Speaker 1: Happy Saint Patrick's Day to you. Happy Monday to you.
Speaker 1: Hopefully you had a fantastic weekend and we have a
Speaker 1: jam packed Monday show for you on a historic day
Speaker 1: at the John M. Huntsman Center here on the campus
Speaker 1: in the University of Utah. We are preparing for tonight's
Speaker 1: introductory press conference where Alex Jensen will be officially introduced
Speaker 1: as a seventeenth head coach in the history of the
Speaker 1: Utah men's basketball program. So a lot of the show
Speaker 1: today we'll be focusing on what hopefully is the beginning
Speaker 1: of a very special time for Utah fans and fans
Speaker 1: of Utah basketball that have been eager to see this
Speaker 1: program restored to its rightful.
Speaker 2: Place among the elites in the country.
Speaker 1: So we'll talk about it on the program today. We
Speaker 1: got a lot to do on a Monday afternoon. A
Speaker 1: good guest list for you guys. Of course, it is
Speaker 1: the madness of March. We're flying blind a little bit
Speaker 1: today to start off the show. I've got no internet access,
Speaker 1: so bear with me. So it is the IDEs of March,
Speaker 1: the madness of marches upon us.
Speaker 2: Bring them young. Diversity knows their seed, they know their destination.
Speaker 1: They know their opponent, as does Utah State, and for
Speaker 1: the fourth time in four years, the Utah women are dancing.
Speaker 1: They're going to the NCAA Tournament where they will see
Speaker 1: Indiana in round one and should they advance past Indiana
Speaker 1: during round one, they will play the defending national champs
Speaker 1: Don Staley and South Carolina.
Speaker 2: So, of course a lot of college.
Speaker 1: Hoops as it is Saint Patrick's Day, it is March Madness,
Speaker 1: so we'll get to all the matchups. We'll break them
Speaker 1: all down, let you know kind of what you can
Speaker 1: watch for. We have our station NCUBA March Badness Bracket Challenge,
Speaker 1: as we do every year. Would encourage you to go
Speaker 1: to ESPN seven hundred sports dot com to register and
Speaker 1: then play along against us on the station. We have
Speaker 1: some fun surprise celebrity guests that will be filling out
Speaker 1: brackets this year as well. You can play against some
Speaker 1: of our NBA Daily Assist guys like Tim McMahon and
Speaker 1: Dave mcminnimon and others, and you have a chance to
Speaker 1: win some cash. So we'll tell you exactly how you're
Speaker 1: able to do that on the program today. As Alonzo
Speaker 1: is making miracles happen per usual, we are online, we
Speaker 1: are ready to go give you some bracket tips. I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna fill out my brack until Thursday because the
Speaker 1: tournament doesn't start until Thursday.
Speaker 2: We'll get porters take on that later on the program.
Speaker 1: But college basketball on the show today, we'll do a
Speaker 1: little Utah Jazz and the NBA. The worst team in
Speaker 1: the NBA plays its basketball in saalwt Lake City. The
Speaker 1: Utah Jazz officially have the worst record in the NBA.
Speaker 1: The Washington Wizard's on a sparkling two game winning streak,
Speaker 1: and the Jazz are now fifteen and fifty three, high
Speaker 1: speed ahead to hopefully a little lottery luck, a little
Speaker 1: lady lottery luck, the likes of which we have never
Speaker 1: had here in saw Lake City. So the latest on
Speaker 1: the Jazz, the latest on the landscape of the NBA.
Speaker 2: Is this the year of Rory McElroy.
Speaker 1: On the PGA Tour, Rory McElroy beats JJ Spond in
Speaker 1: the playoff this morning, actually after it was delayed, to
Speaker 1: win his second Players Championship. Rory is the fourth golf
Speaker 1: for all time to have both multiple players titles and
Speaker 1: multiple major championships. He's the eighth golfer all time to
Speaker 1: win this tournament multiple times. So little golf on the
Speaker 1: show today, As most people believe, the Players Championship the
Speaker 1: fifth Major as it's known, and maybe eventually a major
Speaker 1: championship of its own, but only time will tell.
Speaker 2: The latest in pro football.
Speaker 1: The Cincinnati Bengals locked in both of their wide receivers
Speaker 1: Jamar Hase, Jamar Chase, excuse me, t Higgins have both
Speaker 1: been extended. Now all eyes on Trey Hendrickson. Some local
Speaker 1: players making some moves last week, namely Cody Barton, namely
Speaker 1: Zach Wilson. Some other players like Bobby Wagner stay in
Speaker 1: pat So the latest in the landscape of the offseason
Speaker 1: in professional football on the program as well. We'll keep
Speaker 1: you updated on any news that comes our way. The
Speaker 1: Utah Hockey Club with one of their biggest wins of
Speaker 1: the season on the road, taking on Vancouver, getting a
Speaker 1: good three to one win there, and they are right
Speaker 1: in the mix.
Speaker 2: I hate to be that guy. It's gonna be tough.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure that I'm predicting a playoff opportunity for
Speaker 1: the Utah Hockey Club, but we'll see.
Speaker 2: They're right there.
Speaker 1: They're in the fight and they are gonna take on
Speaker 1: Edmonton in Alberta coming up tomorrow. So little hockey of
Speaker 1: course as well as the playoffs are right around the corner.
Speaker 1: Jam Pack sports weekend behind us Whereyal saw Lake was
Speaker 1: able to go down to Houston and get a win,
Speaker 1: which they rarely do, so may be answering some questions.
Speaker 1: Houston off to a pretty poor start, but RSL able
Speaker 1: to get that win over the weekend, So a lot
Speaker 1: to do on the program today, Great Tommy year, love
Speaker 1: this time of year.
Speaker 2: High high speed ahead to the Masters.
Speaker 1: We are high speed ahead to the stretch run of
Speaker 1: the NBA playoffs, but of course the madness of March.
Speaker 2: We'll give you some tips to fill out your brackets.
Speaker 1: Help you out this week on the Program Live today
Speaker 1: from the John M. Huntsman Center on the campus of
Speaker 1: the University of Utah.
Speaker 2: In a beautiful March day. It's about sixty.
Speaker 1: Degrees, a little blue, windy, but a little sunshine on
Speaker 1: a Monday afternoon.
Speaker 2: After a pretty chilly weekend.
Speaker 1: We've got a pretty temperate week ahead. It's March in Utah.
Speaker 1: You don't like the weather, just go ahead and wait
Speaker 1: fifteen minutes. But a beautiful day to day to get
Speaker 1: you through the start of your week.
Speaker 2: All right.
Speaker 1: Our first guest on a Monday afternoon, Josh Furlong, covers
Speaker 1: the University of Utah for KSL get Josh's take on
Speaker 1: what hopefully is the beginning of a really fun run
Speaker 1: for Utah basketball and certainly a historic day as Alex
Speaker 1: Jensen gets set to be introduced as the seventeenth head
Speaker 1: coach in Utah men's basketball history. We'll move over to
Speaker 1: Roxy Bernstein, who called a grip of Big twelve championship
Speaker 1: games in the tournament. Roxy has been in this building
Speaker 1: several times calling youth games, so we'll get the landscape
Speaker 1: of college basketball with Roxy Bernstein. Head coach of the
Speaker 1: Utah women's basketball program, Gavin Peterson will join us live
Speaker 1: on site today as the Utah women are in the
Speaker 1: NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in four years as
Speaker 1: a ninth excuse me as an eight seed taken on
Speaker 1: the nine seed Indiana, and as I referenced earlier, should
Speaker 1: they win, they're going to take on Don Stalley in
Speaker 1: South Carolina, a powerhouse women's basketball program, and then from there,
Speaker 1: we're a little bit fluid with guests that may stop
Speaker 1: by that may not stop by, that may join us
Speaker 1: on the phone, that may not. But right now we
Speaker 1: have Josh for Long, we have Roxy Bernstein, we have
Speaker 1: Gavin Peterson. There are a bunch of you alums. They're
Speaker 1: going to be making their way inside the building. Maybe
Speaker 1: will convince some of them to stop buy on the program.
Speaker 1: You never know a little surprise element of the show.
Speaker 1: On a Monday me Spence checkets all of you the
Speaker 1: great listeners, Happy Monday.
Speaker 2: I hope you had a great weekend.
Speaker 1: And Porter Larson, who understands without any debate, that the
Speaker 1: NCAA Tournament begins on Thursday afternoon.
Speaker 2: Hello, Porter, how are you.
Speaker 3: I'm doing well, Spencer, I'm doing very well.
Speaker 2: Well. Don't do it. I know you're considering it. Don't
Speaker 2: do it. The tournament starts on Thursday, and you know
Speaker 2: it does.
Speaker 3: Listen, this is your show. You make the rules. Two
Speaker 3: to six live, no exceptions, every weekday. But the postseason
Speaker 3: does start tomorrow. I don't know what you want to delineate.
Speaker 1: That's fine, that's fine, that's fine. I don't I don't
Speaker 1: give a rip. Sure, but the nc Double A Tournament
Speaker 1: starts on Thursday, when the field of sixty four is set.
Speaker 2: Okay, okay, you understand that, right.
Speaker 3: I get what you're saying. But but the two teams
Speaker 3: that will play, the one will win in advance and
Speaker 3: the other one will lose and go home.
Speaker 2: It right, feels tournaments? And what do they advance and
Speaker 2: what do they advance to the.
Speaker 3: Next round, which they call actually the second round of the.
Speaker 2: Turn they advance to the NC double A tournament starts
Speaker 2: on Thursday. You do this every year.
Speaker 1: You do this every year, and you just you need
Speaker 1: to understand that you're on an island alone. This is
Speaker 1: this is your sports equivalent of pineapple on pizza, and
Speaker 1: pineapple does not belong on pizza unless you're a socialist.
Speaker 2: We've been over this.
Speaker 3: Well, I guess those are are two hills that I
Speaker 3: am I'm kind of willing to plant my flag on.
Speaker 3: But hey, to each their own teach night.
Speaker 1: Fair enough, they're fair enough, Porter Larson, producing the program today,
Speaker 1: back at our Broadway Media studios. All right, our first guest,
Speaker 1: right out of the gates, Josh Furlong, covers the University
Speaker 1: of Utah for ksl. But before we get to Josh,
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Speaker 1: it is a historic day here at the John M.
Speaker 1: Huntsman Center, as Alex Jensen is said to be introduced
Speaker 1: as the seventeenth head coach in Utah men's basketball history.
Speaker 2: So stay tuned for that.
Speaker 1: It's gonna get rolling about six o'clock right after we
Speaker 1: say good night on this program. I'm not exactly sure
Speaker 1: who's going to speak. Our guy Ryles will mce the
Speaker 1: event the voice.
Speaker 2: Of the Utes.
Speaker 1: Then a couple of seats in front of the dais
Speaker 1: where I'm at right now. Send out a couple of
Speaker 1: pitchers on the Instagram page if you're interested. So my
Speaker 1: guess is those seats will be filled by Alex Jensen obviously,
Speaker 1: and Mark Carlin would be my guest, So we'll see
Speaker 1: if we can can grab any of the guests. They
Speaker 1: are here today as we are broadcasting up until about
Speaker 1: six o'clock tonight.
Speaker 2: I've already seen a lot of former youths.
Speaker 1: I imagine we're going to see a lot of those
Speaker 1: youths from the Heyday era in the nineties, you know,
Speaker 1: Josh Grant, Jimmy Sota. I'm sure we'll see the Johnson brothers.
Speaker 1: Hopefully Andre Miller. Will we get an Andre Miller siding?
Speaker 1: There continues to be rumor swirling that as Alex Jensen
Speaker 1: approaches the task of filling out his staff, Andre Miller
Speaker 1: certainly is an option to sit next to him, potentially
Speaker 1: as the lead assistant. Now, I don't know what Alex's
Speaker 1: staff is going to look like. I do push back
Speaker 1: on the narrative that has to be all you guys right. Obviously,
Speaker 1: Mark Harlan's approach to this decision was a little bit
Speaker 1: of a far cry from the way he approached the
Speaker 1: higher that landed him on Craig Smith and I talked
Speaker 1: about this with Sean a little bit during cross talk. Ultimately,
Speaker 1: after the book on Alex Jensen has written as the
Speaker 1: Utah Head coach today will not be remembered the same
Speaker 1: way that you know. Game will be remembered, and hopefully
Speaker 1: wins will be remembered, and hopefully tournament runs and appearances
Speaker 1: will be remembered.
Speaker 2: But I feel like this is a little bit of.
Speaker 1: A shot of adrenaline in the arm of a basketball
Speaker 1: community that more or less has been dormant for about
Speaker 1: twenty years if we're honest. Okay, so today feels like
Speaker 1: that it will be a press conference that is won.
Speaker 1: And while I don't usually give a rip about any
Speaker 1: of that, see Nick Sirianni's opening presser as the Eagles
Speaker 1: head coach, and they just won the Super Bowl. I'm
Speaker 1: told that a lot of deposits have been put down
Speaker 1: for season tickets next year. I'm told there's a tremendous
Speaker 1: amount of excitement within the athletic department. And from my
Speaker 1: vantage point, whatever part of this ecosystem you exist in,
Speaker 1: and chances are if you're listening to this show, you're
Speaker 1: probably a youute fan of some sort. Maybe you're a
Speaker 1: season ticket older, maybe you're a donor, maybe you're a booster,
Speaker 1: Maybe you're a current student, maybe you're a former student.
Speaker 1: Maybe you're just part of the community, whether you played
Speaker 1: for the school, whether you're in the athletic apartment, whether
Speaker 1: you're a lum, a current student, or if you just
Speaker 1: cover the team like I do.
Speaker 2: This seems to be mostly.
Speaker 1: Consistently received as a big win right away, and for
Speaker 1: a team that hasn't played in front of jam pack
Speaker 1: crowds consistently for a number of years and a community
Speaker 1: that for whatever reason has just been disinterested in Utah basketball,
Speaker 1: it feels like at daylight today is a good step
Speaker 1: in the right direction. And obviously the hope is as
Speaker 1: we move forward, Alex is either able to retain some
Speaker 1: of the talent on the roster or go throughout his
Speaker 1: business in the transfer portal.
Speaker 2: He's going to have to re recruit some kids that
Speaker 2: were looking to come here.
Speaker 1: Anyway, Can Alex capitalize on some of the in state
Speaker 1: talent that is really really good during the next couple
Speaker 1: of years to motivate them to play basketball for the
Speaker 1: University of Utah instead of the other myriad of options
Speaker 1: that they have at their disposal, namely a program right
Speaker 1: now in Provo and BYU that really has a ticket
Speaker 1: and has tremendous support from there. I think it's the
Speaker 1: Royal Blue Collective, where I've been told they have nine
Speaker 1: seven figure donors ready to step up and pay coaches
Speaker 1: and pay players, and we're already seeing that mostly with.
Speaker 2: Their basketball program.
Speaker 1: The football program, ironically enough, is apparently not receiving the
Speaker 1: same support the basketball program is.
Speaker 2: But you know, BYU with the number one recruit in
Speaker 2: the country.
Speaker 1: Next year in Ajdabantsa, they're an NCAA tournament team as
Speaker 1: a six seed taking on VCU. They've got a couple
Speaker 1: of one lottery pick and maybe a first round pick
Speaker 1: in the Canon Catchings Kid reportedly you're making seven figures.
Speaker 1: Alex is going to need that same financial support from
Speaker 1: the Crimson Collective. And I would imagine that every single
Speaker 1: question Alex had was answered the right way, because he
Speaker 1: wouldn't have taken the job. As I continue to say,
Speaker 1: no matter who Mark Carlin was talking to, no matter
Speaker 1: who his targets were, I guarantee every single one of
Speaker 1: those targets asked Mark the same line of questions, what's
Speaker 1: the economic stability of my program right now? What is
Speaker 1: the financial infrastructure of not the athletic department, of what
Speaker 1: you have allocated for basketball? We know that this is
Speaker 1: a football school. We know what coach Win has done
Speaker 1: for Utah football. We know that basically end of Ron
Speaker 1: McBride of course into Urban Meyer and then obviously.
Speaker 2: Pac twelve coach.
Speaker 1: This is now a community that latches onto the football
Speaker 1: program in a way that you just don't on the
Speaker 1: basketball program for now.
Speaker 2: And that's fine.
Speaker 1: I mean, ultimately, when it comes to the reality of
Speaker 1: collegiate athletics, if you had your brothers, you want your
Speaker 1: football program receiving the same amount of commitment, loyalty, and
Speaker 1: interest that Utah football receives, even coming off the down year.
Speaker 2: But you don't have to be one or the other.
Speaker 2: I mean, just look at the NCAA Tournament.
Speaker 1: Some of the teams that are high seeds and really
Speaker 1: good Alabama, Tennessee, Florida.
Speaker 2: I could keep going.
Speaker 1: There are several schools in a country that have robust
Speaker 1: football and basketball programs, and that should be the goal
Speaker 1: and obviously is the goal of Mark Harland and his
Speaker 1: staff here the ethletic department, making sure that basketball receives
Speaker 1: the same level of commitment, loyalty, interest and passion that
Speaker 1: the football program does. Now it's going to be on
Speaker 1: alex and his coaching staff and his players to provide
Speaker 1: the same type of consistent product and excitement competing for trophies.
Speaker 2: The way the football program has and not just to
Speaker 2: one off.
Speaker 1: You gotta do it consistently the way Kyle did for
Speaker 1: a number of different years, and I have confidence he'll
Speaker 1: continue to starting next year.
Speaker 2: So we're live today. Excuse me, we're live today at
Speaker 2: the John M. Huntsman Center.
Speaker 1: Still fighting a little bit of what I was fighting
Speaker 1: last week, but feeling much much better. And let me repeat,
Speaker 1: if last week was the first time you listened to
Speaker 1: the show, please give us another chance. I heard a
Speaker 1: couple of the interviews I did played back, and I
Speaker 1: sounded like I was dying.
Speaker 2: I wasn't dying. I just had a little throat thing.
Speaker 1: So apologies for the rough week last week, but we
Speaker 1: are off and running on a Monday afternoon, Live today
Speaker 1: at the John M. Huntsman Center on the beautiful campus
Speaker 1: of the University of Utah.
Speaker 3: The field is set for March Madness. Six Seed BYU
Speaker 3: takes on eleven Seed VCU on Thursday. The Cougars one
Speaker 3: of seven Big Twelve teams to make the Big Dance.
Speaker 3: First four play in games tip off tomorrow, and while
Speaker 3: the Utes won't be involved, they will be playing postseason
Speaker 3: basketball as they have accepted an invite to the inaugural
Speaker 3: College Basketball Crown in Las Vegas. Utah tips off against
Speaker 3: Butler two weeks from today, but first an intro to
Speaker 3: Alex Jensen, the former youths great pro hooper and longtime
Speaker 3: NBA assisted with announced as the program's seventeen head coach,
Speaker 3: and tonight he's officially sworn in. If you can't make
Speaker 3: it to the Huntsman Center, you can hear it right
Speaker 3: here at the conclusion of the drive. On the women's side,
Speaker 3: Utah is going dancing. The eight seed Utes take on
Speaker 3: nine seed Indiana Friday at eleven thirty. Each of Gavin
Speaker 3: Peterson and Utah's tournament games will live right here on
Speaker 3: ESPN seven hundred. Coming off a weekend lost to the Timberwolves,
Speaker 3: the Jazz are back in action tonight against Chicago. kJ
Speaker 3: Martin and Jaden Springer remain out for the Jazz while
Speaker 3: multiple starters are game time decisions. Utah currently last place
Speaker 3: in the NBA at fifteen and fifty three. They tip
Speaker 3: off at the Delta Center at seven. Utah Hockey Club
Speaker 3: picked up a big win last night three one on
Speaker 3: the road over Vancouver. As the NHL postseason push heats up,
Speaker 3: Utah now sits just two points behind the Conducks in
Speaker 3: the wild Card. UHC now heads to Edmonton for a
Speaker 3: matchup with the Oilers tomorrow at seven on ESPN I
Speaker 3: Importer Larson and this segment of the Drive it's brought
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Speaker 1: We are live today inside the historic John M. Huntsman
Speaker 1: Center for a historic day not to be redundant. Alex
Speaker 1: Jensen said to be introduced tonight about six o'clock Mountain
Speaker 1: time as the seventeenth head coach in Utah men's basketball history.
Speaker 1: Our next guest covers the youths for our friends over
Speaker 1: at Chaos. My guy Josh Furlong on a Monday afternoon. Josh,
Speaker 1: Happy Monday, buddy.
Speaker 2: How are we doing. I'm well, I'm well. I appreciate
Speaker 2: the time.
Speaker 1: So we were talking about this to start the show,
Speaker 1: and it seems to me and obviously I want to
Speaker 1: get your take here, no matter where you are in
Speaker 1: the eco system of Utah Athletics, if you are part
Speaker 1: of the department, if you played for Utah basketball, if
Speaker 1: you're a donor, if you're season ticket older, if you're
Speaker 1: a booster, if you're a student, if you're an alum,
Speaker 1: or if you cover the program like we do.
Speaker 5: Uh.
Speaker 1: I haven't heard any pushback on Mark Harlan's decision to
Speaker 1: bring in this you legend Alex Jensen, who will be
Speaker 1: introduced tonight, Does it feel the same way to you
Speaker 1: that this has just kind of been summarily and a
Speaker 1: consensus that this feels like the right move.
Speaker 6: Yeah?
Speaker 7: Absolutely, I mean I think this this feels like there's
Speaker 7: there's a lot of excitement being brought into the program.
Speaker 7: A lot of people are are feeling really you know, rejuvenated.
Speaker 7: But it's funny, as you were saying that, you know,
Speaker 7: you're mentioning, you know, some of these students the reality
Speaker 7: is these students weren't even born when Alex Jensen was playing, and.
Speaker 8: That hurts my heart.
Speaker 7: But like it's it's crazy that like just how how
Speaker 7: success can kind of carry forward, right you can see
Speaker 7: from these these days whereas it's like, okay, the glory
Speaker 7: days of Utah basketball, whatever that may be, and I.
Speaker 6: Think anybody wants to kind of relive that.
Speaker 7: And so, you know, if you're a student, you may
Speaker 7: not know who Alex Jensen is from a player, but
Speaker 7: you understand, you know why he would be important, and
Speaker 7: I think that gets you excited. And so even though
Speaker 7: as a student, you know you may not understand the
Speaker 7: full ramification of what this could mean, you know, there's
Speaker 7: there's a lot of opportunity to be able to say, Okay, look,
Speaker 7: Utah's doing the right thing. You know, obviously we all
Speaker 7: model that, you know, Alex Jensen just because he's Alex
Speaker 7: Jenson doesn't mean that he's going to be a successful coach.
Speaker 7: I think obviously based on what we've seen as an
Speaker 7: assistant coach in the NBA and kind of the stories
Speaker 7: that we've heard from the different people that he's interacted with,
Speaker 7: that he can be a great coach. But at the
Speaker 7: end of the day, you know, this is going to
Speaker 7: be one of those things that we have to kind
Speaker 7: of figure out and see it as it develops. But
Speaker 7: I think everybody feels really excited about that, and at
Speaker 7: this point in kind of where we're at, that's what
Speaker 7: you need, right You need the excitement, you need the
Speaker 7: money to flow into the program, you need those opportunities
Speaker 7: to become available because you know, for years ago people
Speaker 7: were excited about Craig Smith, but it wasn't to that
Speaker 7: same level, and so you've got to be able to
Speaker 7: have that money come in. You've got to be able
Speaker 7: to have that excitement come in and get people doing that.
Speaker 7: And that starts, honestly tonight by having the people be
Speaker 7: involved with the introductory press conference.
Speaker 1: So of course, the next question, Josh is where are
Speaker 1: we at in the process of Alex filling out his staff?
Speaker 1: And you know, it's funny you bring up the current
Speaker 1: youth students not even being alive when Alex was playing
Speaker 1: here and maybe the majority of not even really knowing.
Speaker 2: Who he is.
Speaker 1: And I'm sure these same students don't remember the days
Speaker 1: where you had like two assistant coaches and maybe one trainer. Well,
Speaker 1: now they're like eight assistant coaches, strength and conditioning, nutrition.
Speaker 2: And there are a lot of hires to make.
Speaker 1: This is not like grab Andre and one other coach
Speaker 1: and let's go like this is going to be a
Speaker 1: staff that will take some time to fill out.
Speaker 9: Excuse me.
Speaker 1: And so I think the narrative that I've heard of
Speaker 1: least that it should all be utes, you know, all
Speaker 1: be former uts, are people that are with the program
Speaker 1: or whatever.
Speaker 2: I'm I'm not fully on board with that. And I'll
Speaker 2: tell you why.
Speaker 1: Alex has been a professional coach, a coach in the
Speaker 1: pro ranks for about twenty years or so, and prior
Speaker 1: to that he was at Saint Louis with Rick and
Speaker 1: I'm sure over the course of the past two decades,
Speaker 1: throughout his kind of sojourn and pro basketball, he has
Speaker 1: cultivated a tremendous amount of relationships that aren't just Andre
Speaker 1: Miller and Trace Cayton and Britton Johnson, what have you.
Speaker 2: And you know Kevin Young down in Provo.
Speaker 1: His assistant coaches, the majority of them are all ex
Speaker 1: pro coaches, G League coaches, strength and conditioning coach from
Speaker 1: the NBA, Nutrition is from the Phoenix Suns. I would
Speaker 1: like to see Alex mimic that approach. I don't give
Speaker 1: a rip what people say online. Everybody copies everybody when
Speaker 1: something works. But what's your take and also what are
Speaker 1: you hearing about the next steps and filling out this
Speaker 1: staff next?
Speaker 2: Alex?
Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean this is going to be a process, right,
Speaker 7: And I think it'd be disingenuous to say, you know,
Speaker 7: everybody that's on that staff should just be former years, right,
Speaker 7: Like I don't. I don't think that's that's what Alex wants.
Speaker 7: I don't think that the university needs. You know, as
Speaker 7: you mentioned, the majority of his coaching tenure has been
Speaker 7: in the NBA, and so there's going to be or
Speaker 7: maybe there's some international guys that he wants to bring
Speaker 7: in and try to help that way. You know, there's
Speaker 7: going to be people that he wants to surround himself with.
Speaker 7: But to your point, there's so many different avenues for
Speaker 7: him to be able to kind of fill.
Speaker 8: Out his roster.
Speaker 7: Right, He's going to have at least five assistant coaches,
Speaker 7: He's got the strength and conditioning staff. You know, you've
Speaker 7: got a lot of these things that you can put
Speaker 7: people in. So you know there's going to be some
Speaker 7: people that he's going to hire on simply for recruiting.
Speaker 7: There's going to be guys that he hires on simply
Speaker 7: for the development of roster. There's talent, you know, all
Speaker 7: these different things that he can kind of fill it
Speaker 7: in there. So to me, you know, it's it's going
Speaker 7: to have obviously some NBA flavor to it, especially if
Speaker 7: he can get the guys that he wants, because that's
Speaker 7: what he's comfortable with. He hasn't coached in a collegiate
Speaker 7: realm for more than a decade, and so you're going
Speaker 7: to surround yourself around those things at work. And it's
Speaker 7: also a great model because a lot of these kids
Speaker 7: obviously want to be able to get here. They wanted
Speaker 7: to be developed by NBA type talent and be able
Speaker 7: to move forward. And so I think it's a process
Speaker 7: that works well at the same time recognizing, look, you
Speaker 7: can still have some of that with let's say like
Speaker 7: an Andre Miller, Right, Obviously he's the big name that
Speaker 7: everybody wants, and you know, it's no surprise that he's
Speaker 7: obviously interested in it and that Utah is very interested
Speaker 7: in him. My understanding is they want to get this
Speaker 7: press conference out of the way first, and then all
Speaker 7: that stuff can kind of fall into place, right whether
Speaker 7: he's you know, too far down in terms of hiring.
Speaker 6: The assistance.
Speaker 7: To cry so to speak, and continue that momentum, and
Speaker 7: then you start filling it in with all these other
Speaker 7: guys maybe Utah fans have never heard of. They're in
Speaker 7: the NBA circles, they may be in the international circles,
Speaker 7: recruiting circles. There may be some even from the current
Speaker 7: roster or the coaching staff that stays. So, you know,
Speaker 7: I think we're we're gonna start seeing a lot of
Speaker 7: this news trickle out this week, but I think it's
Speaker 7: probably gonna start with Andre Miller and then kind of
Speaker 7: filter from there.
Speaker 1: So while I reset this next question, Josh, we're gonna
Speaker 1: ask you to just kind of relocate wherever you are.
Speaker 1: You answer the question and it sounds like you go
Speaker 1: under water for about five seconds, then you come back up,
Speaker 1: which happens, So Josh for long as our guest, he
Speaker 1: covers the Uthes for KSL.
Speaker 2: We're live today at the John M.
Speaker 1: Huntsman Center here on the beautiful campus and the University
Speaker 1: of Utah in preparation for tonight's announcement that Alex Jensen
Speaker 1: is the seventeenth head coach in Utah men's basketball history.
Speaker 1: All right, Josh, before we get over to the women,
Speaker 1: who are back in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth
Speaker 1: time in four years, what should our Utah basketball fans
Speaker 1: know about the inaugural College Basketball Crown.
Speaker 10: Yeah, this one's an interesting one because it's it's new, right,
Speaker 10: It's it's something that you know, a lot of people
Speaker 10: want to call it a third tier tournament. But at
Speaker 10: the same time, I think this is an opportunity for
Speaker 10: Utah just to continue to keep playing, allow themselves to
Speaker 10: kind of continue that season. Gabe mats and had talked about,
Speaker 10: you know, wanting to have that closure. But at the
Speaker 10: end of the day, this is a tournament that is
Speaker 10: set up.
Speaker 7: To be able to bring, you know, a lot of
Speaker 7: the power conferences Power Conference teams together and be able
Speaker 7: to kind of pit them together to continue the thing.
Speaker 7: There's been talk about this potentially having nil ramifications in
Speaker 7: there where these players can make some money, and I
Speaker 7: think that's why you're seeing some of these teams wanting to.
Speaker 6: Be a participant in this.
Speaker 7: If you can get the players some money, get the
Speaker 7: university some money and keep playing while still going you know,
Speaker 7: to Vegas or whatever that may be. This becomes a
Speaker 7: great opportunity. So look, it's not going to be the
Speaker 7: NCAA tournament. It's not going to be some glamorous thing,
Speaker 7: but it could be a decent situation of mediocre teams
Speaker 7: that do well, so not a bad situation. But you know,
Speaker 7: I can understand people wanting the season just to end.
Speaker 1: So I would imagine, let's stay in the space for
Speaker 1: a minute, and I have your piece that you wrote
Speaker 1: for ksl Up and Coach Eilert made some comments.
Speaker 2: I'm one hundred percent all in. You know, I'm excited
Speaker 2: about it.
Speaker 1: I know players have to make decisions, but I think
Speaker 1: it would be special to have another opportunity to battle
Speaker 1: with these guys. So Coach Eilert all in. He'll finish
Speaker 1: off his duties as the interim coach. Let me just
Speaker 1: ask you a follow up, Josh, whether or not you've
Speaker 1: heard anything since you joined us last You were the
Speaker 1: first person that brought up the potential of Alex Jensen
Speaker 1: keeping Coach eilerd around, and you made some good points
Speaker 1: about his history with the Big Twelve.
Speaker 2: Any up to date info about whether or not that's
Speaker 2: still a possibility.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I think they're still trying to figure that out.
Speaker 7: I know, you know, between him, David Evans, and low Leath,
Speaker 7: there's there's a lot of opportunities there and I wouldn't
Speaker 7: be surprised if if Josh R was on right, I
Speaker 7: could see him being able to kind of take another
Speaker 7: step forward and kind of do it he needs to
Speaker 7: do elsewhere. But I don't think he's out of the
Speaker 7: running by any means. I do think that there is
Speaker 7: some potential to be able to keep David Evans and
Speaker 7: low Leaf, especially for the recruiting advantage advantages AAU circuit,
Speaker 7: the Utah market, international markets. I think there's some advantages there.
Speaker 7: So it's still TBD right, like, I don't have any
Speaker 7: updated information on that in terms of more fixed details,
Speaker 7: but I do know that there is interest there. I
Speaker 7: think low Leaf has come on really strong lately and
Speaker 7: kind of showed what he can get from the AAU
Speaker 7: circuit and really bring in in the recruiting front, and
Speaker 7: I think that's an attractive piece for Alex Jensen.
Speaker 1: Jake Quaaleen has entered the transfer portal officially. If anyone
Speaker 1: else has I've missed that announcement. Any idea if Jake's
Speaker 1: going to participate in this postseason tournament, Yeah, that was
Speaker 1: his intent.
Speaker 7: You know, this is an opportunity more for him to
Speaker 7: just get the leverage that he needs to in the
Speaker 7: you know, in this offseason where he can still consider
Speaker 7: Utah but kind of see his value, see his market.
Speaker 7: But as part of this, he talks about wanting to
Speaker 7: be able to play in the postseason with this team.
Speaker 7: He wants to be able to be engaged, he wants
Speaker 7: to be there with them. You know, I still think
Speaker 7: there's a huge interest in wanting to stay at Utah.
Speaker 7: I know there's you know, interest to have him back,
Speaker 7: But at the same time, you know he's he's just
Speaker 7: trying to fill it out and do it that way.
Speaker 7: So I wouldn't be surprised to still see him out
Speaker 7: there on the court for Utah. You know, there's a
Speaker 7: lot of guys in a similar position where they're going
Speaker 7: to want to stay there and try to figure things out.
Speaker 7: But at the same time, you know, the portals open
Speaker 7: for Utah, but the whole NCAA transfer portal opens up
Speaker 7: next week and you're gonna start seeing guys that may
Speaker 7: want to start getting their names out there, may wanting
Speaker 7: to start kind of finding a new team if that's
Speaker 7: what they want to do. So, you know, I wouldn't
Speaker 7: be surprised if a majority of the team enters their
Speaker 7: name in the portal. But as of right now, you know,
Speaker 7: I haven't heard anything otherwise to say that this team
Speaker 7: is they going to stay relatively intact for this tournament.
Speaker 1: One more thing here, and you and I have talked
Speaker 1: about this, but let's just revisit it, because here we
Speaker 1: are with Alex being introduced tonight, ezra Ezrasar Kana. You know,
Speaker 1: guys like me are a little Mike Shrav Jamps and
Speaker 1: the aforementioned Jake Quaaleen, the players on the roster, some
Speaker 1: of whom namely Kiana Does who had three double doubles
Speaker 1: in the final five games after Josh took over for
Speaker 1: Craig uh and ezra Asar. I think is a guy
Speaker 1: you'd be interested in any thoughts or inside in you know,
Speaker 1: inside as to which of these young men might come
Speaker 1: back to play for Alex.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I think there's a good, good possible ability for Keanu.
Speaker 7: I think he's liked his time here, He's liked a
Speaker 7: situation that he's in. Obviously, if you know Nil's right
Speaker 7: and Alex Jensen wants to keep him, I think that
Speaker 7: it's a good match made in heaven. It's obviously a
Speaker 7: player with a tremendous upside, and I think, you know,
Speaker 7: everything works to be able to keep him here.
Speaker 6: In terms of Ezra, I mean that one's gonna be a.
Speaker 7: Little bit tougher. He's obviously going to get a lot
Speaker 7: more offers. He's going to have people that want him.
Speaker 7: He's going to be attractive name not that any of
Speaker 7: these guys won't be, but I think he's going to
Speaker 7: be the most marketable off of this current team. And
Speaker 7: quite honestly, he's got family. He's got two kids that
Speaker 7: live in the East Coast, and so I wouldn't be
Speaker 7: surprised at all if he, you know, wants to get
Speaker 7: back there, wants to be able to be closer to home.
Speaker 7: But at the same time, you know, I do know
Speaker 7: he likes Utah. I know that this is a place
Speaker 7: that he's found a connection with. Obviously, it's a place
Speaker 7: where he's built confidence and really become the player that
Speaker 7: he is today. So you know, I think Utah will
Speaker 7: spend some effort to be able to try to get him.
Speaker 7: But at the same time, you know, I think they're
Speaker 7: going to be fighting an uphill battle with just so
Speaker 7: many other programs they're gonna want him as well. So
Speaker 7: you know, Ezra's definitely a guy you're gonna attract here
Speaker 7: and want, but he's going to be an attractive name
Speaker 7: outs where as well.
Speaker 1: So moving over now to Gavin Peterson, who will join
Speaker 1: the show today. In the Utah women's basketball program, they
Speaker 1: stumbled down the stretch, losing three of their final five
Speaker 1: and they barely beat BYU here in Salt Lake.
Speaker 2: But they did make it in We knew that they would,
Speaker 2: but it is a tough ask.
Speaker 1: So the Lady Eats will be the number eight seed
Speaker 1: and they're gonna take on Indiana. But should they beat Indiana, there,
Speaker 1: their prize for showing up is a second round matchup
Speaker 1: against the host team and that's Don Staley and the
Speaker 1: defending champs South Carolina.
Speaker 2: So tough one.
Speaker 1: Obviously, Coach Peterson already reference they can only focus on Indiana,
Speaker 1: they can't look ahead. But what's your take on kind
Speaker 1: of how this went down and what do you make
Speaker 1: of the Lady huts chances of doing something fun.
Speaker 7: Yeah, this is probably one of the worst draws that
Speaker 7: they could have gotten. You know, I think being able
Speaker 7: to get in that difficult eight to nine matchup is
Speaker 7: not ideal. And Utah hasn't, you know, the last few
Speaker 7: games done well against teams that are probably even with it,
Speaker 7: and so I think, you know, there's especially with being
Speaker 7: able to play a team like Indiana that is very
Speaker 7: similar to what Utah does, like to shoot the three
Speaker 7: point ball, that becomes a very tough task, right just
Speaker 7: to be able to get out of the NC Tournament
Speaker 7: first round, but then to know that you've got South
Speaker 7: Carolina on the other end, where you have to do
Speaker 7: that on their home floor. I mean, that's an incredibly
Speaker 7: difficult task. Last year, they went into Spokane playing a
Speaker 7: gun Zach team that had lost in something like three
Speaker 7: years on their home court. They got lit up by
Speaker 7: their three point shooters and absolutely came away with the
Speaker 7: terrible lass. You know, those games are not easy to
Speaker 7: be able to play, and you're doing it against arguably
Speaker 7: one of the best teams in the country right now.
Speaker 6: And so you know, this is a tough task.
Speaker 7: You know, I think this is this is one of
Speaker 7: those things where this Utah team can be good enough
Speaker 7: to be able to do it. They beat Notre Dame,
Speaker 7: who was ranked number one at one point this season.
Speaker 7: But at the same time, this team, you know, for
Speaker 7: as good as they have been in their three point
Speaker 7: shooting and their efficiency and everything that way, they often
Speaker 7: let the other team dictate the tone of the game.
Speaker 6: And if the other team is going to be aggressive.
Speaker 7: And kind of take control, Utah sometimes backs down and
Speaker 7: doesn't kind of fight back.
Speaker 6: For this team to be able to go a long ways,
Speaker 6: they have to fight back. They have to be the aggressors.
Speaker 6: They have to play like.
Speaker 7: They've got nothing to lose, and really they don't. Because
Speaker 7: this is a difficult path. And so if you can
Speaker 7: get out of that first round, if you can find
Speaker 7: a way to beat Indiana, you know, you've got to
Speaker 7: go into that South Carolina game just willing to do
Speaker 7: whatever it takes to be able to win. You obviously
Speaker 7: played South Carolina last year. You know what kind of
Speaker 7: team they are. You've at least had some scouting on them,
Speaker 7: but this is a different team. Both teams are. You know,
Speaker 7: I'm curious to see what they can do. But they
Speaker 7: have to play like a team that's you know, not
Speaker 7: ready to lose and just really fight, so really curious
Speaker 7: to see what they do. But yeah, this is about
Speaker 7: as difficult as it could be for the Utes.
Speaker 1: It's kind of a circle back around to where we
Speaker 1: started before I set you this. By the way, the
Speaker 1: Lady Utes will be playing coming up on the twenty
Speaker 1: first at eleven thirty am, and you can see it
Speaker 1: on ESPN two, and of course you can hear it
Speaker 1: on this radio station, so stay tuned for that, all right,
Speaker 1: you know, you know you and I've discussed this before,
Speaker 1: and I talked about a little bit earlier in the show,
Speaker 1: and I don't fully know all the answers to what
Speaker 1: I'm about to unpack for you, but I would imagine
Speaker 1: that just Alex taking this job is a good sign
Speaker 1: for a few different things, and namely the health of
Speaker 1: the economics situation regarding the athletic department, and obviously specifically
Speaker 1: whatever Mark Harland told him they had allocated for the
Speaker 1: future of basketball. I mean, Alex did not need this job,
Speaker 1: He didn't need to dig this job. In fact, I
Speaker 1: was told on a couple of different occasions that Dallas
Speaker 1: very much wanted him back, and they like him and
Speaker 1: they didn't want him to leave, and actually made it
Speaker 1: a little bit more difficult for him to jump than
Speaker 1: after the initial offer, because they did counter with the
Speaker 1: ability to get.
Speaker 2: Him back and make sure he was taken care of.
Speaker 1: So just the fact that Josh he said yes and
Speaker 1: the first choice for Mark Carlin is the choice that
Speaker 1: ultimately became the reality of who the coaches has to
Speaker 1: indicate that the questions that we all continue to have
Speaker 1: about what the state of the collective is must be
Speaker 1: healthier than some people consider.
Speaker 2: And look, I want to be clear, I don't fully know.
Speaker 2: I mean this continues to be such a.
Speaker 1: Difficult space to traverse that there's a website that pops
Speaker 1: up that talks about nil. You check it out and
Speaker 1: it's not really vetted. There's a report here there from
Speaker 1: a paper and you're like, what exactly does that mean?
Speaker 1: And you know, it's easy to look forty five miles
Speaker 1: down south and see the reports that they're paying aged
Speaker 1: advance is seven million dollars for five months of basketball
Speaker 1: or jaeg or demon and Cannon catching seven figures reportedly.
Speaker 2: But what does I guess?
Speaker 1: The way I'll ask it because I've talked to you
Speaker 1: about whether or not you have inside information or knowledge
Speaker 1: about what the numbers are and what the data says.
Speaker 2: But what does Alex taking the job, I guess, say.
Speaker 1: To you about the current health of the finances because
Speaker 1: without that you're dead.
Speaker 2: You've got to have it, and you know that as
Speaker 2: well as anyone.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean, I think this is one of those
Speaker 7: things where Alex isn't coming into this job just hoping
Speaker 7: that things are going to be good, right. I think
Speaker 7: this was a situation where obviously he was their number
Speaker 7: one target, and that's not like this is just something
Speaker 7: that fell into everybody's lap and it was like, oh cool,
Speaker 7: we got Alex. You know, he was out of a
Speaker 7: job and we're just pulling him in. You know, this
Speaker 7: was a very difficult process for both sides to be
Speaker 7: able to get it. But with that being said, there
Speaker 7: were things that needed to be done or signs need
Speaker 7: to be made to say, Okay, this is what we're
Speaker 7: going to do. You know, you could argue some of
Speaker 7: the situation that they had last year where or last
Speaker 7: week excuse me, where they were bringing out their college
Speaker 7: or campus magic plan that they were putting out there
Speaker 7: for the university. Part of that goes into that, right,
Speaker 7: you're showing this commitment to the university as a whole
Speaker 7: that things are going to be better. It's not just
Speaker 7: you know Alex. Yeah, Alex is a big figure in that,
Speaker 7: and you know you're going to be a big part
Speaker 7: of that. But it's this whole emphasis to say, look,
Speaker 7: you know, we're trying to make this investment into athletics
Speaker 7: and everything else to be able to make this a
Speaker 7: better system. And so that can become in an attractive
Speaker 7: situation for Alex to be able to say, look, they're
Speaker 7: making the steps necessary. Clearly there were more steps that
Speaker 7: needed to be made, whether that be donor assurances or
Speaker 7: different things to be able to say, hey, to compete
Speaker 7: at this level, we need x amount of dollars. You know,
Speaker 7: there was an article last week that said to have
Speaker 7: a top twenty five team you needed.
Speaker 6: About six million dollars.
Speaker 11: Right.
Speaker 7: That's one of those things where if you talking get
Speaker 7: to that range. They had about two million in IL
Speaker 7: last year. If you can get about six.
Speaker 6: Million, that shows at least the commitment.
Speaker 7: You know, that number is always going to continue to
Speaker 7: go up, it's never going to go down.
Speaker 6: But at least if you can make those.
Speaker 7: Assurances to say, hey, here's what we're doing, this is
Speaker 7: what we're going to be able to help you with.
Speaker 7: To me, that kind of eases Alex's mind a little
Speaker 7: bit to say, Look, I don't have to go from
Speaker 7: the NBA. I can come now because I feel confident
Speaker 7: about what they're doing. So I'm curious to see if
Speaker 7: we'll hear any about that tonight, you know, from Mark
Speaker 7: carln and Taylor randall, those kinds of things. I would
Speaker 7: assume that they don't get too into the weeds with that,
Speaker 7: but I would be fascinated to know because if not,
Speaker 7: as I've said to you before, we're going to be
Speaker 7: in the same situation in three four years. Again, it
Speaker 7: doesn't matter who the coach is. If Utah isn't going
Speaker 7: to invest in that program, it's going to be a
Speaker 7: similar situation. You can only do so much with so little,
Speaker 7: So I'm really curious to see what it is. But
Speaker 7: I do think it's just a good sign of things
Speaker 7: to come that they've been able to invest in it
Speaker 7: and that it's attracted Alex the mouse that he wants
Speaker 7: to be here.
Speaker 1: Expectations are the cause of all problems in sports and
Speaker 1: in life. Write that down, kid, So Josh, let's set
Speaker 1: reasonable expectations year one Alex Jensen. And it's impossible to
Speaker 1: know because we don't even know who's playing for him
Speaker 1: and won't know for a number of months. But you know,
Speaker 1: the Big Twelve this year was probably the third best
Speaker 1: conference in college basketball, if we're honest. I think a
Speaker 1: lot of people anticipated that it would be battling with
Speaker 1: the SEC for number one, and maybe it's number two,
Speaker 1: but ultimately it is going to be a bear every year.
Speaker 1: If it's not one, it's probably gonna be two. It'll
Speaker 1: never be below three. With blue bloods left and right.
Speaker 1: What's a reasonable thing to say about what we all
Speaker 1: should expect next year during Alex's first season on the sidelines.
Speaker 7: That's a difficult question, I think in basketball because I
Speaker 7: think the natural, you know, point for everybody is all
Speaker 7: they have to get to the NCAA tournament, And well,
Speaker 7: I don't think that that's not possible. I think they're
Speaker 7: the challenge there of being able to make that the
Speaker 7: only metric, right to me, you know, Utah finishes the
Speaker 7: season in about ten to twenty eleventh.
Speaker 6: You know, they're kind of mid to lower mid situation.
Speaker 7: If you can get maybe into that second round by
Speaker 7: if you can get into you know, the top six,
Speaker 7: top four of the Big twelve next year, I think
Speaker 7: that would definitely show progress. You know, and that still
Speaker 7: means you're probably in the NCAA tournament and you're you're
Speaker 7: this top team. But I think this team that is
Speaker 7: closer than many people expect, they just didn't have a
Speaker 7: lot of the players that could get them kind of
Speaker 7: over that that edge, that hump, so to speak. And
Speaker 7: so for me, you know, whether you get into the
Speaker 7: NCAA tournament or not, I don't know that that's fully
Speaker 7: what matters, but I think you need to be able
Speaker 7: to be competitive enough to be able to be at
Speaker 7: least on the bubble right or at least be in
Speaker 7: that conversation to say, hey, this is a team that
Speaker 7: is on the rise. You know, we can see them moving.
Speaker 7: You know, maybe you're the Saint John's right where Saint
Speaker 7: John's slowly building with Rick Patino and now they're this
Speaker 7: number two seed that's the dominant force in.
Speaker 6: The in the tournament. Is he Rick Putino? Probably not.
Speaker 7: But I think, you know, you've got to be able
Speaker 7: to build those expectations where if you can look back
Speaker 7: on it and you can say this is the team
Speaker 7: that is clearly progressing, they're not necessarily taking step back
Speaker 7: after they win big games, then I think it's it's
Speaker 7: you know, shows progress. You know, is that an exact figure.
Speaker 6: Of, oh, they have to hit this many wins?
Speaker 8: I don't know.
Speaker 6: Obviously twenty wins would.
Speaker 7: Be a great opportunity, but I don't know that there's
Speaker 7: any set metrics here. I think it's more of just
Speaker 7: kind of a general vibe of how this team is going,
Speaker 7: because the realistic expectation is, you know, they probably won't
Speaker 7: get the NCAA tournament next year. But if you can
Speaker 7: at least make that case where you're at least challenging
Speaker 7: for it late in the season, I think you'll at
Speaker 7: least get some support from fans and be able to say, Okay,
Speaker 7: we believe that this is the direction that he's going,
Speaker 7: and we believe that we can get there, all.
Speaker 2: Right, Josh.
Speaker 1: Final thing, I am sitting in the John M. Huntsman Center,
Speaker 1: which is a beautiful building rich in history. I went
Speaker 1: out to the water fountain to get some water, and
Speaker 1: it looked like a cal urinated in my now gene
Speaker 1: bottle fifty five years old. Okay, So, like, let's be honest,
Speaker 1: we all love the Huntsman Center a number of different
Speaker 1: awesome memories. Every time I walk in here, I'm overwhelmed
Speaker 1: with memories on a number of different levels. But there
Speaker 1: are still steps that need to be taken. But what
Speaker 1: is the josh for a long take on a potential
Speaker 1: you know, renovation to this historic building.
Speaker 2: What do you think it means for the community.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean it's it's tough to lose, you know,
Speaker 7: buildings of history, right. I mean, obviously you can point
Speaker 7: to the Larry Bird you know, magic game. You know,
Speaker 7: I think that one's a big one. There was NCAA
Speaker 7: Championships one there. In gymnastics, there's there's phenomenal games that
Speaker 7: have been played in there just in the recent you
Speaker 7: know history of basketball and such, and so I think
Speaker 7: it's tough to be able to lose a venue like that.
Speaker 7: But the reality is is it's a venue that is aging.
Speaker 7: It doesn't fit the needs of what Utah wants, you know,
Speaker 7: and the fact that you need to be able to
Speaker 7: do more with it kind of shows where they're at, right,
Speaker 7: They don't have a lot of room to work with
Speaker 7: to be able to make it a better venue, and
Speaker 7: so you've kind of got to start from scratch, so
Speaker 7: to speak, find a situation that works for everybody. So
Speaker 7: what that means, you know, remains to be seen. I
Speaker 7: you know, at the end of the day, I think
Speaker 7: it means, you know, fans need to show up and
Speaker 7: they need to support it just to be able to
Speaker 7: show that this. You know, the university can do what
Speaker 7: they can to support the athletics that are going to
Speaker 7: be inside that building. So I'm curious to see what happens.
Speaker 7: Really think that this could be a great opportunity for Utah,
Speaker 7: but it is unfortunate to see something like that.
Speaker 1: Go, Josh, you are the man. Appreciate the time, have
Speaker 1: a great week, and we'll get you on soon.
Speaker 6: That was good, man, Appreciate it all right.
Speaker 1: Josh Furlong covers the youths for KSL. You can get
Speaker 1: him on social media to follow all of his work.
Speaker 1: If you're a youth fan, he's a must follow at JFURKSSL.
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Speaker 2: One thing you'll never be.
Speaker 1: Able to say about me is that I was not
Speaker 1: committed to a bit and maybe overly committed to bits.
Speaker 1: But if that's if that's going to be my oh bit,
Speaker 1: overly committed a bit than me and Larry David are
Speaker 1: in good company, all right, our next guest.
Speaker 2: That's kind of the theme song at this point.
Speaker 1: And you know why by now, Roxy Bernstein, my friend,
Speaker 1: Happy Monday, sir, how are you ben?
Speaker 8: You gotta play that instead of the Crows?
Speaker 6: I mean, oh, you know, okay, you.
Speaker 2: Know what, not just saying now, it's fair, it's fair.
Speaker 1: Maybe we just need to retire the rem brands because
Speaker 1: you do have a beef with Cortney Cox, which makes
Speaker 1: you one of the most fascinating broadcasters I've ever interviewed.
Speaker 2: And simply just play the music of one of your
Speaker 2: best friends. I can allow that moving forward. If that's
Speaker 2: if that's your call, Roxy, I can adjust.
Speaker 5: I can. I can get over it while I'm talking
Speaker 5: to you.
Speaker 8: Has that I love it?
Speaker 1: I love it all right, my friend. I am sitting
Speaker 1: here live in the John M. Huntsman Center. Last week
Speaker 1: we prepare for tonight's introductory press conference, where Alex Jensen
Speaker 1: will be introduced as the seventeenth head coach in the
Speaker 1: history of the Utah men's basketball program. So before I
Speaker 1: get to some the questions, Roxie, I just wonder what
Speaker 1: you personally make of this hire.
Speaker 5: I like to hire a lot, and look, I didn't
Speaker 5: necessarily agree with the parting of the ways with Craig Smith,
Speaker 5: but I understand Mark Harlan's got tough decisions to make
Speaker 5: and that's why he's in that position. And I'm just
Speaker 5: offering my thirty thousand foot view of the situation because
Speaker 5: I do think Craig is a terrific coach. And look,
Speaker 5: obviously Mark knows more about the situation than I do.
Speaker 5: And feeling it wasn't working out with Craig and so
Speaker 5: they turned the page. And I do hear great things
Speaker 5: about Alex Jensen. I don't know him personally, familiar with
Speaker 5: his work obviously longtime assistant in the NBA, and I
Speaker 5: remember when he played there at the University of Utah
Speaker 5: and as King McClure gave me a little grief on
Speaker 5: the air when we were doing the Utah game on
Speaker 5: ESPN at the Big Twelve Tournament. I did flex a
Speaker 5: little bit and I texted Jason Kidd, who he worked
Speaker 5: with in Dallas, who I went to college with, as
Speaker 5: you know, and I just asked him about Alex Jansen
Speaker 5: and he was very complimentary of Alex and what he's
Speaker 5: going to bring. He did not want to lose him,
Speaker 5: but he understands it's a great opportunity for Alex Janzen
Speaker 5: to go back to his alma mater and take over
Speaker 5: the program. But the other thing that Jason made sure
Speaker 5: to point out to me was he's always prepared, He's
Speaker 5: always on top of it, knows this stuff, on top
Speaker 5: of being a great human being.
Speaker 8: So by all accounts, this is a home run higher
Speaker 8: for Utah.
Speaker 1: I wonder Roxy from your vantage point, because I referenced
Speaker 1: this earlier when I was teasing you as a guest.
Speaker 2: You've called a lot of games in this building.
Speaker 1: You've called a lot of ute games over the years,
Speaker 1: both in the pack and now by the way that
Speaker 1: workload during the Big twelve tournament. Nice work, But we'll
Speaker 1: get there in a moment. You've called a lot of
Speaker 1: youte games over the years. What do you make of
Speaker 1: the dormant energy For the most part, the Utah basketball
Speaker 1: has had to make its way through And look, there
Speaker 1: have been moments in time. I always want to be
Speaker 1: fair when I bring this up. I mean, you can
Speaker 1: go back to jacko Letti with Boga. You can talk
Speaker 1: boiling NCAA tournament five seed. You can talk Larry Koskovak,
Speaker 1: Delon Wright and Kyle Kuzma and even Craig had some
Speaker 1: good wins and it hasn't been entirely flat lined. But
Speaker 1: I was a student here in the nineties and it
Speaker 1: has not been like that for a long time. So
Speaker 1: curious to get your take as a guy that called
Speaker 1: games over the years in this building and elsewhere for
Speaker 1: Utah basketball and what you think it will take from
Speaker 1: Alex and this new iteration of the staff to get
Speaker 1: this thing ticking like it was when he was a
Speaker 1: player here.
Speaker 5: Well, first off, you got poles to take into account. Spence,
Speaker 5: as you know, the level of competition has stepped up
Speaker 5: to go for the Mountain West. Now it will to
Speaker 5: the Pac twelve and now to the Big Twelve, which
Speaker 5: many people think has been the best basketball conference in
Speaker 5: college basketball the last ten years with the success that
Speaker 5: schools have had in the commitment that schools have made,
Speaker 5: and that's the big thing for me is the commitment.
Speaker 5: And I don't know the particulars of the nil and
Speaker 5: the resources that it's available for Alex Jensen with the
Speaker 5: University of Utah has committed to basketball, but that now
Speaker 5: is what you need to be successful. Now you have
Speaker 5: to spend wisely and with what you have, because some
Speaker 5: schools have not spent wisely. When you look at for example,
Speaker 5: Kansas State and how much money they put out this
Speaker 5: year and how that didn't work for them and how
Speaker 5: much money. Look, if you're you want to compete with Duke, Well,
Speaker 5: you got to have an access to twenty million dollars
Speaker 5: and I don't think that's going to happen. But you
Speaker 5: look at what's going on down the road, for example
Speaker 5: at BYU and the commitment they've made financially because they
Speaker 5: clearly invested in bringing in guys like Yegor Demon and
Speaker 5: next year with the Bansa coming in and the money
Speaker 5: they've committed to that that's, unfortunately, the name of the
Speaker 5: game in Cole's basketball right now. You're not just selling tradition,
Speaker 5: you're not just selling an education, You're not just selling
Speaker 5: playing for a particular coach. There is the money question,
Speaker 5: which always seems to be I'm not gonna say always, Spence,
Speaker 5: but the majority of times when a kid is considering university,
Speaker 5: the first question these days is well, what am I getting?
Speaker 5: How much am I going to get? And unfortunately that's
Speaker 5: kind of the way the landscape has gone. And with
Speaker 5: the University of Utah, I think they have to examine
Speaker 5: how committed they're going to be in terms of the resources.
Speaker 5: If they're going to want to push and near the
Speaker 5: top of the Big twelve, well they're going to have
Speaker 5: to commit the resources to do it, because that's the
Speaker 5: name of the game right now.
Speaker 8: Unfortunately.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I'm glad you brought that up, and I
Speaker 1: wanted to follow up with this because ultimately, unless you
Speaker 1: have access to the Utah leg Department financials and your
Speaker 1: DOCU sign I'm not going to ask you for specifics,
Speaker 1: but I will ask you just kind of generally speak
Speaker 1: what sort of questions you think Alex Jensen taking this
Speaker 1: job answers, because look, like you said about Jason Kidd,
Speaker 1: I have contacts in Dallas, and I've known Alex for years.
Speaker 1: He was Quinn Snyder's number one assistant during the Gobaron
Speaker 1: Mitchell years. And I was in school when Alex was
Speaker 1: a player, and I know his wife. Like he was
Speaker 1: valued in Dallas. He did not have to take this job.
Speaker 1: They wanted him to come back. And Roxy, whether it's
Speaker 1: Alex Jensen or you resurrect Rick Macjeris, the candidates were
Speaker 1: all gonna ask Mark Harlan the same thing, which is,
Speaker 1: what is the status of the finances of this program?
Speaker 1: What's the financial ecosystem infrastructure of basketball? Before I take
Speaker 1: this job, I need those questions answered. And I don't
Speaker 1: know what the specifics of the answers entail. But Roxy,
Speaker 1: just because he took the job, that has to indicate
Speaker 1: that this program is receiving some financial support and promises
Speaker 1: from the athletic Department that maybe people don't fully understand.
Speaker 2: Does that make sense.
Speaker 8: That's a very valid way to look at it.
Speaker 5: Yes, I agree, because Alex Jensen's not going to leave
Speaker 5: a situation to even though it's his alma mater and
Speaker 5: his love for the University of Utah, if there isn't
Speaker 5: a commitment and they have to be more committed, then
Speaker 5: I think they've been because if you're stepping into a
Speaker 5: league now where you look around and you know Kansas
Speaker 5: isn't cutting corners, and I'm not expecting the University of
Speaker 5: Utah to be Kansas year and year out one of
Speaker 5: the blue blood programs in college basketball. But if you're
Speaker 5: going to compete with them, Iowa State has a lot
Speaker 5: of resources that I know about the t J Alsilberger
Speaker 5: has at his disposal.
Speaker 8: I guarantee A Baylor has put forth a lot.
Speaker 5: Of revenue and to not just Okay VJ edgecomb this
Speaker 5: year and the talent that they have, but they have
Speaker 5: a sparkling new arena which is fabulous that in a
Speaker 5: practice facility. So the commitment is there from the other schools,
Speaker 5: and if you're going to be on par with that,
Speaker 5: you're going to have to be connected to your donor base,
Speaker 5: to your fan base and know that there is from
Speaker 5: the top down the urge to win within the department.
Speaker 5: And I guarantee that Alex Jensen got those answers that
Speaker 5: he wanted from Mark Harlan and the brain trust at
Speaker 5: the University of Utah, or.
Speaker 1: He was not going to take this job, really was
Speaker 1: not anticipating this becoming a potential. But it's interesting he
Speaker 1: considered Josh Eilert as an option for Alex as an
Speaker 1: assistant coach. So, as you know, Roxy, after Craig was dismissed,
Speaker 1: coach Eiler was elevated as the interim And look, it
Speaker 1: was the same thing when they fired coach lud and
Speaker 1: Mike Pajakian took over as the play caller, and Mike
Speaker 1: addressed the media and he's like, hey, it's Andy System.
Speaker 2: There's really nothing I can do.
Speaker 1: And we're like, yeah, I mean, so I wasn't expecting
Speaker 1: Josh Eiler to coach this team to a Big Twelve
Speaker 1: championship what have you? But Josh played in the Big Twelve,
Speaker 1: he coached at West Virginia and knows the Big Twelve.
Speaker 1: What do you make of the potential of Alex looking
Speaker 1: at Josh Eiland as one of his assistants because he
Speaker 1: moved his family here.
Speaker 2: And I'm sorry to continue to bring this up.
Speaker 1: I just think we do such a poor job of
Speaker 1: acknowledging the human element of situations like this.
Speaker 5: And I talked to Josh about it at the Big
Speaker 5: Twelve Tournament last Monday, that we were sitting there in
Speaker 5: preparation for the Utah game in the Big Twelve Tournament
Speaker 5: against UCF on Tuesday, about what he's been dealing with,
Speaker 5: and it's not easy. As you alluded to, he moved
Speaker 5: to Salt Lake City last summer, and he had experience
Speaker 5: in this role, having been the interim head coach at
Speaker 5: West Virginia when Bob Huggins was let go, and he'd
Speaker 5: spent a lot of time in West Virginia working for
Speaker 5: Huggins and played at Kansas State as he alluded to,
Speaker 5: so he's got the ties to the conference. I think
Speaker 5: would be a strong move because Alex Jensen needs somebody
Speaker 5: that's well versed in the college game and especially in
Speaker 5: the Big Twelve, the league he's going to be coaching it,
Speaker 5: and Josh Ireland it would be a great starting point.
Speaker 5: Doesn't always work out that way, but coaches usually want
Speaker 5: their own guys, and I'm sure Alex has so many
Speaker 5: contacts and possibilities for people to be on his staff.
Speaker 5: But I guarantee he'll give consideration to Josh Eilert and
Speaker 5: some of the other coaches on the staff.
Speaker 8: And usually you see.
Speaker 5: One guy as a holdover, and it makes sense that
Speaker 5: Eilert would be the guy, but you never know. But
Speaker 5: Josh gave up a lot to come to Salt Lake City,
Speaker 5: and he and Craig Smith went back a long way,
Speaker 5: even though they never worked together before, but they had
Speaker 5: a relationship and that's partly what brought Josh Eilerd out
Speaker 5: to the University of Utah. And I think he's done
Speaker 5: a good job. And it can't be easy, right you
Speaker 5: step in a situation. And he told me he was stunned,
Speaker 5: shocked when Mark Harlan pulled him into his office and
Speaker 5: told him that the coaching change was going to be
Speaker 5: made after the loss down in Orlando.
Speaker 8: And then he had to keep that locker room together.
Speaker 5: He could easily fracture and split, especially when you look
Speaker 5: at Greg's.
Speaker 8: Son is on the team in Brady.
Speaker 5: One of his other sons is the director of operations,
Speaker 5: and that makes it I think even more challenging. But
Speaker 5: credit to those kids, credit to the Smith family. They
Speaker 5: came to work, they showed up. I thought Tommy Lloyd
Speaker 5: is impassioned postgame press conference down in Ducson. The game
Speaker 5: after where Eiler took over was incredible to watch and
Speaker 5: the emotion it was genuine and the respect he had
Speaker 5: for Craig, and he said, I asked Tommy about it. Also,
Speaker 5: Tommy said, look, I'm friendly with Craig. I wouldn't call
Speaker 5: him that. We're not close, but we're friendly. But it's
Speaker 5: a fraternity. And for Josh Eilert now he is hoping
Speaker 5: to I think, if not catch on with you, Todd's
Speaker 5: stay there, but get back into the fraternity somehow, because
Speaker 5: he's a very accomplished coach.
Speaker 1: Or a question about our basketball team that plays its
Speaker 1: basketball here in the Huntsman Center.
Speaker 2: Then we got a team about forty miles that we
Speaker 2: got to talk about.
Speaker 1: But you know, Roxy, I know you don't watch every
Speaker 1: Utah game, but you called some and you saw a lot,
Speaker 1: and you pay attention.
Speaker 2: So I'm just gonna run down this list.
Speaker 1: Ezrasar, who had some really bright moments, including a career
Speaker 1: night against Brigham Young in this building earlier this year.
Speaker 1: Keanu Dawes, who coach Eyler, played more than Craig did
Speaker 1: and had three double doubles in his final five games,
Speaker 1: including a monster game Round.
Speaker 2: One of the Big Twelve tournament. And then there's Miir Little.
Speaker 1: There's also Mike trav Jamps and then Jake Walleen, who
Speaker 1: did announce that he is officially in the transfer portal.
Speaker 1: If you're Alex Jensen, those players catching your eye, you
Speaker 1: want to see what you can do to get some
Speaker 1: of that talent back in the fold next.
Speaker 6: Year, no question.
Speaker 5: Ezra sar I thought showed a lot this year with
Speaker 5: his physicality, his toughness, his he's got that old band
Speaker 5: game spence where look, he's not going to dazzle with
Speaker 5: his athleticism and is soaring dunks even though he can dunk,
Speaker 5: but he does so much work below the rim and
Speaker 5: with his feet and his smarts. He is a fun
Speaker 5: player to watch and he's kind of a throwback guy.
Speaker 5: And you pair him with Keanu Dawes, who really emerged
Speaker 5: and you got to see what he could do. He
Speaker 5: had that double double and career performance, even though it
Speaker 5: came in a loss against UCF in Kansas City. Jake
Speaker 5: Quallen is an interesting guy to me because I think
Speaker 5: he's got a future and maybe I'm in the minority.
Speaker 8: But I've talked to some.
Speaker 5: NBA people there's something there with Jake Quallen, and there
Speaker 5: is even though what he played sparingly last year started
Speaker 5: to come on this year a little bit. He has
Speaker 5: a bright future and that's another key piece. If you're
Speaker 5: Alex Jensen, you need some foundational pieces to build around.
Speaker 5: Those three guys would give you a really good start,
Speaker 5: and Sharott Jobs is such an interesting matchup because of
Speaker 5: his size. The only criticism I haves I wish Sharott
Speaker 5: Jobs shot it better. It's been inconsistent, but he does
Speaker 5: a lot of really good things. Is in a tough matchup.
Speaker 5: That's where I think it needs to start for Alex
Speaker 5: Jensen is re recruiting your own locker room and keeping
Speaker 5: some of those guys there because those could be good
Speaker 5: pieces to build around as you move forward and take
Speaker 5: over this program.
Speaker 2: One more I actually have one more youth thing. Then
Speaker 2: we'll get over to the BYU side.
Speaker 1: Because I am wondering Roxley, from your vantage point as
Speaker 1: a vent in this business, what you would say to
Speaker 1: the fan base about a reasonable expectation. Expectations are the
Speaker 1: main cause of misery in life and in sports. I'm
Speaker 1: just dropping life knowledge here on a show on a
Speaker 1: Monday Roxy. But you know, ultimately, as you outline the
Speaker 1: Big Twelve, it wasn't the best conference this year, that
Speaker 1: was the SEC. But if it wasn't three, it was two,
Speaker 1: and next year it could be one, and year after
Speaker 1: year it's going to be top two or three. I
Speaker 1: don't know what's reasonable to expect. It's impossible to know
Speaker 1: what to expect until we know who these young men
Speaker 1: are going to play for them. But generally speaking year one,
Speaker 1: Alex Jensen, Utah Basketball, what's a reasonable level of expectation
Speaker 1: for the fan base?
Speaker 5: I think you're just looking to see progress right that
Speaker 5: because your one is here to come in and put
Speaker 5: his foundation in place, and you want to see that
Speaker 5: grow in your one. I'm not expecting you taw to
Speaker 5: be a tournament team right away now, as we know
Speaker 5: in this day and age with the transfer portal and
Speaker 5: getting guys on campus that it can happen quickly and
Speaker 5: it makes it challenging. As you alluded to, you're in
Speaker 5: the Big twelve, but your one needs to be progressed
Speaker 5: the team gets better, that the foundation.
Speaker 8: For the future is going to get laid and.
Speaker 5: With what Alex Jensen wants.
Speaker 8: To implement, how he's going to run the program. That's
Speaker 8: the thing.
Speaker 5: Does he played an exciting style of basketball?
Speaker 8: Is there a connection to the fan base?
Speaker 5: Those are the key things that I think fans want
Speaker 5: to see that he has committed that there is that
Speaker 5: likability factor, but also you can identify with him, and
Speaker 5: there's that connection that outreach from the program to the
Speaker 5: fan slash donor base.
Speaker 1: All right, let's move over now because we have you know,
Speaker 1: we have a couple of teams playing some fun postseason basketball,
Speaker 1: all due respect to the College Basketball Crown where Utah
Speaker 1: will be.
Speaker 2: So BYU runs off nine of their final ten.
Speaker 1: They ran into a Houston team and roxy, I'll just
Speaker 1: say this, man, like every time I've watched Houston play
Speaker 1: this year, I have just felt fundamentally horrible for the
Speaker 1: other team.
Speaker 2: You know, Utah.
Speaker 1: Utah went into their gym and at one point I
Speaker 1: think had three buckets and eight turnovers.
Speaker 2: Brigham Young went down there and got undressed earlier.
Speaker 1: So look, obviously Houston is another level and does BYU
Speaker 1: have that level with that strength, that athleticism. I have
Speaker 1: questions there, But they get in as a six seed
Speaker 1: taken on VCU. They were a six seed last year.
Speaker 1: They played the eight ten Champs last year in Duquane
Speaker 1: and lost. Ryan otum Our old buddy from Utah State,
Speaker 1: has a veteran squad with great guard play, and b
Speaker 1: YU is only a three point five point favor They
Speaker 1: have not won to turn games in twenty twelve. They
Speaker 1: have not advanced to the round of thirty two since
Speaker 1: a guy named for Debt was shooting jumpers in provo.
Speaker 1: But there's a lot to like about what Kevin's done.
Speaker 1: There's a lot to like about this depth. There's a
Speaker 1: lot to like about the way they played down the year.
Speaker 1: So what do you make of where we find ourselves
Speaker 1: in the matchup that BYU receives as a result of
Speaker 1: their season.
Speaker 5: It seems trendy to pick VCU, and when people are
Speaker 5: looking for upsets in their bracket. The one the fact
Speaker 5: that nobody's really talking about is playing in Denver, playing
Speaker 5: in the altitude. That is a significant advantage I think
Speaker 5: for BYU, when VCU probably hasn't experienced it. Certainly Ryan
Speaker 5: otam has having spent time up the road, but his
Speaker 5: players haven't, and that is I think a bit on
Speaker 5: the second half and at some point. Look, you've seen
Speaker 5: it over the years, whether it's in Salt Lake City
Speaker 5: or in Provo, teams seem to hit a wall. Can
Speaker 5: they push through?
Speaker 8: And that's a big question.
Speaker 5: And I give a big advantage to BYU because of
Speaker 5: where the game is being played. But this is a
Speaker 5: BYU team that has improved as the season has gone on.
Speaker 5: They've gotten better as they've understanded Kevin Young's system, and
Speaker 5: they're spacing offensively, and they're cutting and their movement.
Speaker 8: You loud to the depth that they have.
Speaker 5: They're too deep at every position, and they'll play eleven guys.
Speaker 5: I like this matchup for BYU for those reasons. You
Speaker 5: loud to the experienced guard play that DCU has, and
Speaker 5: they shoot the three well, but so does BYU and
Speaker 5: BYU I just I think this is a good matchup
Speaker 5: for them. I thought last year's was too, to be
Speaker 5: honest with you, it didn't work out that way, But
Speaker 5: for a few reasons, I like BYU in this one.
Speaker 1: Seven Big twelve teams make the tournament. I think the
Speaker 1: Vegas preseason line was nine point five. Would you characterize
Speaker 1: this as a down year for the Big Twelve?
Speaker 2: Top to bottom.
Speaker 1: I mean, look, there's some elite teams I want to
Speaker 1: talk about, but seven teams get in.
Speaker 2: Is that a down year for the Big twelve, for the.
Speaker 5: Way it's gone recently? Yes, and also the infusion of
Speaker 5: the four new teams, especially a team like Arizona coming in,
Speaker 5: which has had so much success that I thought there'd
Speaker 5: be more. And frankly, West Virginia got the short end
Speaker 5: of his day. West Virginia should have been in, especially
Speaker 5: over North Carolina.
Speaker 8: But that's a whole nother conversation and why that took place.
Speaker 5: But so it should have been eight.
Speaker 8: There's seven.
Speaker 5: I do think that Houston has a real good chance
Speaker 5: to get.
Speaker 8: To the Final four.
Speaker 5: I would rule out Arizona. I think the East bracket
Speaker 5: is pretty wide open, and I just I like the
Speaker 5: way Arizona was playing down the stretch. And look, Tommy
Speaker 5: Lloyd's teams haven't lived up to the hype in terms
Speaker 5: of the postseason, and Sean Miller never got to a
Speaker 5: Final four as well when he was at Arizona. But
Speaker 5: I think the Wildcats have a chance to get through
Speaker 5: because of the draw and because of the way they're
Speaker 5: playing right now. And you could all of a sudden
Speaker 5: change it right the narrative. If seven is a down
Speaker 5: year for the Big Twelve this year, but they get
Speaker 5: two teams to San Antonio in the final four, I.
Speaker 8: Think that changes.
Speaker 5: But at this point right now, you'd have to consider
Speaker 5: it a little bit of a down year because of
Speaker 5: the success that the league has had recently.
Speaker 2: So your reference Arizona.
Speaker 1: I will follow up though, just about Houston, and you know,
Speaker 1: Kelvin Samson had a good team last year. They lost
Speaker 1: the Jamal sched Kidd prior to the tournament, and you
Speaker 1: got to have health this time of year. And we'll
Speaker 1: see what happens with Cooper Flagg. I don't know why
Speaker 1: they play them on Friday. I think they sit them
Speaker 1: and let them play Sunday after they just beat up
Speaker 1: on the winner of the sixteen playing game.
Speaker 2: But if Houston is able to remain.
Speaker 1: Healthy, it's like I said, man, I've watched Houston games
Speaker 1: this year and I've honestly felt bad for the team
Speaker 1: they're playing against. You know, like they're that level of physical,
Speaker 1: that level of tough they can guard. I think they're
Speaker 1: getting Juwan Roberts back as they sat in the final
Speaker 1: couple of games in the Big Twelve Tournament. But what
Speaker 1: has to fall in place for Houston to go win
Speaker 1: the thing, which I think they.
Speaker 5: Can well health because that was what derailed them last year.
Speaker 5: If Shed doesn't get hurt last year, to me, I
Speaker 5: think they have a real chance to win it.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 5: It would have been tough because of how good Yukon was,
Speaker 5: but I do believe that changed the complete dynamic because
Speaker 5: he was the quote unquote ahead of his name, right.
Speaker 5: That's what Shed was for Calvin Sampson last year, and
Speaker 5: that's what Milos Uzan is this year coming in from Oklahoma.
Speaker 5: So to get Roberts back. The one thing that I
Speaker 5: look at this Houston team a little bit differently than
Speaker 5: last year.
Speaker 8: As good as they are defensively.
Speaker 5: I think they were better last year. This is a
Speaker 5: better offensive team, spence than it was last year. Look
Speaker 5: at their three point shooting numbers. Houston shoots the three
Speaker 5: at about forty percent and that cannot get old. Looked
Speaker 5: with guys like Emmanuel Sharp and with LJ. Cryer, they
Speaker 5: can really shoot the ball, and that changes I think
Speaker 5: the way you have to look at this Houston team
Speaker 5: and Kelvin Sampson's been closed, right, He's had great teams.
Speaker 5: Is this the team that breaks through? It could be
Speaker 5: he just the culture that they have and the buy
Speaker 5: in factor that everybody accepts the role. And when you
Speaker 5: sign up to play for Kelvin Sampson, you know what
Speaker 5: you're in store for. I was there early in the
Speaker 5: season when they played Butler, and it was a Saturday
Speaker 5: afternoon game in early December, and they were four and three.
Speaker 5: They had three losses too and overtime, and the other
Speaker 5: one was to Auburn.
Speaker 8: Right, they lost to.
Speaker 5: San Diego State, and they lost to Alabama, and they
Speaker 5: lost to the number one team in the country. And
Speaker 5: four and three, people were kind of forgetting about them,
Speaker 5: and they were.
Speaker 8: Fine with that.
Speaker 5: And then all of a sudden, they rip off with
Speaker 5: nineteen of the next twenty games, and they only lost
Speaker 5: the rest of the way was an overtime game at
Speaker 5: home to Texas tack who finishes the two seed in
Speaker 5: the Big Twelve. This is a real tough team to
Speaker 5: play against in so many ways. And I think, to me,
Speaker 5: in my bracket, I've got them going to the National
Speaker 5: Championship Game. I don't have them winning it, even though
Speaker 5: I think they very well could. But this is a
Speaker 5: terrific Houston team that is a real, real difficult opponent
Speaker 5: to play against.
Speaker 1: I'll ask you about two more teams in one question.
Speaker 1: Both are on the three line. And you know, the
Speaker 1: first game I watched this year of Iowa States was
Speaker 1: against Auburn when they nearly beat him. They lost that game,
Speaker 1: but that was the only game they lost in their
Speaker 1: first I think sixteen games. And during that sixteen game stretch,
Speaker 1: they had to win over Kansas, who was top ten
Speaker 1: at the time. Mark Cavy was top five at the time,
Speaker 1: and Baylor was the top twenty five team. And I
Speaker 1: was at the game when they rolled in a Salt
Speaker 1: Lake and they just dump trucked Utah. This feels like
Speaker 1: a team that they're good, is really good, but we
Speaker 1: haven't seen their good good in a long time. I
Speaker 1: just said good four times in one question. So give
Speaker 1: me your thoughts on the ceiling of Iowa State. And
Speaker 1: then Texas Tech is also on the three line. So
Speaker 1: what do you think is best case for those two teams.
Speaker 5: Well, the concerning thing for both teams spends his health.
Speaker 5: Because Keishawn Gilbert is hurt. He's not going to play
Speaker 5: this weekend for Iowa State. You look at Texas Tech,
Speaker 5: Darien Williams and Chance McMillan didn't finish the Big Twelve tournaments,
Speaker 5: so that has to be a concern for both tj
Speaker 5: Osselberger and Grant McCaslin going into the tournament. I do
Speaker 5: believe that McMillan and Darien Williams will be good to go.
Speaker 5: Is everything I hear from Texas Tech, and they're a threat.
Speaker 8: Now.
Speaker 5: I think they have the tough bracket being in the West,
Speaker 5: but this has the makeup of a team that can
Speaker 5: get to the Final four because of how this team
Speaker 5: plays together. They have the player of the year in
Speaker 5: the Big Twelve and JT.
Speaker 8: Toppin.
Speaker 5: They have good guard play. Christian Anderson, the freshman has
Speaker 5: a chance to be an NBA player. This is a
Speaker 5: well coached, defined a team in terms of knowing their roles.
Speaker 5: And then you look at Iowa State. They're tough to
Speaker 5: match up up against because most of their parts are interchangeable.
Speaker 5: But if you take Keishawn Gilbert out, I have some
Speaker 5: reservations about how far they can go. And I have
Speaker 5: concerns can Iowa State get out of the first weekend
Speaker 5: without Gilbert because he does so much for that team,
Speaker 5: and it changes the roles all of a sudden. Curtis Jones,
Speaker 5: who is their best scorer but he excels in coming
Speaker 5: off the bench, now has to start. Everybody has to
Speaker 5: kind of shift in terms of their roles for Iowa State,
Speaker 5: and it depletes the bench production and the strength that
Speaker 5: they have.
Speaker 8: I have concerns.
Speaker 5: I have more concerns about Iowa.
Speaker 8: State than I do about Texas Tech.
Speaker 1: At this point, Roxley, one more question and I'll set
Speaker 1: you loose, And it's a bit of a non sequitur
Speaker 1: because I want to ask you real quick.
Speaker 2: We are Hockey Town, USA, with a rich history of about.
Speaker 8: Ten months here pro Hockey Detroit.
Speaker 1: Indeed, I mean, look, they've got their argument. I get it, Okay,
Speaker 1: I understand it, but ultimately it's moved out west to
Speaker 1: the Rocky Mountains and Roxy here we are two points
Speaker 1: back now both the Canucks and the Blues, who have
Speaker 1: come out as of late and on even numbers as
Speaker 1: far as games played with both Vancouver actually Saint Louis
Speaker 1: has one more game, so we're still in the mix.
Speaker 2: It's gonna be tough. I mean, I mean, you look
Speaker 2: at two points with sixteen seventeen games left.
Speaker 1: And you think, yeah, you can overcome that, but you know,
Speaker 1: you got to win a regulation, you got to win home.
Speaker 1: You gotta do some things that the Utah Hockey Club
Speaker 1: has struggled as a young group. But what do you
Speaker 1: make where we find ourselves and is there's still a
Speaker 1: good chance that we could see playoff hockey in hockey.
Speaker 2: Town in USA.
Speaker 5: Here in sal there's a chance, sure, because right now
Speaker 5: you're the Last time we talked, they were about what
Speaker 5: six points out. They're just two points back. But there's
Speaker 5: a logjam of teams right that. You have the Canucks,
Speaker 5: you have the Blues who are starting to get I
Speaker 5: think playing some really good hockey. Saint Louis has won
Speaker 5: a couple in a row and seven of their last ten.
Speaker 5: Calgary is an interesting team to me in this race
Speaker 5: because the Flames have two games in hand on Utah
Speaker 5: and Vancouver and free on Saint Louis. But they have
Speaker 5: not been playing well recently, and that's that has to
Speaker 5: be a concern. But you need to capitalize on the schedule,
Speaker 5: and I think you have to look at it. If
Speaker 5: you're Andre Tournay and the Utah Hockey Club right now,
Speaker 5: that every game you have to enter with the mentality
Speaker 5: is a playoff game that you can't just throw two
Speaker 5: points away. And it's a challenging run through the next month.
Speaker 5: It starts in Edmonton demot but then you get home
Speaker 5: for some games that are winnable and then a tough
Speaker 5: road trip where you're going to Tampa, Florida. You do
Speaker 5: have a game in Calgary or at home against Calgary,
Speaker 5: I should say, but there's some tough games on the schedule,
Speaker 5: and end the season with Dallas National Saint Louis. That's
Speaker 5: why you can't afford to slip up and burke points away.
Speaker 5: That when you have the ability to get two points,
Speaker 5: you got to get them. And when you have those
Speaker 5: games against the teams you're fighting with, whether it's Calgary,
Speaker 5: whether it's Saint Louis, you can't let those become three
Speaker 5: point games.
Speaker 8: You have to win those in regulation.
Speaker 2: Roxie, you are the man. Always appreciate the time. Thanks.
Speaker 2: What's your next assignment? What do you got coming up
Speaker 2: on tap?
Speaker 5: I may have some nit this weekend.
Speaker 8: I'm waiting to find out if not.
Speaker 5: I am actually headed to Fargo next week for NCAA
Speaker 5: hockey en route to the Frozen Four as the NCAA
Speaker 5: Hockey Regionals. I'll be in Fargo, North Dakota.
Speaker 2: There you go. Never a dull moment. One of the
Speaker 2: hardest working men of the business. Thank you, my friend.
Speaker 8: Be well, Okay, you guys spent any time.
Speaker 1: But Roxy Bernstein, our buddy from the Pac twelve network
Speaker 1: back in the day, had a yeoman's workload for the
Speaker 1: Big twelve Championship does college hockey. As you heard, he's
Speaker 1: a busy guy and I always appreciate his time. You
Speaker 1: can find him on social media, which is just just
Speaker 1: his name at roxy Bernstein is where you find him.
Speaker 2: All right. We are live today at the John M.
Speaker 1: Huntsman Center on the historic campus of the University of Utah,
Speaker 1: a building that's gonna get a bit of a facelift
Speaker 1: coming up a little bit. We are preparing for the
Speaker 1: introductory press conference of Alex Jensen. He's going to be
Speaker 1: introduced as the seventeenth heed coach in the history of
Speaker 1: Utah men's basketball. The panel, the dais, the table, everything's
Speaker 1: set up looking good. Bill's gonna see it. And two
Speaker 1: chairs next to Bill. My guess is that's Mark Harlan
Speaker 1: and probably Alex Jensen since he's being introduced as the
Speaker 1: head coach.
Speaker 2: And I that's my guest.
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Speaker 2: Burt Brothers doing it better since day one.
Speaker 12: I'm really happy for Aj. He's a great coach. I
Speaker 12: know that he has a lot of pride in the
Speaker 12: Utah program. It's going to be fun to watch him
Speaker 12: build it. You see, the college game has changed a lot.
Speaker 12: I don't pretend to be an expert on that at all,
Speaker 12: but all the narratives around college basketball and how the
Speaker 12: teams are built changed a ton But I think that
Speaker 12: Alex is a really you know, has a really creative
Speaker 12: mindset when it comes to how to run a team.
Speaker 12: He's incredibly smart. He's able to be flexible when things
Speaker 12: are thrown his way. So I have no doubt that
Speaker 12: he'll have success. That you talk, it'd be fun to
Speaker 12: watch him.
Speaker 2: I we're live today from the John M.
Speaker 1: Huntsman Center preparing for tonight's introductory press conference for Alex Jensen,
Speaker 1: introduced as a seventeenth third coach in Utah men's basketball history.
Speaker 1: The press conference will get rolling at about six o'clock tonight.
Speaker 2: Bill Riley will be the MC.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure which other ute legends will be in attendance,
Speaker 1: but the buzz around town certainly is palpable. I think
Speaker 1: a lot of former utes will be here, certainly Alex,
Speaker 1: his wife Natalie, and their family here at the Huntsman Center.
Speaker 2: So stay tuned for that coming your way at about
Speaker 2: six o'clock tonight.
Speaker 1: And that was Will Hardy who spoke about Alex Jensen
Speaker 1: during a Jazz postgame press conference.
Speaker 2: When I asked the question of the.
Speaker 1: Higher Alex worked for Will for one year, and it's
Speaker 1: interesting to hear Will talk about Alex in those types
Speaker 1: of terms because Alex wanted to stay and Will was
Speaker 1: not interested in that. Beyond one year of Alex's contract,
Speaker 1: Alex spent nine years as the lead assistant for Quinn
Speaker 1: Snyder during a very successful period of Utah Jazz basketball,
Speaker 1: where Alex in large part was credited with the development
Speaker 1: of Rudy Gobert, who was a gangly, awkward rookie who
Speaker 1: could barely run up and down the floor and turned
Speaker 1: into a three time Most excuse me, three time All Star,
Speaker 1: four time Defensive Player the Year, and as a Hall
Speaker 1: of Hall of Fame player. Rudy Gobert is going to
Speaker 1: be in the Hall of Fame, and the bulk of
Speaker 1: that credit certainly goes to Gobert, but Alex was the
Speaker 1: coach that worked alongside him quite a bit. So Alex
Speaker 1: making a name for himself in pro basketball as a
Speaker 1: player development coach. He was the G League Coach of
Speaker 1: the Year once upon a time, a league that is
Speaker 1: really tough coach in because nobody in the G League
Speaker 1: wants to be in the G League. Players want to
Speaker 1: be in the NBA coaches want to be in the NBA, executives, broadcasters,
Speaker 1: you name it, pr folk, they don't want to be
Speaker 1: in the G League. And Alex was able to coach
Speaker 1: a team to a G League championship and now spent
Speaker 1: a number of years in the pros honing his skills,
Speaker 1: and now he takes over as the Utah men's basketball coach.
Speaker 1: So Utah basketball season tickets on sale. They've got the
Speaker 1: QR code here in the Huntsman Centers. They should, so
Speaker 1: that announcement will come your way at about six o'clock tonight.
Speaker 1: We're gonna bring in Gavin Peterson today live on site.
Speaker 1: Gavin is the head coach of the Utah women's basketball program,
Speaker 1: and for the fourth straight year, the Utah women find
Speaker 1: themselves in the NCAA Tournament with a first round matchup
Speaker 1: against Indiana. The uts are an eight seed. They're playing
Speaker 1: in the region where South Carolina will host. A little
Speaker 1: bit different on the women's side of things, where you
Speaker 1: are able to host a region if you're one of.
Speaker 2: The higher seeds.
Speaker 1: South Carolina under Don Staley obviously won the national championship
Speaker 1: a year ago, so should Utah beat Indiana, they're going
Speaker 1: to run into a buzz sauce. So we'll see what
Speaker 1: the Utah women's basketball program can do. But a couple
Speaker 1: of other tournament thoughts here. So BYU wins nine of
Speaker 1: their last ten basketball games, they certainly learned what the
Speaker 1: next level of basketball looks like. Since you and I
Speaker 1: last spoke, we saw BYU take on Houston in the
Speaker 1: Big twelve Championship semi final and that game was over
Speaker 1: before you could make a sandwich. It was fifteen zero,
Speaker 1: and quite frankly, BYU never even counterpunched. There were a
Speaker 1: few small runs here there, but outside of kape Cata
Speaker 1: former ute who had a double double fourteen points, twelve rebounds,
Speaker 1: and a few moments here there from Dawson.
Speaker 2: Baker, that was a team that looked terrified.
Speaker 1: To play against the physicality, the pressure, the speed, the
Speaker 1: defensive prowess of the Houston Cougars under Kelvin Sampson.
Speaker 2: And you know, Diegor demon for all of his talent,
Speaker 2: and there's a lot to like about Yegor. You can
Speaker 2: see why pro scouts really like him. He is six'
Speaker 2: nine and all all of.
Speaker 1: It he's a great, passer he's a skilled ball handler
Speaker 1: and a really good, playmaker doesn't shoot it well from the,
Speaker 1: outside but he just cowers away from any sort of.
Speaker 1: Pressure AND byu is going to see that AGAINST. VCU
Speaker 1: vcu is a good defensive basketball. Team they're one of
Speaker 1: the top twenty five defensive basketball teams in the. Country
Speaker 1: they actually lead the country in effective field goal percentage.
Speaker 1: Defense they're second against, twos and they've got three players
Speaker 1: in their rotation six to ten or. Taller and they're
Speaker 1: one of the top teams in the country in offensive rebound.
Speaker 1: Percentage they're Not, houston And i'm not saying they. Are
Speaker 1: this is not a bad basketball team THAT byu finds
Speaker 1: themselves up against During round one of THE Ncaa. Tournament
Speaker 1: and If yegor demon cannot respond to the pressure that
Speaker 1: they're going to, see this is gonna have to Be
Speaker 1: Dollen hall's. Show dallan's tougher Than. Yegor he's not the
Speaker 1: pro prospect That yegor.
Speaker 2: Is But doallen is a season big twelve point.
Speaker 1: Guard that, is he's gone through the riggers of this conference,
Speaker 1: before and he does not back away from. Pressure the
Speaker 1: same thing goes For Trevin, nell who's only a spot up.
Speaker 1: Shooter he could not play Against. Houston kevin pulled. Him
Speaker 1: he played nineteen minutes even though he, starts and you,
Speaker 1: Know richie could never fully get. Going they tried some
Speaker 1: more downhill drives in the second half as opposed to
Speaker 1: relying on the, three because the three point shot was not.
Speaker 1: Fallen they were six of twenty eight from the floor
Speaker 1: and they only got to the free throw line ten
Speaker 1: times because they could not beat their man on the
Speaker 1: point of. Attack kaba was the only player that had
Speaker 1: the strength and athleticism to look like he belonged Against.
Speaker 2: Houston everybody else was just.
Speaker 1: Lost SO i know SOME byu fans are upset that
Speaker 1: they only received a six. Seed here's WHAT i would
Speaker 1: say to. That first of, all y'all are mad about
Speaker 1: everything all the. Time have you ever been accurately seated
Speaker 1: college football playoff rolls?
Speaker 2: Around? Oh we should have been. Higher, Okay now you
Speaker 2: get a six. Seed everybody's.
Speaker 1: Crying, Okay, like look at your non conference. Schedule you
Speaker 1: played no conference and that is going to come back
Speaker 1: to bite. You what are they gonna reward you for
Speaker 1: a win Against queens In? Provo and then the startup
Speaker 1: conference play was not. Good they finished on. Fire but
Speaker 1: here's What i'd. Say IF i were A byu, Fan
Speaker 1: i'd be much more excited about the location.
Speaker 2: Than the.
Speaker 1: Seed so you're a sixth seed in The East, region
Speaker 1: but your first couple of games will be In. Denver
Speaker 1: you can get To denver from anywhere In utah in
Speaker 1: like seven, hours so it's a location where you can
Speaker 1: travel to and you can go support your. Team, now
Speaker 1: if you advance on the reason it's The East region
Speaker 1: is eventually if you do get to The sweet. Sixteen
Speaker 1: and by the, WAY i think there's a good shot
Speaker 1: FOR byu to advance to The sweet. Sixteen they get
Speaker 1: a pretty weak three seed in my opinion In wisconsin
Speaker 1: if they're able to BEAT. Vcu SO i know you're
Speaker 1: upset and you feel job because you always do about
Speaker 1: everything and it's, Exhausting but ULTIMATELY i would be more
Speaker 1: excited about the fact that you're playing In denver against
Speaker 1: a good, team but not a great team IN. Vcu
Speaker 1: now there's gonna be a LITTLE ptsd. HERE byu was
Speaker 1: the sixth seed last. Year they played THE a ten.
Speaker 1: Champ last year it Was duquane and they lost that
Speaker 1: game as the sixth seed against THE a ten. CHAMP
Speaker 1: vcu just won THE a ten regular season and tournament.
Speaker 1: Championship and here's the other thing THAT i think if
Speaker 1: your byu Maybe i'm making something out of nothing.
Speaker 2: Here there are a ton of rumors That Ryan odam
Speaker 2: is taking That virginia.
Speaker 1: Job he's the head coach OF. Vcu he was the
Speaker 1: head coach Of Utah. State he's a hell of a coach.
Speaker 1: Man he's a really really good. Coach but there are
Speaker 1: already rumors that he has accepted THE uva. Job right
Speaker 1: and so if that's out, THERE i would imagine you're
Speaker 1: gonna have a tremendous amount of distractions for the roster
Speaker 1: in the. Meantime now back to WHAT vcu does well
Speaker 1: and why this could be. PROBLEMATIC vcu has four in
Speaker 1: their starting. Lineup three of those seniors are fifth year.
Speaker 1: Players one of those seniors is a seventh year. Player
Speaker 1: they have two players that Have elite eight, experience one With,
Speaker 1: clemson a grad transfer From, clemson and the other is
Speaker 1: escaping me off the top of my. Head but another
Speaker 1: grad transfer who plays For Ryan odom that was in
Speaker 1: The elite eight like a year.
Speaker 2: Ago, okay so they have great guard play and they
Speaker 2: have great.
Speaker 1: Experience their best player is a Former Utah state aggie
Speaker 1: Named Max Max Shugla, shoegla excuse, me his Name, shugla
Speaker 1: and he was THE a Ten player of The. Year
Speaker 1: he leads them in, points, assists, steals three point field goal,
Speaker 1: percentage and he is their lead. Guard, okay so they've
Speaker 1: got a bunch of. Upperclassmen they're well, coached they've got
Speaker 1: good guard, play and they have experience from players who
Speaker 1: have made runs in THE ncaa.
Speaker 2: Tournament and they have length and they. Guard.
Speaker 1: Okay LIKE i, said they have three players that are
Speaker 1: six ten in their. Rotation they've Got Jack, clark who's
Speaker 1: a grad.
Speaker 2: Transfer six to.
Speaker 1: Ten Christian furman is six to ten as, well and
Speaker 1: their freshmen set a freshman record for block shots at the.
Speaker 1: Program he's actually a brit he's From. London And Ryan
Speaker 1: odham plays all three of these players that are six.
Speaker 1: Ten so if there's a reason for, excitement if you're
Speaker 1: A byu, fan the main.
Speaker 2: Reason is if you can get out and play with.
Speaker 1: PACE vcu cannot keep up AND byu wants to get
Speaker 1: out and play with.
Speaker 2: Pace it's what they've been all year. Long they like
Speaker 2: to get out and.
Speaker 1: Run one of the THINGS i do like ABOUT byu
Speaker 1: is they can beat you in a myriad of different.
Speaker 1: Ways but if they can get out and push the
Speaker 1: pace a little, bit if by you can get out
Speaker 1: and push the pace a little, bit and they can
Speaker 1: force these bigs to get up and down and don't
Speaker 1: get sucked into a half court, game which is WHAT vcu.
Speaker 2: Wants you to. DO i THINK byu.
Speaker 1: WINS i don't think they have to necessarily make it,
Speaker 1: threes BUT i do think they're gonna have to rely
Speaker 1: upon their spacing and their outside shot, because AS i,
Speaker 1: referenced vs u's bread and butter is getting you in
Speaker 1: the half court and protecting the rim with their, length
Speaker 1: and they take away layups and. Dunks they actually dare
Speaker 1: you to shoot, threes and if YOU'RE, byu you say thank,
Speaker 1: you because that's what we do. Well the fear is
Speaker 1: if it's and this is why this tournament is impossible to.
Speaker 1: PREDICT i will take the opportunity to encourage you to
Speaker 1: log ONTO espn seven hundred sports dot com to play
Speaker 1: our bracket. Challenge the problem is if if it's a one, Off,
Speaker 1: okay if it's just one, game which is what this tournament,
Speaker 1: is single. Elimination there are a couple of things that
Speaker 1: always throw monkey wrenches in the plans of teams that
Speaker 1: are favored to. Win number one is health byu is
Speaker 1: healthy outside Of Canon, catchings WHO i think has missed five,
Speaker 1: games and, HONESTLY i don't think he's really germane to their.
Speaker 1: Success so if he, plays if he, Doesn't if he,
Speaker 1: plays it's a nice depth. PIECE i, mean we've seen
Speaker 1: some games From cannon this year where he just catches fire.
Speaker 1: Randomly he's a pro, prospect But i'm not sure that
Speaker 1: he's gonna. Play but even if he does or, Doesn't
Speaker 1: i'm not sure it's jermaine of the. Outcome so number
Speaker 1: one is, health and every year health can derail the
Speaker 1: run of one of the.
Speaker 2: Best teams in college.
Speaker 1: Basketball it might derail the run of The Duke Blue,
Speaker 1: devils who are expecting to Get cooper flag, back but
Speaker 1: they're also without one of their bigs moving forward because
Speaker 1: he dislocated his shoulder in THE Acc. Tournament and the
Speaker 1: other is if you just have a night where you
Speaker 1: cannot hit the broadside of a, barn if you're an
Speaker 1: outside shooting, team that's predicated on the, three and your
Speaker 1: three ball isn't.
Speaker 2: There what do you do?
Speaker 1: Now FOR byu most games this, year if they're not
Speaker 1: hitting their, three they've been able to bring in The
Speaker 1: Fus trairi kid off the bench and feed him down,
Speaker 1: low because he really is a. Beast the problem, IS
Speaker 1: i Think fus is probably six. Six If i'm, HONEST
Speaker 1: i think they listed him as six.' eight i'll look
Speaker 1: that up. REAL quick i think they listed him as six,
Speaker 1: 's eight maybe even. Six' nine but i've seen the
Speaker 1: kid a couple, of Different times and i'll say. He's
Speaker 1: SIX six if i, HAD to guess I Would say
Speaker 1: foos traiori is. Six to six they list him as.
Speaker 1: Six to six never, mind my bad they. List, Him
Speaker 1: accurately okay so what?
Speaker 2: Does?
Speaker 1: That mean Uh if you're trayory and you're going up
Speaker 1: against bigs that aren't necessarily all that, big and long
Speaker 1: because of his footwork and his, ability to finish he's
Speaker 1: been able to stead the tie for them over the
Speaker 1: course of this year when they're not hitting their threes
Speaker 1: because he gets.
Speaker 2: Buckets DOWN, Low against vcu he's.
Speaker 1: Got three bigs that are, in the lineup oftentimes together
Speaker 1: that are.
Speaker 2: All, Six' ten okay so this feels LIKE a.
Speaker 1: Game where byu is Gonna Have to have trevin nell,
Speaker 1: Knock Down four threes richie. Saunders knocked, down three You
Speaker 1: know dieg or demon not. Go One For seven Get
Speaker 1: Dawson baker and dollen, Hall off the bench, mowatt mag you,
Speaker 1: Know all these guys boscovich who can, Shoot It, from
Speaker 1: three trey stewart who's an excellent defensive player but has
Speaker 1: knocked down some.
Speaker 2: THREES over the past, a little bit like.
Speaker 1: Get, those guys, open looks you know make sure you're,
Speaker 1: knocking DOWN your threes because i don't think you can
Speaker 1: win a HALF court game against vcu with. Their size
Speaker 1: AND strength and if byu is able to get THE,
Speaker 1: win taking on vcu their matchup round two Most likely
Speaker 1: would be wisconsin. As A three seed and i actually we'll.
Speaker 1: GET to this LATER i actually think byu matches up
Speaker 1: really Well. With with with wisconsin wisconsin Has. To get
Speaker 1: by MONTANA by the time Byu, tips off on thursday
Speaker 1: they will know If they're Gonna play wisconsin or. Montana
Speaker 1: in round two, so there You go we'll get we'll
Speaker 1: get to some Of this coming up, in a little
Speaker 1: bit we'll kind of preview the bracket with more. Of
Speaker 1: A macro level gavin peterson's Gonna roll by the utah
Speaker 1: women for the fourth. Time IN four years our ncaa
Speaker 1: tournament bound will talk About their matchup with indiana and
Speaker 1: the potential with A Juggernaut. Matchup against south carolina before,
Speaker 1: you catch a break let's, Welcome to My guy Doug
Speaker 1: from farmer And chemist. On, A Monday, afternoon, doug happy
Speaker 1: monday Sir?
Speaker 11: How?
Speaker 2: Are, you.
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Speaker 4: For the Latest news On, the university of utah keep
Speaker 4: it locked right here on The home Of the utes
Speaker 4: and utah's.
Speaker 5: NUMBER one sports talk Espn seven hundred and.
Speaker 2: We're live Today AT.
Speaker 1: The Historic john m huntsman Center on a beautiful monday
Speaker 1: afternoon here on The campus Of.
Speaker 2: The university of utah we're getting set for.
Speaker 1: The Introductory press conference alex jensen coming up in just,
Speaker 1: less than two hours will be formally introduced as a
Speaker 1: seventeenth Head coach of the, Utah men's basketball program so.
Speaker 1: Stay tuned for that we're Expecting a bunch of ute
Speaker 1: legends in the house for. The Press or tonight the
Speaker 1: utah men will NOT be, in the Ncaa tournament but
Speaker 1: the utah women will for, the fourth Straight time Taking
Speaker 1: on indiana on friday morning.
Speaker 2: At eleven thirty AM that.
Speaker 1: Is on, espn two you can of course hear the
Speaker 1: game on our station with The home of the utes
Speaker 1: and the Head Coach, Of The, utah women gavin peterson
Speaker 1: good enough to give us Some, Time, on a monday coach?
Speaker 8: How are?
Speaker 9: You good doing great. Thanks for having me and it's
Speaker 9: all about preparation at.
Speaker 2: This Point, for sure luke combs. You're, a, country.
Speaker 14: Guy huh yes sir When He, came to rice echos
Speaker 14: me and my family went two, nights in.
Speaker 9: A row very nice and if, There was a third
Speaker 9: i've probably been there on the.
Speaker 2: THIRD and night, two i love it.
Speaker 1: Got, love it man hey Before, we get to indiana
Speaker 1: before we get to the, tournament as a whole what's?
Speaker 1: YOUR experience, been like i mean you took over in
Speaker 1: circumstances that none of. Us REALLY saw, coming, so i
Speaker 1: wonder coach what you expected when you took the gig
Speaker 1: and what you've learned.
Speaker 2: In, the month, SINCE yeah you know, i.
Speaker 14: WAS with YOU guys i think i had forty eight
Speaker 14: hours notice before we told our team after we played
Speaker 14: One More, game under lynn roberts and so it kind of,
Speaker 14: caught me off guard but, AT the same, time, i
Speaker 14: am humbled honored and just thankful for the opportunity to
Speaker 14: lead this historically tradition rich program and continuing to build
Speaker 14: on The legacy that coach, roberts and, myself started you.
Speaker 14: Know ten seasons, ago so, really fortunate REALLY humbled, and
Speaker 14: like i said just. Thankful for, The opportunity you know
Speaker 14: I'D be LYING if i said i had a big.
Speaker 14: PLAN going into this I was really when i got,
Speaker 14: named the head, Coach, it was about okay we had to,
Speaker 14: sure up our recruiting make sure those commitments stayed, true
Speaker 14: to their, commitments which they did but we had to kind.
Speaker 14: Of re recruit them and Then We had games friday
Speaker 14: sunday and Then Off. To the cayman islands so it
Speaker 14: was kind of a blessing in disguise that, we were
Speaker 14: STAYING busy so all i could really focus on, was our,
Speaker 14: current team our.
Speaker 9: Basketball what we had to.
Speaker 14: Do for that opponent and so, THAT really, allowed us i,
Speaker 14: think as a team, as a coaching staff to really
Speaker 14: kind of get comfortable in the new normal and just
Speaker 14: kind of. Pushed ON from there but i really didn't
Speaker 14: have any, expectations or you know we're going to, have
Speaker 14: to win this. Win that many games it was, let's
Speaker 14: do our best continue to build, on what we HAVE
Speaker 14: and absolutely the ncaa tournament was the destination that we're hoping,
Speaker 14: for and.
Speaker 2: You know to continue on this team a little bit
Speaker 2: of what You and.
Speaker 1: Coach rob a, built LIKE you know when i was
Speaker 1: in school, here in the nineties the expectation was for
Speaker 1: the men to make the tournament and then to make.
Speaker 1: Runs in the tournament and what you guys have done on,
Speaker 1: the women's side now your expectation every year is.
Speaker 6: To, be a.
Speaker 14: Tournament, Team isn't it yes and it's crazy because we've
Speaker 14: been here, now our, tenth season but yeah it's amazing to.
Speaker 14: Have those expectations now and, it just you know goes to,
Speaker 14: show that through recruiting, through the hard work having a
Speaker 14: vision and then believing in it and. Then recruiting to
Speaker 14: it if you just, stay of the course, it takes
Speaker 14: some time but if, you stay the course.
Speaker 9: YOU'LL definitely reach.
Speaker 2: That i want.
Speaker 1: TO stay in that i want to, elaborate because you
Speaker 1: know you referenced a decade now and it.
Speaker 2: Was a slow build it.
Speaker 1: Was a long game It was Brick By brick and
Speaker 1: alex jensen is going to be introduced tonight as the
Speaker 1: next Head coach of the, utah men's basketball program and
Speaker 1: he is going to be tasked. With a, SIMILAR build
Speaker 1: and look i don't. KNOW what to expect i don't
Speaker 1: know what. PLAYERS are coming back i have no idea
Speaker 1: who's going. To play for him but what would you
Speaker 1: identify as the key pieces of your build in order
Speaker 1: to make this the standard and also generate the type
Speaker 1: of interest that you've generated because the women's game are
Speaker 1: experiencing attendance numbers that we've never.
Speaker 2: Seen, before on, campus.
Speaker 9: Yeah you know it's a great time to be a
Speaker 9: women's basketball.
Speaker 14: Player throughout the, country But you know when, lynn and
Speaker 14: you know myself and, Our Director of operations kendall rodriguez
Speaker 14: were the only we were the only three.
Speaker 9: At the start of the season that. Are still on
Speaker 9: staff now It's.
Speaker 14: Just me and, Kendall, but you know lynn, we had
Speaker 14: our meeting, we had our, vision and you know year
Speaker 14: one was we wanted. To win, the community year two
Speaker 14: we wanted to. Win the recruiting battles and then year
Speaker 14: three we're. Gonna start winning, games and you know, Believe
Speaker 14: IT or not like i, Thought that first year lind
Speaker 14: did a tremendous job with her leadership and we were
Speaker 14: able to win eighteen games we, thought we, might have
Speaker 14: you know, heading into the season maybe thought. We're gonna
Speaker 14: win eight so the fact that we were able to,
Speaker 14: do that early on it was easy to kind of.
Speaker 9: Pull the Community, IN so with alex i think.
Speaker 14: He's already got that he's probably one step ahead of
Speaker 14: us because he, Has that name recognition, he is an
Speaker 14: alum he played here during those, great men's basketball days
Speaker 14: and so the community is always gonna be there and going.
Speaker 14: TO rally around him i think it's just about now
Speaker 14: creating a culture and then establishing what, your non negotiables
Speaker 14: are which we did as, a women's basketball program and then.
Speaker 14: Just sticking, to that and yes there are gonna be,
Speaker 14: some ups and downs but it's not. Changing with the,
Speaker 14: times if adversity hits stick.
Speaker 9: With what you know you got to have a.
Speaker 14: Set Of non negotiables and lynn was always big on
Speaker 14: we're going to protect our, culture at all costs and
Speaker 14: we HAVE and that's something i continue to do in terms,
Speaker 14: of continuing this program and we're gonna, have a. Strong
Speaker 14: culture great foundation we're gonna have a good bunch of
Speaker 14: kids that not, only can play basketball, but they're, great
Speaker 14: people great students and the community is going to be.
Speaker 9: Really proud about them.
Speaker 1: You REFERENCE the process of i think you said re,
Speaker 1: recruiting the players right because you have a lot of,
Speaker 1: talent ON your, roster and i wonder and you don't
Speaker 1: have to get into specifics because what happens behind closed doors.
Speaker 1: Happen behind closed Doors but when coach rob got this
Speaker 1: opportunity which you, COULDN'T say, no to i mean you
Speaker 1: understand why she did, what she did obviously what was
Speaker 1: that process to ensure some of the top shelf talent on.
Speaker 2: Your roster that they are in the right place if.
Speaker 14: They, just trust, YOU yeah you know i think, in,
Speaker 14: college basketball men. Women it doesn't matter it really is.
Speaker 14: ABOUT their relationship Piece i think WITH lynn taking that
Speaker 14: WNBA Job, WITH the la sparks i truly believe for
Speaker 14: the first time maybe in those, recruits and their families
Speaker 14: they saw the.
Speaker 9: Business side OF things so what i HAD to do
Speaker 9: was i had.
Speaker 14: To rally our staff we had to get kind of
Speaker 14: everybody back on Board, in terms of okay, this is
Speaker 14: our vision this, is what we're doing this is what
Speaker 14: we're going. To continue to do and then we just
Speaker 14: had to make sure that at the, end of the
Speaker 14: day our recruits heard from. Us face to face in
Speaker 14: terms of the relationships. We already have established that's. Not
Speaker 14: going to change, lynn has moved on and again we.
Speaker 14: Were happy for her i'm excited to see her leave
Speaker 14: her mark. In the professional ranks, and for us here
Speaker 14: it's just, again continuing that legacy continuing building on our
Speaker 14: culture and our. Success here in basketball AND it was
Speaker 14: again i had to remind them and just lean back
Speaker 14: on the relationships that we had built over the couple,
Speaker 14: years recruiting these, kids and you know they all got
Speaker 14: to see that side of us again and they felt confident,
Speaker 14: and comfortable with us and we.
Speaker 9: Just locked them in.
Speaker 1: You're, a HEAD coach now and i don't want to
Speaker 1: put you in any, sort of a box but if my,
Speaker 1: memory Serves Me correctly when coach rob, was the head
Speaker 1: coach you were kind of in, charge. Of the defense
Speaker 1: right that was, kind, OF your, deal right i mean
Speaker 1: that was, KIND of, YOUR role i guess i mean
Speaker 1: maybe that was just, what. We Were told right so
Speaker 1: i'm wondering how your approach has changed after, moving over one.
Speaker 2: Seat, if at.
Speaker 9: All yeah we we.
Speaker 14: WORKED really well together i mean this was this was
Speaker 14: the start of Our twelfth season, Together lynn and myself
Speaker 14: so we.
Speaker 9: Work really well together we still.
Speaker 14: Have a great, Relationship she'll text, me i'll, call her text,
Speaker 14: her and you know she always, checks IN on me.
Speaker 14: Which i really appreciate but in terms of now, Sliding
Speaker 14: over a chair i'm now responsible, for calling our offense
Speaker 14: having an offensive game, plan and put together WHEREAS in
Speaker 14: the past i.
Speaker 9: Was just mister suggestion like, it's easy.
Speaker 14: To suggest, harder to you know make a decision with
Speaker 14: not necessarily having the, result based you know. Factor determining
Speaker 14: those decisions so that's. Been the hardest, PART and you
Speaker 14: know i have A Great, staff in ryan larson who
Speaker 14: We got away from wyoming six, Games Into, the Year Jordan,
Speaker 14: sullivan and morgan bailey and they do a great job
Speaker 14: of continuing. To prep our team so they take up
Speaker 14: or pick up a lot of the slack now on
Speaker 14: the defensive. Side for our team but it's a lot of,
Speaker 14: all hands ON deck and now i find myself spending
Speaker 14: a lot more time offensive game planning and getting our
Speaker 14: kids in the right position to continue to play the
Speaker 14: style of, play that you know got our fans and.
Speaker 14: Everybody excited about you. Tall women is basketball, so like.
Speaker 1: Every team most every, team in college basketball Your season
Speaker 1: has eb, dennis flowed, and yeah you know more success than,
Speaker 1: twenty two and eight thirteen and five in conference.
Speaker 2: Is a Fine year here's how. I'll pose the question when,
Speaker 2: you guys.
Speaker 1: Are flying when you're, running through you know two of
Speaker 1: your winning streaks there were, more than five games what?
Speaker 1: Are you doing well and when it, goes the other
Speaker 1: way what are some things that maybe?
Speaker 2: You lose sight of.
Speaker 14: If, THAT makes sense yeah i think during those, stretches in,
Speaker 14: the season you know obviously the opponents to. Play A
Speaker 14: big factor but i do feel, when we are flowing
Speaker 14: we are. Moving the ball offensively we are not allowing
Speaker 14: our defensive, success or, you know non success affect our.
Speaker 14: Offense when that happens those were when we. Had some
Speaker 14: bad games we're maybe we weren't getting the stops that
Speaker 14: we were, getting a week earlier maybe because the opponent,
Speaker 14: is that much better but we allowed the defense and.
Speaker 9: Maybe other teams scoring we were allowing that to.
Speaker 14: Kind of affect our offensive, rhythm AND offensive flow and
Speaker 14: i think we kind of maybe start to, overthink a
Speaker 14: little bit play a little.
Speaker 9: Passive on our heels and that's not when, we're kind
Speaker 9: of average.
Speaker 14: If you ask me but, when, we are, firing running
Speaker 14: you know, end line in line, and pushing our pace
Speaker 14: taking shots that are, good shots for us and we're just,
Speaker 14: playing fearless and confident that's when.
Speaker 1: We're at our best you ran through a good streak
Speaker 1: before the end of the year where you did, lose
Speaker 1: three or five, AND to your point i never want
Speaker 1: to take credit. Away From, An Opponent oklahoma state. WEST
Speaker 1: virginia good Teams I think the texas tech game is
Speaker 1: the one that people were a little bit confused about because.
Speaker 1: YOU'RE a superior team i think you, play them ten times.
Speaker 1: You probably went nine but any concern, heading into, the
Speaker 1: tournament you know coming off a stretch in which you lost, Three,
Speaker 1: YEAR last five yeah.
Speaker 9: I Think You know the west virginia game was that.
Speaker 14: Was an interesting trip it's a, hard place to play
Speaker 14: and if you take a deep, dive into their numbers
Speaker 14: like they're.
Speaker 9: Really unbeatable at home so that, Was like a Wow welcome.
Speaker 14: To the big twelve moment for us towards the, end of,
Speaker 14: the Year You know the oklahoma, state game at home.
Speaker 9: That that, one hurt you know we're leading for the.
Speaker 14: MAJORITY of the game i think we're probably leading close,
Speaker 14: to thirty five minutes and then they took the lead
Speaker 14: and we weren't able to get that lead back towards the.
Speaker 14: End of the game, and, Then You. Know yeah, texas
Speaker 14: tech you know we looked, ourselves in the, mirror our,
Speaker 14: coaching STAFF our, players and i think, to BE brutally
Speaker 14: honest is i think we were playing with a lot
Speaker 14: of pressure and we were, playing not to lose and
Speaker 14: you could see it on my, face as a coach
Speaker 14: you could see it on our. Faces of OUR players
Speaker 14: and so i, had to remind, MYSELF and you know
Speaker 14: I told them that i'm going to be. Better in
Speaker 14: that regard i'm not going, to be you know trying
Speaker 14: to give that negative type of energy in. A must,
Speaker 14: win situation, IT'S like, you know i mean we're playing
Speaker 14: basketball at the. End of the day it's like nothing is.
Speaker 9: A must win game it's you want to win and.
Speaker 14: You're playing to WIN so that's what, i got, to
Speaker 14: remind you know our Coaching staff myself and looted, and our,
Speaker 14: players just you know let's.
Speaker 9: Go play to.
Speaker 14: Win let's be fearless we know how to play basketball
Speaker 14: the right way because we've done it over a.
Speaker 9: Long period of time we have.
Speaker 14: A lot of experience our, senior leadership is phenomenal our upperclassmen.
Speaker 9: Are very good, in what they do and so just
Speaker 9: relying on that and having fun with the moment.
Speaker 1: And let it fly so your reward, for YOUR season,
Speaker 1: is like i REFERENCED the fourth straight ncaa. Birth in
Speaker 1: four Years now, for the untah Women. You're taking on indiana.
Speaker 1: You're the eighth seed. Indiana's the nine, Seed Their, head
Speaker 1: coach terry morien has been there, for a decade. Now
Speaker 1: since twenty fourteen so let's, start with and look we all,
Speaker 1: watch the live feed so we all saw. THAT you
Speaker 1: acted excited I don't know that i've ever seen one
Speaker 1: of those live shots where. Team's, like bummed out no you're.
Speaker 1: Supposed to act excited you're in and. That's the bottom line.
Speaker 1: It's a tough region. We'll get to that but what
Speaker 1: was your reaction when you saw the seed and. You,
Speaker 1: SAW the matchup yeah i.
Speaker 14: Think it's always refreshing to play a team that you,
Speaker 14: haven't played before either that is. Part of the excitement
Speaker 14: and then when we get to, Go To You, know
Speaker 14: Columbia south carolina, like i've said before like that is
Speaker 14: the premier destination right.
Speaker 9: Now in women's, basketball they are.
Speaker 14: Basketball women's basketball fans they will be, there For our
Speaker 14: game and i'm hoping they remember us from a couple
Speaker 14: of years ago when we Played Them At the mohegan
Speaker 14: sun and even.
Speaker 9: Though We, don't have alyssa peely we do have a
Speaker 9: lot of the.
Speaker 14: Same PLAYERS in uniform so i hope that we get
Speaker 14: a little bit of their support. In that earlier, game
Speaker 14: and you know and it's going to be a great,
Speaker 14: ATMOSPHERE and our kids i want. Them to, EMBRACE it
Speaker 14: and again i, think this senior CLASS they're fourth straight
Speaker 14: ncaa tournament and they've also won every first round. Game
Speaker 14: that they've played so it's kind of cool that they're
Speaker 14: continuing to leave their legacy.
Speaker 9: And leave their, mark and you know our charge.
Speaker 14: Is to CONTINUE this and like i told said to
Speaker 14: the audience last night at, our selection show, parties like
Speaker 14: you know we want to host and so we're gonna
Speaker 14: work hard, in the off season, and so next year,
Speaker 14: fast forward a year hopefully we're doing this again and.
Speaker 9: Maybe we get.
Speaker 1: Hosts do you like the dynamic of a team hosting
Speaker 1: juxtaposed to the way? THE men, do it i mean
Speaker 1: do you have a preference or is it just like,
Speaker 1: This Is our format so i'm.
Speaker 5: Just.
Speaker 14: Gonna, EMBRACE it yeah well i think with the, growth
Speaker 14: of women's basketball it's worth them revisiting. It IN due
Speaker 14: time but i think right now it's a proven method
Speaker 14: where you're filling the stands and, that's what you, know
Speaker 14: all the players, all the coaching staffs they want to
Speaker 14: play in front, of a packed house and so it.
Speaker 14: Is what it is but also, at the same time
Speaker 14: now you have one, through sixteen they're hosting but you
Speaker 14: have seventeen through thirty two that. On any given night
Speaker 14: it's gotten a lot more competitive, on THE women's, side where,
Speaker 14: i remember you know twenty four Years Ago It, was
Speaker 14: yukon tennessee. Stanford, that was it yeah and so now
Speaker 14: over the years it's kind of. More and more teams
Speaker 14: now you Can, throw in.
Speaker 9: A texas you CAN.
Speaker 14: Throw In An lsu obviously south carolina your perennial national
Speaker 14: Champions or your pernial, Final four appearance makers like there
Speaker 14: are so many really really good Teams and In THE
Speaker 14: big twelve. Baylor tcu. This YEAR who KNOWS so i
Speaker 14: think i like the way, it is right, now and
Speaker 14: you know the continued, growth of women's basketball.
Speaker 9: Then maybe you might be able to do something.
Speaker 1: Along the men's side let me ask YOU about that
Speaker 1: because i have a brother and he and His, Wife,
Speaker 1: live in carmel indiana and, they have six Children and they,
Speaker 1: have fever season, tickets and you know they have their
Speaker 1: boys who Are Teenage boys.
Speaker 2: Have kaitlin, Clark jerseys you know I'm The little girl.
Speaker 1: Martha may. Loves basketball She's Seven. She loves kaitlan clark,
Speaker 1: but from my perspective growing up around pro sports and
Speaker 1: being in this, industry for twenty years it's, one thing
Speaker 1: to have like A Seminal moment when cheryl miller goes
Speaker 1: For a million or cheryl, Swoops Is. You know dinah
Speaker 1: tarassa you have all these moments where these players rise
Speaker 1: up and you win a gold medal.
Speaker 2: Or what have you this. Feels like it's different it.
Speaker 1: Feels like it's look valuations are different for women's soccer teams.
Speaker 1: And women's basketball teams they're going for tens. Of millions,
Speaker 1: of dollars the ratings the numbers. Say what, they, say
Speaker 1: YOU know. EVERYBODY and i don't i don't know what
Speaker 1: You Make of. The caitlin clark topic from a, media
Speaker 1: side of things sometimes it gets a little exhausting because
Speaker 1: you can tell there are people chiming in on women's
Speaker 1: basketball that have never watched.
Speaker 2: The second of it but.
Speaker 1: It's pretty undeniable that there is something happening with your
Speaker 1: sport and this genre that.
Speaker 2: Isn't just a snapshot is that fair to say?
Speaker 14: WHAT you're ye, this i believe, so and you know
Speaker 14: to take, IT a step Further I, think before Caitlyn
Speaker 14: Clark you Had sabrina yessa at oregon and, she WAS
Speaker 14: you know on espn it was the triple double watch
Speaker 14: and then her senior year that TOURNAMENT, Gets cut short
Speaker 14: covid SO it was already i think along those lines
Speaker 14: and that, trajectory of you, know on THE rise and
Speaker 14: Then I think with caitlyn clark coming in and then
Speaker 14: just doing what she did on the Basketball court and
Speaker 14: helping iowa to the stage and that level that that,
Speaker 14: PROGRAM is, on now, i think you know a lot of,
Speaker 14: credit GOES to her but i also do feel like
Speaker 14: there are a lot of great players that, have paid their,
Speaker 14: dues and you know they were the, ones crawling And
Speaker 14: Walking and now caitlyn clark and the rest of that
Speaker 14: generation they get to. Run OFF with it and i
Speaker 14: think basketball is. In a great place you have a
Speaker 14: lot of great stories in women's basketball. At The Collegiate,
Speaker 14: level in Juju Watkins, you got paige beckers you just,
Speaker 14: Got A you know hannah hidalgo who He Played in
Speaker 14: the cayman islands like those those players are tremendous and
Speaker 14: our game is going to be in good hands as
Speaker 14: they become pros in the next.
Speaker 9: Three to, four, years ALL.
Speaker 1: Right coach before, I Set you loose cavin. Peterson Is
Speaker 1: Way us the Utah women Take on, indiana on friday.
Speaker 1: MORNING eleven thirty am ESPN two, for the tv side
Speaker 1: our station. FOR the radio side i Know, We're, FOCUSED
Speaker 1: on indiana, Yes i get it that's, all, We care
Speaker 1: about right We're just focused on indiana because If, you
Speaker 1: can't beat indiana YOU wouldn't have what i would perceive to.
Speaker 1: Be A great opportunity and i like the way you
Speaker 1: articulated this when we, were chatting off air and a
Speaker 1: great opportunity Would Be facing what.
Speaker 2: Don STALEY has, Built, Like, I.
Speaker 1: Said indiana indiana, INDIANA you're a coach i know, How
Speaker 1: you people think but how do you get, your, girls
Speaker 1: to say look We're only focused on indiana and not
Speaker 1: what the.
Speaker 2: Next, round COULD bring.
Speaker 14: YEAH and i think i think our kids are pretty
Speaker 14: locked in. To the next opponent it's kind of been,
Speaker 14: that way all season so it really shocked me if we.
Speaker 14: Started TO look ahead so i think our coaching staff
Speaker 14: will do a good job of making sure, we are
Speaker 14: narrow focused Laser. Focused in on, indiana but you, know
Speaker 14: to think ahead it would just be an amazing opportunity,
Speaker 14: for us, to Play You know At South. Carolina against
Speaker 14: south carolina just that atmosphere is, going to be amazing
Speaker 14: and it just gives us kind of a glimpse of
Speaker 14: this is still, Kind of the goal this. IS what
Speaker 14: you want i Can still remember our stanford game here a,
Speaker 14: couple of years, ago TEN thousand people and i had
Speaker 14: a pinch me.
Speaker 9: Moment during that game so.
Speaker 14: There's something we want to continue to build This, Program
Speaker 14: here at, utah and you know what. Better way to
Speaker 14: go look at don stay in her program and take
Speaker 14: a look at like what they, got going on, there and,
Speaker 14: be like all right let's try To Deliver That, To,
Speaker 14: salt lake city Utah home of the.
Speaker 1: Utah, youth for sure hey congrats, on a great year.
Speaker 1: Thanks for Stopping, Buying.
Speaker 2: Good luck friday.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much Good luck only against, Indiana coach All,
Speaker 1: right gavin not peterson The head. Coach in utah women
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Speaker 1: Utah breaking news the seventy six Ers Are shutting down
Speaker 1: paul george for the.
Speaker 2: REST of the season nba basketball where a court of.
Speaker 2: The teams aren't serious we're Live TODAY.
Speaker 1: At The john m huntsman's center in preparation, for the
Speaker 1: historic Day The, introduction of alex jensen the seventeenth Head
Speaker 1: coach of the. Utah men's basketball program our next guest
Speaker 1: is well qualified to. Talk about the hire he worked
Speaker 1: With Him at the jazz smithy also knows the Bio
Speaker 1: arrhythms Of. The University of utah Richard Smith, On A, monday,
Speaker 1: afternoonsmity happy monday sir?
Speaker 9: How are you.
Speaker 11: STANCE we're doing good i appreciate. You having me on
Speaker 11: it's fun to BE able to be i with you
Speaker 11: on a day when one of my good friends is
Speaker 11: getting introduced as the Head coach Of. The university of
Speaker 11: utah it's a, great day for him but even better day.
Speaker 11: Probably for the university so.
Speaker 2: Let's.
Speaker 1: Dig INTO it, smidia as i referenced you spent a
Speaker 1: number Of Years with the utah, jazz FORTY in total
Speaker 1: and i. Believe nine of those you Were A, coworker
Speaker 1: with alex jensen who was The Lead, assistant under Quinn
Speaker 1: snyder and then alex Spent One year with will hardy Before.
Speaker 1: Heading down to dallas what do? We need to know
Speaker 1: what Should We, know about alex jensen the coach and
Speaker 1: the person as somebody who. Worked closely with him what
Speaker 1: would you say to our community about the what they
Speaker 1: should know about.
Speaker 11: Their, new head coach, Well first Of all i've known
Speaker 11: alex ever since he was a a Player after, you
Speaker 11: for rick mcjerris and of course then he went to
Speaker 11: played overseas for, a number of years and then when
Speaker 11: he came back, and got into coaching he actually was
Speaker 11: working With Coach Mcjerifs at saint louis, university and then
Speaker 11: uh and then ended UP Going to the g league
Speaker 11: AND BEING An Nba u g League coach of the year,
Speaker 11: while he was there before He, got to the, jazz
Speaker 11: and he's uh he's not only got, a great basketball
Speaker 11: resume but he's got all, of obviously his roots uh
Speaker 11: you know here In. The state, of utah He's Uh
Speaker 11: He's a, Centerville guy Beumont grad, university of utah grad all.
Speaker 11: The all whack Player he's just a. He's a solid
Speaker 11: guy he's. A solid basketball guy he's a guy who's
Speaker 11: going to get into the homes of a lot of,
Speaker 11: a lot of recruits especially in the western region Of The.
Speaker 11: Of THE united states and i think that's probably one
Speaker 11: of the Main things That the university of utah needs
Speaker 11: right now is someone, who is you know as YOU'RE
Speaker 11: looking at what buyu has been able to do the
Speaker 11: last Couple Of years with mark Pope And now with
Speaker 11: kevin young, in their recruiting base and with all of this,
Speaker 11: nil stuff, going on you know one of The things
Speaker 11: That the university of utah probably has fallen behind on
Speaker 11: is just the ability to recruit the plays they need
Speaker 11: to compete in A Conference like the big twelve and
Speaker 11: and and hopefully for them be able to get themselves
Speaker 11: back in the national. Stage AT some Point And i
Speaker 11: think alex jensen has all the credentials and all the
Speaker 11: back background to be able to be. Able. To do
Speaker 11: that uh AND that's been the i think the big
Speaker 11: CRUX of what the us issues have been for the
Speaker 11: men's basketball. Program in recent years so a lot, Of.
Speaker 1: GOOD stuff there smidia i wonder how you would characterize
Speaker 1: because we've been talking about reasonable Expectations, right away for
Speaker 1: alex and this is a question as We Sit Here.
Speaker 1: On saint patrick's day it's difficult to fully answer because
Speaker 1: there are a number of months before the start of
Speaker 1: next year and we have no idea Who's. Gonna play
Speaker 1: for alex we don't know how many of these young
Speaker 1: men that are on the roster. Now will come back
Speaker 1: we don't know who's, gonna, bring in transferport. Recruiting what
Speaker 1: have you, but from your perspective as somebody has been
Speaker 1: around this game, for decades and decades what would you
Speaker 1: say to the community about what a reasonable expectation Is
Speaker 1: year one.
Speaker 2: As, alex's head coach.
Speaker 11: Well you'll you'll see a team that's going to be steeped.
Speaker 11: In in the fundamentals That's what that's a he grew
Speaker 11: up on. Playing. For coach mcjerris uh and then, when
Speaker 11: he you know, in his coaching career when HE Was,
Speaker 11: in the g league he WAS Not Only the g League,
Speaker 11: coach of the year but he also they had the
Speaker 11: best DEFENSIVE Team. In the g league and so you
Speaker 11: combine that within His His work with Quinn snyder and
Speaker 11: the jazz and then When They had. The, mitchell golbayer,
Speaker 11: teams uh you know those team has really gone after
Speaker 11: they were top five defensive teams for. A number of
Speaker 11: years and so you're going to see a team, that
Speaker 11: that works hard team that has all the. Defensive fundamentals
Speaker 11: in place the thing that they're, going to, have to
Speaker 11: you know solve is the. Issue of getting talent and that's.
Speaker 11: Really What, it is, craig smith you know. Is a,
Speaker 11: terrific coach you know he had he had hard working
Speaker 11: teams to you and. His four years there he obviously
Speaker 11: showed before that his ability to be able To Win
Speaker 11: games at utah state and the previous, schools he was
Speaker 11: at he just, didn't, have the, horses uh you know to,
Speaker 11: be able, to compete you know at the big twelfth
Speaker 11: level at the way that.
Speaker 5: They.
Speaker 11: Wanted him To uh that's what alex's biggest deal is
Speaker 11: going to have to be is to surround himself with a,
Speaker 11: group of, people coaches nil people the people on your
Speaker 11: staff that can help you to get the players that
Speaker 11: you need to. Be able to compete the, coaching will
Speaker 11: be there the basketball. Component will be present they're just
Speaker 11: going to have to be able to get the players
Speaker 11: they need to have the talent and the skill level
Speaker 11: to be able to play, and be, able to you
Speaker 11: know to. Win at that level once they get, the
Speaker 11: personnel in place then you'll be able to see a
Speaker 11: team that's making progress and a team that's going to
Speaker 11: have the chance to have.
Speaker 1: A lot of success, From, Your vantage point smindy i've
Speaker 1: been talking about this, today with our guests and you
Speaker 1: know a lot of People There, at the huntsman center
Speaker 1: whatever part of the ecosystem you kind of Exist in With,
Speaker 1: the university of utah if, you're a former player, if
Speaker 1: you're an alum if, you're a current student if, you
Speaker 1: are a booster if you're, a season ticket holder or
Speaker 1: if you, just go to games or if you cover
Speaker 1: games like we do, on the media side it feels
Speaker 1: like this has Been A decision for mark harland that has, been,
Speaker 1: wildly you know, widely.
Speaker 2: I should say and consistently applauded. As the right move
Speaker 2: does it feel?
Speaker 1: THAT way, to you i mean this is a basketball
Speaker 1: community that's badly in need of some sort, of shot
Speaker 1: of life and it kind Of Feels like the alex
Speaker 1: jensen news has been a little bit of that shot that.
Speaker 2: Maybe, this, COMMUNITY needs.
Speaker 11: Yeah well i again he's a guy that everybody. In
Speaker 11: the community knows they. Know of his background he's not a,
Speaker 11: guy who's, coming in you know from the outside who's
Speaker 11: trying to ingratiate himself with the fan base or or
Speaker 11: get people to. Know who He. Is everybody knows alex,
Speaker 11: he's a. Homegrown guy you know but, at the same
Speaker 11: time sometimes, those things, also come you know with their
Speaker 11: own set, of circumstances that, you as the individual. You'll have,
Speaker 11: to overcome you know people, know what he's about they
Speaker 11: know what, kind of a coach what kind, of personality
Speaker 11: he has they know how, he's approached, his career, you
Speaker 11: know all along and so there's not a getting to
Speaker 11: know you period with. Him in that regard what it's
Speaker 11: going to take is The patience of the utah fan
Speaker 11: base to understand that you don't. Just do this overnight
Speaker 11: you have. To HAVE the Players and i know i'm being,
Speaker 11: redundant and saying that but that's that's the one issue
Speaker 11: that the you has had is being able to get those.
Speaker 11: Guys at that level you see all the excitement That's Been.
Speaker 11: Created in, provo uh you know with the recruiting that,
Speaker 11: The Players they had mark polpe did a terrific job parlaid,
Speaker 11: that into you know even a bigger time job at A.
Speaker 11: Blue blood Like Kentucky they got kevin young TO. Come
Speaker 11: From the nba kevin young has installed his, own offense
Speaker 11: down there in his own program in the in the
Speaker 11: eyes of RUNNING it like. An nba, Type program you
Speaker 11: know alex is going to have, to compete with that
Speaker 11: and in, order to do that he's going to Be
Speaker 11: able to have he's going to have the opportunity to
Speaker 11: get the kind of players who can come. IN and,
Speaker 11: do that I mean b y u doesn't just go
Speaker 11: out and get the number one so called rated recruit
Speaker 11: out of High, School who's from boston massachusetts and have
Speaker 11: them Happen, To Come to provo utah like. That doesn't
Speaker 11: just happen that's something that's embedded in how they're approaching.
Speaker 8: The job that.
Speaker 11: They're doing Down there he and alex and his staff
Speaker 11: at the you is going to have to look at
Speaker 11: it with that kind of mindset to be able to
Speaker 11: figure out how they can go about creating that kind
Speaker 11: of excitement in their program to want to have players
Speaker 11: around the country who Want to look at utah and
Speaker 11: want to come and be part of the history And
Speaker 11: the fabric that utah basketball has been for so. Long
Speaker 11: in this community let.
Speaker 1: Me Ask You maybe and richard smith is with us
Speaker 1: Forty years with. The jazz front office nine of those
Speaker 1: Years Spent. Working with alex jensen a lot Of conversation
Speaker 1: about what alex's staff is. Going To look like and
Speaker 1: i'm old Enough To remember when jerry sloan had Two
Speaker 1: Assistant Coaches And don magic finger sparks WAS the trainer
Speaker 1: and tc and away we.
Speaker 2: Go and we're good.
Speaker 1: That's, all we need well now there is a traveling
Speaker 1: party where the coaches take up an entire. Wing of
Speaker 1: the plane it's a. Different Day and age, and I'VE
Speaker 1: said before and i have. NO problem saying THIS i
Speaker 1: know that yout fans might get in their feelings about
Speaker 1: whether or not They should copy.
Speaker 2: What, BYU has done well.
Speaker 1: I Think they should and kevin's staff IS comprised OF
Speaker 1: Former nba and g league, Coaches on the bench IT'S
Speaker 1: comprised of former.
Speaker 2: Nba people in their.
Speaker 1: Strength and conditioning office it's comprised of A nutritionist that
Speaker 1: Followed Kevin. From the phoenix suns and there are a
Speaker 1: Lot Of, conversations about andre MILLER Who's coaching the. G
Speaker 1: league right now there's some other, their names out There,
Speaker 1: but generally speakings mandy what sort of staff would You
Speaker 1: like to see alex around himself with to give him
Speaker 1: the best chance to.
Speaker 2: Make, this thing right.
Speaker 11: Well he's gonna he's gonna be able to get the
Speaker 11: kind of people he wants to be able to work
Speaker 11: with him and have the same mindset in the same.
Speaker 11: Vision that he has the really thing that the thing,
Speaker 11: it Boils down to uh spence is as, simplistic as
Speaker 11: it sounds and much TO my cagrin because i, don't
Speaker 11: like saying this but you have to in this day and,
Speaker 11: age in college basketball you have to have the financial
Speaker 11: BACKING in your ni l and your your your approach
Speaker 11: to be able to to get players. From a financial
Speaker 11: standpoint that's just the reality of. WHAT it is now
Speaker 11: i don't think it's that's going to, be sustainable myself personally,
Speaker 11: AS a side note i think that's going to have
Speaker 11: to change at some point. IN the near future i
Speaker 11: don't think college basketball can and keep. Going down that
Speaker 11: road but, at the current time that's what the lay.
Speaker 11: Of the land is so if you don't have the
Speaker 11: money and you don't have the resources to be, able
Speaker 11: to attract kids because that's how kids, are coming up
Speaker 11: now whether we. Like it or not the, kids who
Speaker 11: are sophomores juniors going into the senior year, of high
Speaker 11: school now they're looking, at programs and saying how can
Speaker 11: that program benefit? Me as an individual can it help
Speaker 11: me with my skill set and my talent get to,
Speaker 11: a possible next level which. Would be playing Professionally and also,
Speaker 11: while i'm doing that what are they going to do
Speaker 11: for me personally in? Terms of financial rewards and so
Speaker 11: that's just. The reality of it AND so unless the
Speaker 11: u has that platform to operate from and then they
Speaker 11: have a staff that shows that they can, help you
Speaker 11: to progress they can help you to prove your ability
Speaker 11: to be able to continue playing and and maybe get
Speaker 11: a career. Out, of this sport uh then you're gonna.
Speaker 11: Have a hard time you're gonna. Be always swimming upstream
Speaker 11: and that's that's what the that's what he's going to.
Speaker 11: Be DEALING with now, so I would assume and. I
Speaker 11: don't KNOW this alex and i have texted back and
Speaker 11: forth since, you got the job but. We haven't, talked,
Speaker 11: personally but he's Uh he's gonna have i'm sure, he
Speaker 11: took the job uh With the knowledge that i'm going
Speaker 11: to have those kinds that kind of support and those
Speaker 11: kinds of resources to help me to get on that
Speaker 11: that kind, of a playing field and then from there,
Speaker 11: we can, take it you know to where we need
Speaker 11: to in terms. Of the basketball stuff but, that but
Speaker 11: the recruiting getting eyes on your program and getting interest
Speaker 11: in your program from from players like that and from players,
Speaker 11: in the transfer. Portal all that stuff you're gonna have
Speaker 11: to track them by the money that you have available
Speaker 11: and also the staff that you have around you to
Speaker 11: help those individuals feel like they can come and improve
Speaker 11: and get themselves, into a, better situation you know in.
Speaker 11: Their lives going forward that's what he's going to have
Speaker 11: to be dealing with coming up.
Speaker 1: IN the near future i know you actually just Kind
Speaker 1: of answered what i'm about, to ASK you again but
Speaker 1: i do want to ELABORATE on it Because i feel
Speaker 1: like Alex taking the job smithy is an indicator that things,
Speaker 1: are good financially economically and the, state of you, know
Speaker 1: the Athletic Department and what mark carlin And whoever else
Speaker 1: promised alex that they would.
Speaker 2: Allocate towards his success do you read?
Speaker 1: It The same way because i've been told by more
Speaker 1: than A few People that dallas liked Alex and they,
Speaker 1: wanted Alex to Stay and alex and Natalie. Enjoyed, LIVING
Speaker 1: in dallas like i don't think this was a desperation
Speaker 1: job grab from a guy who had a that he.
Speaker 1: Liked an awful lot so the fact that he simply,
Speaker 1: just took the job doesn't that indicate to you that
Speaker 1: the promises that were, made are you know in place
Speaker 1: as far as the economic viability of, where, THIS program is.
Speaker 11: Well, I would think so i would think he wouldn't
Speaker 11: go into a job where he thought that it's going
Speaker 11: to be really an uphill climb for him and that
Speaker 11: he's going to, have a, hard time you know getting
Speaker 11: to any kind of. A level of success so so
Speaker 11: that would that would seem, to be you know part
Speaker 11: and parcel with with the decision to take The offer
Speaker 11: That the university. OF utae gave him i, do think,
Speaker 11: that that you know the rich history of. The of,
Speaker 11: the program you know he's going to have to have
Speaker 11: people who have some kind of a profile around him
Speaker 11: or present that to perspective recruits in a way that
Speaker 11: they feel like that's enticing and. That's EXCITING for them
Speaker 11: and i would not be surprised if he Was Leaning
Speaker 11: on the rick majerry, years in some way whether, that's
Speaker 11: bringing back players former players who are in the Business You,
Speaker 11: mentioned an andre miller, guys who, can get you know
Speaker 11: high school kids to at least look at the program
Speaker 11: and sit down and talk to them, that kind of
Speaker 11: thing but also setting up a program where where, kids feel,
Speaker 11: like again you Know whether you know utah fans want to,
Speaker 11: ADMIT it or not byu has gotten ahead of the
Speaker 11: curve on setting up what they have and so, they've
Speaker 11: attracted and look there's kids who are going to look at, that,
Speaker 11: program and say hey they can help me a lot
Speaker 11: by by how they've got it set up and how
Speaker 11: they're approaching their program and their skill development work and all.
Speaker 11: Those kinds of things but you also have to play
Speaker 11: into the factor that these kids are also designed to,
Speaker 11: go to a school you know that's a church related
Speaker 11: school that's. In a small town It's, a college town,
Speaker 11: provo and you know sometimes that works for you and sometimes. That,
Speaker 11: works Against you Now the university of utah is, in
Speaker 11: a bigger city, it's a public school it's, got fifteen
Speaker 11: thousand seats it's got a historic venue, That they play
Speaker 11: in they've, got a, rich Tradition, YOU know alex is
Speaker 11: i would think it is going to look to lean
Speaker 11: on all of those kinds of things that he, can
Speaker 11: sell to recruits and the fact that they're right down
Speaker 11: the STREET literally, from an nba, team and, that recruits
Speaker 11: you know should be looking at that as an opportunity
Speaker 11: to come play in a setting where they can get
Speaker 11: not only the personal and career development that they, might
Speaker 11: be looking for but also be able to make connections
Speaker 11: and do the things that you do within a program
Speaker 11: to try and help you as an individual for when you're.
Speaker 11: Playing days ARE over and so i would think that
Speaker 11: those are some of the main things that he'll be
Speaker 11: leaning on to try and sell as he tries to
Speaker 11: figure out how to go about the RECRUITING.
Speaker 1: Game on the, Byu SIDE of, things and i agree
Speaker 1: you can GET salty that maybe byu was ahead of the,
Speaker 1: curve on this.
Speaker 2: Stuff, but it doesn't look it. DOESN'T matter.
Speaker 1: What level i mean for years, And years and years
Speaker 1: i've heard front offices openly talk about copycat formulas to
Speaker 1: try to figure out what one team, is doing really
Speaker 1: well how can we.
Speaker 2: Get some of THAT so complain.
Speaker 1: About byu figuring it, Out all you want but they
Speaker 1: seem to be ahead of the curve with a, couple
Speaker 1: of different things and, as you, articulated earlier very well
Speaker 1: it's been a good run for them and doesn't look like.
Speaker 9: It's.
Speaker 1: ENDING anytime soon NOW i know some byu fans were
Speaker 1: upset with the sixth seed, because if you know if
Speaker 1: it's a day THAT ends with why byu fans, are
Speaker 1: upset about SOMETHING whether it's the cfp rankings. OR their
Speaker 1: sixth seed i think you embrace the seed personally because
Speaker 1: of the location as opposed to being A five seed.
Speaker 1: Out east Or, something they're in denver BUT they, get
Speaker 1: a vcu Team Smitty, coach by ryan odam. That has
Speaker 1: veteran guys they have four seniors. In their starting lineup
Speaker 1: three of those seniors, are fifth year guys one of
Speaker 1: them is. A seventh year guy they have two players
Speaker 1: two transfers on their roster that, have experienced elite EIGHTS
Speaker 1: they have the a ten. Player of the Year They
Speaker 1: played the utah state. Who's a good guard they've got
Speaker 1: good guard play three players six.' TEN in the rotation
Speaker 1: like byu is a, three, point five point favorite right
Speaker 1: and so this, is not an easy Matchup but at
Speaker 1: least IT'S denver and the. Location i think is good
Speaker 1: even maybe the SEED not you know what. Byu fans
Speaker 1: were hoping for but what do you Make of this
Speaker 1: matchup that kevin's up AGAINST first round and, is byu,
Speaker 1: built maybe advance you know for the first time, since,
Speaker 1: THE jimmer fordet years right i mean that's the last
Speaker 1: time they advanced out of.
Speaker 2: The, round of thirty two.
Speaker 11: Well this THIS is. A tough match i think i
Speaker 11: think this is one of the tougher matchups in the
Speaker 11: WHOLE first. Round of the ncaa tournament, and then and
Speaker 11: you fans Fans in the state OF utah general, don't
Speaker 11: follow bcu very much, and that's to be expected but
Speaker 11: let me tell you they. Are a very good team
Speaker 11: anybody who Was Paying attention to when Ryan Odam was
Speaker 11: up in utah state and the teams that they had
Speaker 11: there the couple. Of years he was, there they're very.
Speaker 11: Well coached they're very disciplined. He's got a veteran group.
Speaker 11: They are very, good team, and you know for me
Speaker 11: the whole game is going, to hinge like it did
Speaker 11: Like we saw in the. Big TWELVE, tournament last week
Speaker 11: for byu they had one night where they hit eighteen threes,
Speaker 11: and they looked really good and then the next night
Speaker 11: they were into a buzz saw defensively in one of
Speaker 11: the best teams in, the Country, in my opinion in
Speaker 11: houston and they couldn't get those same looks and they
Speaker 11: couldn't they, couldn't get the same rhythm they, couldn't get
Speaker 11: the same feel and you. Saw what happened to them
Speaker 11: and so that Game for me is going thursday is
Speaker 11: going TO boil down to whether byu can create the
Speaker 11: looks that they want and have them in some kind
Speaker 11: of a rhythm where. They feel comfortable taking them and
Speaker 11: they're going to, have to, make you know twelve thirteen
Speaker 11: fourteen threes to be, able to win that, game because
Speaker 11: if they don't THEY'RE going to struggle because VCU is
Speaker 11: really good and vcu is. Going to COME after them
Speaker 11: and if byu thinks, that just, the seating thing you
Speaker 11: know should get them by into. A next round. Or
Speaker 11: something they're fooling themselves they're going to have to come
Speaker 11: ready to go and really. Really have To grind out
Speaker 11: in the houston game may. Be a help to them
Speaker 11: they may look, at that and you know be coming
Speaker 11: back with their, tail, between their legs saying, well they
Speaker 11: really showed us you know what we need to do
Speaker 11: to get better. And get better at hurry otherwise it's
Speaker 11: going to be a VERY short. Appearance in the ncaa,
Speaker 11: terms that's going to be for me one, of the
Speaker 11: more INTERESTING games, not just, because i have you know
Speaker 11: a rooting, interest for the local team but it's going
Speaker 11: to be a very good contest between. Two VERY well
Speaker 11: coached teams and, I want to.
Speaker 2: BE clear I'm, not saying vcu is.
Speaker 1: Houston Not even Kind of when, I've watched houston this
Speaker 1: year i've found myself feeling sympathy.
Speaker 2: FOR who, they're playing against i mean that's their brand.
Speaker 1: Of PHYSICALITY and defensive intensity but vcu plays, with a
Speaker 1: similar defensive intensity and they don't extend the pressure full
Speaker 1: Court oftentimes the way.
Speaker 2: That Houston, tends to do but sabidi.
Speaker 1: One of the many things one of the hats You
Speaker 1: Wore over at the utah jazz is you, Did A
Speaker 1: lot of scouting and i can see Why. Pro scouts
Speaker 1: like yegor demon it's obvious because of. His measurables and
Speaker 1: his vision his ball HANDLING ability is. Passing like i
Speaker 1: get it, but more often Than Not it was The
Speaker 1: iowa state game And ames and, then the houston Game
Speaker 1: Recently two Examples of Kevin Yong, pulling demon for dallan hall.
Speaker 2: Who's simply a tougher player he's.
Speaker 1: Just not afraid of pressure he doesn't cowtail To physicality the.
Speaker 2: Way that demon seems to and he's a kid and
Speaker 2: this is his. First year of college.
Speaker 1: Hoops i'm not necessarily, knocking on him for it but if,
Speaker 1: He can't handle VCU's pressure kevin's probably gonna Have. To
Speaker 1: go with down hall and maybe WE see something similar
Speaker 1: against Vcu, that We Saw against houston because kapa cata
Speaker 1: was the only athlete that looked like he Belonged.
Speaker 2: On the floor AGAINST.
Speaker 1: Houston so WHAT does byu do if vcu brings some
Speaker 1: of that physicality and pressure and their guard. Line isn't
Speaker 1: ready for, it, because to your point like if they,
Speaker 1: knock down fourteen. Fifteen threes they're gonna win but this tournament.
Speaker 2: Is impossible to predict for.
Speaker 1: A couple of, different, reasons, first of all, sprain ankle
Speaker 1: whatever injury happens and then. Suddenly a team, is out
Speaker 1: second of all one team, goes hot from the outside.
Speaker 2: The other team goes cold.
Speaker 1: Then YOU get an upset if byu is not knocking
Speaker 1: down threes and their guard play, isn't necessarily responding against?
Speaker 2: PRESSURE what do they do i think it could be
Speaker 2: a little bit.
Speaker 9: Of A problem.
Speaker 2: For them.
Speaker 11: You're jackson right then they're gonna have to figure out
Speaker 11: a way to be able to really man up and
Speaker 11: really uh react in a positive way to the pressure that.
Speaker 11: That They're, going to Feel now again maybe the houston
Speaker 11: game Helps them because they played houston twice this year
Speaker 11: and got and and got run out both. Times, You
Speaker 11: know against them uh so they've got all that film
Speaker 11: to look at and to. FIGURE out the demon kid
Speaker 11: i like, him some as a player but he's been
Speaker 11: so inconsistent in his effort uh this, year and, his
Speaker 11: his ability you know TO do the things that i
Speaker 11: think he's capable of doing, skill wise and talent wise
Speaker 11: but he always a lot of times HE tends to
Speaker 11: play what i call him second gear and and uh
Speaker 11: and rarely really turns it on because you can see
Speaker 11: some players he makes, and, games where you go okay.
Speaker 11: That's why everybody likes him and but he doesn't do,
Speaker 11: It for me often enough he's gonna have to come
Speaker 11: in a, Game, like this and Say okay this, is
Speaker 11: what i'm here for this. Is what it's ALL about
Speaker 11: this Is. WHY i came. FROM russia i Stopped off
Speaker 11: i was in madrid for a few years in Their Youth.
Speaker 11: Academy PROGRAM at real Madrid, Now i come to provo
Speaker 11: utah to get try AND. Get ready for the nba
Speaker 11: this is where all. The, eyes are on, me okay
Speaker 11: here we go and this is where you find, out
Speaker 11: when guys show up if guys have it in them to,
Speaker 11: be able to do that to be able to present
Speaker 11: have a presence in a game that makes everybody watch and, look,
Speaker 11: at you and say oh that's the guy who's. Running
Speaker 11: the show out, here because, as we know you know
Speaker 11: when when you mentioned that that you, know that coach
Speaker 11: young start you know Took him out. Puts in dowllen
Speaker 11: hall whatever, that's because at THAT moment coach feels like
Speaker 11: i got to GO with the guy who i know
Speaker 11: is going to play hard for a. Longer sustained PERIOD
Speaker 11: of time that's what. I have in my gut. That's
Speaker 11: what coaching is about and that's what, We. Always used
Speaker 11: to say spence when you, got in a tight game at,
Speaker 11: the end of the game you'd set up a, play
Speaker 11: for a particular player and as the players, went out
Speaker 11: on the floor sometimes the players that talk, to, each
Speaker 11: other and go hey the coach wanted, us to run
Speaker 11: this play but We're gonna run the other we're gonna.
Speaker 11: Run it a different. Way and why is, that it's
Speaker 11: because the players, when they're on the floor they know.
Speaker 11: Who the real players are you can fool the fans and,
Speaker 11: sometimes and the broadcasters whatever but the players, who are
Speaker 11: on the floor they know. Who the real guys are
Speaker 11: and a game like this is going to be a
Speaker 11: Big step for someone like aegory Demon to show people that.
Speaker 11: I'm one of the guys. You've been hearing about me
Speaker 11: there's some fluss, talk minus tuck or whatever but This
Speaker 11: is a game or i'm. Going to show YOU guys
Speaker 11: this is why i came here and this is THIS
Speaker 11: is why b. Y u has me here so that's
Speaker 11: going to be an interesting thing For, Me, to watch,
Speaker 11: come thursday.
Speaker 1: Smiddy thank you. My friend for the time where do?
Speaker 1: We find you these days are you back? In town
Speaker 1: after your? Travels, Where are YOU at.
Speaker 11: No i'm actually i spent the last TWO weeks working
Speaker 11: at the atp Thousand Tennis. Tournament down in palm springs
Speaker 11: we had, a good Time down there. And now i'm
Speaker 11: In Traveling i'm actually in las Vegas today on My Way.
Speaker 11: Wednesday up to saint george we're going to have a
Speaker 11: little three days of some golf with a bunch, of
Speaker 11: my buddies down there and then We'll. Be back in
Speaker 11: sull it we'll be back in, The, studio and next
Speaker 11: week spancy you'll have to spend a whole. Hour, LISTENING
Speaker 11: to my dribble well.
Speaker 1: I cannot wait for, It i've said it. Before i'll
Speaker 1: say it again It Is. Good to be richard. Smith
Speaker 1: so enjoy your travels, thank you for the time and. We'll,
Speaker 1: see you, Next, week okay.
Speaker 11: All right Spence Appreciate.
Speaker 1: You ma'm hi Richard Smith forty years with utah jazz
Speaker 1: including nine Working. Side by side with ali it's gonna
Speaker 1: do It for. Us on a monday drive coming, Up
Speaker 1: on the other Side HISTORIC. Night At, the, john m
Speaker 1: huntsman center well where we, Have Been broadcasting, all day
Speaker 1: alex jensen said to be introduced as The seventeenth head coach.
Speaker 1: IN utah Men's basketball history i see natalie and the.
Speaker 1: Girls in front of me. No Sign of algis. Yet
Speaker 1: dave fox is, here he's acting very important even though
Speaker 1: we all.
Speaker 2: Know that he, is not, That was Me.
Speaker 1: All Right porter young man alex jensen introduced tonight jazz.
Speaker 1: Basketball GOING on as well but i feel like there's
Speaker 1: something missing from the show that you have.
Speaker 2: NOT said, TO me.
Speaker 3: Today i uh i do want to, wish you A
Speaker 3: happy birthday something that alonso had to tell me.
Speaker 2: Half, way through the, SHOW.
Speaker 1: Yeah four hours later i can't get a birthday TEXT
Speaker 1: from my producer when i?
Speaker 2: Wake up on my birthday is?
Speaker 5: That?
Speaker 2: Too much to ask you gotta you gotta not be
Speaker 2: the old guy.
Speaker 3: WHO'S too cool for. BIRTHDAYS i had no. Clue I
Speaker 3: had No clue.
Speaker 1: Saint patrick's day it's, not THAT hard to remember and.
Speaker 1: I REMEMBER yours every. YEAR but I you know i
Speaker 1: guess i'm just a man of the people in.
Speaker 9: A way that?
Speaker 2: You're not what day? Is what day's my birthday, july.
Speaker 8: Might.
Speaker 2: As? Well be isn't it wait? What Day?
Speaker 1: Is your birthday, in october that's, all right you Remember.
Speaker 1: Though it, is, in october but yeah yeah. ANOTHER trip
Speaker 1: around the sun i am closer to fifty than i'm
Speaker 1: the forty for the. First Time in my life so i've.
Speaker 1: Got to deal with that but gonna go get some dinner.
Speaker 1: With my boy to night my son flew in and we're.
Speaker 1: Gonna have a, good, time and so yeah yeah. It's
Speaker 1: been a good. Day been a good day but let's
Speaker 1: get out of here because it's time now, for the
Speaker 1: most important thing and that is to. Get this press
Speaker 1: conference rolling so coming up next it is The Press
Speaker 1: conference to introduce alex jensen as The seventeenth head coach.
Speaker 1: In Utah men's basketball history porter what comes our way
Speaker 1: Back in Studio on A tuesday show.
Speaker 3: On A, tuesday edition of, The drive you mentioned it.
Speaker 3: We're Back here in studio tony jones joins the PROGRAM talking,
Speaker 3: some jazz And Nba latest as DOES Zach harper. For
Speaker 3: the nba daily assist we'll Check In with our, guy
Speaker 3: tony parks, some hoops, some college hoops some BASEBALL all
Speaker 3: the above with tp and then fresh off Your, Trip
Speaker 3: Up on the hill chris hill Will join us On
Speaker 3: A Tuesday edition Of the drive.
Speaker 2: Live and studio very nice that will be An, excellent
Speaker 2: show on a tuesday and with.
Speaker 1: That will say tonight Special Thank, You Today, To Josh,
Speaker 1: furlong Roxy Bernstein gavin peterson and richard smith for any
Speaker 1: of the sound that you may Have. Missed FROM the show,
Speaker 1: Today website espn seven hundred sports dot com download our
Speaker 1: mobile app. Take US on the go the espn seven
Speaker 1: hundred app is Available For, free In the App. Store
Speaker 1: the google play. Store check out Our Podcast it Is.
Speaker 1: Called The drive with spence check it's available. Wherever, you get,
Speaker 1: your show subscribe, rate reviews say nice things. Give us
Speaker 1: all the stars. You'll be blessed for porter. I'm spent
Speaker 1: Saying Tonight, Special Thanks, To Alonso, yeoman zephyr today lindy
Speaker 1: paul everybody up here taking. Such Great, Care of us
Speaker 1: alex jensen pressler. Comes away coming up next we'll talk
Speaker 1: to YOU tomorrow right here on espn seven hundred