WEBVTT

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The following is a presentation of Playfly
Sports Properties in Michigan State Sports Properties.

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Pleasant. Good evening everyone. It
is Tuesday, April fourth, twenty twenty

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three. I'm your host Jason Strayhorn, all with my co hosts Otis Wiley

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down south someware by the equator clearly
in ju two chew cull crick This is

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Sparta. Be sure to subscribe and
the like buttons. I mean, we're

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gonna get to that. We got
to talk about this is this hat and

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the glasses that we're seeing and now
we get that. Yeah, buddy,

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little Jumanji action. Be sure to
follow us on the social media platforms.

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And this is how thanks for tuning
in to This is Sparta. MSU.

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Interested in hearing more from us,
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the same. Have an idea for
a future episode, let us know in

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the comments section below. And now
back to the show, So Oldest,

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Where where are you on assignment at? Right now? Fellow people. It's

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hot down here, manly in Orlando. Man, the place where your pockets

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get drained, like when you step
foot on site, Man, Disney Disney.

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Man. So in Universal Studios today, we didn't even make it till

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like four pm where because it was
like we got to get to a pool

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because it was too hot. Apparently
it's ninety degrees plus here. It's still

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spring. So everybody local, they're
like, it's so hot plus because it's

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never just hot in the spring.
But I'm not. I'm not complaining from

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the heat because it was raining the
Michigan before we before we left. So

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I'll take it, man. But
I'm wearing this lovely hat protect my skin.

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But but uh, you know it's
good man. Families having a good

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time. It's all that matters.
Man, How many times is this for

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you? There? I went when
I was like ten, and then went

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when we played in a bowl game
back to back, actually, and then

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la, so four times this is
my fourth time? What about you?

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Straight? Too many? And then
my daughter the third of the the last

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has retired the family from going there. So which which is I mean?

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I fought it. We had a
fearful discussion, but we're not allowed to

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go back to Disney ever again.
Listen, so what you mean we're not

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allowed? She just doesn't want to, you know, I don't know why.

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It's her own decision. Listen.
Look, somebody just put Harry Potter

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World is to go. I would
never understand that people are coming in the

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full black roles and it's hot as
it is right now, and they are

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i mean dressed to the nines and
tea of hair party hair part of world.

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So I even make it down that
far because I was like, no,

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not me. I've never I've never
even seen a single Harry Potter movie.

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So oh man, yeah, go
ahead. I mean, but here

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the people are gonna come. That's
that's not good. That that's a group

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you do not attack. I'll tell
you that. I'm just saying I've never

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seen it. So don't me for
not seeing your nerdy movies. There's there's

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there's there are Disney folks, and
then there's not Disney folks. So you

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know that because Stanza just happens to
be in that, uh Disney folk category.

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And this good luck to you man
while you're down there and spot now

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animal kingdoms. That's that's that's the
part that you know, I'll go to

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the Avatar ride and then we'll go
see some lovely animals. And you know,

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at least you hit that hat.
That beer garden absolutely all about the

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tasty beverages. Guys, Let's get
to talking about what's going on in East

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Lansing. We got a Jampak show
today. We got to go through what

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has happened since we saw your last
on Thursday. Michigan State has a new

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women's basketball coach. Mister State hires
Robin Freelik. And this is her getting

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off of looks like a private jet
that you guys know about. But hey,

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we welcomed her to East Lansing today. Welcome, Welcome, Welcome,

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coach, Welcome, coach, welcome. Yeah. She you know a little

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story. When I worked at the
NCAA, I had the privilege of doing

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an activation for own location, which
they do all the hospitality for men's and

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women's Final four, and you know, you do these like chalk talks pre

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game and it's in like in a
high end hospitality, and she was one

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of my coaches who stepped up and
did a little chalk talk about you know,

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the preparation of the Final four and
being a former player and being for

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where she's from obviously local Ochemist High
School. And so she's a she's a

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coach that gets the DNA and gets
the vibe that we're trying to maintain but

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also build. And you know,
it's she was. She went, She

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won everywhere at each level, Ashland
University, Bowland Green and with the resources

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that she's going to get the support
from Michigan State Athletics, I think this

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is a good young coach that is
going to bring that energy back into what

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we talked about JAU when we were
there, when they were going on the

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final four, they were competing consistently. I think this is a good find

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for us. You know, speaking
of that, they had a press conference

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for her today. Let's listen to
a couple of excerpts on that from the

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press conference. It's an incredible day
to return to the state of Michigan and

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become the head women's basketball coach at
Michigan State University. Truly truly overwhelmed with

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gratitude for this opportunity. I remember
growing up here in playing at halftime of

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the basketball game, So for this
to come full circle is truly amazing to

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that Michigan State University women's basketball squad. I am really looking forward to building

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relationships chasing excellence and we will stay
in pursuit together day by day, and

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we will do it together through our
five core values, being a great teammate,

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manners matter, which ultimately means operating
out of gratitude, trusts, toughness,

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and commitment. I'm thrilled to be
the sixth I can't believe it's six

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six. It's just amazing six head
women's basketball coach in Michigan State University history.

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I would like to thank Coach Susie
Merchant for all the time and energy

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she has poured into the program and
all of the other coaches who came before,

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Coach Bail, Coach Marino, Coach
Langlan, and Coach McCauley who paved

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the way for the tradition of the
program. East Lansing and the Michigan State

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University community means so much to me
and my family. We've been cheering our

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hearts out for Sparty for a long
time. We will invest deeply into the

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community and cannot wait to watch the
students and community come together to pack the

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Brislan. We need you in the
stands. We all work hard to build

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on the tradition of MSU women's basketball. The tradition of the program is incredibly

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motivating. Our expectations of the program
will be to continuously stay in pursuit of

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excellence on and off the court.
Thank you so much. We are thrilled,

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incredibly motivated for the opportunity and I
know I've shared this over and over

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again, but so so grateful.
Thank you so much. Nice press conference.

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You know, I know last time
we talked about we wanted a splash

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and everything like that in a program. But from watching this introductory press conference,

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it's always so nice to see someone
that comes to Michigan State as a

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coach so grateful and so happy to
be at Michigan State and not use Michigan

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State as a stepping stone for the
next destination, you know, like coach

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d put it. You know,
this is the final destination. This is

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you know, the destination, not
a stepping someone for the next destination.

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So it was really nice. I
don't know if it was like the music

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playing in the background, the family
somebody, I was kind of like,

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man, this is I'm in I
know, you know, so that's really

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cool. Does it does it take
you back to when we went through that

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as players, Like I remember being
there when we got the announcement. You

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know, I feel like Jay,
you were more involved because you were a

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senior. You were you were sought
out, you were consulted with uh where

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with with our A D at the
time, and you know Mark Hollis and

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like who do you want? Right? And so these these girls went through

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that. Some of the girls went
to that. It's like what do you

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want for your program? And we're
going to go out there and get someone

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who you guys want to play for
and continuously, you know, level up.

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But it brings you back to when
Coach D did his right and you

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and we talked about it where he
wore that championship ring and you know this

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is before you know our guests is
gonna come on and even you know,

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step foot on there. But he
told what was gonna happen. He laid

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it out. You know, we're
sitting there like, all right, you

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know we've heard this before, right, But it was one of those things

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like when he said you guys are
my guys. That kind of just took

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the pressure off of us. And
I feel like that's what she has said

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to them like I'm not sitting there
like like Prime saying, hey, pack

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your bags, you know, out
of here. But you know you draw

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a good point. Notice even though
you know I was and I was grateful.

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It was Caleb and myself, we
you know, met with Mark Hollis,

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the a D at the time.
He went through a big board of

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all the different you know, coaching
candidates that were in there. You know,

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different guys, their background. Hey, this guy, you know he

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has Michigan State ties, he's this, you know, everything like that.

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I know, at the end of
the day, we didn't have a final

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say to anything, you know,
we could just give our opinion, you

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know, speaking on behalf of the
team and everything like that. But I

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also understand, you know those girls
that they showed in this press conference video

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here those players, there's also that
sense of uncertainty. You know, am

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I gonna fit into her system?
Am I gonna be able to or you

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know, like especially in nowadays with
the transfer portal being such a big thing,

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you know, is she gonna come
and bring her people in? You

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know? So then for as a
player, it's an exciting time but also

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a time of uncertainty. As well
until you find you have that one on

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one meeting and for you and it's
that one word or one phrase that will

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you know, relieve that pressure off
your shoulder. And for you, Otis,

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it was when coach he said,
you guys are my guys that relieved

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the pressure off your shoulders. For
me, it was way in the camp.

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I was a bigger back. I
knew he come in with a pro

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style office. I was like,
damn, is my hand gonna be in

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a dirt plane for And that's you
know, I had to go in.

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I had a one on one with
Coach d I said, Coach, you

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know I've been hearing a bunch of
difference. Am I gonna be? Is

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my position going to be moved to
full back? He said, what what

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did you play last year? I
said till He's like, what do you

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want to play? I said tailback? He's like your tailback? And for

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me Otis, that's when that weight
was right. The one on ones you

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see you see the nerves that go
into these coaching changes behind the scenes for

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the athletes. I mean, one
thing which is good is that you know

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Robin is a Michigan native and she's
born and raising Okamus, So you know

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it spent most of her time and
obviously in Ohio, Davidson and Ashland and

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Bowling Green and back here. So
she's a Midwestern She's got Midwestern roots,

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and you know, she talked about
extensively how it was an honor to be

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of Michigan State of Michigan State women's
head basketball coach because she used to play,

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you know, games at halftime at
Michigan State games. Yeah, Cam

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like she knows it. She bleeds
green and white, even though she went

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to Davidson right, Like, but
she's a bucket too, man, I

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think when you know, like she
was a bucket. So when you go

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ahead and bring that on there,
we have talent coming back if they decided

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to stay completely, we have a
solid core group, right student athletes that

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can hoop. And so with her
bringing in that flavor she had from Bowl

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of Green End and Ashland, like, I'm excited, especially when we get

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some of the new new blood coming
in recruits wise. I'm just excited that

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you turn the page because when you're
in that whole situation transition wise, it's

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just like everyone wants to move forward
quickly, and I think they did a

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quick quick enough job to get the
coach in there that everyone needed to get

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in here. So yeah, I
mean that's that's that's outstanding. Only number

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six all time Michigan state history.
That's that's crazy. That's a duty,

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baby, that's key baby, Yeah, connuity. And so look, you

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know, let's move on to another
before you move, before he moves here.

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But you know, just in our
chat, you know, Charles l

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you know, said he wanted us
to give a birthday shout out, you

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know, to his cousin Chad.
You know, hot lasts lats, Happy

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birthday, Baby, are gonna sing? Are we gonna sing the black version

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Happy birthday? The white version Happy
Birthday? I mean, it's just happy

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birthday, two versions. Right.
I don't think that. I don't think

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it's racial. Racial all right,
listen, let's take you to the test

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here. Let's tall your tests,
all right, sing sing the regular birthday

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song, Happy birth alright, you
go to sleep, all right, you

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see, black, Happy birthday,
Happy birthday, Happy birthday. This is

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a facts facts right when you get
there, happy birthday, especially as you

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start saying wonder man, Stevie,
wonder man, hot lats. All right,

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man, Look, so this is
your happy birthday. We're gonna your

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happy birthday, hot lasts. And
let's talk about women's gymnastics, shall we.

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Yeah, you know, maybe to
the sweet sixteen and they still have

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been a losing that. I don't
know what their final place was, gentlemen,

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but you know they had a great
run this year. Uh, two

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of them are headed to the n
c a A Championships individually. Here,

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Uh let's say, I said,
and then Gabrielle on beam man the beam

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and the floor. Look, this
is one of shocking because we did see

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that team down the road who was
really highly you know, sought after to

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like compete for a national championship lost. But then I was watching to like

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where we at, where where we
at, and like seeing if we got

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the dub and you know, they
had a great season, and we got

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all most of them coming back,
and so congratulations to a great season.

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But also were still had two more
and two of our own that's going to

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compete for a national championship personally,
So let's give them some support, send

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them all the Spartan love that we
need, and uh, you know,

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00:16:25.840 --> 00:16:27.879
let's bring back bring back some hardware. That's what we're gonna get, right,

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April April. What day was that? Pull that back up again to

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00:16:30.399 --> 00:16:34.600
make sure they know what day was
that April thirteenth to the fifteen, or

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wereth Texas. This is gonna go
all crazy now because it's in technical in

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the Dallas area. All about that. Something cool about that is I had

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00:16:45.159 --> 00:16:47.600
a good friend of mine I used
to coach up from back in New York.

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His daughter's big and gymnastics, so
for her for a president, that

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00:16:52.799 --> 00:16:56.720
took her to pitt for the regionals
and that's where MSU was. So uh,

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00:16:56.960 --> 00:17:00.120
he sends me a video. He's
like, Yochot, we're in the

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the gymnastics regions. We brought my
daughter cam here and we're sitting in the

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00:17:03.720 --> 00:17:07.519
ms U section and he sends me
a video and there the MSU section is

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00:17:07.559 --> 00:17:10.720
just going not you know, with
the Cole Green, Gold, White Chance.

219
00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:14.039
So I'm glad he got to experience
a little taste of East slantson in

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Pittsburgh. That's outstanding, you know, for your buddy from New York man.

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I mean. There were also some
assistant coaches that were named to the

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w c g A Region four Coaches
of the Year. Here they Nicole and

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00:17:29.039 --> 00:17:33.680
them right and Nicole Jones. Yeah, Nicole, Yeah, we've obviously went

224
00:17:33.680 --> 00:17:38.960
to college on the code and one
is good to see see her get that,

225
00:17:40.160 --> 00:17:42.839
get that one of those awards and
being the finals, So happy for

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00:17:42.880 --> 00:17:48.359
her, happy for obviously other assistant
coaches as well. And then I like

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00:17:48.119 --> 00:17:52.400
some going down for him. But
we got a big ten Coach of the

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00:17:52.440 --> 00:17:56.440
Year as well, and we're going
to probably have a solid, solid class

229
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coming in, so I'm looking forward
to to hearing those updates too. Yeah,

230
00:17:59.680 --> 00:18:03.640
and it's it's really good to see
Michigan State gymnastic on this light,

231
00:18:03.759 --> 00:18:07.960
on this platform and in that positive
light there. That's really what it's about,

232
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without question, guys. I mean
I'm switching gears a little bit.

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You look at the men's basketball side, we get a commitment from Kurktang.

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00:18:19.519 --> 00:18:22.359
He said it too. I thought
it was I thought it was another name

235
00:18:22.440 --> 00:18:27.480
the last day coming in, but
it's Kerr Tang. And this dude is

236
00:18:27.519 --> 00:18:30.400
a nice combo six for a guard. Reminds you a little bit of a

237
00:18:30.519 --> 00:18:36.039
J Hugger Holgert. So you know, it was between what the Scarlet Knights

238
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and us, and you know the
Scarlet Knights love those high power like high

239
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high quick guys in guard and the
guard play and this guy has some good

240
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control and I wish he probably has
some highlights on him. But hey,

241
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this guy can he can score too, man, And I think this is

242
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where he gets a little bit more
development, you know, and training from

243
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getting hiszo. But this is a
good commit with our question, I mean,

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00:19:00.519 --> 00:19:04.119
we have an announcement video here that
we could play. You know,

245
00:19:04.160 --> 00:19:07.240
this is the scuttle, but this
is what happens now, so we get

246
00:19:07.400 --> 00:19:11.640
announcement videos. Let's let's check that
out if we have that available. Guys,

247
00:19:11.839 --> 00:19:14.799
christ so you can only pick one. Where are you going to be

248
00:19:14.839 --> 00:19:22.480
playing your college basketball? So I'm
here to announce, I mean, committing

249
00:19:22.519 --> 00:19:33.720
to Michigan State University. You gotta
get some cheers in the background. There

250
00:19:41.680 --> 00:19:49.799
somebody in the talks in the Gainster
talk to I know. So I mean

251
00:19:51.039 --> 00:19:53.759
there was not a lot of drama
in that announcement, no hats, but

252
00:19:55.119 --> 00:19:57.519
it is what it is. Harriet
Dean, Yes, hoops, Steve Smith's

253
00:19:57.599 --> 00:20:03.359
been on there. He's gymnast and
who hey, man, I mean look,

254
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we also had another guy who was
coming in this coming season, right

255
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that Cohen Carr who wins a slam
dunk contest for Donald All America. Hey,

256
00:20:14.799 --> 00:20:17.759
man, hey, you watched watch
him. We showed us one that

257
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he got moonwalking to on the air
too. He did He did it between

258
00:20:22.440 --> 00:20:27.039
the legs from right before the free
throw line. This is nice though,

259
00:20:27.079 --> 00:20:34.839
man, Lefty, Lefty, look
if you if you follow him on social

260
00:20:36.880 --> 00:20:41.160
I haven't seen a jumper at all. It's all high flying dunking everywhere.

261
00:20:41.680 --> 00:20:47.160
And it reminds me of Brandon Dawson. Which Brandon Dawson was a high high

262
00:20:47.240 --> 00:20:51.799
jumper jumping out the gym, had
a little mid range game too. But

263
00:20:52.319 --> 00:20:55.960
this kid, this kid is gonna
be This is I feel like we forgot

264
00:20:56.039 --> 00:21:00.200
about him. Where you know our
guys, you know Xavier Booker and Jeremys

265
00:21:00.200 --> 00:21:03.559
of getting kind of the limelight a
little bit from the that class. But

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this is a massive piece that puts
all of them together. Where you got

267
00:21:07.920 --> 00:21:12.680
four guys kind of reminds me of
at Miles Bridges uh and Jeremy and Josh

268
00:21:12.799 --> 00:21:17.480
Lankford class and Cashes Winston and who
is a Nick Ward right, So that

269
00:21:17.640 --> 00:21:22.599
four I feel like this is that
four combo got people that was gonna take

270
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us to that next level, especially
when we got coming back, and we

271
00:21:25.680 --> 00:21:27.680
already know who we got coming back, so we got some waiting on it,

272
00:21:27.720 --> 00:21:30.400
but we know who we got coming
back, so this is gonna be

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good. Yeah. Man, I'm
excited for this, and but you know,

274
00:21:34.039 --> 00:21:38.400
I will get even more excited once
they're on campus. I know that

275
00:21:38.640 --> 00:21:41.119
I feel like that old guy.
Get off my line with that, but

276
00:21:44.559 --> 00:21:47.640
I'm really excited you are. And
I just feel like, you know,

277
00:21:47.920 --> 00:21:51.839
if this comes together and you got
it. In today's day and age,

278
00:21:51.839 --> 00:21:55.880
there is no rad shirting anymore,
you know, especially in hoops. You

279
00:21:55.920 --> 00:21:59.200
come in, you play. It
is a play. Them all do your

280
00:21:59.279 --> 00:22:02.640
thing and just let's just get after. Let's just run and let's win a

281
00:22:02.720 --> 00:22:07.920
natty. Oh, I love the
way that sounds. Well, get a

282
00:22:07.960 --> 00:22:11.680
little deep in that tournament action.
Talking about what today is? April fourth?

283
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Okay, so three days ago it
was Saturday, but the date would

284
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have been well anyway. So on
that day, Saturday, there was a

285
00:22:21.440 --> 00:22:26.480
tweet that came out and this is
it. Five star defensive lineman David Stone

286
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is committed to Oklahoma and who else
but our trustee co hosts who was freaking

287
00:22:37.000 --> 00:22:40.839
out Tannay he was? He was, He went straight up. He went

288
00:22:40.880 --> 00:22:47.079
straight up, like I can hear
him in the text, missus, Hey,

289
00:22:47.559 --> 00:22:49.839
this is for real, this is
real. I got got, I

290
00:22:49.880 --> 00:22:52.839
got got. Yes, it was
sheer pick. Because I scrolled through and

291
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I saw him sitting there. I
was like, oh lord, what happened

292
00:22:56.799 --> 00:22:59.119
now. I was like, let
me send this out to make sure.

293
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And then after I sent it to
you guys, and I went to the

294
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comments, I was like, oh
damn, April first, they got me,

295
00:23:04.839 --> 00:23:10.599
they got I mean, it was
that, guys. It was kind

296
00:23:10.599 --> 00:23:12.799
of over the top, wasn't it? Like April Fools? Good April Fools

297
00:23:12.920 --> 00:23:17.599
joke though, like just running at
time, these kids going back and forth.

298
00:23:17.680 --> 00:23:18.880
You don't know, man, It's
like, does that mean does that

299
00:23:19.000 --> 00:23:22.880
mean he's not going to go there? He's coming here because he played that

300
00:23:22.960 --> 00:23:27.839
joke? Let's read into it.
What that? Man? What was that?

301
00:23:29.240 --> 00:23:33.680
What was There's another one that somebody
committed to. It was at Florida

302
00:23:33.720 --> 00:23:38.759
State and they don't even have an
offer. Yeah, like dudes committing make

303
00:23:38.799 --> 00:23:42.920
an announcement, hundred committed and it
was like we wanted, we wanted to

304
00:23:42.960 --> 00:23:48.119
let everyone know that he does not
have an offer from really, Oh my

305
00:23:48.200 --> 00:23:53.359
god, look what cover that day. Apparently that's what that was. Yeah,

306
00:23:53.400 --> 00:23:57.440
that was that's what That's what Pete
said. Oh man, look that's

307
00:23:57.480 --> 00:24:00.880
what I'm saying. Man, this
is crazy. People are legit like,

308
00:24:00.039 --> 00:24:06.359
oh, I'm a commit U c
l A was like no one. It

309
00:24:06.480 --> 00:24:14.920
might be multiple examples. I'm gonna
throw my name out there. What are

310
00:24:14.960 --> 00:24:22.519
you gonna do? Yeah, I'm
coming back. Thanks to God, I

311
00:24:22.519 --> 00:24:29.680
got two years of eligibility less lass
less hi favor. Look, we gotta

312
00:24:29.759 --> 00:24:32.920
talk to our special guests after this
message from our friends over an eye.

313
00:24:32.920 --> 00:24:44.559
Hops introducing I Hops New Eggs Benedicks. When you take a poached egg added

314
00:24:44.640 --> 00:24:48.880
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315
00:24:48.960 --> 00:24:55.160
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316
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317
00:25:00.880 --> 00:25:15.200
in four delicious flavors. Me for
my house. That's something I can get.

318
00:25:15.240 --> 00:25:19.640
It's gonna see something. So there's
there's the pancakes. There's a pancakes.

319
00:25:19.640 --> 00:25:23.599
But we got to get some eggs
in there now, Benny. But

320
00:25:23.880 --> 00:25:27.960
without further Ado. Guys, we
got to bring on this real Spartan dog,

321
00:25:29.240 --> 00:25:34.480
pride of the matha high Maryland Spartan
dog destroyed there and you know he's

322
00:25:34.559 --> 00:25:41.880
all things Michigan State football through and
through right here Rose Bowl stopping. Guy,

323
00:25:42.359 --> 00:25:48.200
there is going on. Fellas,
appreciate you having me on. Well,

324
00:25:48.279 --> 00:25:51.319
thanks for being on. Man.
It looks like you got you burning

325
00:25:51.359 --> 00:25:55.920
the midnight all over there in the
whole football office. Huh. Work never

326
00:25:55.960 --> 00:26:02.240
stops, man, work. Hey, look, I'm grateful you have taken

327
00:26:02.319 --> 00:26:08.400
time out of your business schedule,
right like we got Obama on the show.

328
00:26:10.759 --> 00:26:15.480
Yeah, I mean and now I
mean the newly the thirty year old

329
00:26:15.559 --> 00:26:18.599
version. Yeah, here is,
by the way, happy bird version.

330
00:26:18.680 --> 00:26:22.720
Man, thank you, thank you. You did it beg for the birth.

331
00:26:22.839 --> 00:26:29.319
Yeah. Look what you do man, You had a good dinner,

332
00:26:29.480 --> 00:26:33.480
had a good dinner, you know, hired the photographer, get some nice

333
00:26:33.519 --> 00:26:37.240
flicks, you know, because personal
brand is important. That's that's all to

334
00:26:37.279 --> 00:26:41.440
talk these days. And you know, facilitating all this education for our players.

335
00:26:41.720 --> 00:26:44.400
You know, I figured, you
know, as coaches and staff,

336
00:26:44.400 --> 00:26:47.480
we can have a brand too.
It's important. So want to tap into

337
00:26:47.480 --> 00:26:49.440
that a little bit. And just
had great time with friends and family,

338
00:26:49.519 --> 00:26:53.200
which is what it's really about.
So definitely blessed to see the age thirty.

339
00:26:53.720 --> 00:26:57.119
Absolutely absolutely, Hey, look you
look, you didn't get out like

340
00:26:57.119 --> 00:27:03.039
you used to? Is that little
cool? No? The next day exactly

341
00:27:03.400 --> 00:27:07.720
exactly, And shoot you what you
said earlier. He still got good joints.

342
00:27:08.079 --> 00:27:15.799
Yeah, joints still, coach,
is still good drinking that good vitamin

343
00:27:15.880 --> 00:27:19.680
D milk and everything like that.
Joint life. And while I just I

344
00:27:19.720 --> 00:27:22.799
got out of bed the other day
and I was like hurting for days and

345
00:27:23.519 --> 00:27:30.039
wife had me out there with a
chainsaw trimming limbs and stuff. And thirties

346
00:27:30.079 --> 00:27:37.000
bro for sure. Man. Now, so you know, we we want

347
00:27:37.039 --> 00:27:40.720
to talk to you because you have
a unique perspective being in the football office

348
00:27:40.799 --> 00:27:44.680
right now. And you know you
played for coach D'Antonio. Let's just start

349
00:27:44.720 --> 00:27:49.119
there. So you coming in as
a recruit from coach Antonio and seeing how

350
00:27:49.200 --> 00:27:55.359
things are handled today in twenty twenty
three under coach Tough, What are the

351
00:27:55.480 --> 00:27:59.920
differences in your opinion for the recruiting
styles of that era versus the era to

352
00:28:00.079 --> 00:28:03.440
day. Yeah, I mean I
think nowadays and we definitely see it.

353
00:28:03.440 --> 00:28:07.480
It's it's a lot more flash and
flair and tapping into again that that that

354
00:28:07.559 --> 00:28:11.880
brand piece. You know, uh, all these all these young folks have

355
00:28:11.920 --> 00:28:15.000
a brand nowadays, which is which
is good, and they want to know,

356
00:28:15.599 --> 00:28:19.720
you know, how are you going
to help me with monetizing that brand,

357
00:28:21.160 --> 00:28:23.400
with growing that brand, with growing
my following in a lot of different

358
00:28:23.440 --> 00:28:27.079
ways. And because of that,
you know, you have to show it

359
00:28:27.160 --> 00:28:30.319
during the recruiting process. So we
have to show it with the visits,

360
00:28:30.359 --> 00:28:34.079
We have to show it with the
information that we provide them with. We

361
00:28:34.200 --> 00:28:37.039
have to show it with you know, if they're coming to see a game

362
00:28:37.119 --> 00:28:41.920
day, you know, whether it's
football, basketball, softball, gymnastics,

363
00:28:42.000 --> 00:28:45.880
volleyball, any sport. You know, we have to show that that we're

364
00:28:45.920 --> 00:28:48.799
a program that that truly believes in, uh, you know, developing the

365
00:28:48.799 --> 00:28:52.440
holistic student athlete. And I think
that you know what I what I tell

366
00:28:52.480 --> 00:28:56.880
all recruits in their families is when
I was playing, we were starting to

367
00:28:56.880 --> 00:29:00.480
talk about the third and fourth piece
of being a student athlete, which was

368
00:29:00.519 --> 00:29:03.359
relatively new at that time, which
is, of course, you got academics

369
00:29:03.519 --> 00:29:07.759
and you got the sports piece,
but we're starting to talk about that spiritual

370
00:29:07.799 --> 00:29:11.440
pieces being very important. And then
we're talking about having a social life as

371
00:29:11.480 --> 00:29:15.640
actually being important, whereas before no
social life was important. It was just

372
00:29:15.119 --> 00:29:21.559
football in school. And now that
fifth piece has been kind of integrated into

373
00:29:21.599 --> 00:29:25.200
the holistic student athlete, and that's
that personal brand piece. So we have

374
00:29:25.279 --> 00:29:27.960
to touch all five of those sectors
of being a student athlete, and we

375
00:29:29.000 --> 00:29:32.880
have limited time to do that because
if the recruit comes on campus, they

376
00:29:32.920 --> 00:29:36.079
may not ever come back. So
you have to wow them with that first

377
00:29:36.119 --> 00:29:41.200
impression. So you talk about that
wowing piece there, and I think that's

378
00:29:41.440 --> 00:29:45.119
very important. And Coach Tucker,
you know, when he came in,

379
00:29:45.240 --> 00:29:48.240
he made emphasis on that. And
while not just the student athletes, but

380
00:29:48.279 --> 00:29:51.559
why ain't the mothers and the families
and everything like that. Let's talk about

381
00:29:51.640 --> 00:29:53.680
let's go do this. You're a
stud at the math at high school.

382
00:29:55.039 --> 00:29:59.759
You come in and you know enough
everyone on this love love loves coach d

383
00:30:00.160 --> 00:30:03.200
our guy through and through. I'm
a coach, the guy and everything like

384
00:30:03.240 --> 00:30:06.559
that. But he's not as flashy
as coach talk. You coming on your

385
00:30:06.640 --> 00:30:11.160
visit and now you see what goes
into the visits now and the kid coming

386
00:30:11.200 --> 00:30:12.640
in and now, like, what's
that different? Like when you came on

387
00:30:12.680 --> 00:30:21.440
your visit. You know, we
went to Spartan Hall of Fame and and

388
00:30:21.799 --> 00:30:23.279
sat in the back room and we
felt like, you know, we were

389
00:30:23.279 --> 00:30:26.519
the president of the United States.
You know that that was the extent of

390
00:30:26.640 --> 00:30:32.000
the the wow factor of our visit. But at the same time, there

391
00:30:32.079 --> 00:30:36.480
was benefits that because we were sold
on the people. You know, it

392
00:30:37.039 --> 00:30:41.319
was the j U's, the Otis's, the Jason's like of that time,

393
00:30:41.359 --> 00:30:45.799
of that era. The older guys
on the team, seeing how they interacted

394
00:30:45.839 --> 00:30:48.000
with the younger guys, seeing how
they embraced us as recruits. Like that

395
00:30:48.240 --> 00:30:52.440
was what it was about. You
know, even ironically, you know,

396
00:30:52.480 --> 00:30:57.519
when I was in Birmingham for my
birthday dinner, ran into some dude who

397
00:30:57.680 --> 00:31:02.160
was at the frat that I went
to on my visit. You know,

398
00:31:02.240 --> 00:31:07.480
it's crazy. Wow. That was
the extent of like, this is why

399
00:31:07.519 --> 00:31:10.279
you go to Michigan State. You're
gonna have a great time, great education,

400
00:31:10.400 --> 00:31:14.880
great football. And again nowadays and
again this is of course not just

401
00:31:14.920 --> 00:31:17.599
Michigan State. It's everywhere, which
is why we're doing what we're doing.

402
00:31:17.880 --> 00:31:21.039
You know, we have to have
big wild factors. We have to bring

403
00:31:21.079 --> 00:31:25.799
in you know, virtual reality folks, to show different opportunities, you know,

404
00:31:26.079 --> 00:31:29.359
bringing in a lot of different food, going to different places, whether

405
00:31:29.400 --> 00:31:33.359
it's a high caliber or you know, somewhere somewhere you know again off site,

406
00:31:33.400 --> 00:31:37.960
that that's a fun place to be
in. And of course the big

407
00:31:37.200 --> 00:31:41.440
selling point that we always have is
that final evening at Coach Tucker's house where

408
00:31:41.480 --> 00:31:45.279
we have a fan pass at the
time. You know, Coach d wasn't

409
00:31:45.440 --> 00:31:48.559
wasn't having people at his house,
recruits at his house, you know,

410
00:31:48.640 --> 00:31:52.119
on an official visit, whereas with
us, that's a major part of what

411
00:31:52.119 --> 00:31:56.480
we do with with Coach Tuckers.
So you definitely have to have that wold

412
00:31:56.519 --> 00:31:59.319
factor. You have to make sure
that when you are having an official visit

413
00:32:00.160 --> 00:32:02.240
or any visit of that nature,
just any time recruits are on campus,

414
00:32:02.440 --> 00:32:07.240
that you're showing something that's gonna make
them when they leave, it's gonna make

415
00:32:07.279 --> 00:32:09.400
them remember the visit because a lot
of these guys are going to multiple places.

416
00:32:09.400 --> 00:32:12.640
Some of these guys are going to
multiple places in a week span,

417
00:32:13.000 --> 00:32:16.400
So what are you gonna do to
separate yourself so that they remember where they

418
00:32:16.440 --> 00:32:21.240
went, so that they post about
it. That's important. Also make sure

419
00:32:21.240 --> 00:32:24.559
that they post about it because a
lot of times like that's their that's their

420
00:32:24.599 --> 00:32:29.319
brain power, that's that's their archive, is their ig feed. So if

421
00:32:29.359 --> 00:32:32.039
you're not giving them content to post
with, they're not even gonna remember that

422
00:32:32.079 --> 00:32:37.839
they were on your campus, you
know, darn Like it's it's almost a

423
00:32:37.880 --> 00:32:43.640
happy medium, right, Like do
you almost feel like when you get a

424
00:32:43.680 --> 00:32:50.480
guy on campus that really just focused
on school football and maybe like, hey,

425
00:32:50.519 --> 00:32:53.359
my brand will get there once I
prove myself. Do you almost love

426
00:32:53.440 --> 00:32:58.519
those more than the ones that are
coming in, Like, y'all, I'm

427
00:32:58.559 --> 00:33:00.240
already a brand. What you're gonna
do? Like you know, like do

428
00:33:00.319 --> 00:33:07.000
you what do you prefer? Fully
to be honest? And you know that's

429
00:33:07.079 --> 00:33:09.680
not that's not be getting the answer
I truly do. And what I tell

430
00:33:09.720 --> 00:33:15.279
again, what I tell any recruiting
that family on campus is my job specifically

431
00:33:15.359 --> 00:33:17.039
is to be of service to you
as a student athlete and to your family

432
00:33:17.240 --> 00:33:20.960
and to build the future that you
want for yourself. It's not the future

433
00:33:21.000 --> 00:33:24.000
that I think that you should want, or we're not trying to create your

434
00:33:24.079 --> 00:33:29.559
future. You know, our branding, you know, program education program is

435
00:33:29.599 --> 00:33:32.000
called define you for a reason.
We're not trying to redefine who you are.

436
00:33:32.039 --> 00:33:35.400
We don't need to change you or
we're just trying to help you better

437
00:33:35.440 --> 00:33:37.079
amplify who you are. So if
you come through the door and you're like,

438
00:33:37.160 --> 00:33:40.000
man, I want you know,
I want fifteen to twenty in IL

439
00:33:40.119 --> 00:33:43.799
deals. You know, I want
to work on my brand so that companies

440
00:33:43.839 --> 00:33:45.559
reach out to me, or I
feel comfortable reaching out to companies, and

441
00:33:45.799 --> 00:33:50.400
I want this many followers, and
I want a blue check, and I

442
00:33:50.480 --> 00:33:52.519
want to do a podcast, and
I want to be a TikToker. Man.

443
00:33:52.559 --> 00:33:57.039
That's great, you know. Now, Now obviously you have to still,

444
00:33:57.039 --> 00:34:00.920
of course do well in school,
you know, graduation first, we

445
00:34:00.319 --> 00:34:04.000
expect a certain level on the field
of us we wouldn't be recruiting you.

446
00:34:04.240 --> 00:34:06.519
But if the other stuff appeals to
you, well, let's rock and roll.

447
00:34:06.599 --> 00:34:08.599
Let's get it done. Just the
same as Hey, I'm interested in

448
00:34:08.639 --> 00:34:12.519
graduating in three years and then doing
my master's in my fourth and leaving with

449
00:34:12.519 --> 00:34:15.039
two degrees. Fantastic. Let's set
you up to do that. Hey,

450
00:34:15.079 --> 00:34:17.800
I'm interested in coming in, you
know, playing early, leaving early,

451
00:34:17.840 --> 00:34:21.760
going to the National Football League to
help feed my family. All right,

452
00:34:21.840 --> 00:34:23.639
let's set you on a path to
do that, so every student athlete is

453
00:34:23.639 --> 00:34:27.599
going to be different and what they
what they deem important. You know,

454
00:34:28.000 --> 00:34:31.519
I wouldn't be uh you know,
uh honest in my job if I was

455
00:34:31.559 --> 00:34:35.199
to say, hey, you got
to follow this path or you got to

456
00:34:35.239 --> 00:34:37.679
follow that path. I think that's
the beauty of you know, colleague collegiate

457
00:34:37.719 --> 00:34:40.880
sports now is you can carve your
own path and whatever you're passionate about.

458
00:34:40.880 --> 00:34:45.840
We have enough resources, tools,
support network and people to kind of make

459
00:34:45.840 --> 00:34:51.159
that come to fruition. Yeah,
so on that, like, you know,

460
00:34:51.400 --> 00:34:53.280
so for the for the this is
part of MSU family. So what

461
00:34:53.480 --> 00:34:57.840
number one, what is your job
title now, like the current role that

462
00:34:57.880 --> 00:35:00.440
you're in. And then what does
a day look like for you in and

463
00:35:00.480 --> 00:35:06.079
out of season? Yeah, so
title Director of play Relations and Program Advancement.

464
00:35:06.639 --> 00:35:08.199
And it just it's this fantasy way
of saying, I handle all of

465
00:35:08.239 --> 00:35:13.039
our off field programming, so and
out of season day is actually more busy

466
00:35:13.079 --> 00:35:15.760
than the end season day. And
it's just gonna be the multiple touch points

467
00:35:15.800 --> 00:35:20.440
that I have both in our building
and our facility with our ops team,

468
00:35:20.480 --> 00:35:22.480
our creative team, our recruiting team, and then also usually a lot of

469
00:35:22.480 --> 00:35:29.719
touch points in in administration, with
our fan engagement marketing team, football administration

470
00:35:29.800 --> 00:35:34.360
as well, and just making sure
that everybody's on the same page and that

471
00:35:34.440 --> 00:35:37.519
we're getting done what we need to
get done. So you know, internally,

472
00:35:37.400 --> 00:35:40.000
of course, you know, for
myself, it's the player development piece,

473
00:35:40.039 --> 00:35:45.960
it's the you know, the branding
pieces we talked about, alumni engagement,

474
00:35:45.000 --> 00:35:49.079
community service, all of those things. And then from an opps and

475
00:35:49.119 --> 00:35:52.599
recruiting standpoint, making sure that everybody's
kind of supported when it comes to on

476
00:35:52.719 --> 00:35:57.480
campus visits, recruits that will be
here, you know, coaches I want

477
00:35:57.480 --> 00:35:59.760
to come in, former players,
I want to be here, things that

478
00:35:59.679 --> 00:36:01.920
that nature. And then with our
creative team, you know, making sure

479
00:36:01.960 --> 00:36:06.400
social media is good, we're telling
the right stories, We're telling the stories

480
00:36:06.440 --> 00:36:08.800
in the right way, capturing the
right content, and it just getting like

481
00:36:08.840 --> 00:36:12.480
I said, it expands out to
the athletic department. So making sure,

482
00:36:12.760 --> 00:36:15.760
for example, you know, I
had you know, three or four different

483
00:36:15.760 --> 00:36:20.360
meetings to day on the spring the
spring of Spartan football kickoff that'll be of

484
00:36:20.400 --> 00:36:23.000
course April fifteenth, and making sure
that's in order and everything that we kind

485
00:36:23.000 --> 00:36:27.440
of have planned for that, making
sure our nil something we're going to have

486
00:36:27.800 --> 00:36:30.880
on Thursday of that week is ready
to go. So a lot of different

487
00:36:30.880 --> 00:36:34.320
things touching a lot of different different
pieces of the program. But that's what

488
00:36:34.360 --> 00:36:37.039
I love to do, is to
kind of be multipled in a lot of

489
00:36:37.039 --> 00:36:42.400
different facets of our program and it
makes for a lot of fun. Yeah,

490
00:36:42.559 --> 00:36:45.719
Darren, you're a guy that and
something that I love about you as

491
00:36:45.760 --> 00:36:50.800
you're a guy that came to Michigan
State, played a much you can say,

492
00:36:50.800 --> 00:36:53.679
balls out at Michigan State, you
know, had your stent in the

493
00:36:53.800 --> 00:36:58.559
league, did some broadcasts, but
you're back at Michigan State, you know,

494
00:36:58.880 --> 00:37:01.639
and I think that's a huge selling
points. So if a recruiting their

495
00:37:01.679 --> 00:37:07.000
family come in there and you know, you're sitting there talking to a seventeen

496
00:37:07.079 --> 00:37:10.440
year old kid, senior junior in
high school and he looks at you and

497
00:37:10.519 --> 00:37:14.960
said, why MSU, what do
you say? Yeah, I mean,

498
00:37:15.239 --> 00:37:16.920
I'd say that there's a reason that
I'm still here. You know, I

499
00:37:17.119 --> 00:37:22.400
just have such an affinity for this
place because of all the opportunities that I

500
00:37:22.400 --> 00:37:24.719
feel like this place provides, and
I feel like this place is is different

501
00:37:25.000 --> 00:37:29.679
than others. And you know,
I knew it when I was here,

502
00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:31.519
but I got a real sense of
it when I went to train for the

503
00:37:31.639 --> 00:37:36.679
draft and I was talking to all
these great athletes from other schools, and

504
00:37:36.719 --> 00:37:43.360
they didn't have relationships and connections to
other sports and other student athletes and to

505
00:37:43.440 --> 00:37:47.559
their professors and to other people around
campus. And it just it boggled my

506
00:37:47.639 --> 00:37:51.559
mind because I thought that was a
norm. You know, Hey, we're

507
00:37:51.559 --> 00:37:53.719
cool with the basketball team, We're
cool with women's basketball, cool field,

508
00:37:53.800 --> 00:37:57.960
hockey, volleyball. Like you know, I have best friends that played in

509
00:37:58.599 --> 00:38:00.559
men's and women's sports, all men's
and women's sports, you know, and

510
00:38:00.599 --> 00:38:04.320
I'm still talking to you to this
day, you know, on a daily

511
00:38:04.400 --> 00:38:08.000
basis. You know, great relationships
with professors that I talk to all the

512
00:38:08.079 --> 00:38:12.800
time. Then of course coaches and
the staff, and it's just rare.

513
00:38:13.719 --> 00:38:15.960
It doesn't happen in a lot of
programs. It definitely doesn't happen a lot

514
00:38:15.960 --> 00:38:21.119
of Power five programs. So you
know, this place is genuine and what

515
00:38:21.159 --> 00:38:23.719
we say we do here we really
get done. And I think that especially

516
00:38:23.719 --> 00:38:27.719
in this day and age, when
there's a lot thrown at recruits in their

517
00:38:27.760 --> 00:38:30.519
families, a lot of lip service, a lot of smoke and mirrors.

518
00:38:30.719 --> 00:38:35.719
To be real, like that's the
key. And I can sit in this

519
00:38:35.840 --> 00:38:38.320
chair when I have a recruiting their
family in my office and say what I'm

520
00:38:38.320 --> 00:38:42.400
gonna give to you is real.
Now you're gonna have decisions to make.

521
00:38:42.639 --> 00:38:44.840
You know, you're gonna have to
do a pros and consolest with all the

522
00:38:44.920 --> 00:38:47.320
visits that you're taking. But what
I'm telling you, I can assure you

523
00:38:47.679 --> 00:38:51.199
is real. And they always leave
out of here, you know, believe

524
00:38:51.239 --> 00:38:53.400
in what I say and understanding like, okay, what we say, we

525
00:38:53.480 --> 00:38:59.480
actually do. You know, Darien, there's a program that you know,

526
00:38:59.519 --> 00:39:04.800
I feel like out that many people
where fans know that we have is I

527
00:39:04.840 --> 00:39:08.559
know, Ashton Henderson and Elliott Daniels
started to keeping the real with our young

528
00:39:08.599 --> 00:39:14.440
guys to make sure that they are
not getting not say lost, but homesick

529
00:39:14.480 --> 00:39:17.519
and then not having an outlet to
just talk freely and be themselves, but

530
00:39:17.559 --> 00:39:21.639
also being you know, words of
encouragement from your peers. You know,

531
00:39:21.719 --> 00:39:24.960
I guess talk about that because you
know I saw you give a spill to

532
00:39:25.039 --> 00:39:30.880
them and it was during the winter
conditioning this this past this past the winner

533
00:39:31.039 --> 00:39:35.920
and you know you you laid it
to them straight right like you're giving them

534
00:39:35.960 --> 00:39:40.239
that tough, hard love that they
have probably coming up leaving their homes but

535
00:39:40.320 --> 00:39:44.559
coming here and you're being that big
bro for them, right Like, talk

536
00:39:44.639 --> 00:39:47.719
about that program and how it's kind
of evolved from when I know you were

537
00:39:47.760 --> 00:39:52.239
part of Keeping the Real when you
were here, right and you know right

538
00:39:52.320 --> 00:39:54.519
now, talk about how that has
evolved and how that is a big program

539
00:39:54.559 --> 00:39:59.400
for our guys where parents and their
kids here, they have a community and

540
00:39:59.440 --> 00:40:02.119
they're they're to grow. Talk about
that. Absolutely, No, it's huge.

541
00:40:02.239 --> 00:40:07.119
I think it's it's one of the
most important things we do with a

542
00:40:07.119 --> 00:40:09.159
part of our program, as are
Keeping it Real. So that was again

543
00:40:09.199 --> 00:40:14.320
as I just mentioned, and as
you mentioned, Otis Ashton Henderson started that

544
00:40:14.440 --> 00:40:16.559
program with my freshman class. We
were the first class to ever go through

545
00:40:16.599 --> 00:40:20.800
Keeping It Real. And that's just
a weekly meeting with the first year of

546
00:40:20.840 --> 00:40:23.760
players and we've now expanded it to
first year players and second year players with

547
00:40:23.960 --> 00:40:29.239
myself and now doctor Lorenzo guests.
We just spend time with him as a

548
00:40:29.239 --> 00:40:34.360
class for thirty to forty five minutes
and we go through really everything that is

549
00:40:34.400 --> 00:40:37.360
in comas with being a student athlete, you know, going to class,

550
00:40:37.360 --> 00:40:40.159
being in school, playing your sport, n il campus culture, being a

551
00:40:40.159 --> 00:40:45.719
spartan dog community service. But we're
able to do it in an intimate way

552
00:40:45.760 --> 00:40:47.639
to where, like the title says, we can really get real and we

553
00:40:47.679 --> 00:40:51.719
can get down a nitty gritty of
what certain things mean. And I would

554
00:40:51.760 --> 00:40:54.280
say eighty five percent of the time
the conversations are positive. You know,

555
00:40:54.360 --> 00:40:58.519
hey, Sudden surch did great,
great in school this week. You know

556
00:40:58.559 --> 00:41:00.960
he was struggling last week but really
picked it up this week. You know,

557
00:41:00.000 --> 00:41:02.360
let's let's give him some love.
Or you know, did you see

558
00:41:02.360 --> 00:41:06.519
Southern Sun's scout team this week?
It really helped us a lot. You

559
00:41:06.519 --> 00:41:09.079
know, he got the offense ready
to go, or just generalities. Hey,

560
00:41:09.480 --> 00:41:13.719
here's how you should approach a professor
if you know you're you're struggling in

561
00:41:13.719 --> 00:41:16.280
the class, Or here's how you
should approach a professor first day of class.

562
00:41:16.480 --> 00:41:20.039
You know, sit in the front, introduce yourself out to the class,

563
00:41:20.079 --> 00:41:22.800
tell them your goals, or him
or her your goals and aspirations.

564
00:41:22.800 --> 00:41:24.480
You know all those things. But
then of course you do have that time

565
00:41:24.480 --> 00:41:27.599
where you where you have to really
dig into them. You know, maybe

566
00:41:27.599 --> 00:41:31.239
somebody did something wrong that everybody else
could benefit from hearing from so instead of

567
00:41:31.719 --> 00:41:36.360
saying, you know, keeping stuff
a secret, you know, as long

568
00:41:36.400 --> 00:41:37.920
as as long as we're okay to
share it, you know, we hey,

569
00:41:38.599 --> 00:41:44.360
uh, you know Johnny Smith here
left trash in the hallway at his

570
00:41:44.440 --> 00:41:47.400
apartment, and and and Housing called
him on it and gave him, you

571
00:41:47.400 --> 00:41:51.880
know, some some reprimand don't do
that. You know, we've we've had

572
00:41:51.960 --> 00:41:54.960
hygiene discussions. We've had discussions on
how to do dishes, how to do

573
00:41:55.079 --> 00:41:59.519
laundry, like, we got to
make sure that we're growing the life skills

574
00:41:59.639 --> 00:42:02.079
and in this new day and age. Again, we all lived in case

575
00:42:02.079 --> 00:42:08.199
Hall all first year. That's absolute. We don't do this. So you

576
00:42:08.239 --> 00:42:14.320
know, these they have washing in
the in the state of the departments.

577
00:42:14.840 --> 00:42:17.599
We have to teach those things.
Hey, here's how you use a washer

578
00:42:17.719 --> 00:42:24.320
dryer here, right, They have
to be taught exactly. There's pros and

579
00:42:24.400 --> 00:42:29.159
cons to everything. So keeping it
real allows us to really really dive into

580
00:42:29.159 --> 00:42:31.360
those things. And it's incredibly important
that guys love it. And it also

581
00:42:31.400 --> 00:42:35.000
allows for the for the back and
forth. You know, it's not just

582
00:42:35.079 --> 00:42:37.519
us talking to them. They can
talk to us. Hey, here's coach,

583
00:42:37.559 --> 00:42:38.559
we got an issue with this.
We got a problem with that.

584
00:42:38.599 --> 00:42:40.960
Hey, why is this going on? Why is this going on? Hey,

585
00:42:40.960 --> 00:42:43.840
we don't think this is fair,
we don't think this is right.

586
00:42:43.960 --> 00:42:46.119
And then we can kind of be
that liaison to take it to either coaches

587
00:42:46.239 --> 00:42:50.519
or to coach Tucker say hey,
we heard this from our freshman class and

588
00:42:50.639 --> 00:42:53.000
we should switch it up or do
something different to the better to better help

589
00:42:53.039 --> 00:42:59.519
them. That's critical and the leadership
role like that you're doing that. So

590
00:42:59.559 --> 00:43:01.840
I'm going to give a check in
because you know, you have your finger

591
00:43:01.880 --> 00:43:06.800
on the pulse of this program better
than anybody that I could think of outside

592
00:43:06.840 --> 00:43:12.079
of the coach tuh. Now there's
been guys on our show that's talked about.

593
00:43:12.159 --> 00:43:16.440
And then also we know from a
recruiting standpoint, facilities are something that's

594
00:43:16.440 --> 00:43:20.920
big and we're going through a big
renovation right now. So number one,

595
00:43:21.000 --> 00:43:25.239
I'll ask you how has that renovation
in the eyes of the recruits? And

596
00:43:25.280 --> 00:43:29.400
then how is it in the eyes
of the current players right now? As

597
00:43:29.400 --> 00:43:32.840
far as chemistry, because we understand
that it's been shifts that they have to

598
00:43:32.880 --> 00:43:37.800
go into because of limited space.
Yes, I guess I'll start with the

599
00:43:37.880 --> 00:43:42.000
latter. You know, it's difficult
on the current roster. There's a lot

600
00:43:42.039 --> 00:43:45.840
that we've asked of them in terms
of, like you said, shifts and

601
00:43:45.880 --> 00:43:50.599
transition when it comes to the norm
and as athletes, again, we are

602
00:43:51.039 --> 00:43:54.800
structured and systematic people, so when
you put a glitch in the system,

603
00:43:54.960 --> 00:43:59.719
it can throw you off. And
to be honest, one of the struggles

604
00:43:59.719 --> 00:44:05.280
that we had last year stem from
not having a accessible locker room in our

605
00:44:05.320 --> 00:44:08.960
football facility. So again, you
know, I'm I'm in practice. You

606
00:44:09.000 --> 00:44:13.760
know, I'm a linebacker. You
know JAYU comes through the hole on a

607
00:44:13.880 --> 00:44:16.599
on a power play. You know, we don't run. Nobody runs a

608
00:44:16.639 --> 00:44:22.360
lot of power anymore. Nowhere for
the help. What's better for the help?

609
00:44:23.159 --> 00:44:28.360
Like you know, long term,
basically staff the ball and get a

610
00:44:28.400 --> 00:44:30.559
seal in the guard can pull and
you know, jay you come right right

611
00:44:30.559 --> 00:44:34.559
behind him and I go fill the
hole and there's a collision and we get

612
00:44:34.559 --> 00:44:37.320
into it or whatever. I got
to see you in the locker room after,

613
00:44:37.760 --> 00:44:42.159
right, We got to handle our
disagreement somehow, some way. These

614
00:44:42.159 --> 00:44:45.519
guys don't have an opportunity to do
that because there's so much transition, there's

615
00:44:45.519 --> 00:44:47.239
so much coming and going. They
have to leave from the facility, they

616
00:44:47.280 --> 00:44:51.760
have to go over to the North
End zone to change. There's class they

617
00:44:51.760 --> 00:44:53.039
got to get to, they got
to eat, there's a lot of different

618
00:44:53.039 --> 00:44:57.639
things. They got to get treatment, and it's difficult, you know,

619
00:44:57.800 --> 00:45:01.599
so we've tried to create better systems
for that. You know, our off

620
00:45:01.639 --> 00:45:07.280
season has been a complete focus on
building team chemistry by having a bunch of

621
00:45:07.320 --> 00:45:10.880
team functions. If you've seen on
social media from the day we got back

622
00:45:12.400 --> 00:45:15.960
on campus in January when we had
that big dodgeball tournament over at the President

623
00:45:15.960 --> 00:45:20.920
which was phenomenal, Like, we
have tried to preach and push team events

624
00:45:21.199 --> 00:45:24.480
because of that. So they are
now a lot in a better, much

625
00:45:24.480 --> 00:45:29.639
better place than they were at this
at when the construction started last year and

626
00:45:29.679 --> 00:45:32.239
we got moved out of the locker
room for the recruits. Though it's fantastic

627
00:45:32.239 --> 00:45:36.400
because it's gonna be done by the
time they get here. So we're not

628
00:45:36.559 --> 00:45:37.639
just again we're not selling a dream. We're saying, hey, no,

629
00:45:37.880 --> 00:45:43.639
when you get here, this is
done. Like you know, twenty twenty

630
00:45:43.800 --> 00:45:47.400
four recruits, when you get here, you're moving straight into this, Like

631
00:45:47.440 --> 00:45:52.119
it's not like you're moving into a
construction project. We're gonna be ready to

632
00:45:52.199 --> 00:45:55.239
rock and roll. So that's huge
for us in the facility. I'm sure

633
00:45:55.320 --> 00:46:00.159
everybody's seeing the videos. It looks
amazing. It's gonna be fantastic for us,

634
00:46:00.360 --> 00:46:01.320
and uh, you know, I
know we can't wait to get in

635
00:46:01.360 --> 00:46:05.159
there. Our younger guys on our
current team will get a chance to experience

636
00:46:05.159 --> 00:46:07.199
it, similar to when they renovated
the locker room going into my senior year.

637
00:46:07.199 --> 00:46:10.039
At least I got to experience it
some. And for the older guys

638
00:46:10.039 --> 00:46:15.199
who may not get to experience,
they can understand and they do understand that,

639
00:46:15.239 --> 00:46:17.880
hey, you all paved the way
for this to be possible. Every

640
00:46:19.039 --> 00:46:21.920
new group or younger group is gonna
get more. It's the same thing in

641
00:46:21.920 --> 00:46:24.079
the NFL. This year's draft class
is gonna get paid more than last year's

642
00:46:24.119 --> 00:46:30.239
draft class. So the sooner our
guys actually understand like that overall, you

643
00:46:30.280 --> 00:46:36.280
know, overarching the part of society, the better listen. They was just

644
00:46:36.320 --> 00:46:39.960
sell in that stadium tower that I
was like, I was like, what

645
00:46:40.440 --> 00:46:47.199
is that gonna do for me?
Darren? You you come in from from

646
00:46:49.480 --> 00:46:52.719
a standpoint similar to all of us
on here. You knew when you came

647
00:46:52.719 --> 00:46:59.119
in your freshman class. You know, if you came in with twenty people

648
00:46:59.119 --> 00:47:01.199
in your freshman class, you knew
you were going to finish with like seventeen

649
00:47:01.239 --> 00:47:05.039
to sixteen of them. You know, you knew that it was. You

650
00:47:05.079 --> 00:47:07.599
know, sophomore year is going to
be you guys, Junior year, You

651
00:47:07.639 --> 00:47:10.920
guys, senior year. You guys. Now, it's not like that with

652
00:47:12.000 --> 00:47:15.679
the transfer portal and everything like that. What's your thoughts on that and what

653
00:47:15.800 --> 00:47:20.440
the adjustments that guys have to make
now? Absolutely it's a great point.

654
00:47:20.559 --> 00:47:22.559
So one of the first things that
we talk about in our keeping the real

655
00:47:22.599 --> 00:47:29.320
session when a new class comes in
is if you all make it through at

656
00:47:29.519 --> 00:47:32.000
eighty five ninety percent of you all
that are sitting in this room right now,

657
00:47:32.119 --> 00:47:37.119
you know, full class make it
through, we will compete for championships

658
00:47:37.480 --> 00:47:40.000
because that would have meant that you
all have done everything to not only grow

659
00:47:40.039 --> 00:47:44.960
as football players, you have grown
as people grown in the classroom. And

660
00:47:45.599 --> 00:47:50.159
we have a direct draft that off
the field success correlates on the field success.

661
00:47:50.199 --> 00:47:52.960
So you know, maybe that number
is a little high nowadays again because

662
00:47:53.000 --> 00:47:58.960
of the portal, but I would
believe that the teams that are successful the

663
00:47:59.000 --> 00:48:02.719
program are successful their classes are for
the most part getting through. Now,

664
00:48:02.719 --> 00:48:06.719
if you get through it and you
graduate, and you graduates, so that's

665
00:48:06.719 --> 00:48:08.559
different, you know, but a
lot of it, as you said,

666
00:48:08.559 --> 00:48:14.000
you start looking at the class and
especially with us doing keeping it real because

667
00:48:14.000 --> 00:48:17.000
it's a two year thing now.
So when we when when we start doing

668
00:48:17.039 --> 00:48:21.880
these these sessions, these meetings,
and you start looking and seats get empty,

669
00:48:22.039 --> 00:48:24.159
and another one's empty, and then
another one. Is that like it

670
00:48:24.280 --> 00:48:27.559
starts, it can weigh on you. You know, it can weigh on

671
00:48:27.599 --> 00:48:29.559
you. It can weigh on you
as a as a student athlete. You

672
00:48:29.559 --> 00:48:31.800
start looking to your left, to
your right. It feels a little nfls

673
00:48:31.920 --> 00:48:35.400
I mean, I think we all
kind of remember you remember walking to the

674
00:48:35.440 --> 00:48:42.000
NFL locker room and the Perston next
year is lockers just cleaned out. Nobody

675
00:48:42.280 --> 00:48:46.079
nobody said a word, right,
it's just oh, he's gone, you

676
00:48:46.119 --> 00:48:49.679
know it kind of it kind of
feels like that. And again this is

677
00:48:49.679 --> 00:48:52.480
not just Missigan State. This is
everywhere. Like you walk in one day

678
00:48:52.960 --> 00:48:57.719
and a player is going now again
in this day and age, the guys

679
00:48:57.719 --> 00:49:00.280
are going to tweet out if they're
in the portal usually, so they'll see

680
00:49:00.320 --> 00:49:05.320
that. But it's not always like
a long debrief before somebody jumps into portal,

681
00:49:05.480 --> 00:49:07.639
you know, unless they have told
their teammates. So I feel like

682
00:49:07.880 --> 00:49:12.559
there's of course pros and cons to
the portal overall, but the more you

683
00:49:12.599 --> 00:49:15.159
can stay together as a class and
get through, I think you have success.

684
00:49:15.199 --> 00:49:19.880
And I really love what I've seen
from you know that there's obviously the

685
00:49:19.920 --> 00:49:22.800
guys that came in January, but
last year's class of twenty two class,

686
00:49:22.599 --> 00:49:28.400
they have a bond that I feel
like it's It doesn't mean that everybody's gonna

687
00:49:28.400 --> 00:49:30.880
stay you know. Of course,
we hope everybody does. You just never

688
00:49:30.960 --> 00:49:35.360
know, but they have embraced the
importance of like, all right, we

689
00:49:35.440 --> 00:49:37.519
got to find a way to all
get through and then we'll see what happens.

690
00:49:38.159 --> 00:49:44.280
Yeah darn, that's one great point
because you know, no one knows

691
00:49:44.679 --> 00:49:46.360
what all goes through a decision when
I'm going to hit the portal, Like

692
00:49:46.639 --> 00:49:50.599
yeah, that the idea as a
player pops in because maybe you're not,

693
00:49:50.800 --> 00:49:52.280
you know, not enjoying your time. You're not maybe getting time on the

694
00:49:52.280 --> 00:49:57.039
field that you maybe think you deserve. But you know, how many out

695
00:49:57.079 --> 00:50:00.079
of those groups of guys that truly
have that trust factor with you and then

696
00:50:00.239 --> 00:50:06.119
doctor guess to have a heart to
heart conversation about this is where my mind

697
00:50:06.199 --> 00:50:09.079
is at before I do this,
because there's some of those guys where you

698
00:50:08.880 --> 00:50:13.280
you probably had a road map to
build out to say hey, if you

699
00:50:13.320 --> 00:50:15.480
statement, we can change the tide
here, we can get you you know,

700
00:50:15.519 --> 00:50:20.000
set up, or if it's you
know, a difference case scenario is

701
00:50:20.039 --> 00:50:22.480
like, you know what, we
think it is best for you to go

702
00:50:22.599 --> 00:50:24.679
somewhere else to be to be heard
and be felt better, you know,

703
00:50:24.880 --> 00:50:29.400
and welcomed in. But you know, how's that how's that set up right

704
00:50:29.440 --> 00:50:31.360
now? For your guys to say, hey, it's always open door policy

705
00:50:31.480 --> 00:50:35.320
to you to come and have a
chat with me before you make that decision

706
00:50:35.320 --> 00:50:37.480
publicly. Yeah, they know that. It's it's totally open door. And

707
00:50:37.800 --> 00:50:43.119
you know, we've had that conversation
with some guys that have elected to state,

708
00:50:43.199 --> 00:50:45.400
some guys that have elected to leave, and it's it's all again,

709
00:50:45.440 --> 00:50:50.760
it's different, different reasons. The
importance is just being listening here and I

710
00:50:50.800 --> 00:50:53.599
think even more important than that,
And again, this is what separates Michigan

711
00:50:53.599 --> 00:50:58.760
State, I believe from other places
is I always let them know you're starting

712
00:50:58.800 --> 00:51:00.480
off for life. I don't care
if you were here for a semester,

713
00:51:00.960 --> 00:51:04.840
you know, or you're here for
two three years. It doesn't matter if

714
00:51:04.880 --> 00:51:09.800
you were here anything we have from
an alumni resource standpoint. Once you exhausted

715
00:51:09.800 --> 00:51:15.440
your eligibility in college, whether you
completed in Michigan State or elsewhere, it's

716
00:51:15.519 --> 00:51:17.320
open for you, you know.
And again that's part of being on the

717
00:51:17.360 --> 00:51:21.199
other side of, you know,
the of the on the field, the

718
00:51:21.199 --> 00:51:24.280
football piece, where we can't be
out here turning our back on student athletes

719
00:51:24.320 --> 00:51:27.719
because they had a hard decision to
make it because they wanted to go somewhere

720
00:51:27.760 --> 00:51:31.079
else and play. Like. We
have enough resources and we have enough opportunity

721
00:51:31.159 --> 00:51:36.280
for everybody to get a piece.
So that's the conversation that I always have.

722
00:51:36.400 --> 00:51:38.559
And then it's it's more so,
ay, I can make you do

723
00:51:38.679 --> 00:51:44.719
something. You know, I may
have an opinion on what you should think

724
00:51:44.760 --> 00:51:47.480
about. But it's the same thing
when guys are considering leaving early for the

725
00:51:47.559 --> 00:51:51.400
draft. You know, we sit
down, we have the conversation, we

726
00:51:51.440 --> 00:51:54.000
go over the information, and ultimately
you got to make your decision. The

727
00:51:54.000 --> 00:51:59.039
only thing I can provide for you
is the information. But it's very difficult

728
00:51:59.119 --> 00:52:04.159
situations for or for these guys to
make. And it's every year, you

729
00:52:04.199 --> 00:52:07.480
know, they get a little more
cerebral with what goes on, and you

730
00:52:07.480 --> 00:52:10.360
know, just some generalities like they
think about, Okay, do I lose

731
00:52:10.840 --> 00:52:15.159
that network that I just built up
at Michigan State? You know, how

732
00:52:15.199 --> 00:52:17.679
does it look when I have to
start over somewhere else? You know?

733
00:52:17.719 --> 00:52:22.079
Of course nil factors into this a
lot, you know, in this day

734
00:52:22.119 --> 00:52:27.599
and age, obviously playing time,
you know, and if I go somewhere

735
00:52:27.599 --> 00:52:30.199
else, am I gonna have to
do I have a spot secure? Do

736
00:52:30.239 --> 00:52:32.239
I have to compete if I come
back here? Same thing? And then

737
00:52:32.239 --> 00:52:36.000
it's also, hey, I saw
that you all, you know, sudden

738
00:52:36.039 --> 00:52:38.079
such transferred in in my position?
Does that mean that I'm out? Does

739
00:52:38.119 --> 00:52:40.360
that mean we're competing? Does it? Was it? For depth? Like

740
00:52:40.800 --> 00:52:45.639
it's a lot again on these student
now kind of digest you know, unless

741
00:52:45.639 --> 00:52:50.119
you're you know, something like a
Kenneth Walker and you know, like,

742
00:52:50.920 --> 00:52:52.239
man, there's nobody better than me
out here, you know what I mean,

743
00:52:52.239 --> 00:52:55.559
Like I'm good to go. But
there's only one or two of those

744
00:52:55.719 --> 00:53:00.920
on any team in the country.
So everybody else it's a competition piece,

745
00:53:00.320 --> 00:53:05.960
and we know that you have to
compete NonStop and you may not play for

746
00:53:06.000 --> 00:53:07.760
two three years and then once you
get in there, you could shine.

747
00:53:07.880 --> 00:53:12.199
But in this day and age,
it's about how early can I get on

748
00:53:12.239 --> 00:53:14.920
that field, and if there's maybe
another opportunity for me to get on the

749
00:53:14.920 --> 00:53:19.920
field earlier elsewhere, based on all
the decisions and opportunities out there, I

750
00:53:20.000 --> 00:53:23.719
may take that opportunity. Now.
I think that was an important piece that

751
00:53:23.760 --> 00:53:27.639
you just talked about there, Like
even if you're here for a semester,

752
00:53:27.840 --> 00:53:30.159
you know, you said that your
a Spartan dog for life, and that's

753
00:53:30.159 --> 00:53:34.320
a real thing, and that goes
into the former players that aren't even on

754
00:53:34.400 --> 00:53:38.119
this particular roster that go back in
history. They precede you that you,

755
00:53:38.320 --> 00:53:43.719
as president of the MESU Football Players
Association, reach out and do a phenomenal

756
00:53:43.800 --> 00:53:47.760
job. But you know, you
brought up the work the acronym that everybody

757
00:53:47.760 --> 00:53:52.760
wants to know about in all name, image and likeness. How are we

758
00:53:52.800 --> 00:53:58.159
doing? Are we competitive? Absolutely, we're extremely competitive, and for a

759
00:53:58.239 --> 00:54:00.599
lot of different reasons. You know, I think that the main reason is

760
00:54:00.639 --> 00:54:06.599
that hey, our guys can say, hey, we're doing well with il

761
00:54:06.760 --> 00:54:09.880
you know, we're using the education, we're using the information, and we're

762
00:54:09.920 --> 00:54:14.239
able to go out there and compete
with anybody in the country when it comes

763
00:54:14.239 --> 00:54:17.320
to NIL. So there's nobody here
that things that they're missing out on opportunities

764
00:54:17.599 --> 00:54:22.079
elsewhere. I can assure you of
that. The where again, where we

765
00:54:22.119 --> 00:54:27.199
take it another step further is our
education, and NIL to me is synonymous

766
00:54:27.199 --> 00:54:30.880
with education. That's why I love
in IL. We can now educate student

767
00:54:30.920 --> 00:54:35.679
athletes on so much more again than
just having a lot of followers. And

768
00:54:35.719 --> 00:54:37.239
it's even more than making a lot
of money, you know, even though

769
00:54:37.239 --> 00:54:40.480
I want all student athletes to make
as much as they can, it's it's

770
00:54:40.480 --> 00:54:44.239
beyond that. It's like, how
can I how is it? How can

771
00:54:44.280 --> 00:54:46.280
I make this sustainable? How can
I make this last? Like? How

772
00:54:46.320 --> 00:54:49.960
can I grow this? How can
I how can I, you know,

773
00:54:50.039 --> 00:54:52.079
create more opportunities out of the opportunities
I already have. You know, we

774
00:54:52.119 --> 00:54:58.679
had a session a couple of Fridays
ago and Kurt Richardson, who's a Spartan

775
00:54:58.679 --> 00:55:01.840
dog and phenomenal in the space of
teaching marketing tactics. He talked about this

776
00:55:01.960 --> 00:55:07.199
word access and how as a student
athlete, your access is at the highest

777
00:55:07.199 --> 00:55:08.559
it's ever going to be in your
entire life, even if you go play.

778
00:55:08.800 --> 00:55:15.480
So how are you taking advantage of
the access that you have to all

779
00:55:15.519 --> 00:55:19.000
these people? You know, I
mean there's billionaires on the sideline every game.

780
00:55:19.199 --> 00:55:22.519
You know, how are you taking
advantage of being in the light.

781
00:55:22.960 --> 00:55:27.440
You know, Like if I take
my guys somewhere wherever I take them,

782
00:55:27.480 --> 00:55:30.480
those people don't want to talk to
me. I'm a I'm a former guy,

783
00:55:30.719 --> 00:55:32.400
you know, I'm a hasband.
You know. They want to talk

784
00:55:32.440 --> 00:55:36.159
to my current guys, whether whether
the current guys that I take have ever

785
00:55:36.159 --> 00:55:38.559
stepped foot on the field or not, because they're currently in it, that's

786
00:55:38.599 --> 00:55:42.079
what they want to talk to.
Doesn't matter that, you know, I've

787
00:55:42.119 --> 00:55:45.599
won two Big Tent titles or Rose
Bulls or whatever. I'm not currently playing.

788
00:55:45.800 --> 00:55:47.719
So when they see that, it
really puts into perspective because they're like,

789
00:55:47.760 --> 00:55:52.519
oh, like it really does go
you know, when you're done.

790
00:55:52.679 --> 00:55:55.159
Instead all four of us on this
right now, like we have to reach

791
00:55:55.239 --> 00:56:01.239
out to people to make things happen. Like athletes, people are reaching out

792
00:56:01.239 --> 00:56:05.519
to them. People want to see
and talk to them. So when we

793
00:56:05.639 --> 00:56:09.800
start to build on that, plus
the NIL opportunities and the partnerships and building

794
00:56:09.800 --> 00:56:13.320
the brand and the deals and all
of that. I mean, you can

795
00:56:13.360 --> 00:56:16.079
see we have national deals there.
We have deals that nobody else in the

796
00:56:16.079 --> 00:56:21.000
country has been able to create with
our positions current players. You know,

797
00:56:21.280 --> 00:56:24.280
there's people that you know, obviously
affiliate with the show that have done deals

798
00:56:24.280 --> 00:56:29.519
with our players. Like it's for
you, you know what I mean.

799
00:56:30.880 --> 00:56:34.400
Where else in the country is a
national breakfast spot doing a deal with with

800
00:56:34.519 --> 00:56:38.119
players. I was the biggest national
breakfast spot in the country, and they're

801
00:56:38.119 --> 00:56:40.760
doing deals with anybody else, you
know, I haven't seen it. So

802
00:56:42.320 --> 00:56:45.559
in terms of we can compete with
anybody, we do compete with anybody.

803
00:56:45.880 --> 00:56:47.320
You know, That's never come up
as an issue of like, oh,

804
00:56:47.360 --> 00:56:52.639
we're lacking in that space. So
Darien, I know Otis and Jason,

805
00:56:52.679 --> 00:56:57.039
if you ask them this question if
when I was playing, they'll say,

806
00:56:57.079 --> 00:57:01.519
I can't do an NIL deal with
it will be ricks. I don't.

807
00:57:01.519 --> 00:57:06.960
I have no idea why we say
that. Why would we think back in

808
00:57:07.119 --> 00:57:10.039
what if and I was in play
when you played, like will be like

809
00:57:10.119 --> 00:57:17.440
your dream and IL deal? Oh
man, you know, local local funny.

810
00:57:17.760 --> 00:57:22.360
It's funny because I heard the hard
thist Harry Potter banter going on,

811
00:57:22.400 --> 00:57:23.480
and like I'm saying, look,
I know you, I know you are.

812
00:57:27.519 --> 00:57:29.920
You never see Harry Potter like we'll
have to. That may be a

813
00:57:30.360 --> 00:57:34.440
conversation that will have. But for
me, it would be I would have

814
00:57:34.480 --> 00:57:37.119
I would have tried to do something
with with like a Marvel, with a

815
00:57:37.159 --> 00:57:40.039
Marvel, you know, whether it
was just the comics, you know,

816
00:57:40.119 --> 00:57:43.480
and but I would have I would
have wanted to do it in a way

817
00:57:43.519 --> 00:57:46.000
that was that was charitable. So
you know, if it was taken under

818
00:57:46.000 --> 00:57:50.239
privileged kids to the movies every time
I knew Marvel movie came out or something

819
00:57:50.320 --> 00:57:53.119
like that, you know, the
other deals are you know that they would

820
00:57:53.199 --> 00:57:57.719
come and then you know, you
do your signings and your autographs and you

821
00:57:57.760 --> 00:58:00.280
know you may sign in a peril
deal or market some brands and stuff.

822
00:58:00.280 --> 00:58:04.360
But again, like that's what I'm
trying to teach my guys. There's so

823
00:58:04.440 --> 00:58:07.559
much opportunity to give back with n
I l the money's gonna be there.

824
00:58:08.639 --> 00:58:12.800
How can we give back? How
can we make a difference? So that

825
00:58:12.880 --> 00:58:15.920
definitely is is where my mind when
it went with that there and I think

826
00:58:15.000 --> 00:58:21.679
though to to he's trying to find
out what your favorite watering whole restaurant?

827
00:58:22.000 --> 00:58:29.880
What was? What wasn't y'all y'all
are like the Dublin and like we were

828
00:58:29.880 --> 00:58:38.079
at the tail end of ricks.
Yeah he did, so Darren, let's

829
00:58:38.119 --> 00:58:42.119
go back. Let's let's go back
to your plane, because like, if

830
00:58:42.159 --> 00:58:45.360
you want to talk about a career, like, yeah, you know,

831
00:58:45.679 --> 00:58:49.440
I had a my career Michigan State. For what it was, it was

832
00:58:49.480 --> 00:58:53.719
great. We went to two bowl
games. Yay straight you know, you

833
00:58:53.760 --> 00:58:57.920
know, beat Ohio State when number
one otist was at the tail end there,

834
00:58:57.920 --> 00:59:01.079
when it was when the getting was
starting to get good, good game.

835
00:59:01.280 --> 00:59:07.320
You know you were thick of it. Oh Man, No, he

836
00:59:07.440 --> 00:59:14.239
was in the he was in the
best nardoozy yes and yeah yesterday ironically,

837
00:59:17.079 --> 00:59:22.960
man told me it was it was
like a two minutes and you better have

838
00:59:23.000 --> 00:59:25.519
his number save that it's the four
win two area code. Man, who

839
00:59:25.599 --> 00:59:30.079
is this coach? I heard you
taking credit for the Rose Bowl stopping You

840
00:59:30.119 --> 00:59:36.039
ain't work now if you need anything
else, you just call me, all

841
00:59:36.119 --> 00:59:43.679
right bye. I haven't talked to
you, sister Peaceball, but I mean,

842
00:59:43.960 --> 00:59:47.880
uh past he didn't. He's truly
the reason like I'm in this seat

843
00:59:47.920 --> 00:59:54.159
now because he did more for my
career than than any other coach and it

844
00:59:54.199 --> 00:59:58.320
didn't have anything to do with exs
and knows. It was total mindset,

845
00:59:58.719 --> 01:00:02.360
Like he changed my mind said on
how I viewed myself and how I attacked

846
01:00:02.679 --> 01:00:07.960
the process of work because he was
so hard on me and he expected so

847
01:00:07.119 --> 01:00:12.559
much. And at the time where
and again everybody everybody goes to this when

848
01:00:12.599 --> 01:00:15.039
when they're young, at the time
where he saw me as a better player

849
01:00:15.119 --> 01:00:20.199
than I think I saw myself,
as you know, after my junior year,

850
01:00:20.800 --> 01:00:23.639
like I had a switch flipped.
And then he went off to be

851
01:00:23.679 --> 01:00:28.400
a head coach, and so he
actually missed what came to fruition, which

852
01:00:28.480 --> 01:00:30.760
was my my senior year was by
far my best year. But I've already

853
01:00:30.760 --> 01:00:35.119
I've kept that mindset and everything I
do, So you know that's why I

854
01:00:35.199 --> 01:00:37.480
just it warmed my heart for him
to just randomly call me yesterday, because

855
01:00:37.519 --> 01:00:40.400
I mean, he doesn't even know
the impact that he's had on just my

856
01:00:40.559 --> 01:00:44.840
entire life. Honestly, and again, it's not the it's not the coaching

857
01:00:45.199 --> 01:00:47.280
of the linebacker. It was coaching
up the man on just how do you

858
01:00:47.320 --> 01:00:51.079
go out in like attack a day. How do you how do you be

859
01:00:51.599 --> 01:00:54.639
you know urgent? You know,
sense of urgency and purpose and all of

860
01:00:54.639 --> 01:00:58.599
those things. Now he did in
his coach Do's way, you know,

861
01:00:58.960 --> 01:01:02.559
but I love that, you know
what I mean, Like like like everyone

862
01:01:02.599 --> 01:01:08.440
knows what you know even as an
offensive guy. I was a big coach

863
01:01:08.480 --> 01:01:13.719
Doosey guy. So Dan, one
thing about your defense there when you guys

864
01:01:13.719 --> 01:01:16.280
were there, and and Javan and
I have talked about this in the past.

865
01:01:16.320 --> 01:01:22.119
When as an offensive player and you're
watching film from the first four or

866
01:01:22.159 --> 01:01:25.119
five place, you know what type
of game it's going to be. You

867
01:01:25.159 --> 01:01:28.920
know, like we'll watch film the
first five and we'll look atach other like

868
01:01:29.079 --> 01:01:34.400
we're good. But watching your when
you were there, that core of you

869
01:01:34.440 --> 01:01:37.519
guys on defense there, it's like, Holy, I'm like, I'm glad

870
01:01:37.519 --> 01:01:42.280
I'm not playing these guys. Like
what was that mentality? That mindset?

871
01:01:42.360 --> 01:01:45.880
Like it was like a dog mentality
like literally, and you know what,

872
01:01:46.440 --> 01:01:49.960
you know, how did that come
about? We had Will Goldstin on the

873
01:01:50.000 --> 01:01:52.320
show to talk about that a little
bit, but like how did that come

874
01:01:52.360 --> 01:01:55.679
about? Yeah, I mean we
just took the mentality of our of our

875
01:01:55.719 --> 01:02:00.400
defensive coordinator, coach dudes. And
you know, my my favorite was when

876
01:02:00.400 --> 01:02:05.119
you watch back the TV copy and
the UH and then we'd have we'd make

877
01:02:05.159 --> 01:02:08.000
a TfL and and there's you know, there's seven of us on the ball

878
01:02:08.519 --> 01:02:12.280
and the announcements. But oh,
that was a great blitz. And I'm

879
01:02:12.320 --> 01:02:17.760
like, we didn't blitz like win
and just attacked like downhill, you know,

880
01:02:19.239 --> 01:02:22.239
stop the run. You know,
it was great, and it just

881
01:02:22.639 --> 01:02:25.920
there was this belief system that we
could do anything. Now, of course,

882
01:02:25.920 --> 01:02:29.960
you have to have great players to
make that happen. We can attack

883
01:02:30.039 --> 01:02:34.159
downhill because we had Trey Wayne's and
dark we as an Ard and Curtis Drummond

884
01:02:34.199 --> 01:02:37.519
and Isaiah Lewis and then after them, you know, you fill in with

885
01:02:37.559 --> 01:02:40.519
more NFL guys like so with the
confidence that we had on the edge to

886
01:02:40.559 --> 01:02:45.519
play that cover for the man up
the outside to you know, our our

887
01:02:45.559 --> 01:02:49.719
say like like people don't understand just
because we had such great players, Like

888
01:02:49.760 --> 01:02:52.760
how difficult it was playing that defense. Like our safeties are flat footed at

889
01:02:52.800 --> 01:02:57.639
ten yards old is you know you're
you're standing still. You know, there's

890
01:02:57.639 --> 01:03:01.239
a slow repeeks running one hundred miles
an hour to cover them and you did

891
01:03:01.960 --> 01:03:05.320
you know what I mean, Like, that's what like I would tell you,

892
01:03:05.519 --> 01:03:15.239
Reroute, I'm apex between number two
and the I got Torus, Reroute,

893
01:03:15.719 --> 01:03:19.360
you need to be the all star
brother, I'm telling you. But

894
01:03:19.800 --> 01:03:22.239
we believed in it, and we
knew the game at the end of the

895
01:03:22.360 --> 01:03:25.679
day. You know, Quez Quez
has been has been uh you know around

896
01:03:27.000 --> 01:03:32.199
recently during spring dark Nord and just
standing with him and watching how he'll be

897
01:03:32.239 --> 01:03:37.519
watching wide receiver dB one on ones
and receiver will release off the lines.

898
01:03:37.599 --> 01:03:39.840
Oh that's a rap route before he
even gets into like the route, and

899
01:03:39.880 --> 01:03:43.840
then you know, receiver will break
in and go back out and catch a

900
01:03:43.880 --> 01:03:46.480
touchdown and the DB's left standing there
and it was a wrap route. And

901
01:03:46.559 --> 01:03:50.360
Quesz is like, you just got
to know the game. So we put

902
01:03:50.400 --> 01:03:53.360
the time, effort and energy into
knowing the game and and understanding the game,

903
01:03:53.480 --> 01:03:57.880
learning from the guys before us,
you know, really buying into this

904
01:03:57.960 --> 01:04:00.159
is just how Spartan dogs play defense
and in the day and if you can't

905
01:04:00.199 --> 01:04:04.800
do it, like you're not living
up to the expectation that's been set forever.

906
01:04:05.440 --> 01:04:10.039
Spartan dog defense has been Spartan dog
defense, and you know, because

907
01:04:10.079 --> 01:04:13.880
of that, like that pride kicks
in and then you know that belief kicks

908
01:04:13.920 --> 01:04:15.559
in, and then the trust factor
kicks in, and then you have the

909
01:04:15.599 --> 01:04:25.159
results that we're out there on the
field. So you look, this is

910
01:04:25.320 --> 01:04:29.920
great, this is a great context. Listen, you've been on the sideline

911
01:04:29.960 --> 01:04:34.239
and you know what our defense is
supposed to look like and play like you

912
01:04:34.320 --> 01:04:39.239
haven't the kind of got to be
in your role, but you also know

913
01:04:39.840 --> 01:04:44.000
what it takes and what it's supposed
to look like. Like let's let's talk

914
01:04:44.039 --> 01:04:48.320
about currently the past year and a
half, right, like what what what

915
01:04:48.360 --> 01:04:51.719
did you experience being on that sideline
and how did you attack it? But

916
01:04:51.840 --> 01:04:56.960
knowing that for the spring, like
will we be better and what would be

917
01:04:57.039 --> 01:04:59.920
at that point where we need to
be at? Where's spartan dog defense?

918
01:05:00.039 --> 01:05:03.400
That's truly like the honest question there
absolutely absolutely I think I think that you

919
01:05:03.440 --> 01:05:08.559
know, everything's got to come together, and I think that what we've seen

920
01:05:08.599 --> 01:05:15.800
the last couple of years is trying
to learn like what spartan dog defense is,

921
01:05:15.840 --> 01:05:19.320
to try to really integrate it with
these guys and to get them to

922
01:05:19.360 --> 01:05:23.360
that just that trust point, in
that confidence point of like you can't do

923
01:05:23.480 --> 01:05:27.519
this, Like the talent is there, for sure, the talent is there,

924
01:05:28.000 --> 01:05:32.280
like and again, like my my
perspective is again it's different than others.

925
01:05:32.280 --> 01:05:34.920
So when I'm watching these games,
you know, even games that we

926
01:05:34.960 --> 01:05:39.199
may have fallen those short, I'm
like, I'm not seeing that much of

927
01:05:39.239 --> 01:05:42.320
a difference. I'm like, we
I know we can compete with DC,

928
01:05:42.400 --> 01:05:45.280
so I know we can. I
know we can win these games. Everything

929
01:05:45.320 --> 01:05:48.760
just has to come together. And
when that confidence is there, like you're

930
01:05:48.840 --> 01:05:51.480
unstoppable, you can't be beat,
you know, or at least you're you're

931
01:05:51.599 --> 01:05:56.519
you you may you may you know. I guess it's a doctor Elko said,

932
01:05:56.559 --> 01:05:59.880
you may get beat, but you're
not gonna lose. Like's a difference.

933
01:06:00.360 --> 01:06:04.199
And again I know for me even
firsthand, like I had to step

934
01:06:04.239 --> 01:06:09.440
in into Rose Bowl and then my
junior year was solid, and then my

935
01:06:09.480 --> 01:06:12.440
senior year, I took it to
another level because I knew the game and

936
01:06:12.559 --> 01:06:15.599
I was way more confident, which
allows you to play faster. And I

937
01:06:15.679 --> 01:06:19.159
understood it at the end of the
day, like the defense we run now

938
01:06:19.239 --> 01:06:24.239
is run by seventy five or eighty
percent of the NFL, So obviously there's

939
01:06:24.239 --> 01:06:27.840
a reason for that you know this
is this is a defense that was that

940
01:06:27.960 --> 01:06:30.800
was created by Minnie Kiffin and then
run by Tony Dungee and on down the

941
01:06:30.840 --> 01:06:34.440
line. So there's there's a reason
that it's being run. At the end

942
01:06:34.480 --> 01:06:36.719
of the day, we just have
to be confident when we play it,

943
01:06:36.760 --> 01:06:39.639
and we have to believe in it, and we have to know it at

944
01:06:39.639 --> 01:06:44.119
the end of the day. And
I always approach everything as a player.

945
01:06:44.880 --> 01:06:49.760
Always. There's never been a time
in a game that I've lost or that

946
01:06:49.800 --> 01:06:51.760
we've you know, we've lost the
team. I've been a part of loss

947
01:06:51.800 --> 01:06:54.880
where I've come out of the game
and said the coach should have called better

948
01:06:54.920 --> 01:06:58.679
place. Never, It's just not
my mentality. It's always we need to

949
01:06:58.679 --> 01:07:00.960
play better as players. Coach called
play go execute the play. So I

950
01:07:01.039 --> 01:07:05.719
continue to approach everything as a player
and say, players out there playing,

951
01:07:06.119 --> 01:07:10.119
end of the day, you gotta
go out there and make the plays.

952
01:07:10.280 --> 01:07:13.320
But it comes from confidence, comes
from knowing the game. And I love

953
01:07:13.400 --> 01:07:16.119
what I've seen this spring. There's
been accountability, there's been a lot more

954
01:07:16.159 --> 01:07:20.400
knowledge of just a game of football. We're making that a focal point as

955
01:07:20.400 --> 01:07:24.639
well. We're teaching the game like
sometimes you got to go back to the

956
01:07:24.679 --> 01:07:27.639
basics. You got to teach what's
the top of the numbers, what's the

957
01:07:27.639 --> 01:07:30.639
bottom of the numbers, what's the
provider, what's the hash? How many

958
01:07:30.679 --> 01:07:33.320
yards from the sideline to the hash? I mean yards from the sideline to

959
01:07:33.360 --> 01:07:38.119
the divider. You know, it's
like stuff that we may see I think

960
01:07:38.480 --> 01:07:41.840
is basic information. It may not
be basic to everybody, and so you

961
01:07:41.920 --> 01:07:44.679
have to go back and teach.
And especially with the portal as well,

962
01:07:44.760 --> 01:07:47.320
you don't know what everybody's been taught
other places. So you really got to

963
01:07:47.360 --> 01:07:50.599
go back to like square one and
say, Okay, this is a football,

964
01:07:50.960 --> 01:07:54.280
which makes her crazy. It's like, this is a football. I

965
01:07:54.280 --> 01:07:56.559
think that's what John Wooden used to
do. I think was famous. He

966
01:07:56.559 --> 01:08:00.440
would start every season, you put
your socks on. You know, you

967
01:08:00.559 --> 01:08:03.199
got to start at square one.
And we, I think have done a

968
01:08:03.199 --> 01:08:06.159
really good job of doing of doing
that. So I'm excited to see the

969
01:08:06.159 --> 01:08:13.360
progression. Yeah, I think we
needed we need a Darien Harris segment and

970
01:08:13.400 --> 01:08:19.680
we have the Yeah. I got
like, we got two questions, he's

971
01:08:19.680 --> 01:08:25.199
got six. He got the thing
of the question. I got two questions.

972
01:08:25.479 --> 01:08:30.199
One, how did the from the
Rose Bowl year, the rich Homie

973
01:08:30.239 --> 01:08:34.600
Kwan thing. How did that come
about? And everything? And then to

974
01:08:34.720 --> 01:08:39.439
have him on the sidelines at the
Rose Bowl, I believe that was a

975
01:08:39.479 --> 01:08:43.560
Curtis Daniel special there, Spartan Dog. Curtis Daniel hooked that up, you

976
01:08:43.560 --> 01:08:48.680
know, owner past recording studios.
I believe he hooked that up with Coach

977
01:08:48.760 --> 01:08:53.439
d You know, we were we
were already playing the song. It kind

978
01:08:53.439 --> 01:08:57.800
of became the song of the season
type of way. And to get him

979
01:08:57.800 --> 01:09:00.159
there for the Rose Bowl, I
mean that made a special to May is

980
01:09:00.199 --> 01:09:03.279
special, you know, and you
know for us, you know, and

981
01:09:03.279 --> 01:09:09.800
again for all of us on the
call. Hip hop culture in black culture

982
01:09:09.920 --> 01:09:15.199
just it impacts everything. And so
for that to be major for us and

983
01:09:15.239 --> 01:09:18.680
for that to be what really brought
us together and brought a and galvanizing and

984
01:09:18.760 --> 01:09:24.600
tire like Spartan nation, you know, to the point where we out sold

985
01:09:24.800 --> 01:09:30.920
Stanford in California two to one.
I mean it's huge, man like like

986
01:09:30.039 --> 01:09:33.760
hip hop culture and black culture just
to influence it has and the power it

987
01:09:33.800 --> 01:09:39.239
has is phenomenal. And that was
a special moment and shouts to shouts the

988
01:09:39.279 --> 01:09:43.520
Curtis to be able to make that
happen. Yeah, they may kind of

989
01:09:43.560 --> 01:09:51.520
cook. It's great, man,
like it transcends everything. Well, wasn't

990
01:09:51.520 --> 01:09:59.640
that, yes, Travis, Yeah, like y'all knew. I think that

991
01:09:59.760 --> 01:10:03.119
was the That was the huge difference, Like you knew who you were as

992
01:10:03.159 --> 01:10:08.199
a squad and your identity, and
it also gave us confidence as for the

993
01:10:08.239 --> 01:10:11.920
players. But spartination that we knew
who was stepping out on that field was

994
01:10:11.960 --> 01:10:14.880
gonna get you, was gonna get
the best, and he was gonna be

995
01:10:14.960 --> 01:10:17.399
gritty and he was gonna either lose, win or lose, and it was

996
01:10:17.399 --> 01:10:20.520
gonna be bruised coming out. Like
we knew. That was the mentality.

997
01:10:20.520 --> 01:10:25.479
And I think we're getting there because
when I saw last Saturday or the last

998
01:10:25.520 --> 01:10:29.920
Saturday in the script, uh in
spring game, Like I'm like one just

999
01:10:29.920 --> 01:10:33.279
from my defensive back practice practice,
sorry, in spring practice last Saturday.

1000
01:10:34.000 --> 01:10:41.760
Man, look, the defense is
looking listen that defense secondary alone, confident

1001
01:10:42.079 --> 01:10:45.840
confidence Maybe go ahead. I just
want to know and the people everybody wants

1002
01:10:45.880 --> 01:10:47.600
to know this, Like so many
people has been reaching out to me.

1003
01:10:48.039 --> 01:10:51.880
Everyone on the chat wants to know. How is my guy Nate Carter doing.

1004
01:10:54.760 --> 01:10:56.920
Hey, I went to go tell
him in the weight room. I

1005
01:10:56.960 --> 01:10:59.760
was like, listen, your boy
too too, asking about you every second

1006
01:10:59.800 --> 01:11:09.720
of the every days. Uh,
he's doing well, yeahs reports and he

1007
01:11:09.800 --> 01:11:14.199
took he took golf middle and look, I don't even know what play was.

1008
01:11:15.239 --> 01:11:20.880
Non Nate's great. And you know, I try not to get too

1009
01:11:20.960 --> 01:11:27.479
excited. He's doing well, say
that fair enough, He's doing really well.

1010
01:11:27.600 --> 01:11:30.600
That's fair. That's fair. I'll
take that. I'll take it a

1011
01:11:30.680 --> 01:11:33.880
run with it. Yeah, the
COIs that koy smile says it all.

1012
01:11:35.960 --> 01:11:38.680
So, so we have to ask
you this. I know, we gotta

1013
01:11:38.760 --> 01:11:40.520
let you go. I mean,
this is great. We gotta you know.

1014
01:11:40.560 --> 01:11:42.760
We can come back anytime and talk
to you. We can talk for

1015
01:11:42.840 --> 01:11:45.520
hours. Man. But you know
the final four women's Final four that just

1016
01:11:45.560 --> 01:11:53.760
happened. Give us your thoughts on
the Caitlyn Clark Angel Ree situation. Yeah,

1017
01:11:53.760 --> 01:11:56.399
I mean, I know, that's
a that's another hour in of itself.

1018
01:11:56.439 --> 01:11:59.880
First, I'm a huge, mungous
fan of both of them. I

1019
01:12:00.960 --> 01:12:05.359
followed women's sports very closely. I
follow women's basketball very closely, you know,

1020
01:12:05.600 --> 01:12:10.520
always followed it, follow it close
in my life now having a daughter

1021
01:12:11.239 --> 01:12:15.159
follow it even even closer. Went
to a bunch of MSU women's basketball games.

1022
01:12:15.159 --> 01:12:18.800
I actually I pulled up Caitlin Clark
highlights on YouTube and just handed to

1023
01:12:18.840 --> 01:12:23.920
my daughter like a couple of weeks
ago, because he's into basketball. Like

1024
01:12:24.279 --> 01:12:29.359
I'm in, I'm all in on
Caitlin Clark except when she plays Michigan State,

1025
01:12:29.800 --> 01:12:32.119
and I'm all in on on on
Angel Rees. Of course, the

1026
01:12:32.159 --> 01:12:36.560
backlash that Angel Reese, you know, took and and and this overblown word

1027
01:12:36.600 --> 01:12:40.840
of class list was nonsense. To
me. It was nonsense. And as

1028
01:12:40.840 --> 01:12:44.039
I kind of tweeted out, we
have a no trash talk policy in our

1029
01:12:44.079 --> 01:12:48.960
program. So I'm not condoning trash
talk in and of itself because that's not

1030
01:12:49.039 --> 01:12:51.800
how we do things in Michigan State. We do not talk to our opponent.

1031
01:12:51.840 --> 01:12:55.399
That's the number one thing that Coach
Tucker says, and you can see

1032
01:12:55.399 --> 01:12:58.199
it on the field. We do
not trash talk. That doesn't mean that's

1033
01:12:58.199 --> 01:13:01.640
that's the way for every other program
at the end of the day. And

1034
01:13:01.640 --> 01:13:05.479
Angel Reese has made it very very
clear she's gonna unapology jelically be her.

1035
01:13:05.960 --> 01:13:10.560
And what I thought was was great
was Caitlin Clark coming out today and saying

1036
01:13:10.600 --> 01:13:15.359
that any backlash of the angels catching
his nonsense. Let women compete, let

1037
01:13:15.399 --> 01:13:16.600
them talk trash. I mean,
look, this is Michigan State. We

1038
01:13:16.640 --> 01:13:24.319
have Draymond Green, that's right,
yea, And we love Draymond Green.

1039
01:13:24.399 --> 01:13:27.640
Yeah, okay, And he plays
with this guy by the name of Steph

1040
01:13:27.720 --> 01:13:31.359
Curry who is the most disrespectful player
in the NBA right now, and I

1041
01:13:31.479 --> 01:13:39.479
love you at this court. It's
it's you know, the issues are there,

1042
01:13:39.560 --> 01:13:43.600
the issues that plague or society are
still there. You know, to

1043
01:13:43.920 --> 01:13:45.560
see if black women get attacked like
that, it's not right. It's not

1044
01:13:45.640 --> 01:13:49.520
right for doing the exact same thing. That's what I saw, And as

1045
01:13:49.520 --> 01:13:53.800
a as a you know, as
a black man, and as a father

1046
01:13:54.239 --> 01:13:57.520
of a young black, young black
girl who's gonna one day, you know,

1047
01:13:57.760 --> 01:14:00.880
do something, whether it's sports or
otherwise. You know, I had

1048
01:14:00.880 --> 01:14:03.399
to stand up and say I don't
I don't condone the backlash that that Angel

1049
01:14:03.399 --> 01:14:09.880
Reese is getting. It's not right, it's it's not fair, but it's

1050
01:14:09.880 --> 01:14:13.520
only gonna. It's what she was
able to do is only going to continue

1051
01:14:13.560 --> 01:14:15.680
to benefit her in terms of winning
that championship. She already had the most

1052
01:14:15.760 --> 01:14:19.479
nil deals in the country. Men's
and women's basketball. She's going to continue

1053
01:14:19.520 --> 01:14:23.880
to grow that brand. She's gonna
be just fine. From that standpoint.

1054
01:14:24.159 --> 01:14:28.119
What I don't like is this now
becomes and you got to pick a side

1055
01:14:28.159 --> 01:14:32.319
thing because the black folks in the
country are going to side with Angel Reese

1056
01:14:32.600 --> 01:14:35.279
and it's like you you think,
at least on the service level, that

1057
01:14:35.319 --> 01:14:39.359
everybody else is gonna side with Kaylyn
Clark. We could be fans with both

1058
01:14:39.399 --> 01:14:42.960
of them, fans of both,
be fans of both. I want to

1059
01:14:43.000 --> 01:14:46.680
see them again. I want to
see them meet again in the regular season

1060
01:14:46.720 --> 01:14:50.119
because Michigan State's gonna be playing for
national title. But I want to see

1061
01:14:50.159 --> 01:14:54.640
them play again down the road.
Like I don't want this to turn into

1062
01:14:54.640 --> 01:14:59.920
a separation thing, because what both
of those programs, and specifically those two

1063
01:15:00.319 --> 01:15:04.560
young ladies did for women's basketball and
for women's sports in general was absolutely phenomenal.

1064
01:15:04.640 --> 01:15:10.039
Nine point nine million people watch that
game. That is phenomenal, right,

1065
01:15:10.680 --> 01:15:14.399
I mean phenomenal, and uh I
just we got it, you know.

1066
01:15:14.680 --> 01:15:19.000
It just it takes away from the
the just the moment in a way

1067
01:15:19.000 --> 01:15:23.119
that it shouldn't have. So again, I didn't think it was right.

1068
01:15:23.199 --> 01:15:27.279
I'm glad that Kaylen came out and
said that as well. And I can't

1069
01:15:27.279 --> 01:15:30.880
wait for the women's season next year
and and of course shout out to Michigan

1070
01:15:30.920 --> 01:15:35.720
State women's basketball also coach Frailer coming
in. Uh really excited about her coming

1071
01:15:35.760 --> 01:15:39.840
in and her family and cannot wait
to go to go to a bunch of

1072
01:15:39.920 --> 01:15:44.800
games this year. Absolutely. Man, hey, man, love this,

1073
01:15:45.079 --> 01:15:46.800
I mean love the time. Man, this is awesome too. Man,

1074
01:15:46.800 --> 01:15:50.800
anytimes flying by. You know,
we really appreciate the most. We love

1075
01:15:50.840 --> 01:15:55.960
you, man, thank you,
thank you, thank you for joining us.

1076
01:15:56.000 --> 01:16:00.800
And ladies, gentlemen, Darien Harris, you know, thanks for joining

1077
01:16:00.800 --> 01:16:03.279
the show. Man. We'd love
to have you back anytime, because we'll

1078
01:16:03.279 --> 01:16:05.800
be seeing you here. Spring games
coming up, so we're gonna be to

1079
01:16:05.840 --> 01:16:10.119
see it. Otis is gonna be
there checking out practice whenever he gets back

1080
01:16:10.119 --> 01:16:13.960
from and the people, the people
get to see Nate the great card,

1081
01:16:15.760 --> 01:16:18.680
they get to see him. Appreciate
it, bro, thank you, thank

1082
01:16:18.720 --> 01:16:25.000
you, appreciate it. Daran oh
man, hey, I mean, look,

1083
01:16:25.199 --> 01:16:28.159
time flies when you're talking to dogs
like that. And you know,

1084
01:16:28.399 --> 01:16:30.800
he was in that golden era of
Michigan. That was a great that was

1085
01:16:30.840 --> 01:16:34.439
a great entergy. I loved every
single minute of it, like from all

1086
01:16:34.560 --> 01:16:40.199
aspects of it, from you know
that deep important stuff to the he he

1087
01:16:40.439 --> 01:16:45.079
ha ha stuff to you on everything. I loved it. I love what

1088
01:16:45.119 --> 01:16:50.800
he do. Those some nice beds
back there that otis has. I mean,

1089
01:16:50.840 --> 01:16:54.880
it makes us all feel like,
you know, like close to home.

1090
01:16:55.239 --> 01:16:59.600
Good seeing you there. It's grand
rising early rising tomorrow. Baby.

1091
01:17:00.760 --> 01:17:02.960
Got to get there when the parts
open, man, so you can get

1092
01:17:03.000 --> 01:17:06.720
a couple of rides for that sun
come all the way up man, Just

1093
01:17:06.760 --> 01:17:10.800
for for the listeners and so they
know and be sure that you know about

1094
01:17:10.840 --> 01:17:15.159
the This is spart of m s
U subscribers special event taking place after the

1095
01:17:15.199 --> 01:17:21.000
Spring game special live show and postgame
party at the field House, East Lancey.

1096
01:17:21.720 --> 01:17:26.720
Starts at five pm on Saturday after
the game. Follow our socials from

1097
01:17:26.720 --> 01:17:30.439
more info. The spring game won't
be televised live, so this is your

1098
01:17:30.479 --> 01:17:34.680
opportunity to hang out with us.
We're all gonna be there. I heard

1099
01:17:35.479 --> 01:17:44.800
he paying for some drinks. Man, gator arms like that, they'll reach

1100
01:17:44.880 --> 01:17:49.359
the pockets. We love to see
all of you there. Come hang out

1101
01:17:49.359 --> 01:17:53.319
with us in East Land sing at
the field House. Can't wait to have

1102
01:17:53.319 --> 01:17:59.560
a popping some great food for everybody. It's trying to be good for drinks.

1103
01:18:00.600 --> 01:18:03.359
You gotta get like, like the
goal of an evening is see if

1104
01:18:03.359 --> 01:18:08.840
we can keep you there and away
from Ricks. We can keep you there.

1105
01:18:09.800 --> 01:18:13.000
No, no, no, no, let me. I ain't never

1106
01:18:13.079 --> 01:18:15.800
met a person goes to a nightcap
at Ricks. He was like, oh,

1107
01:18:15.960 --> 01:18:19.800
nightcap, let me get a nightcap
at Ricks. Tuned for a special

1108
01:18:19.920 --> 01:18:24.640
more announcement regarding the special guests that
are gonna be coming to the event too.

1109
01:18:24.760 --> 01:18:30.119
There's gonna be some some headliners.
That's all we're gonna say. Steve

1110
01:18:30.279 --> 01:18:31.880
is paying for drinks for everybody.
I like that, Trevor. I like

1111
01:18:31.920 --> 01:18:35.239
the way you think, Trevor.
You know guys, I mean listen,

1112
01:18:35.319 --> 01:18:39.399
great show. Uh. I can't
wait till Thursday. I mean it's gonna

1113
01:18:39.399 --> 01:18:41.760
get more and more exciting, you
know, Otis. I don't know when

1114
01:18:41.760 --> 01:18:43.800
are you coming back? Oh you're
not gonna be here Thursday? Are you

1115
01:18:43.840 --> 01:18:47.079
still gonna be in the land of
Disney here? But I will be tuned

1116
01:18:47.079 --> 01:18:51.960
in all right. You know how
magical magic Kingdom is at night? Man?

1117
01:18:53.079 --> 01:18:56.159
Like that is one thing they get
you right there is like the magic

1118
01:18:56.199 --> 01:19:00.800
of maybe maybe from there. We
want know what's going on with Magic Animal

1119
01:19:00.880 --> 01:19:09.680
Kingdom. Yeah, I'm gonna be
like I'd be like Jay, you you

1120
01:19:09.800 --> 01:19:12.520
gotta take a picture in front of
the castle at night. I will,

1121
01:19:12.640 --> 01:19:15.359
I will, hopefully, I gotta
get I gotta get a ring like because

1122
01:19:15.399 --> 01:19:16.520
you know how dark. We got
some stuff too. We gotta cover that

1123
01:19:17.439 --> 01:19:21.439
had a great event this weekend.
We're gonna show you guys on Thursday what

1124
01:19:21.520 --> 01:19:27.239
he was up too long this weekend. Hey for Ods Wiley and ju Coulkrigham,

1125
01:19:27.279 --> 01:19:30.039
Jason Straehorn, This is Sparta,
Have a good night, God bless

1126
01:19:30.279 --> 01:19:45.119
and go greet. This is part
of m s U as a combine presentation

1127
01:19:45.199 --> 01:19:48.319
of play Fly Sports properties in Michigan
State Sports Properties. The show is produced

1128
01:19:48.319 --> 01:19:55.279
by Pete Manez with additional support from
Tony Costella Operations and Social Media support is

1129
01:19:55.279 --> 01:20:00.840
provided by Alicia Straehorn with support from
Cecily Max Brown on location. Technical support

1130
01:20:01.159 --> 01:20:05.039
is provided by a Good Fruit Video. Be sure to follow our hosts Jason

1131
01:20:05.079 --> 01:20:11.119
Straehorn, jay U Kulcrick and Otis
Wiley on social media to stay up to

1132
01:20:11.199 --> 01:20:15.560
date with all the latest This is
Smarter news. Please like a subscribe by

1133
01:20:15.640 --> 01:20:18.680
visiting our link tree and tell a
friend to do the same. Thank you

1134
01:20:18.720 --> 01:20:21.199
for your support and as always,
go green.