need is just to replace your car. And, Pat Kelsey is, I think, a great replacement there. We'll see what he can do because he is moving from a very small conference to a, obviously, ACC school. And the ACC is always very strong in basketball.
Kylee:This
Colin:year is no exception. I don't think the West Coast schools really add to that, but No.
Eli:I I think this will also be a great recruiting hire because coming out of Charleston, that's a great Carolinas recruitment footprint. Yes. And we all know basketball in the Carolinas.
Colin:Yeah. Yeah.
Kylee:Back you.
Colin:Duke in North Carolina and Wake Forest last year and NC State always with their last year. Final 4 last year.
Kylee:South Carolina last year.
Colin:South Carolina was really good too.
Eli:Was a tournament team.
Kylee:Clemson was
Colin:a tournament team. Yeah.
Kylee:The club was, like, an elite team.
Eli:And that's that's ACC home country right there. Yeah. Louisville will be there a lot.
Colin:Yes. Like, 5 games. Yeah. Yeah. So it'll be really interesting to see that.
Colin:Let's talk about the other ACC team on this list. Stanford.
Eli:Two new head coaches at Stanford.
Kylee:Yeah. That's that's yeah. Interesting for basketball fans.
Colin:Talk about, I I know we've already mentioned it. Stanford and the ACC blows my mind a little bit.
Eli:What we are gonna keep talking about.
Colin:Yeah. Yeah. They chose not to, replace with a East Coast, coach, which is an interesting choice for me. Personally, I would have tried to find a really strong sun belt coach or something or other. Instead, they pet they poached Kyle Smith from Wazoo, replacing Jared Haas.
Colin:I think they're really trying to compete in the ACC in basketball on the men's side.
Kylee:I'll believe it when I see it.
Colin:That's one
Kylee:That's my attitude.
Eli:Washington State was pretty good last year.
Colin:They were. Again, they
Eli:were pretty high level opponents at the top of the Pac 12.
Colin:However.
Eli:However, the ACC.
Colin:The ACC. ACC is a very, very different story, and I'm not sure how well Kyle Smith's style matches up with the ACC, nor am I really sure if he has the recruiting prowess to be able to match up with the ACC.
Eli:This this coaching choice tells me that Stanford wants to keep playing West Coast basketball.
Kylee:To keep being in the Pac 12
Eli:all the way. Again, that and that's just like their women's team. Stanford refuses to move on In Yeah. And it seems like in both of their basketball programs and their entire basketball administration, Stanford simply isn't ready to play 2024, 2025 college basketball.
Kylee:No. Period. Because that's just true.
Colin:That is about the best way you can describe that.
Kylee:Listen. Stanford's successful men's season, I will believe it when, like, pigs fly. Like, I'm sorry.
Eli:And I'll root for them if it happens.
Kylee:Yeah. I'll be like, you proved me wrong. Like, I'm so happy for you. But until, like, then, I just can't I cannot see it.
Colin:Yeah. We got 2 more. Vanderbilt, the SEC actually trying to compete in all of their athletics, it seems, this year because they seem to have found football. They discovered that their football team exists, and it's great.
Eli:Hey for them, baby.
Colin:Good for them. You know? They hired James Madison's old coach, Mark Byington. Byington? I'm I'm not a 100% sure how to say that.
Colin:But, having watched him coach his team last year at Michigan State, I'd say it's a pretty good hire. That is a team that really played well There you go. Throughout the season.
Kylee:Very one team to watch.
Colin:Won a game in the tournament last year.
Eli:And I think his style will translate to SEC ball very well.
Colin:Yes. It it really matches SEC ball. It's not that contrasting, like, Kentucky was going for with, Mark Pope, but it is a very, similar style to the SEC. And I think that will be good for Vanderbilt to at least be competitive.
Eli:Yeah. So we'll be excited to watch the Commodores this season.
Colin:Yeah. And then finally, I just wanted to mention a, son of a former star head coach that finally got his, head coaching job. Phil Martelli junior, for those of you who don't know, Phil Martelli was a star coach back in the day. But his son just got promoted to the head coach at Bryant, which is a fairly strong team. They were a tournament team 2 years ago, I believe.
Kylee:That sounds right. Maybe. If not last year. Tournament team recently.
Colin:Yes. They are regularly a tournament team. And so I'm excited to see what Phil Martelly junior can do as head coach at Bryant. It could be very interesting. And I think that maybe, a coach that would be pulled up to a bigger school in the coming years, and that's something we to watch out for.
Kylee:Yeah.
Colin:Biggest game changer here. You're like, you have one now.
Kylee:Answer to that question.
Eli:I've I've gotta say it's dusty May for the University of Michigan, and it is not close.
Kylee:Yeah. Like, you know, the expectations are on the floor. Like, they can't get lower. So, I mean, like, he could win one more game than they did last year, and I would be like, he did it. Like, good for him.
Eli:And I think he's gonna do a lot more than that.
Kylee:Oh, definitely. Yes.
Colin:You see, I look. I agree that he is going to be a game changer. However, I think the biggest one is Mark Pope at Kentucky. I know I talked a lot about him.
Kylee:Be an interesting one.
Colin:I think he will be one of the biggest game changers. I think Kentucky is going to find their groove playing a very, very different style of basketball from what all of their fans are used to. Yeah. But it's going to be
Eli:could be unpopular early on.
Colin:It could be unpopular early on, but I don't think they'll hire him or they'll fire him within the 1st week. I think they'll at least wait it out a season or 2, and I think Mark Pope is gonna be one of the biggest game changers.
Kylee:Listen. There's a few schools that I would not wanna be a new coach for, and that is Kentucky, Duke, North Carolina. Like, uh-uh.
Eli:Yeah.
Kylee:I would never wanna walk in yeah. Kansas. I would never wanna walk in there and be and, like, be afraid, like because fans will let you know if you're doing something, bro. So
Colin:Alright. So, right. Let's jump down to our final segment of the day. We are changing it up a little bit. We used to do full court press.
Colin:We decided it's a little too much to make us all think of something every single week, and so we're trying something a little bit different. We're gonna do it. We're calling this jump ball, and so it's essentially the same thing except for one show member is gonna toss-up a topic, and we're all gonna talk about it. It's gotta be loosely basketball related. And Kylie picked one out this week, based on this past summer.
Kylee:Colin threw me for a loop today. Did not know this was happening, but since I come prepared, I have a topic to talk about. This is not college basketball related. It's kinda not really. Sorry, folks.
Kylee:This is talking about the Olympics. We all watched them. We all thoroughly enjoyed them. We all saw both our men's women's basketball teams win gold. This is my my reasoning for why I think that not having any rookies on the women's team during the Olympics is okay.
Kylee:1, they end up winning. So and I didn't like, it was a close game. Don't get me wrong.
Colin:I think was a great game.
Kylee:The gold
Eli:medal game against France was incredible.
Kylee:Yes. And I think that what we're gonna be seeing in the coming years is that every other country is starting to catch up with the USA. They've already caught up with the US on the men's side, and no one's gonna argue with me about that. The women's side has had a bigger, like, gap for a longer time. Teams are starting to catch up.
Kylee:So, and that was very evident this year. I think that not including the rookies, they needed breaks. This is their 1st WNBA season. They basically went into the WNBA immediately following the NCAA tournament. So then for them to go because there's that that break in the WNBA season for the Olympics.
Kylee:So for them to go through a grueling first part of the NBA season into Olympic training with players that you just started playing against, player for the most part, players you've never played with before, and then have that finish and they go right back into WNBA season. It's very difficult. And for a lot of those already Olympic players, they've either done it before or they've been in the league long enough to where they're able to kinda withstand that kind of pressure and withstand that kind of, like, strain and things like that. Would have been entertaining to watch, like, Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese and all of them ball out? Oh, absolutely.
Kylee:Like, don't get me wrong. It would have been absolutely amazing and super fun. I just don't see any issue with them not bringing those any of the rookies to the Olympics. Like, I know Cameron Brink was supposed to be on the 3 on 3 team, so upset about her her injury.
Colin:Yeah.
Kylee:And I would have loved to watch her play, but, I'm not typically talking about, like, the 3 on 3 teams because Hailey Van Lyth is still an NCAA player, and she's able to play for, that team. But Which
Colin:she played great for that team.
Kylee:Yeah. She did very well. But I just think that them not having rookies on the team was not, like, a bad thing at all. I thought it was fine.
Eli:I'm definitely gonna agree with what you said about the mental and emotional load Yeah. On top of the physical load those rookies are already facing. Because having that USA on your jersey, on your shoulder, on the plane that you're taking to Paris, that's a that's an enormous amount of pressure. That's more pressure than the national championship game. That's more pressure than the final four.
Eli:That's more pressure than the WNBA playoffs. It's basically as much pressure as you can get in an athletic event. And that's not something that I think even if those players feel prepared to handle it, I don't think that's something that our nation's admin, our Olympic committee, our national team is ready to put them through.
Colin:Right. And that's understandable. I see where both of you guys are coming from there. My one thing is there were some spots on that bench that I feel like could have benefit that Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese and some of those other rookies could have really benefited from, knowing that they are likely the candidates for the next Olympics. And so to be able to stick them on that bench and let them experience it so that they're not so new going into the next Olympics, I think would have been a smart option, just to be able to give them that Olympic experience now rather than throwing them right in 4 years later without any Olympic experience, without knowing what it feels like, just thinking towards the future.
Colin:However, with that said, the next Olympics is in LA. It's not like they're going to be traveling internationally for that.
Kylee:Exactly. Yeah.
Colin:It's going to be a lot easier to adjust for American athletes. Yeah. And so I think it is okay. I think it could have gone either way. I wouldn't have been upset if they would have included them on that team.
Colin:Mhmm. I wasn't really that, you know, miffed by the fact that they didn't.
Kylee:Yeah.
Colin:Wasn't really surprised either for that matter because they are rookies, and Yeah. We haven't seen them in the WNBA for very long.
Eli:Mhmm.
Colin:Even if they have been
Kylee:They haven't even been
Colin:there for
Kylee:a full season
Colin:is the thing. Yeah. Exactly. And so they're still really adjusting to that pro level. And so to just throw them into the top level of international competition probably wouldn't have been the best.
Eli:Yeah. And I I can absolutely see some of those rookies on our national team for the FIBA Women's America Cup next year and for the FIBA World Cup in 2026. Absolutely.
Kylee:Yeah. To re to rebuttal one of your points, though, I will say, I, this summer, really into sports documentaries. I love them, specifically basketball. I was watching the 2020 the 2012 olymp men's Olympic team, the red the Redeemed Team
Colin:Yes.
Kylee:Documentary, and they were interviewing. It was LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Carmelo Anthony. They were on the 2,008 team that got bronze, and they held a lot of resentment for being on that team because they were not utilized and they were not played. And they thought they could have done more, and so, like, they had a very don't care attitude while they were at the Olympics. I just wouldn't want our rookies to fall into that kind of mindset at the time.
Kylee:I think that'd be the only thing because when you get picked for the Olympics, I think for the most part, you're expecting to play. Yeah. Like, at some, like, way, shape, or form. Personally, I didn't really necessarily agree with, everyone they took to the Olympics. That's my own personal, like, whatever, and I'm not gonna get into it.
Kylee:But, I just wouldn't want them to kinda hold that resentment towards, like, Olympic Basketball as a whole. Because what what happened with those guys is they end up being on the redeemed team, and they end up winning that medal back. But for though for the rookies, like like, the WNBA rookies, it could have been like, well, I didn't get to play last time. Why would I wanna go to the Olympics if I'm not gonna play?
Colin:That is understandable.
Kylee:Always that, like you know, there's always that chance too. So I'd rather have them exclude all of the rookies and not risk something like that happening rather than bring them, say, sorry. You're not gonna play. And even though it would be a great experience, there's always that thing. Well, it's a waste of time because I'm practicing every day too, going to all these events, and I'm wasting my energy when I'm going to all these events, and I'm wasting my energy when I could be at home, getting the rest of my body needs, working out on my own time, working out on the skills that I personally need to work on or working with my team.
Kylee:So I think there's just always that too. And I think
Eli:this year's rookies are in a class of their own with the national media spotlight that's been on them
Kylee:A 100%.
Eli:Basically for the past 2 years nonstop. And, again, the Olympics is a whole another level of global media coverage.
Kylee:Yeah.
Eli:And that I wouldn't wanna go through that. No.
Colin:Yeah. That is a very good point too. That media coverage is, a big deal.
Kylee:Yeah. It's it's it's it's interesting to think about, like, their their their early mid to early to mid twenties. Like, it and it's it's so overwhelming.
Colin:They're a whole 2 years older, though.
Kylee:Yeah. Like, as a young person, like, that is so, like, overwhelming to, like, think about and to handle. Like, I can barely get out of bed and go to class, like, every day. Like, that's my overwhelming, like,
Colin:thing. Like They're
Eli:they're a lot more used to it than we are, for sure.
Colin:But Yeah. We don't exactly quite get the media spotlight here at checking that as they do on ESPN. But
Eli:I I think that USA Basketball's decision to ease them into that international sphere of basketball was the right choice.
Kylee:Yeah. Yeah.
Colin:Alright. Well, shall we close it out? Yeah. Yeah. It's been a long episode.
Colin:We had a lot to talk about. And, you know, getting back from the summer, it's been fun. I'm excited for this season. It's gonna be a lot of fun. So thank you all for listening to this week's episode.
Colin:Check the net on Impact 89 FM. Let us know what you think by connecting with the station on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram at wdvmand@impact89fm. This will be our 2nd basketball season, and we are very excited. In the coming weeks, we're gonna jump right into our conference predictions, which will lead us straight into the preseason tournaments. We've got a few surprises baked in, and it's gonna be a of fun.
Colin:This season's madness is only just beginning, and we cannot wait to talk about it more next week on Check the Net. Thank you all for listening.