Speaker 1: You're listening to Later with Moe Kelly on demand from
Speaker 1: KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 2: Yes Later with Mo Kelly, We are live everywhere on
Speaker 2: the iHeartRadio app Let's go be on the box Score
Speaker 2: with Jackie Ray, who joins me.
Speaker 3: Good evening, Jackie Ray.
Speaker 4: Good evening, Good to be here.
Speaker 2: I saw this story and I forwarded on to you,
Speaker 2: talking about how cal matters wanted to reach out to
Speaker 2: the public universities here in California and get a sense
Speaker 2: of the nil name, image and likeness that Division one athletes,
Speaker 2: the amount of money that they were receiving at these
Speaker 2: various universities, and to make a long story short, not
Speaker 2: only were the universities not forthcoming, there was almost no
Speaker 2: information made available at all. For example, three hundred and
Speaker 2: ninety thousand dollars to Jalen Tyson, a former basketball guard
Speaker 2: at UC Berkeley, a non sports school.
Speaker 3: For the most part, right, I.
Speaker 2: Don't even know who Jalen Tyson is was as a
Speaker 2: basketball player, no disrespect. Three thousand dollars to UCLA gymnast
Speaker 2: and Olympic gold medal winner Jordan Childs. I'm guessing she
Speaker 2: probably got more than three thousand dollars three hundred and
Speaker 2: ninety dollars to Makai May's, a former cal State long
Speaker 2: beach sprinter. Probably not on my radar. I say all
Speaker 2: this to say, if the universities are this not forthcoming
Speaker 2: with the information about NIL deals, I have to imagine
Speaker 2: that Jordan Childs made more than three thousand dollars, is
Speaker 2: Olympic gold medalist and the UCLA gymnast. I have to
Speaker 2: imagine that someone on the UCLA men's basketball team got
Speaker 2: something from an NIL deal.
Speaker 3: What did you make of the non disclosures?
Speaker 5: When I saw Jordan Childs and three thousand dollars, that
Speaker 5: instantly sent up the somebody is lying flag because there's
Speaker 5: just no way, especially you can't win, but two time
Speaker 5: gold medal winner and then she's been in the World Champion,
Speaker 5: she's beautiful. She definitely can promote your brand. I think
Speaker 5: sometimes people forget that's what NIL can do. We're seeing
Speaker 5: a lot of there's an LSU gymnast, forgive me, I
Speaker 5: can't remember her name right now, but there's an ls yes,
Speaker 5: and she's constantly on her Instagram doing a cartwheel and
Speaker 5: somebody's apparel, So she's getting a deal from that.
Speaker 4: Jordan child's is very beautiful.
Speaker 5: She can flip, she's she can do some makeup, so
Speaker 5: there's no way that I'm buying that she didn't have
Speaker 5: any other endorsements. And for you to your point, I
Speaker 5: had to look up Jalen Like and he was drafted
Speaker 5: in the first round to the Cleveland Cavaliers and he's
Speaker 5: doing okay, you know, but that's not the nature of
Speaker 5: NCAA sports right now. We don't really know the guys
Speaker 5: like that, we really because they just they're kind of
Speaker 5: won and done, so it's not a thing. So I
Speaker 5: definitely and shout out to cow Matters because they definitely
Speaker 5: kind of buried the lead in that story. But they
Speaker 5: did they were forthcoming and saying they were not transparent.
Speaker 5: They answered questions, but they were not transparent about the amounts,
Speaker 5: and I'm not sure why that is. You know, in
Speaker 5: my head, I can see there's going to be certain
Speaker 5: sports that are going to do great, you know, men's basketball,
Speaker 5: women's basketball, that's going to do great as far as endorsement,
Speaker 5: and then it's going to trickle down from there. Are
Speaker 5: they trying to protect the kids, maybe not have kids' feelings?
Speaker 4: Get why aren't they forthcoming? This is California.
Speaker 5: This is California then, one of the entertainment capitals of
Speaker 5: the world.
Speaker 4: These kids are making some money off of nil deal.
Speaker 3: And not only that.
Speaker 2: And part of the reason why the nil deals matter
Speaker 2: is because with this what I call open free agency,
Speaker 2: in which the transfer portal, you can have students athletes
Speaker 2: transferring to a different university every single year. You kind
Speaker 2: of know if someone's going to stay at a university,
Speaker 2: it is financially worthwhile for them to stay at a university.
Speaker 2: Don't tell me that Jordan Child's is only worth three
Speaker 2: thousand dollars to the University of California, Los Angeles.
Speaker 3: I'm not buying that.
Speaker 2: So it says to me, if you're not forthcoming over
Speaker 2: something which is legal, right, what we're not talking about,
Speaker 2: you know, the one hundred dollars handshakes. We're talking about
Speaker 2: the stuff that is legal about board And I know
Speaker 2: USC private university. But someone like Caleb Williams, who is
Speaker 2: the number one overall draft pick and Heisman Trophy winner,
Speaker 2: he was making more than two million a year, right,
Speaker 2: I know. These other athletes got to be making hundreds
Speaker 2: of thousands of dollars a year.
Speaker 5: Yeah, and that was the confusing part to me because
Speaker 5: I could almost see if the school was was getting
Speaker 5: their boosters to raise the money. But they could do that,
Speaker 5: that's happened in other schools. I'm like, there's no reason
Speaker 5: to not be forthcoming about how much it only benefits
Speaker 5: your school. If cal Mathers calls you and says how
Speaker 5: much of your kids making and you could say, our
Speaker 5: kids are getting paid over here, that's only going to
Speaker 5: help your stockpile right with other kids looking So I
Speaker 5: have no idea why the transparency didn't happen.
Speaker 2: What this Also, these are just questions which the article
Speaker 2: in cal matter. It's just inspired me. This makes me
Speaker 2: wonder what under the table dealings are going on even still,
Speaker 2: which are outside the boundaries of what is supposed to
Speaker 2: be just you know, open season. As far as paying money.
Speaker 2: You can have boosters paying money. Yes, you're supposed to
Speaker 2: document it, but boosters can do it. You can have
Speaker 2: actual businesses approaching athletes and doing sponsorship deals.
Speaker 3: There's not too much you can't do, right, So what
Speaker 3: is it that you're afraid of?
Speaker 5: And that was my entire thing because at first I
Speaker 5: was like, well, I could see them being fearful and
Speaker 5: saying the boosters. But then I was like, oh again,
Speaker 5: they can do that. So unless to your point, because
Speaker 5: I can't think of an illegal situation when you are
Speaker 5: literally given this free for all to raise money for
Speaker 5: your kids in any way, I can't think of anything.
Speaker 4: Illegal that they would be doing.
Speaker 5: But this, if I was an investigator, this would peauk
Speaker 5: my interest and now I would have to do a
Speaker 5: deep dive into every school that was not transparent because what.
Speaker 4: Are you hiding is tax evasion? Like what is happening?
Speaker 3: See that's a great point.
Speaker 2: That's a great point because if you list that Jordan
Speaker 2: Childs only made three thousand dollars, and I'm assuming that's
Speaker 2: what the university is reporting, that's the logical leap I'm
Speaker 2: going to make. Then Jordan Childs only has to, in
Speaker 2: theory pay taxes on three thousand dollars. But if all
Speaker 2: this is not above board and you have athletes like
Speaker 2: a Caleb Williams, I'm not trying to sully his name.
Speaker 2: I'm just saying someone who we all kind of know
Speaker 2: from southern California made millions of dollars in college and
Speaker 2: they're not paying taxes on that money or it's not
Speaker 2: being declared to the university.
Speaker 3: Yes, then you have a different type of problem, And that.
Speaker 2: Would make more sense than not being forthright, because evidently
Speaker 2: they're telling the university saying one thing to the irs,
Speaker 2: and obviously the general public knows better.
Speaker 5: Right and listen, I would tell the universities to be
Speaker 5: very careful, tread very lightly, because there's going to be
Speaker 5: that one kid that has parents like mine, and the
Speaker 5: university is telling them, hey, you only made three thousand
Speaker 5: when you know you made one point five million.
Speaker 4: Meanwhile, my mom and dad are over.
Speaker 5: My soldier saying, don't you let them tell that lie
Speaker 5: on you. You better file this right before the government
Speaker 5: comes and gets you, right, and that's just going to
Speaker 5: expose you. So if that's what's happening, which is the
Speaker 5: only thing I could think of, that is going to
Speaker 5: get really muddy very quickly.
Speaker 2: When we come back, I have to talk about my
Speaker 2: favorite player in not just college basketball, women's college basketball,
Speaker 2: but college basketball more broadly. Juju Watkins still is a thriller.
Speaker 2: Over the weekend between USC and UCLA. UCLA women came
Speaker 2: out on top after coming from behind, but I think
Speaker 2: it makes it even better for the tournament. You have
Speaker 2: two teams from Southern California, probably both being number one
Speaker 2: seeds probably, and then you have just the rivalry renewed
Speaker 2: in Southern California which is going to hit the Nationals stage. Now,
Speaker 2: got to talk about that when we come back. It's
Speaker 2: Later with mo Kelly, Beyond the box Score with Jackie Ray.
Speaker 1: You're listening to Later with Moe Kelly on demand from
Speaker 1: KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 3: It is Later with Mo Kelly.
Speaker 2: We are live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app as we
Speaker 2: continue to go Beyond the box Score with our regular
Speaker 2: commentator Jackie Ray. Jackie Ray, I know, I know that
Speaker 2: you saw that game between USC and UCLA for the
Speaker 2: Big Ten Championship, which was kind of ironic because this
Speaker 2: is the first year that both USC and UCLA played
Speaker 2: in the Big Ten and none of the heritage legacy
Speaker 2: Big Ten teams were in the championship UCLA and USC,
Speaker 2: and UCLA came out on top. Let me recap very quickly.
Speaker 2: This is the third time they've met this season. USC
Speaker 2: won the first two USC blew out UCLA in the
Speaker 2: second matchup. USC was leading handily in this third matchup
Speaker 2: but couldn't make a shot in the fourth courter, and
Speaker 2: UCLA came back.
Speaker 3: I think it sets the stage for a.
Speaker 2: Thrilling yes tournament where both of them could be number
Speaker 2: one seeds.
Speaker 5: What do you think I have to admit them? When
Speaker 5: they went up by like thirteen points, and they were
Speaker 5: up by thirteen points for a while, I kind of
Speaker 5: stopped paying so much attention. You know, you hear the
Speaker 5: commentators and you know when to look up.
Speaker 4: But then all of a sudden, I was like, Okay,
Speaker 4: they haven't scored in a minute. What is happening?
Speaker 5: And then the bottom fell out and this is exactly
Speaker 5: what you love. When I first moved to California, one
Speaker 5: of the things people asked me there was like, hey,
Speaker 5: do you go to see women's basketball? Because they knew
Speaker 5: I was into hoops and stuff. And I was like, yeah,
Speaker 5: I go to UCLA all the time, depending who I
Speaker 5: would say that to. If I said it to somebody
Speaker 5: from USC they would clutch their pearls and gasp right away,
Speaker 5: like how dare you?
Speaker 4: How dare you? Lady? I don't even know you, but
Speaker 4: you know.
Speaker 5: It was just one of those things that that rivalry
Speaker 5: was not only good for the fan base, it was
Speaker 5: good for the ticket sales. It makes basketball fun. And
Speaker 5: now you throw Juju in there, and Juju is an
Speaker 5: entity in herself just to go see her specifically, but
Speaker 5: this renewed rivalry and everyone is still talking about that game,
Speaker 5: wondering what happened in the fourth quarter, how did they
Speaker 5: go score? You know, there was all these things. And
Speaker 5: I love this for the women's game, because the women's
Speaker 5: game we have a very I gush about it sometime
Speaker 5: because we get to know these players. These players are
Speaker 5: not one and done. We get to watch their careers evolve,
Speaker 5: and so that makes us a fan of that player,
Speaker 5: a fan of that school, and so it really builds
Speaker 5: up the fan base. This is fantastic. I cannot wait
Speaker 5: for this next move for them.
Speaker 2: Speaking of players and storylines and four year careers, Juju
Speaker 2: Watkins did surpass Kaitlyn Clark on the list of most
Speaker 2: points scored in the first two seasons of a player's
Speaker 2: college career in women's basketball. Now, point of clarity, Kaitlyn
Speaker 2: Clark really upped her game scoring wise in the final
Speaker 2: two years of her career, but Juju Watkins is on
Speaker 2: pace at this point to exceed and surpass Caitlyn Clark
Speaker 2: for the all time leading scorer.
Speaker 3: I wonder if Juju's gonna stay four years.
Speaker 5: Man, listen, I will tell you this when she comes
Speaker 5: to the La Sparks game, if anybody's putting a bug
Speaker 5: in her ear, it is to come on, come on,
Speaker 5: come on over here. You see how we're investing. Now,
Speaker 5: let me just put it on record. La Sparks have
Speaker 5: been a dumpster fire since for a while, even when
Speaker 5: Candas Parker was here, as far as the investment in
Speaker 5: players and making sure that they have a place to
Speaker 5: work out, gyms and things of that nature. But the
Speaker 5: times have changed, and I think we can really really
Speaker 5: give that to the Aces because the Aces kind of
Speaker 5: set the tone of giving a practice facility, their own arena,
Speaker 5: things of that nature, and then other teams took notice,
Speaker 5: and so now the La Sparks have to keep up.
Speaker 5: And so they are literally creating a market where it's
Speaker 5: not only good for the player, it's good for the fans,
Speaker 5: and it's going to attract young people. So I can
Speaker 5: tell you I've seen her on the sideline a couple
Speaker 5: of times, and I have seen some people, Hey, like
Speaker 5: how you liking it?
Speaker 4: Like you know you wouldn't just here in LA. So
Speaker 4: I don't know how that would work.
Speaker 5: With the draft because if they do decent, obviously they
Speaker 5: won't be in contention for that. But I know, and
Speaker 5: I'm sure the Sparks are not the only team in
Speaker 5: the WNBA that have said, hey, Juju, how you doing?
Speaker 4: Like you want to come see how we're doing over here.
Speaker 2: Look, I will say this, and I'm a student of
Speaker 2: basketball history, there are times where you can look at
Speaker 2: someone and see that they are a generational talent. Caitlyn
Speaker 2: Clark generational talent. What I mean is you only see
Speaker 2: one or two every generation. Juju Watkins is another generational talent.
Speaker 2: This might be No, I know, this is the beginning
Speaker 2: of the golden age of the WNBA. If you know
Speaker 2: history and you know the evolution of the NBA, this
Speaker 2: is it. And here's what I mean. Let's say three
Speaker 2: years from now, you will have an Angel Reece, Caitlin Clark,
Speaker 2: Paige Becker's, Juju Watkins, and five other names that the
Speaker 2: general public doesn't really know about yet who will be
Speaker 2: stars in the NBA. And the fact that everyone knows
Speaker 2: that they will all be household names, not w NBA names.
Speaker 3: Household names.
Speaker 2: You go to see a fundamental change in the perception
Speaker 2: of the w NBA and I cannot wait. And a
Speaker 2: large part of that is going to be Juju Watkins.
Speaker 2: Hear me out, And this is why Angel Reese is
Speaker 2: a forward. She's not really in direct competition with Caitlin
Speaker 2: Clark as a guard. Juju Watkins is guard who can play.
Speaker 5: Say that again for people who don't understand this comparison
Speaker 5: between Kitlin Clark and Angel Reese's a but go ahead.
Speaker 2: I'm just saying Juju Watkins is the more comparable comparison,
Speaker 2: even though Juju can play guard and forward. When you
Speaker 2: have Juju Watkins possibly d ing up Caitlin Clark or
Speaker 2: Paige Becker's okay, that's going to be scintillating. You don't
Speaker 2: have that wonder one face off between angew Reese and
Speaker 2: Caitlin Clark. They're only tied together because they came up together.
Speaker 2: They played against each other in the National Championship, but
Speaker 2: they're not really playing against each other. Juju and Caitlyn
Speaker 2: could face off for ten years in a row.
Speaker 5: Yeah, And I'm gonna tell you right now, like you said,
Speaker 5: respect to Caitlyn Clark, Shout out to Kelsey Mitchell too, though,
Speaker 5: because she always gets overlooking Mets and she set that
Speaker 5: record for the two years, long time ago. I don't
Speaker 5: see anybody breaking it anytime soon, so shout out to her.
Speaker 5: But to your point, this is what we want, This
Speaker 5: is what we want to see. Juju is going to
Speaker 5: be locked in with everybody that she plays against in
Speaker 5: the league. She's already got the State Farm commercials, so
Speaker 5: we're already getting used to seeing her face and advertising.
Speaker 5: She's also gorgeous, she shows up at events. She does
Speaker 5: everything right now as a college basketball player that you
Speaker 5: want your star or the face of your league to
Speaker 5: do once they make it to the pros. So she's
Speaker 5: not gonna have the learning curve or getting all the attention,
Speaker 5: which I think both Angel and Caitlyn kind of struggled
Speaker 5: with their first season. It was very negative. So hopefully
Speaker 5: we've remedied that and we can all move forward talk
Speaker 5: about basketball. But I think that for Juju, she kind
Speaker 5: of got to watch that from Afar and she already
Speaker 5: knows how she's gonna deal with that if that happens
Speaker 5: to her, So she's going to be seamless. In my opinion,
Speaker 5: and every rookie struggles first couple of games, no problem,
Speaker 5: even the first season, no problem. But I just think
Speaker 5: her learning curve is going to be so exponentially lower
Speaker 5: than most rookies just because of her basketball IQ, the
Speaker 5: way that she sees the floor, how comparable she is
Speaker 5: two players right now in the league. I think her
Speaker 5: learning curve is going to be very, very low, and
Speaker 5: she's going to come out the gate transforming teams.
Speaker 2: Assuming Juju Watkins does not come out this year. Is
Speaker 2: Page Becker's number one pick?
Speaker 6: Oh? Absolutely, okay, to make sure, Yeah, absolutely, I would
Speaker 6: actually encourage Juju not to come out this year, kind
Speaker 6: of let Page do her thing, keep building her star power,
Speaker 6: and then just blow up the spot when she comes out.
Speaker 5: So if I was close to Juju, I would tell
Speaker 5: her for sure to stay for another year.
Speaker 2: I hope she does, and I think she will. But
Speaker 2: you know, the money's gonna start getting good in the WNBA.
Speaker 3: It is, it is, but.
Speaker 5: But she, you know what, with her endorsement, she's still
Speaker 5: gonna make more than her WNBA contract in college. So
Speaker 5: it's there's nothing hurting you to stay another year. And
Speaker 5: as the NBA has shown us this one and done
Speaker 5: is kind of starting to dumb down the league. Go
Speaker 5: in there and get that extra experience so you can
Speaker 5: come out all guns blazing when you get to the
Speaker 5: w Stay that extra year.
Speaker 4: Jackie Ray always good to talk to you, Great to
Speaker 4: talk to you as well.
Speaker 2: It's Later with Mo Kelly CAFI AM six forty. We
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Speaker 1: You're listening to Later with Moe Kelly on demand from
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