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Joining us now is our good friend
Will Vandervoord from the Clemson Insider. He

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always gives us great perspective on a
number of things, including the men's basketball

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team, the football program, and
the Pittsburgh Steelers. Just quickly, let's

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get the Steelers stuff out of the
way. We're a little surprised about the

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Justin Fields acquisition, and how do
you feel about it now that I know

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that the Steelers did not pick up
his fifth year option and that they got

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him really, really cheap, I'm
okay with it now more than I was.

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And also hearing the reports that you
know, they've said Russell Wilson's going

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to be the starter and Fields is
going to come in in the city year

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possibly and kind of learn. So
I can't hear those kind of things tells

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me, you know, you know
what the point they got a plan.

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And now I just hope Justin Fields
or Russell Wilson, whoever it is,

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they don't they're not the quarterback that
they can handle that. Now I know

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Justin Field says he can handle it. My question is that Justin Fields comes

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out and beats Russell Wilson for the
job, then Russell Wilson handle it.

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And that's my concern only concern really
with this two quarterbacks they've got because listen,

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guys, we all have egos,
but quarterbacks have an ego that's even

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bigger than any of us. And
when you've got two guys that have been

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starters their entire lives and starting quarterbacks
and successful if they're in their own right

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Russell Wilson obviously in college and in
the NFL, and then justin fields obviously

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at the High of State, you
know, you you that ego is pumped

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up a little bit more. And
you know, sometimes y'all saying is when

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you got two starting quarterbacks, you
got none, So you know that's what

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worries me. But then again,
you know that it's about leaving that ego

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at the door. It sounds like
the Steelers. What made me feel a

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little bit better about Russell Wilson was
hearing the stories of Cam Newton and and

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and and right and uh, I
mean Cam Hayward sorry, uh and and

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Mika Fitzpatrick, you know, talking
and TJ. Watt talking to Brussell and

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letting know, hey man, you
leave that ego at the door. It's

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about that logo. That's what we
play for It's about the culture in this

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locker room. It's about you know, being you know, playing best as

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a standard if you will, and
playing for each other and not for individuals.

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And so Russell seems to has grasped
it, at least, at least

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in the press conferences, seemed that
way. So we'll see if that stays

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the course throughout the year. With
that all said, good wide receiver man,

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And I think I might be even
more happy I see you if I

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know they didn't get Mike Williams.
That just came out, and this is

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setio. Mike Wims signed up with
the Jets. But the reason that's the

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big deal is because he was supposed
to visit Pittsburgh this week and now he's

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all of a sudden just signed with
the Jets. Tells me the Steelers might

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have called him up and told him
not to come. Because Jerry Doolac,

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who was the beat reporter covering the
Steelers better than anybody, reported yesterday.

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I know Rich eisen So that Pittsburgh
is about to make some more splash and

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it's going to come at wide receiver. And he says that it's not necessarily

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Mike Williams. So just wait and
see what that means. Last news.

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And we love Mike Tomlin. And
you know what, I'll say this,

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there's so many Clemson elements to this
because Mike Williams, you know, you

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covered him in close Rains. The
guy is an absolute baller. He can

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get that eighty twenty ball just like
t Higgins with the best of them.

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And I was tickled to death to
see I wasn't there, pro to I

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hated it, but Mike Tomlin was
down there, and he and dad A

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were tight man. They've been around
for a while and they know each other

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pretty well. Yeah, yeah,
you know, I gave him a little

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shout out and go Steellers nice as
he as he came by and had had

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my had my Pirates hat on them. But he recognized who I was,

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who I might be rooting for,
you know, And so yeah, it

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was good. You should have run
up with your phone and got him to

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read some liners for us. They
say, you got a coach read Hey,

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this is this is Mike Tomlin came
on with John and Trey. We'll

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be back after this. Yeah,
the Steelers O more than just Tomlin was

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there. They had five or six
people there overall. Including offensive coordinator Arthur

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Smith was there as well as well
as Omar Cohn was there as well.

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The general looking at rookie or I
don't know they they were, they were

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well represented. Ask the thing.
And I thought it was interesting that that

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we saw Arthur Smith there because obviously
the best offensive player coming out for this

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for Clemson this year is Will Shipley, who, by the way, had

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one of the best Pro days in
the history of protec. He was amazing,

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and not just at Clemson Pro Days. I'm talking about period. He

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ranked fifty in the top fifty now
all time in the combine error fiftieth all

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time of all running backs. His
performance was the other day. And that's

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seventeen hundred running backs that I participated
in the combine since then. So him

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and you're in the top fifty of
seventy almost eighteen hundred. That's pretty impressive.

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And he, uh, I think
Will Shipley made himself some money.

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Now, I don't think. I
don't think the Steelers are going to draft

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him because I don't. I mean, maybe maybe he comes in. I

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forgot guy well, I forgot I
forgot Date Wiggins is probably high on their

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board too. I would think go
opposite Porter Junior. Oh, I thought

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so until you know they made the
trade with the Deontay Johnson for Jackson over

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Carolina, putting the Jackson basket.
I see it. Okay, Yeah,

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well, I mean he's the one. He will see the kind of guy

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they wanted corner. He's a tall
in the morning to kind of go across

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Joey Porter or Senior. I mean
they can steal draft. I think I

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think they're going the Steelers are going
to go offensive tackle in the first round.

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I really believe that because that's what
they need, that they need a

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left tackle. Well, here we
go. Look, we're doing our mock

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draft right now, so I can
tell you this. We're not quite to

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the Steelers yet. But what do
you think about Jackson powers Johnson like a

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center. Are you on board with
that at twenty or think it's too soon

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for an interior guy. I think
it's too soon for an interior guy.

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I think if he's around in the
second round, I think the Steelers grab

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him then and then that they would
take him then. But I think what

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you're gonna see the Steelers curs.
I think they're going to go offensive tackle

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in the first round. In the
second round, I think you're gonna see

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him go defensive tackle. Third round, I think you'll see him go inside

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linebacker. And then probably in that
fourth round you may see him go wide

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receiver. Or with that next second
round, they got two third round picks,

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right, or the two fourth round
picks. Fourth, Yeah, they

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got a bunch better there, so
you'll see I think you'll see a wide

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receiver and a center go in that
one. That's what I think you're gonna

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For the life of me, I
do not understand why people are hyping McCarthy

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in the top six. Now.
I don't get it. I like the

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player. I don't get it,
and I like him. Yeah, I

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just see so much more. And
I'm worried about Pinis with his medicals.

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I'm not seeing it from bo Nicks
as the top ten guy, but I

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think there could be five or for
in the first round. Will Vandervoord joined

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us Clemson Insider dot com. All
right, so the big news today Clemson

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officially finding a lawsuit against the ACC
You've done some reporting on this as well

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as your colleagues out there at the
Clemson Insider. I'm gonna let you take

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the floor here. I know what's
going on, But you could probably explain

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it a little better than I can. What do we look at that here?

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What what's the what's this short of
it? Yeah, So basically Clemson

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is basically, you know, kind
of want the court to rule on about

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not three things I would say,
uh, the ACC. Clemson saying the

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a SEC does not own their broadcasting
rights to its games if it should or

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does leave the league, as it
is not required to pay the exit fee.

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Basically you know, with that saying
that the ACC is being kind of

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ridiculous with that exit because it doesn't
fit the norm of what the standard is

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across country. And Clemson used some
laws actually in their suit that says this

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is ridiculous. You know, nobody
else does this. This is against kind

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of laws that are in our country. So some good finds there for Clemson.

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And then also Clemson owes, no, oh, is the conference nothing

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if they should leave because Clemson says
that's not in the bylaws. I know,

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the a SEC says it's in the
bilaws. The Clemson says it's not,

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and they I think Clemson knows you
know why, because Clinton is the

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one who created this conference. I
mean, honestly, particularly where it matters

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the most, the football side,
which is what we're talking about here.

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Well, I mean in nineteen fifty
three, Clinton and Maryland are the ones

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who started the ACC exactly. I
mean that Southern Conference before anybody knows the

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bylaws, wouldn't it be Clemson?
Uh you would think so, yeah,

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those are Maybe the bylaws need to
continue to evolve. If it's been a

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minute, that's back in the uh
the Frank Coward days pre Frank gun a

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loop basically saying that the bylaws never
had you had to you know, you

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had to pay a fee if you
ever left. And what in the world

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I mean it might be the loophole
conference needs. Clemson might have found it.

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I'm not saying that is a loophole, but I found it interesting that

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Clemson, staying the bylaw, said
we never had to pay a fee if

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we left the conference. So what
happens now we happened to Now what happens

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next? Will vandervoart from Cleinson Insider. Is there a timeline here? The

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court systems can run as they do. I mean, this is probably gonna

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drag out a little bit, but
what what do you anticipate happening? From

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this, Is it immediate? Is
it two years down the road? What

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are we looking at? No,
I think you're gonna see, you know,

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I think you know there's gonna be
some fallout to this. You ought

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to see the a cecs are responded
obviously to Clemson, and this as far

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as at least in a former press
lea if you notice, unlike this Florida

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State situation where Florida State let it
leaked out so that ACC sued Floria State

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before Florida State was able to use
them, that didn't happen. In this

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case, the definit quiet what was
happening, and Clemson got ahead and filed

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those papers this morning. So the
ACC. Now I'm not saying the ACC

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can't counter suit, but the big
it's big for Clemson, and and ACC

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made count sue far we know.
But Clemson did say a couple of things

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right. They said they are not
leaving. This does not mean they're leaving

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the conference. What it means is
they want to have the ability to at

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least look to leave if they want
to leave the conference, and the bank

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by just doing so, it's you
know, let's make it reasonable so that

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that wording is huge in the sense
of Florida State said they were leaving.

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Yeah, it was a bit we're
not saying we're leaving. We're we're not

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saying we're leaving. So I don't
know if the a CEC is really going

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to do anything to Clemson. That
unless Clemson were to actually leave the conference,

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and then maybe that's something there.
But as far as the people have

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asked me, well, we're going
to see the a the ACC counter suit

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Clemson, I don't know if they
can because Clinton was pretty strong in their

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wording that they weren't leaving the comfort. So they're not breaking any of the

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contractual things they've signed already, and
where Florida State is by what they were

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doing. So that's what the difference
is. I think in this situation we'll

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see. It doesn't mean it won't
happen. I'm just saying I don't think

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it will happen. Does that speed
up the court process? I don't know.

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You know, I think personally now, nobody's told me this, but

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I'm just gonna go by things I've
heard and just talking with people and listening.

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I wouldn't be surprised if we see
another a SEC school now joining this

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for a fight. Yeah, and
then the question is do we see a

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couple more after that join in the
fight, because, as you guys know,

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strengths and the numbers, and if
more guys jump on this lawsuit and

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join Clemson and Florida State, the
better the chance to get this result pretty

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fast. So I think if that
happens, then we're gonna see this move

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along pretty swiftly and everything should come, you know, come to a head,

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maybe even before now. I'm just
saying this is speculation on my part.

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Now it could come, you know, maybe before we even get into

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the fall. We'll see. Now, with that said, a lot of

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people will asking me, he says
he will. Does this mean Clemson has

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already found a place to go.
No, it does not mean that Clemson

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right now, as they said,
they're still a member of the Atlantic Coast

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Conference. Clemson is not has not
been offered anything or is not going to

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be offered anything in the immediate future
from any other conference or anything. I

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think this is Clemson basically saying they
want to have the ability to negotiate if

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they want to, and I think
that's what this is. You owe that

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to yourself, You owe that to
yourself to put yourself in the best position

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leverage wise, and it certainly gives
you options. And I think ultimately they

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would like to join the best of
the best in what appears to be a

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couple of mega conferences in a few
years. But at least it gives them

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a little more flexibility because right now
it's it's just hard as hell to get

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it done. Yeah, I don't
think Clemson like like, I don't think

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Clemson does this unless there's something out
There's the opportunities out there, of course,

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and then so I think the opportunity
might be out there, but obviously

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there's no done deal. But I
wouldn't be surprised and say somebody out there

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said, hey, look, guys, if you can take care of this

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granted right stuff, we'll take you. You know, I'm wondering if that

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kind of conversation's out there, But
right now, officially there's nothing. And

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so Clemson though for all the people
out there, don't they don't need to

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be thinking Clemson's head and leaving and
going to this conference of that conference,

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what we do and we'll well,
we'll blame you if it all goes down

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to hill Will Will vanderboards Clemson insider, somebody else does go ahead, John,

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That's why we don't because we know
you catch enough grief there. Here

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we go. It's March madness.
So the good thing about it, here's

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the silver lining. And we talked
about this. Brad Burnell had mentioned this

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is this presser and I think you
were one asking this question. When you

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get sort of the feeling that you're
gonna be in the big dance a couple

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of weeks ago, you play with
a little less uh. I think tightness.

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You're a little more loose. He
probably wouldn't admit that, but that's

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just human nature. And look,
they had some good moments there down the

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stretch, with the win against Syracuse
on Senior Night. Last two games were

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not good will, and I'm a
little concerned about this team, but I

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still think you go against a team
in New Mexico that hasn't played in this

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tournament over a decade, six eleven
games can be quirky. Do you have

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some thoughts on the matchup and thoughts
on where this team is mentally right now?

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And here's something a lot of people
that talk about New Mexico is just

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like n C State. They went
on a five day run ye. Yeah,

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they went on a five day run, and so you got to wonder

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where their legs at and then to
get think about this way, they got

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to travel traveling, they're doing where
they went after they wanted, they got

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to travel back home. Then they
got to go back home, get their

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stuff together, and travel again.
Right. Ye, So you got a

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couple of travel days in there since
they've won the tournament now and they have

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to wait an extra couple of days, which when you are a team that's

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hot and you've played and you've won
five games in five days, rest is

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the worst thing ever, and we've
seen that a lot in the tournament,

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so it is. I think I
think the playing I think in Clemson's hands.

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And that doesn't mean a hill of
beans is all about how you play

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that game gets there. But I
think that's an advantage to Clemson. I

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think I think Clemson being the underdog
in this game is an advantage. I

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remember, I don't know people don't
remember this. Remember Clemson was the five

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seed back in twenty eighteen. They
were they were the underdog to New Mexico

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State in the first rount and at
the five seed against the twelfth team,

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they were the underdog and they beat
them, and then they went on as

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the underdog and beat Auburn by like
forty right, so like it went to

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sweet sixteen. Now I'm not saying
they're gonna go and get to the sweet

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sixteen. I don't know. So
you know, that's all. You know,

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we'll figure out. We'll see all
that when it happens in person.

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But I like I like Clemson's matchup
in a lot of ways. In this

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way, this is says is Leonardi
setting the lines? Now, how is

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New Mexico favorite over Clemson? I'm
sorry it was it was Vegas. Vegas

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had it. I know that Lonardi
hates I just figured he might have stuck.

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He probably did have something to do
with it. But you know,

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when when I look at this New
Mexico team, you know they're they're very

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you know, they got some great
players. You know they got Jamal Mashburn

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junior averaging fourteen points a game.
You know you got Jalen Howise, who's

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really outstanding, averaging sixteen points a
game. Uh, they got some good

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guard play, and they're they're gonna
be difficult to handle. However, I

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like Clemson's matchup inside, and I
think it's Clemson with Ian Sheplin and PJ

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Hall. If they can get those
guys going early, get them involved early

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down in the post. You know, I don't want to see Clemson do

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it and try to do against Boston
College. We saw some against Wake Forest.

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Don't get so happy with the three
pointer. It's got to stop.

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It's not their bread. Chase Hunter
was what eight and that that game against

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UH ten. And that's what Rich
and I talked about here on the English

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count tip Off show. Coming up
of course this week with this big game,

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we'll be sure to reach out to
you for that as well. And

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we talked about a little time.
Rich bangs like a drum. You know,

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he used to coach in this league, and he's like, hey,

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here's the thing, just enough of
the three point attempts. You got to

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make sure that you're taking enough attempts
you give us off a chance. But

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does he be like an efficient ratio
there? When Clemson gets a little loose

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and they go twenty seven to twenty
eight thirty attempts, doesn't end well when

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they're you know, twenty one eighteen
attempts. That's a bredon water. They

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got to play Defenseive Jack Clark's been
great, and obviously PJ is a centerpiece.

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Shefflin too, He's been a little
bit off last couple of days.

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Uh, but certainly on Senior Night
he showed up with sixteen and sixteen uh.

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And then the rest of the bracket
here obviously, if they win that

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game, you face the Baylor Colgate
winner. I mean, it's doable.

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I mean, look, Clinton's got
to get some wins. How big is

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it for Brad Brunell? I mean, how hot is the seat if he

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goes one and done? Here are
we looking around? Or we just give

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him another year and we keep going. I like Brad. I'm not advocating

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for his firing. I'm not one
of those talks your hosts that once people

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fired. But there's a lot of
chatter there has been for a while,

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right yeah. I mean if you
say, you know, I don't know

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it, I wouldn't want to be
Graham nef Okay, if it needs this

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game, how about that? That's
the best way to say it. Because

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you did reach the NCAA tournament.
Never fired a basketball coach when they went

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to the NCAA tournament, So you
know, I don't you know, I'm

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not saying that's gonna happen or not. Basically, I don't know, to

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be honest with you, is what
I'm saying. I don't know because I

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don't think Graham those I think he
kind of wait for the situation to see

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what happens. How they play.
Clinton had a very good year this year.

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Now it didn't end the last couple
of games the way they would have

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hold, losing three out of four. And that's why I think this game

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is important because if they win it, then you know, you kind of

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put all that to bed and you
know, they they they won a game

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and advanced in the tournament, and
you know that's definitely a positive and you

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move forward. And then but but
here's something that fans don't look at.

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Fans get so caught up in wins
and losses, right, And that's what

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we do is fans, yep.
But I want them to look at it.

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And and I'm gonna give credit to
somebody who put this on our message

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board the other day. You got
to look at the whole picture and it's

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not all about wins and losses.
Yes, Brad Brownell won twenty games for

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the fifth time in the last seven
years. That's a big deal. All

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right, that's a big deal.
That's not bad, right, Yes,

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Brad Brownell has taken Clenson down to
the NCAA tournament for the third time in

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six years, should be four and
six years? And what typically it's been

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known as a football school. And
it's fair to say, right that to

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be the best six year stretching Clenson
history, by the way. And and

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then you know, Brad has uh
has elevated Cleinson to where the I think

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number five now in the ACC the
last six years in terms of victories,

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you know, only behind you know, North Carolina, Duke, Virginia and

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Florida State, all three teams,
all four teams that have been to at

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least the Elite eight in the NCAA
tournament. So so all those things aside,

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I think when you look at Brad
and what he's done is you look

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at PJ. Hall. PJ Hall
as a freshman, guy's averaged three points

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and three rebounds a game. He's
now first team All ACC. You look

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at a guy like Chase Hunter,
who was you know, averaged maybe two

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points and two assists and turned the
ball over five times a game as a

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freshman. Now he's you know,
He's averaging fourteen points a game, He's

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averaging about three assists a game and
like one turnover. You know, you

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look at things like that. You
look at Ian Shefflin, who was the

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most improved player of the Year this
year. If you're not a good coach,

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Cheflin is the most approved player in
acc You know what I'm saying.

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That's those are the things that Graham
nef has to look at. He doesn't

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look at just the wins and losses, because the winds and losses are there

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and they kind of favor Brad.
Understand that just gave you, you know,

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and I know Clemson fans don't want
to hear that. Clemson fans who

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hate, you know, don't like
Brad for whatever reason, I don't know

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why they don't. Is there that
are favorable when you look at since Clemson

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May since Clemson had redid Little John
and they opened it up in twenty sixteen,

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Clinton has had the most success in
basketball than they've had ever in a

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period of history of its program.
Remember this is only the fourteenth time Clinton's

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gone to the NCAA basketball term the
fourteen ten times so so Brad's going to

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be the fourth, which would make
him more than any coach. And everybody

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says, well, well, he's
been there the longest. Yeah, but

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I just told you this will be
four times. This will be his fourth

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time or his third time in the
last six years, and it should be

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four in the last six years.
And I'm using that that date is when

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little John. They redid Little John, and they gave him some tools to

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recruit with. And let's got a
job. He's done the transfer portal and

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transfer players that help. And then
look how he brings in guys that stay

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for two years. He doesn't just
go get a one and done guy.

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He's gonna get a guy that comes
for a couple of years also, so

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but he's done good with the one
year guys, with the graduate guys too,

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And so like, these are things
that if you're grand meth, you

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have to look at. So don't
listen to that other guy on some other

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station over there who doesn't really have
the facts or understand from some basketball All

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our friends listen to listen to what
we're saying and what we're telling you.

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And I think if your grand theft, that's why it's a difficult. These

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are nuanced decisions and no screamer on
sports talk radio, including the two idiots

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in this studio are going to make
a difference. But we try to do

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is just understand the reality of it
that Brad has had a good run here.

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Maybe not a type of blue blood, blue blood run. There's a

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big one for you. Then you're
going to see a duke of North Carolina,

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but it's not a blue blood basketball
program. And what I would like

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to see unless you don't want to
keep her now and fans will be like

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this, you know, is if
he starts streaming the other one or two

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wins and then they tank out in
the sweet sixteen. Oh, he did

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enough to keep his job. But
uh, I think just enjoy the moment.

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It's a great team. Celebrate the
seniors. You're in the big dance.

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You're in the dance. Yeah,
I think last year, how bad

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it was in the years ago.
And guys, listen, remember John and

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00:23:33.440 --> 00:23:37.000
this will be more you than me
than anybody else. But remember those years

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when Clinton fans to say, man, if they just beat North Carolina and

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00:23:40.680 --> 00:23:44.039
Chapel Hill, we'll put a statue
of that coach up. Well, you

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00:23:44.079 --> 00:23:48.480
know what graduating on the stat where's
my damn statue and he Oh and by

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00:23:48.519 --> 00:23:52.400
the way, he went and won
in Chapel Hill against the North Carolina team

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that is a number one seed.
Yes, region, Yeah, he did,

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he did, and that's obviously something
that that we can all talk about.

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But really it's crunch time. The
same for the game Cocks too.

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Good luck to them because Lamont Paris
has done a hell of a job there.

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00:24:04.519 --> 00:24:07.319
Succeed will We got a run,
man, it's been fun. Enjoy

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00:24:07.599 --> 00:24:10.519
the rest of the week. Are
your brackets fit out? You got a

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00:24:10.519 --> 00:24:14.319
final four four US here yet?
No when princes in the tournament, I

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00:24:14.319 --> 00:24:15.599
don't do a bracket, man,
because I like you. You know what's

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made a difficult situation. That's good. It's herbs. It's the Herbstreet rule.

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I'm not picking them. I'm in
the game. That's you will,

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you're the best. But