Steve Rivera and jayken Salez. They have their I on the Ball on Tucson's
Sports Stage yet Fox Sports fourteen fifty streaming live. I mean I heard Radio
wams Hey, welcome back to Winding the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty.
I'm Steve, He's Jay. We have Henry with breaking news on the
ball. Breaking news on Fox Sports fourteen fifty for the first breaking news.
The Texas A and M baseball coach Jim lawn at Gale Leftford, Texas yesterday
after leading the end. He's to the College World Series, right, But
I think today he had the press converse and he apologize the apodcast. What
did he say, I'm trying to find it. I took the job.
I took the job and to never haven't taken another job and hasn't changed my
mind. He said, that's unfair to talk about this something again. But
hold on. He asked his question there I was questioning, I think,
but he apologized. I was here. I wish I could have answered that
better. But in the moment, all thirty minutes after the last pitch,
all I could think about was our players, and I really wasn't in the
mood to talk about myself in the future. That's a stupid another stupid answer.
He just made it worse. Have you said, apparently this connection because
he's friends with Delcanti, who used to be with TCU, that this deal
was set a long time time ago. Right. The funny thing is we
witnesss this three or four years ago. Johnson did kind of the same thing
when he went to LSU. Right, But what this guy did he knew
he had this job. It would have been very simple, very simple,
just say I'm not talking about other jobs right now. We just lost a
national championship game. I want to focus on the kids. I'm not sure
I'm not saying anything about that. And if people want to speculate all that,
they want to speculate about that, Oh well he's taking the job.
Fine, let him speculate. But don't rip the reporter for being right on
something just because you don't like the timing of that person being right. That
was that was really stupid, so it says. On Wednesday, the coach
said he wanted to apologize to the reporter, Richard Zaine from the Texas Eggs
dot com. He asked a question that was an obvious question. I wish
I could have answered it better, but at the moment all three of you
met, the moment, I was a dumb ass and that's what I did.
So yeah, I get I just get so offended when people are dishonest
and then they get pissed at somebody for calling them under dishonesty. You know,
well, he he, he should have thought of this answer back the
way before, right before the game started. Possibility. Okay, there's spot
I'm gonna get asked this. Here's what I need to say and stick to
that. You know, and that, well, this is what this is
and you know this. You know this because you did this and I did
this for a long time. These coaches, especially in the audience, are
hoping or hopeful that those questions don't come up honestly right because because it's their
oddit. Steve, one of my jobs at TEP when I was the public
relations guy was to prepare our executives for TV interviews, uh, you know,
meetings, whatever. And I would say, literally, I would I
would sit down and I say, Okay, we're gonna we're gonna do this
like I'm the reporter and you're the guy. These are the questions that you're
gonna get asked, and we would go through their answers and then say,
Okay, that's not the answer, you know, say something more along the
lines of this. And we prepared them for this stuff like that because that's
what you have to do, and that's what that was a big part of
my job in this particular case. You know that the head baseball coach isn't
going to listen to a sports information director to say, coach, you need
to go say this. He's got to think of it on his own,
although it may be this id's job to go tell him. Look, coach,
you're probably gonna get asked about this, so think of an answer,
and you know, and make it a good one. You don't and don't
say, don't tell the reporter to screw off if you're gonna take the job
tomorrow. Well, the reporter looks fine, it's the coach that looks bad.
Exactly. No, the reporter did absolutely nothing wrong. And I think
even the anybody who hates the media doesn't think the reporter did anything wrong.
It's an obvious question. It's the reporter's job to ask those questions. That's
why they're there. It's but the coach needs to handle it like an adult
and handle it like a professional and just say I'm not Roy Williams did that.
Remember again, we talked about this yesterday that Bonnie Bonnie Bernstein asked me.
He said, look, I just lost answer Champions game. I'm not
talking about that, and that was fine. I think he even had it.
There was a cuss word in there. It was right, because I'm
talking about that he had. Well, this is what he kind of said.
I remember directly because I was there. He says, uh, I
know that you have people in your ear telling you to ask this question.
Yeah, and then he answered it that way, a little a little cursey,
a little little you know, but even his answer was okay, yeah,
and what guess what? So everybody just continued to speculate. He took
the job, and we knew that was going to happen, but it it.
You know, he had to be he had to handle it that way.
This coach should have done the exact same thing. Instead, he crapped
all over this reporter and then he looked stupid the next day when he took
the job. Yeah, okay. Arizona has got three new football commits for
twenty twenty five May's p's defensive linemen, and they got cornerback Coleman Padman,
and then they got a twenty twenty six commit o lineman Bobo Langie, so
that in the last few days, right, it's gotta buy by eleven.
See, its like twenty. I mean, there's been a bunch, a
whole bunch of guys. So I'm I'm uh, I'll be the Pooh pooh
guy. So we don't we they're getting pretty good guys. We don't know
what quality of guys, but they're getting some pretty good guys. Uh.
They're gonna have to coach them up obviously, right, but if they're halfway
decent, Oh, I don't even know who else is chasing him, right,
we'll see and again, more than anything, it's like it's when you
find out you know who they're fighting for guys, you know who they're you
know where the what, what choices these guys have, right, and they
all have good choices. So you know the fact that Arizona's getting them,
you know, you just feel you feel good about it. You again,
as you say, we don't know, and we won't know till we see
him. And then again in the game, and uh, you know,
I always go back to, uh, you know, when when Dick told
me had had recruited Michael Bates and before it was sometime before fall camp started,
and I said, is he gonna be any good? He just said,
we'll find out the first time he gets hit in the mouth. Yeah,
you know so, And that's and that's the way it's gonna be.
You don't know until you know. So we'll see. The Big Twelve announced
that they will be announcing the college men's basketball and women's basketball home and away
matchups tomorrow. Oh okay, all right, well we just brought that up
a little bit ago. All right, good, we'll find out tomorrow,
you know. I mean, I know what Arizona fans are hoping for,
right. You hope to see Kansas stay here twice. You hope to see
maybe Baylor here twice. I'm not here, but playing playing them twice.
And you have to see all those teams here. That's the whole idea.
So we'll see how that comes out. Mckel bridges was traded to the Knicks
for five first round picks, and now they've got four Villanova players all on
the same team from when they won the championship together in college. Wow,
four five four w see, that's good, it's pretty good. That's a
lot of that's a lot of draft picks. I mean they traded in the
trade for Katie. They only give up four first round picks the sun soon,
so let's next give it more than the five first round picks for Michale
Bridges. Well, Steve broke him back to being the player to be named
the back of balls. And Georgia beat Portugal in the euro Cup and people
are saying it's the biggest upset in euro Cup history. Georgia like not the
Georgia Bulldogs, right. I saw I saw a tweet to that they put
you posted the score and then the channel was sec EC Yeah wow okay,
And then another soccer thing. Alex Morgan was left off the saw that.
Yeah her time is now is old, right, Yeah, first time she's
thirty five or whatever. Yeah, first time since two thousand and eight,
the team since Wow, well that's a long time. Yeah, you know,
look the time runs out, man, you know, go go to
the rocking chair now, but just go hang out, that's all I go.
All right, okay, all right, So where do we think Bronnie
James is gonna get drafted. You know, I'm seeing everything from you know,
well, you're hearing that the Suns are interested in it. Well it
was them and Lakers who worked them out, right, I got can't you
be I don't know, in the world of life is not fair. This
is exactly why. Because the other guys are pretty better than him. Yeah,
and you are who you are. Yeah, he might end up with
the NBA when he's by the naked eye, doesn't look like he's ready for
it. Yeah, well I I yeah, I mean, and I think
I read somewhere that there's not going to be a two way contract. There's
nothing there's right that. Well, his his his agent has said, we're
not doing two way contracts. So okay, So if nobody takes you,
then it sounds to me like at worst that the Lakers are going to take
him with like the fifty fifth pick, right, Yeah, so that if
he's there at fifty at the fifty fifth pick, that they will take him.
So probably some certainty that he's going to be drafted. I would imagine.
I would imagine that if you that if the Lakers were not going to
use some sort of a pick on him, that his that Lebron would have
told him to stay in school. Yeah, right, I mean that's sort
of that's the logic that I'm thinking of here, that if his dad would
have said, well, nobody, nobody's taking you and I the fact that
you're my kid isn't helping. So stay in school another year, you get
drafted next year. Right, So let me let me go through this because
Brian Peterson, who I had mentioned earlier about our bet with Keyshada and mister
Larson Bleach Report thirty ninth to Minnesota for forty third, to by Yahoo to
Miami fiftieth, to Indiana fifty first to Washington the Wizards, and Sports Illustrated
has a fifty second to that's Johnson Golden State. So anywhere from thirty ninth
to fifty second, okay, okay, and pelee is fortieth to Portland Sports
Illustrated forty first, to Philadelphia, Bleacher Report forty third, Ringer forty seventh,
and Yahoo forty eighth, So mostly in the forties. Yeah, and
Johnson in the as one in the thirty ninth and the rest. That's a
fun bet, Steve. I think it's a fair bet now that I look
at it, obviously keyshod Is the is the physically athletic ready guy. But
still that's what the league is about. Well, but you still got a
score. Still, Yeah, in the end, you got to be able
to put the ball in the basket somehow. I mean, I mean,
what's his name, Ronde Hollis. Jefferson was able to make a little bit
of a career out, you know, without being a scorer, but in
the end he needed to be a score if you wanted to stick in the
league. Right, how long was he in the three? Three years?
Like three? Right? So you know, so in the end you have
to be able to do more of that. I mean, you look at
TJ. McConnell, right, think I didn't score for you know here at
Arizona. But he's gotten over there and he's you know, he's he's developed
a shot, he's found way, he's his score. I mean, he
goes down the lane and I'm like, how is then nobody swatting the ball
out of his hand? And he scores? You know, he's crafty.
Right. The guys that I concerned about are more like Christian Coloco, who
played in the league for a couple of years, got you know, right
and guess what, there's a new crop up people covering the guy every year.
His time may have come, and yeah, Daylan Arry, if he
makes a splosh year in his third year is thirty year, we'll see what
happens to him. Because it's it's a it's a thankless thing. Because it
is people they'll just they'll just chuck you to the side as soon as they
you know, as soon as they can, right, because there's always somebody
coming in. Yeah, I don't, I don't, you know, it's
uh, on the one hand, it's a tough business. By on the
other hand, if you go in there and make a couple of million dollars
in a couple of years, I mean, you can't well imagine how they
imagine how these guys well they were. I think the first tear of Nil,
Daylan was doing pretty well. I think Benedict was doing pretty well.
I know Daylan was doing pretty well. How much money they'd be making even
more now, not not to what they're making there, but being pretty comfortable
here, comfortable here, doing well here. Let me ask you. Some
people were asking I was with last night, and they're saying, well,
I think Arizona's uh, this is other people saying, I think Arizona's doing
okay with ni L. What do you think their budget is basketball? Their
nil budget? Yeah, I bet it's more than we think that is.
Okay, So what do you think it is. I'm gonna say it's well
into seven figures. Well into seven figures. You say, okay, really,
so what that's I wouldn't be surprised that a million, A couple of
million, I said two million? Yeah, couple, I said too many?
Yeah, seven figures is two million? It would be like one million
or well into But you're saying well into I'm I'm gonna say, well bye.
By that, I mean you know, at least a couple of million.
Yeah. See that's I put it up. That's where I would put
it. That's where I put it. I thought you may be thinking no,
no, no that yeah, no, I'm gonna say I wouldn't be
surprised if it was the two to three million. So I said two and
by your thing? Is that more than what we think it is? Right?
It could be more? Yeah? Okay, good? Yeah, but
if they took if they can't, somebody came and said, guys, it's
like five, I would go wow, Okay, nice job. Yeah,
nice job. So so let's say x amount of people are contributing to this.
That's probably before and il they were contributing to something else, right,
which is part of right, you're moving the you're moving the money around,
right, Yeah, you're just you're just moving the you know, the the
balls or the cups of money into different places. Because I can't imagine that
they're gaining a lot more money, right, Oh when you think of overall,
Yeah, right, that is, It's just they're moving money from here
to there. Sure, Okay, let's take our break. We're gona come
back. We're gonna have Scott Thompson, you coach with Loud Nelson here in
the first few years he was here, went on to be a head coach
a number of schools, UH in Division one, and he lives here in
Tucson. So we'll see what he's up to. Stick around. The Windows
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streaming live, I mean iHeartRadio app. This is Eye on the Ball with
Steve Rivera and Jay Gonzalez on Fox Sports fourteen fifteen. Hey, welcome back
to im about here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve. He's Jay.
Yeah, I have our guy Henry in today. We got fifteen minutes
in this segment. We're waiting for Scott Thompson to give us a quick call
the coach at Texas, the new baseball coaches taking a lot of heat?
Is he? He said? Man? He said. One of the questions
from one of the same publications that asked them the question a couple of days
ago. Uh what changed? This is asking what change in what you would
say to those Texas and m people that supported you that feels that you intestedly
misled them? What do you say? I didn't mislead them. I did
mislead them. He needs to stop. Sorry, Sorry, yeah, yeah,
So screwed up. You know when when you're when you're a publiculations person
for somebody like that, you just want to pull him aside and say,
okay, let's start over. All right, let's start over, you know,
and let's let's let's attack this, let's deal with this. You need
to get back out there, you need to bite the bullet. And you
say, I screwed this up. I apologize. You know, I didn't
handle this right, you know what saying you didn't mislead anybody, of course
you did well. This this has happened for the age of time. People
going for better jobs. We saw here a couple of times with Johnson who
went tell you who. There were some rumors that he would already taken a
job once he once Arizona's out right right, and then and then Fish who
did what he did, uh, you know, Arizona's my place. And
then I think the Fish example is about to be because we knew that he
was going to go at some point. The thing you have to do is
is that when you're saying things, you have to and it's hard. You
want to say what's in you know, in your mind and in your heart
right there, but you know you have to be careful these days. You
have to understand, you know, the the environment you're in with with with
social media and so many more members of the news media, right. You
know at Arizona, you know when in Luke covering covering theirs on a basketball
in the eighties and nineties, you were dealing with three TV stations and two
newspapers and cat tracks, right, that was about it. Yeah, you
know, and maybe some of those some of those outlets had more than one
person in the in the press room, like the Star. At there's the
Daily Star, there were three people covering a basketball game. There was the
beat writer, there was there was the calmness at the time, Greg Hanson,
and then there was a person who covered the opponent locker room. You
guys did the same thing at the Citizen. So so that's six right there,
and then on each of you. Then when when you're to the station,
and that was the media room, right, there would be the other
people in there, but they were spectators and then mostly like I tell you
now, mostly favorable people in that room and professionals who knew the business,
knew the rights and wrongs of being a reporter, being a journalist, right,
being a journalist, right, there were certain ways, you know.
Now it's it's it's a frenzy. You've got You've got people in there who
have websites that have credibility that shouldn't. You have people who were never trained
to be journalists who are trying to act like journalists. They don't know how
to ask questions. They don't, you know, and so you as you
ask somebody who's giving these answers, you have to understand all of that and
be ready for anything. And sometimes these guys are just not right. And
again most of them, like I said a few times when we had the
kids in the intern squats, we see in the in the in those rooms
that a lot of them are U A grads are under the table cheering for
the team to do well, even though you can't cheer for the team,
right, you're not supposed to. You're not supposed to. But in down
deep there they're come on, come on, come on, Yeah, they're
incredibly friendly and you're not gonna get if not for Bruce, bless his heart.
Uh, there's a lot of questions that wouldn't be asked. Yeah,
you know, in all honesty, no that you're you're you're right, or
or or justin or asked this differently? Right or asked differently? You know,
I mean, I mean they're I mean, look, you know,
you know the year that my you know, my son was you know,
the the for jet Fish. There were a couple of times you told me
said you just you pissed him off today, you know, and I'm like,
what what did I ask? Well, you asked this, and I'm
like, well, that was a legitimate question. Yeah, he just didn't
like it being asked. And the funny thing about is because I was there
with you. Yeah, nothing out of place. Nothing out of place.
I mean, you know, honestly I would have I would have said that
was a good question, but no, it was he makes how much?
Now you're pissing me? He makes three and a half million? Guess what
deal with it? Exactly? You know, if you want, if you
want this job and you want this responsibility, this is what comes with you.
But just given well much as asked. Right. Sorry, hell,
I didn't know this. No, I never apologized for any of them.
You know, he said he didn't like that question. You you win games,
and we asked the questions. This is the first I'm hearing this,
and I'm a little you could tell them a little Holy crap, a guy
who's making three and a half million dollars didn't like a question. Top crap.
It happened with me with Loud a bunch of times. Me too,
right, But guess what, it's just the way that we're part of it.
Again. You don't like the question, but you still have to answer
it. Yeah, well, or don't answer. But if you don't want
to answer it, fine, but don't jump down my throat because I asked
the question. I'm amazed they're telling me something that I didn't know at the
time. These guys who make a lot of money need to be treated with
kid gloves. It doesn't work that way. They shouldn't. But Steve,
they're they're like, they're like the no. They're like the club basketball player
who's made it all the way up and he's been told he's been great all
along the way, and he's never been questioned about whether or not he's great.
Same thing with these coaches. They get up there and they think,
wait, well, who are you to question me? Right? No,
no, about these things. I don't disagree with you. Oh wow,
that's surprising. I'm a little work no no, no, And maybe I
didn't tell you because I wasn't supposed to tell you that may have been more
accurate that made because if anything, at the very least and worst is that
I know that one of the reasons I was halfway decent one I treat him
fairly and asked the fair questions. Yet and in our time here, I
think the questions have been fair. I cannot write, I can honestly look,
I can honestly say that I do not recall, you know, and
I only had five years of this right as a sports writer. I cannot
recall the time that I thought I asked a coach a question that wasn't fair.
I really, I you know, I mean, and there were only
a couple of times that really were only a couple times that the coach got
pissed at me, or that I was aware that a coach was pissed at
me, like uh, And again I mentioned the Sean Rooks situation when he
didn't he wasn't here for a for a game in people wondering was he transferring.
I know, Luke got mad at me at the questions that I asked.
Jud Judd Bushler after after anca a tournament loss. It wasn't anything that
I asked, Luke, but you know for what I asked, Judge Judd
didn't think it was unfair for me to ask, but to walk in after
they got blown out by twenty points in Alabama, Judd, what happened?
That was my question? What happened? Well? And I'm sure, knowing
the way I do, he was probably thinking that Jay may have guided him
in that question. All I asked, it's kind of like when we asked
Bill Walton, Bill, how are you doing? And then fifteen minutes later
we get another question. We don't know where it's going to go? Right?
And that was that's all I asked. I said, jud what happened?
That was? That was the question pretty much. I remember Joe McClain
that issue said something that was very strange in his response, and he said
he came off really not right, and lut saw the quote he was he
was upset to no when saying that who asked the question? How did you
ask it? Because the response was not now not what he hoped it would
be, and he found out that it was a legitimate question. Yeah,
and Joe just didn't say it right. Yeah, yeah, that's not No
apologies to the reporter, No, absolutely absolutely, So you know, and
that see and that that was that was the sign of of what I think
is a good reporter is are your questions fair and legitimate? Are you in
there digging for something you know, you know that that you think might be
there? Now? Do you have to ask hard questions? Sometimes? Of
course you do, but you're not put it this way. I was never
trying to make somebody look bad ever, and I still don't, you know,
but you know, in the press conferences that we go to when we
get one or two questions in, you know, in an entire press conference,
I've never, ever, ever, ever tried to ask a question in
a way to make you look bad. But what I had was a question,
and I you know that that I thought the people who are listening to
me or who are reading me are curious. Let me give you this example
and you can go whoever you want with it. So Sean's coaching. He
pulls Caleb off the off the thing, the photo the photo is screaming at
you scream at each other, h or Alexander or a Xander. Just the
video shows it. Uh, Sean treats him pretty poorly the next few sessions,
Uh do you? And he called it a got you moment? Got
you moment? For Ari? How did he? That was that a got
you moment? That was him on the ste happened? It happened. You
saw it, We saw it, We all saw it. How was that
a got you moment? It was not a got you? It was No,
it was not, it was not. We We saw what we saw
right right. And and so you ask about it, you say, what
happened? No, yeah, and that's the question. That's the question.
Yeah, we saw that. Yeah, it's a pretty simple quapen And he
says, well, that's between Caleb and I. Well the end of the
story. Fine, that's the end of the story. But if you sit
there and say, well that's that's a crap question, No it's not.
It's it's a totally short question, sure, completely legitimate question. Yeah,
I remember that I used that photo now, But I'll tell you what man
our next were stretching to, you know, to look down there. It
was down the bench from where we said watch that happen, because we saw
it happen, you know, him coming off the court, and we're like
whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. There's some stuff going on, you
know. It sort of was just relaxed. It was like the no,
no, no, it was a question. Remember we had Sean they said
that you don't coach. You were more relaxed with him, remember, And
it was after that, after that question we had on the show, we
weren't prepared or we were more relaxed, and we told Sean that, well
really they were. I got now, yeah, I mean, look,
there's a lot that goes into it and and and I you know, journalism
is a is a business that I think a lot of people think I can
do that. But there are ways, you know, there are ways to
do things and there it is a craft and and you know they and there's
a lot of it out there now where you see you see you know certain
members of the meeting. You go that that wasn't that wasn't very professional and
and that's not the way this is done, uh or maybe the way they
report things right because they and they say it a certain way or do it
a certain way so that somebody will click on their on their podcast or their
you know, their their you know, their website or whatever, and that
that's the problem right now. And the thing is that guys like you me,
uh, you know, the the journalists in the room get lumped in
with those guys and then and that makes it hard on us. Yeah,
still waiting for our guys. Scott Thompson. I'm texting him. He has
the respond. I hope you can get him the next yeah, next second.
I hope something hasn't you know, hasn't happened. He'd been and he's
a busy man. He said he had been in meetings the last few days.
He found time for us and then now this no, all right,
okay, what's he doing. I don't know. He's probably raising money for
a lot of different or organizations. We were at a at a dinner with
the Boys Club. The Boys Club, there was the burger yea what used
to be the board the burgeran was for the boys Club and him and his
wife had never met. His wife a lovely lady, you know he was.
I only got to cover him the one year, and I really liked
him. He seemed he almost seemed too nice to be. You're going to
say that because he's very forward thinking, very at ease, that is very
calm guy. Calm kind of guy, you know. Uh, in fact
that if I if we get a moment, asked him that question, because
I always say this to you. Uh. In my observations, coaches who
are not tough on players kind of get run over. You have to have
some kind of pain at some point in the neck to be a coach because
the guys will listen to you. You can't be a pushover. You have
to be unafraid to get to get up with a player whether however you do
it and let them know. You know, I'm the coach. I'm the
coach, and you got it. You got to do this right. Let's
see this Ai. You're on the air and eye on the ball. Hell,
this is Scott. We're just talking about you. Let us do this.
Scott wed Hey, you got to run about ten laps. You're late,
but boy, I'm just on my way back from Phoenix. Okay,
Scott, we're about to go to break. Can we call you back in
about six six or seven minutes and then go for about ten minutes from there?
Sure, Okay, let's do that because we have to go to commercial.
We're going to go to commercial right now. It's a it's a it's
a it's a long break, so let's call you back in about maybe about
six minutes. We'll still be in the break, but we'll come right out
of it and then we'll talk for about ten minutes. Sounds good. Okay,
we'll call you right back. Thank you. Yeah, okay, let's
go and go to break right now. We're going to come back. We've
got Scott Thompson on his way back from Phoenix. We'll get him on and
we'll talk a little bit about some of this stuff we've been talking about,
So I'll stick around. If you're an Arizona men's basketball fan, you know
it's been successful for new forty years. Now take a look back at the
Ludolsen era. In my new book, Lessons from Loot. It was a
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it's Steve Rivera and Jake and Zammits. This is I on the Book
on Fox Sports fourteenth. Hey, welcome back to I on the Ball here
on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve, he's Jake. Now we have
former U of A called basketball. This is a coach, Scott Thompson.
How many places did you coach at? I coached at six places? Wow?
I was as a head coach at three and assistant coach at three.
Okay, which ones were more fun? The head coaching for the assistant coaching?
Well, yeah, you know what I enjoyed. I enjoyed every place
that I coached and had some great experiences and so and and loved my experience
here at the u of A and met my wife here got married and and
that's why sons are home. Yeah. Well we sat down together maybe a
couple of weeks ago through through school and I still don't know what you do.
You're kind of like like a Superman or Spider manter kind of a lot
of different things. Well, you know, I coached, you know,
I as a basketball player. I played for Loot at Iowa. I coached
assistant at Notre Dame at Iowa, here at Arizona with lut and then I
went off and was a head coach. But I had about with cancer around
two thousand, same time Bobby Olsen was going through her cancer and I had
about with cancer myself, and fortunately I made it, and Lute asked me
to come down and help him raise money for cancer. So I did that
for about eight years, and then you know, I got I got recruited
by UCLA to the executive director of their cancer foundation, and then I got
recruited by University of flo Or to as their vice president of their university foundation.
And but Rebecca and I just wanted to come back here, so we
came back and I worked in the financial industry and I help people with their
retirement and their finances and stuff like that. So I still love coaching and
that's what I do. I've kind of coached all the way along. I
do love connected with college. I did a lot of work with coaches first
cancer, and so I still stay in touch with a lot of coaches and
love following the college coaching world. Well would you love being in the college
coaching world right now? As it is? With all the things that you
know, We've talked to so many coaches you know who you know are glad
they're not coaching. We're glad they're not right, you know. Then there's
coaches like Tommy Lloyd who are new to it and they go, you know,
they embrace it and they're just cruising along. But man, it's it's
it's certainly a different business. I don't know if you'd call it a tougher
business, but it's certainly a different business right now. You know what it's
It's funny because when it's in your blood, you love coaching, you love
working with young people and love I mean, shoot, my father was a
coach, so I've been kind of that all the way along. The only
thing that's interesting that's different is that I was loose top assistant, And when
I left to take my first head coaching job at Rice, my salary here
at Arizona was forty thousand dollars. Wow. Wow. So what happens is
is that the money is so good right now that that's why coaches coach.
But there's a lot of coaches that aren't super happy with it. I think
it's just a different coaching world than what they was when they got into it.
But I think Tommy Lloyd is a great fit and is really a coach,
a modern coach that we're very fortunate to have here. That's an interesting
way to put that, a modern coach, right, And that's exactly because
we talked about the transition from Sean to to Tommy. Ask him the question
you said to me, And I don't know how you got Scott. We
we were talking about you when we were waiting for you to call. You
know, I only I only covered you for a year because you took the
I think you took the job at Rice. Yes, okay, in the
for the eighty seven eighty eight season, correct, So yes, yes,
yes, I left in eighty seven. Yeah, and I worked with Luda
in the World Championship in eighty six right. So here eighty seven, the
year Steve was uh, Steve Kerr was was out out with Lee and then
Uh and then went to to Rice, which had had nineteen straight losing seasons.
I don't know if it was the best. Well, well, there
there were two things. There were two things. One I think it was
a side conversation because I'm pretty sure I didn't put this in a story.
But Luke said he thought you could have gotten a better job. Did he
say that to you? We had several talks. He did not say no.
But I tried to get Boise State and they wanted head coach. I
tried to get San Diego State, they wanted a head coach. And at
the time, it's the job that came up. And so here I'm facing
Nolan Richardson at Arkansas and five slam a Jama at Houston, and so it
was, you know, it was. But I loved it, and I
coached three different schools and and I loved it, and I had some great
young players, and be sure to be sure, you know, I think
he said in the context of he thought you were a really, really good
coach who deserved a better opportunity. Right then going to a school that had
nineteen straight losing seasons. And he said it that way, not to criticize
you for taking the jobstand but just to say, Scott's a really, really
good coach, and you know he could have gotten a better opportunity. You
know what, it's a hard thing because right before me, ken burmister goes
to San Antonio? Is that? How good a job is that? Ricky
Burt Song, right behind me goes to Detroit? How good a job is
that? So you know what you just did in five years? We won
twenty games, and I did better than anybody for shoot, many many years
before and then since what's kind of humorous is I also had on my bench
at Rice, this type of place that Rice was a fellow who was a
governor of the state of Virginia, Glen Glenn Youngkin was was was a player
on my bench, and if he would have told me he was going to
be governor, I would have played him a whole lot more. Well,
you know they enroll or let a bunch of slackers go to Rice. Exactly.
So let me ask you a question. You are a mild mannered man,
you are a practical man. Uh, how difficult is it to coach
kids who need not have not that so you need to be tough sometimes.
Did you have to find that inside you somewhere, you know, Uh,
back at time, yes, But but kids came thinking they were going to
be there for four years. I don't think that's that's the case anymore.
I think I think, Uh, the coaches that I talked to, so
many of them sit down at the end of the year for their end of
the year meeting, and they and the coach. Here's what the coaches say.
The kid on your your your player will tell you, Hey, coach,
I don't know what I'm going to do right now. I'll get back
to you. Wow. So so that's what we're dealing That's what coaches are
dealing with now because I mean of all the different nil and all that.
But back then, you never had to worry about that, right. So
so it's a different it's a you coach differently. And that's why I say
with Tommy, you know, he's a modern coach. He can deal with
you know, he's come out of you know, he's had that background of
the you know, the hard nosed old school. But he's a modern coach
and he as a coach, you've got to deal with all of that and
and uh, but that's what as a coach you're dealing with now. So
we're talking to Scott Thompson and former assistant coach at Arizona under Loot, also
head coach at Rice, witch Testate and Cornell. Those three places, they
all seem very different to me. How different were they and what kind of
adjustments did you have to make, you know, to be successful at each
of those places. Well, here's the problem. I ended up being successful
at Rice, but I had a poor record, but I did better than
anybody. I mean, I won twenty games, was coach of the Year
and all that. So I go to witch Testate and let me ask you
if if it is familiar, I take the job. And two weeks later
the athletic director resigned, and then two weeks after that, the president resigns.
So what happens is is when you have that there's a lot of transition
going on. It's it you really have to uh stay focused and uh and
and that's and I think you of a athletics is going through that right now.
I think there's good people. I think Desiree is very good and all
that it's just a transition. And I think college sports is going I think
almost every university athletic program is going through changes, right, no question.
Now with the big change happening next this year, actually this coming year,
uh, into the Big twelve, what do you see Arizona's place will be.
I think that we're a natural. I think we've got old whack blood
uh in our in our veins, the Arizona and I think I think it's
going to be a great fit. And I think there's going to be some
great rivalries and some great games and and uh, I think it's going to
be a lot of fun. Yeah. I totally agree. Yeah, totally
agree. Well and with some headaches because obviously Arizona's not Kansas, Uh,
it's not Baylor, it's not Houston. But it can fit in right,
right, you can find a place well. And that's why they say the
whack I mean, remember you know New Mexico, and remember Colorado State and
Air Force and and all those. I mean, that was a heck of
a conference. It was a fun conference, and and yeah it was.
It was a lot of fun. And I think that that will happen.
The only thing is is, like you add in West Virginia, you add
in Central Florida, you know, you add in Cincinnati. These others are
just it's the conference is a little bit different. So but I think everybody
else is a great fit. Let me ask you this because we uh this,
This would come up every every n cua A tournament was about the Pac
twelve being quote unquote soft, not as physical as some of the other leagues.
Then then get into the get into the tournament, and the perception was
that they were getting beat up and not getting used to it. Was that
a thing to you? Did you did you feel that that was actually there
was some truth to that as when you coached in the in the Pac ten
or does it? Is it all of our imagination? You know what?
I think it goes year to year. And I like, again, I
coached in the Big ten and and coached in the you know, all these
the different leagues, and I think it just goes year to year. Sometimes
the Pac ten Pac twelve was rugged and tough, and sometimes it was a
little bit how can I say, not not quite that the Big ten,
you know, had that reputation, but I mean sometimes the packed I'm not
this believer that the Big ten was this rugged, Hey, we're going to
knock you out. Sometimes I think Packed twelve in Pac ten was just as
good, right, right? So I always ask this question of coaches,
I know you fairly well, what do you do to keep those competitive juices
going? Or do you you know what? I enjoy people, and I
enjoy teaching and coaching, and like I said, I work with people.
I coach people toward their retirements and investments and things like that. I'm very
I think there needs to be good leaders out there and good mentors, and
so I talk about that a lot at groups. I get asked to speak
a lot groups and churches and you know, different organizations. But I think
that mentoring. I think our world needs really good mentors out there, and
so I try to do that. And I think people need to do things
that are beyond themselves. And there's a whole lot of anthropies and a whole
lot of things people can have a huge impact. Okay, well you know,
did you you run your laps that you relate today? Sure? Checking,
well, anytime, anytime, and I'll be there next time. But
I enjoy I appreciate being invited, and don't pull a Tom Tolbert and pretend
you ran. Yeah, I remember running Tom out on the track. I
was in charge of well, when we first came, we had me really
in charge of all the different uh prep and game prep, uh all prep,
all those things, and I remember running Tom and all the others out
of fun. Hey, Scott, thanks a bunch. I appreciate it.
Be well anytime. Thank you. Tom. He's always good. He didn't
answer my question. He did not answer my question about this mild manner.
Dude, he did not. You have to you know, he kind of
moved. He did not know that's what this guy's blue. Well, look
at that red tinge. He changes it because you know, you have to
be kind of a painting you do and some and you know what he coached
long enough to for you know that he he had he had it, whatever
it was, he had it. If he had to be, you know,
the tough guy with a player or something like that, he had to
do that. One other thing is to makes them successful, though. Are
the assistants, right, who either or the good or the good guys or
the bad guys. And he was, you know, he was the assistant
here. He helped Luke get this program to where it got to you know,
uh, interesting stuff. Real good. Yeah, I like. And
again another one of those guys. You think it's really cool that he's I
was looking at his bindy. He's from Chicago. He coached all over these
places, yet when the time came to say this is where I'm going to
be, he picked Tucson because that's it's a cool place. We love it
here. Okay, Well, good show today, right, very good show.
Hey, Steve got us a great guest for tomorrow. The two time
Olympian Delaney Schnell will be joining us, so be sure to check in on
that. Let's just hope she lends the ending or lensless. It's uh yeah
whatever today, Scott, you gotta run your last Yeah, exactly. So
we'll we'll hopefully be talking to Delaney channel tomorrow and talk about her second trip
going to Paris this summer, so be sure to come back for that.
Otherwise, we will see you tomorrow. Good show,