WEBVTT

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Portions of this show are recorded. Strap in

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and be prepared. I'm just gonna say go to lunch

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and tell the boss I'm coming down with something.

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And then head out to the ballpark for happy hour.

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Coming down with duck fever. Or beaver fever.

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Or beaver fever. Whichever one. Interesting guests.

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Kelly Graves. Mike Parker. Coach Mark Waskowski.

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Melissa Lombardi. Always happy to talk to the

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great Scopal Damas, Eric Scopal. Sharp opinions.

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This isn't last year. Version 8 is going to be

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different than version 7, which is different

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than version 6. And some smiles. Also, Dominic

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Hellman. Two home runs this weekend. Mayo. Mayo.

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Yeah, or Hellboy. Either one. The other one.

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We're going to see which one sticks. We're going

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to ask him. Okay. It's Danny Havel. I had security

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on me, like, immediately. Like, give us your

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phone. You can't be filming him. What are you

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going to glean from filming people bowling right

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now? Justin Grossweiner. Okay, the six and seven

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-year -olds. I got them. I could beat them in

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a race. Danny and Justin starts now on Fox Sports

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Eugene and Fox Sports Newport. Hello, Navas,

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and welcome. Hi, it's out to Delta Tri and the

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Crystal Palace. Fox Sports, Eugene. Fox Sports,

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Newport. Live from the Bigfoot Beverages Studios.

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It is a full boat two -hour show. It's not the

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fastest 60 minutes today. It's the fastest 120

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minutes in sports talk. Thanks for tuning in

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to the Danny and Justin and Steve show here for

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a Thursday. Weekend Eve, we've got NCAA basketball.

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We're going to talk you all the way up to that

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at 4 p .m. Right here is March Madness' coverage

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from Westwood One. We'll be on the air. You can

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follow us on Twitter at Danny and Justin. Also,

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wherever you pod, whichever your platform is

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for music and or podcasts, Danny and Justin,

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fastest 60 minutes. I am Danny Hamill. Right

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over there is my tag team partner, Justin Grossner.

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We call him Baby J. And over here to my right

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is Steve Mims. Goose on the loose here in the

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studios. Hey, what up, boys? Hi, Danny. You're

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all sunbaked. Yeah, you do look pretty red. You

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came from Scamania Lodge up in the gorgeous town

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of Stevenson, Washington, just over Bridge of

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the Gods. My wife and son and I spent the last

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three days there. It was great. And Justin, you

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just got out of your sick bed. Yeah, my Iron

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Man streak is over of never missing a start.

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I finally missed a start. Y 'all abandoned me

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for two days. I had to hold down the fort on

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my own. I got through it. But now it's... Wait

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a minute, three -man, two -hour? This is like

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big boy radio. This is like some real stuff going

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on here. It's stunning is what it is. It's absolutely

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stunning. And as I remarked yesterday, it's different

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doing dad joke when nobody else is here in studio.

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I don't get the immediate gratification of the

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reaction, the eye roll or the little laugh, the

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little titter. That's not a little feminine.

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A little titter from Justin over there. Or the

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eye roll. So how are you feeling there, buddy?

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I'm feeling pretty good. Are you going to be

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hacking and running out of the studio like you

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were on Monday? No, I shouldn't be. That was

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pretty brutal. I was doing my best to stay and

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try to give people what they want. Just couldn't

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do it yesterday and the day before. So happy

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to be back today and feeling pretty good right

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now. Nothing super crazy. So there we go. Major

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League Baseball kicked off last night with the

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Yankees and the Giants. Did you watch that, by

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the way? I watched a little bit of it. So I was

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slammed with husbandly duties. My wife and daughter

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are making their way back from Southern California.

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And so there was laundry that needed to be done.

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There was lawns that needed to be mowed. There

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was dogs that needed to be walked, which I have

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to walk Bella every day. Otherwise, she's on

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a timer. You know dogs have a timer for food

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and for their walks. Like noontime comes around,

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I haven't taken her for her walk yet, and she's

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looking at me. Or she'll walk out into the living

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room, look at the leash and where her harness

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is. We don't tie it around her neck. It's one

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of those big harness things. And it's just like,

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Dad, let's go, dude. It's time. Tick tock. Let's

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get it going. So, no, I did not watch the baseball

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last night because, frankly, I don't care about

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the Yankees. Did you hear the reception about

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the Netflix stuff? I heard it was bad. It was

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really bad. It was about as bad as you can get.

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They missed the first ABS challenge. They missed

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a pinch hit. It was not great. I can't tell you

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how many times I heard them say. What better

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way to be here and start the season than on Netflix

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or something like that? They couldn't stop promoting

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themselves, and they had the worst score bug

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I've ever seen. But I'm just saying this, that

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you can blame Rob Manfred and Major League Baseball

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for awarding rights to someone without having

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the standard to follow it. In other words, if

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I'm going to give you my product, you're going

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to pay for my product, then you need to prove

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to me that you can adequately portray that product

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out there. Because I'm assigning you rights,

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you've got to hold it to a certain standard and

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the standard that I set for it. That's not great.

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They made sure to give him an interview, though.

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Not a great question one, though. No. So you

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watch this. I did. I got to take issue with people

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say, oh, they didn't get the first ABS. You don't

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know when you're going to do the in -game interview

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that happened to come during the Vitello interview.

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So I can't cut to it. Take a different camera.

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That's a producer's job. Cut away from maybe.

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But I mean, that one that doesn't bother me.

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Yeah. And, you know, me as a journalist, if you're

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bringing on Rob Manfred and one of the questions

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was, you know, there was nothing about like the

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issues that are going on in baseball, which baseball

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is mostly positive. I wouldn't like that. I didn't

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like the intro. I'm like some people. I turned

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it on at five and there was a comedian on who

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was like pumping up the crowd. And it was like,

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yeah, I got some other things going on, like

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536. I just kind of want to watch the first pitch

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of the baseball season. So I didn't like. But

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then I turned on NBC today at 10 o 'clock for

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the Mets. Yeah. And they were singing the national

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anthem at 1015 on that one, too. So maybe I'm

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just old and I expect things to start when they

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do and they don't. But that was goose is a grumpy

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old man. They definitely dragged it out. You

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basically have to add 20 minutes on anything

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you look at on any scoreboard. Hey, this game

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starts at five. It starts at 520. And you got

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to try to figure out where it's at. Like I say,

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I don't mind. I like the Netflix. I do get I

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don't get Peacock. I get Netflix. So I was able

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to watch that. I was I liked watching. baseball

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on NBC at 10 a .m. I'm like, this must mean that,

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like, because I don't watch TV in the morning

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at 10 a .m., this must mean that a game show

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or a talk show or a soap opera has been preempted.

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This is great. We've got baseball that's trumping

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those things now. So it was very cool for me

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to watch Mets Pirates on NBC at 10 a .m. I thought

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that was cool. And I know people don't like it

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because you have no idea what it's on, and I

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don't either. But eventually you can, like, Google

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and find out, and if you have it, you have it.

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If you don't, you don't. The thing I like as

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well that baseball season's here is now when

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I get in the car, there's going to be a game

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on, and I've got SiriusXM, so I love listening

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to the radio calls myself. So I was listening

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to Pat Hughes and Ron Coomer from the Cubs radio

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network as I was driving in today. Although,

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what's the score now of the Cubs game? 8 -4.

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Still in the eighth. Top of the ninth. Top of

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the ninth. All right, so they're running out

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of outs, and Wrigley goes. Would you stop with

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the sly smile, by the way? I think baseball talk

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would have gone a lot better today if the Cubs

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were winning, but I'm going to let you guys determine

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how much baseball is winning. No, no, we're positive.

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We're fine. There's 161 games left in the regular

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season. He loses the Nationals in the home opener.

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That's not a good one. That's not great. And

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it was frigid. It was frigid at Wrigley Field,

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although Pat Hughes was saying there's been worse

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weather. and I think they got all four seasons

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today because when it started, it was 70 -plus

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degrees, and I was listening to Saul Galvin as

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well coming in. By the way, Oregon women's softball

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started their three -game set against Northwestern,

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and that's in the north side of Chicago as well,

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and they got run ruled. The game is over. It's

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11 -3, the final game one against Northwestern.

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So Ducks drop only, I think, their second game

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in the Big Ten. Were there snowflakes? No, but

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it was getting dark. And that's the one thing

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that Saul was saying. It was like 3 .30 in the

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afternoon. He said that it was almost like it

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was at night. And that's going to happen when

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you get the, especially the clouds coming off

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Lake Michigan. So we will, by the way, hear from

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Melissa Lombardi. I recorded this interview yesterday

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afternoon before the Northwestern games. this

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weekend and it was the best time for her you

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know it was after we were done with our show

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yesterday so we'll we'll play that in the three

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o 'clock hour we got kelly graves coming up here

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it's a two -hour show reminder to people we got

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don't don't be going away it's two hours today

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We'll keep them, Goose. I'm not going to do dad

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joke in the first hour. People are going to know

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that the show's not over. But thank you, Mr.

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Agent Man, for helping us out. Kelly Graves in

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this hour, Melissa Lombardi, and our good friend,

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Zach Neal, will be joining us in hour number

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two. What's his nickname? Cadillac. Cadillac.

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Cadillac, Zach. Always get those nicknames. So

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we'll talk a lot of football. We'll talk some

00:09:10.690 --> 00:09:14.340
baseball today. We're going to talk NIL. Because

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there have been movement already. Another Oregon

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Duck men's basketball player has entered the

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portal. Desrick Lindsey is in, along with Kwame

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Evans Jr. and Jackson Shelstad, along with the

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senior graduates, Takai Simpkins and Nate Biddle.

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Dane Altman's running out of players, and there's

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still more that could declare. And I still think

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that there's some... question if Taj Reza will

00:09:38.350 --> 00:09:40.730
honor his commitment to Oregon if there's an

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exodus. So we'll talk about that in the second

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hour as well. So we're going to tease. That's

00:09:45.929 --> 00:09:48.149
what's called the tease, keep you around. So

00:09:48.149 --> 00:09:50.590
lots to go over, but we get two hours to do it.

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So there we go. Where do you guys want to start?

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You want to start with baseball? Let's start

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with college baseball. Oh, by the way, Justin,

00:10:00.750 --> 00:10:02.929
that opened. It was excellent. Thank you. That

00:10:02.929 --> 00:10:06.129
was very good. It really captured what we do

00:10:06.129 --> 00:10:09.990
on a normal basis here. I felt good about it.

00:10:10.570 --> 00:10:12.789
Well done. There was some good reception in the

00:10:12.789 --> 00:10:15.730
studio. That was nice. It put a smile on my face.

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Mark Waskowski's team is down in La Jolla, California.

00:10:20.409 --> 00:10:22.789
Well, they were because now they're heading up

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I -5 towards L .A. to Santa Barbara as senior

00:10:26.690 --> 00:10:31.559
Drew Smith, freshman Braden Jaksa. Both hit towering

00:10:31.559 --> 00:10:34.519
home runs. And number 20, Oregon, pounded UC

00:10:34.519 --> 00:10:39.820
San Diego at Triton Field. That was a 12 -4 win

00:10:39.820 --> 00:10:45.039
for the Ducks. And they will open their three

00:10:45.039 --> 00:10:48.779
-game series at UC Santa Barbara tomorrow. Ducks

00:10:48.779 --> 00:10:52.460
did not waste any time as they go to 21 -4 and

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finish the two -game sweep of San Diego. San

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Diego is like 100. or plus in the RPI, they're

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9 -13. They're in the big sky, I think. They're

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5 -1 in the big sky, so that tells you something

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about the big sky. But Oregon? They're WCC, right?

00:11:09.679 --> 00:11:12.500
I think San Diego's WCC, right? UC San Diego?

00:11:12.720 --> 00:11:14.840
I don't think so. Oh, no, you're right. UC San

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Diego is not. Yeah, because I get San Diego,

00:11:17.299 --> 00:11:19.519
UC San Diego, and San Diego State messed up.

00:11:19.720 --> 00:11:21.940
Okay. My bad. You were correct. That's why you're

00:11:21.940 --> 00:11:24.980
a part -time host. No, not really. I'm just kidding.

00:11:25.000 --> 00:11:27.700
Thursdays only. So the nice thing is, is the

00:11:27.700 --> 00:11:30.879
Ducks, there was some concern a few games ago.

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Maddox Maloney had to be pulled out of the last

00:11:33.139 --> 00:11:35.360
Northwestern game after getting hit on his hand

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at the plate. He was right back in the lineup

00:11:37.860 --> 00:11:40.240
the other day. So everything's good there, which

00:11:40.240 --> 00:11:43.100
is a relief for Oregon fans. And by the way,

00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:46.120
Jax Jimenez, Maloney, and Gabe Miranda all reached

00:11:46.120 --> 00:11:49.139
base four times. against San Diego in the last

00:11:49.139 --> 00:11:50.960
game. You had something, Justin. So UC San Diego

00:11:50.960 --> 00:11:52.879
is going to be in the West Coast Conference.

00:11:53.120 --> 00:11:56.399
They're currently competing in the Big West.

00:11:56.440 --> 00:11:59.539
Big West. See, I was wrong. You were wrong. Justin

00:11:59.539 --> 00:12:02.389
looks it up. The ironic part of all this, and

00:12:02.389 --> 00:12:04.070
this takes it away from sports. Now you're going.

00:12:04.230 --> 00:12:07.070
They are going to the big WCC, so you're right

00:12:07.070 --> 00:12:09.809
in that respect. Okay, go. Is my son's a senior

00:12:09.809 --> 00:12:11.690
in high school, and two of the schools he applied

00:12:11.690 --> 00:12:15.029
to are UCSB and UC San Diego. So I've seen both

00:12:15.029 --> 00:12:16.990
those on recent visits. Oh, you've been to the

00:12:16.990 --> 00:12:20.389
campuses? Yes. Both very nice. UC San Diego is

00:12:20.389 --> 00:12:22.950
huge. Probably. There's like a med school, and

00:12:22.950 --> 00:12:26.149
it's gigantic. UCSB is a nice school. I don't

00:12:26.149 --> 00:12:27.690
know if he's gotten into either of those. I think

00:12:27.690 --> 00:12:30.139
UC schools take forever to hear back. I don't

00:12:30.139 --> 00:12:31.679
think I served in that. And the other one was

00:12:31.679 --> 00:12:33.820
Pepperdine. And when we were at Pepperdine, I

00:12:33.820 --> 00:12:37.480
saw Mark, it should be called Mark Wasikowski

00:12:37.480 --> 00:12:39.200
Field because he won a national championship.

00:12:39.399 --> 00:12:41.779
That was another one that we visited down there.

00:12:41.799 --> 00:12:43.360
So anyway, it's funny to hear Mark Wasikowski

00:12:43.360 --> 00:12:46.000
is taking his team through my son's college recruiting.

00:12:46.120 --> 00:12:48.100
And there's no baseball with my son, but it's

00:12:48.100 --> 00:12:50.120
just through his college recruiting for academics.

00:12:50.179 --> 00:12:53.440
How did his brackets go this year? He has done

00:12:53.440 --> 00:12:54.860
very well in the women's, not as well in the

00:12:54.860 --> 00:12:57.600
men's. Okay. He did well in the women's? Yeah.

00:12:57.639 --> 00:12:59.139
I mean, all you got to do is pick chalk for the

00:12:59.139 --> 00:13:03.720
men's. He has like 20 variables that he has,

00:13:03.740 --> 00:13:06.000
like one based on RPI, one based on, he's done

00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:07.360
this like three, four years in a row. So we're

00:13:07.360 --> 00:13:09.779
kind of putting the data together. Satellites

00:13:09.779 --> 00:13:11.980
linking up, computers are whirring at NORAD.

00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:13.980
He might be Lunardi by the time he graduates

00:13:13.980 --> 00:13:15.720
from college. We get about eight years of this

00:13:15.720 --> 00:13:18.049
data. He might be ready to roll with it. Look

00:13:18.049 --> 00:13:20.289
at you, and Dad's already counting the ducats

00:13:20.289 --> 00:13:23.009
that come with that. Yeah, it is. We really do

00:13:23.009 --> 00:13:24.850
like that Mark Waszkowski's team starting to

00:13:24.850 --> 00:13:27.149
hit the ball as well. That was one of the things.

00:13:27.230 --> 00:13:30.129
And as I mentioned on the air earlier this week,

00:13:30.309 --> 00:13:33.330
is pitching is still going to come in. You literally

00:13:33.330 --> 00:13:36.870
need 10 to 12 good arms if you want a collegiate

00:13:36.870 --> 00:13:39.690
staff that's going to maintain through the rest

00:13:39.690 --> 00:13:41.750
of the season and into the postseason especially.

00:13:41.830 --> 00:13:43.929
But the bats have to come alive. They've started

00:13:43.929 --> 00:13:47.179
to do that. Non -conference swing, it's... strange

00:13:47.179 --> 00:13:51.399
for a team like Oregon or anybody in the in the

00:13:51.399 --> 00:13:53.059
middle of a conference season or just starting

00:13:53.059 --> 00:13:54.820
a conference season to have basically a week

00:13:54.820 --> 00:13:57.399
off of not playing any conference opponent but

00:13:57.399 --> 00:13:58.840
that's what they're doing with this swing down

00:13:58.840 --> 00:14:00.500
through Cali because it'll go through the weekend

00:14:00.500 --> 00:14:03.200
now and then they'll be on the road they'll come

00:14:03.200 --> 00:14:05.139
back for one single game against Portland and

00:14:05.139 --> 00:14:07.539
then on the road against Michigan and then they'll

00:14:07.539 --> 00:14:10.590
return home but they'll be up in Portland for

00:14:10.590 --> 00:14:12.330
a game against the Pilots as well. So they're

00:14:12.330 --> 00:14:13.870
going to squeeze in some Big Ten play. How about

00:14:13.870 --> 00:14:15.710
that for my memory? That's a good memory. It's

00:14:15.710 --> 00:14:17.070
all true, by the way. I'm looking at the schedule.

00:14:17.269 --> 00:14:19.590
It seems like kind of a tough trip, honestly.

00:14:19.830 --> 00:14:21.850
You're moving around a lot there. You're only

00:14:21.850 --> 00:14:23.769
going to be home for a little bit. So Santa Barbara

00:14:23.769 --> 00:14:27.250
is like 51 in the RPI. So that's going to help

00:14:27.250 --> 00:14:28.870
a little bit. That's one of the few ones that

00:14:28.870 --> 00:14:31.519
is going to help them. Hopefully. Well, and they

00:14:31.519 --> 00:14:34.460
start that tomorrow. So softball we just talked

00:14:34.460 --> 00:14:36.139
about. We'll get the final stat line, but they

00:14:36.139 --> 00:14:38.460
lose to Northwestern 11 -3. We'll hear from Missy

00:14:38.460 --> 00:14:41.299
Nails a little bit later on in the program. Men's

00:14:41.299 --> 00:14:45.500
golf, after coming up short at the Duck Invitational,

00:14:45.500 --> 00:14:48.399
they finish second, and they pack their bags

00:14:48.399 --> 00:14:51.919
right away and jump down to Stanford. They're

00:14:51.919 --> 00:14:55.409
competing at the Goodwin Tournament. Sophomore

00:14:55.409 --> 00:14:58.049
Raleem Salem carried his best score of the tournament

00:14:58.049 --> 00:15:01.129
with a 68 in the final round. Aiden Kraft finished

00:15:01.129 --> 00:15:05.470
a 5 under 66, and that got him runner -up. He

00:15:05.470 --> 00:15:07.909
finished second in the medalist honors on the

00:15:07.909 --> 00:15:10.809
home turf. Ducks are joining a field of 18 teams,

00:15:10.909 --> 00:15:13.649
including 14 teams ranked in the top 50. This

00:15:13.649 --> 00:15:15.669
is going to be a tough tournament. The Goodwin,

00:15:15.750 --> 00:15:19.370
named after former Stanford golf coach Wally

00:15:19.370 --> 00:15:24.429
Goodwin, who coached in college. At Casey Martin.

00:15:24.990 --> 00:15:26.970
Because Casey Martin, Oregon golf coach, played

00:15:26.970 --> 00:15:28.669
at Stanford for Wally Goodwin. The tournament's

00:15:28.669 --> 00:15:31.009
called the Goodwin. Things all tie together.

00:15:31.210 --> 00:15:33.509
By the way, a guy named Tiger Woods was on that

00:15:33.509 --> 00:15:35.629
team, too. I think he was a pretty good golfer.

00:15:35.669 --> 00:15:37.809
I think he was a pretty good golfer, if I remember

00:15:37.809 --> 00:15:40.610
that. I heard he's making a return. So, Justin,

00:15:40.789 --> 00:15:42.309
what's the final score of the Cubs game? Is it

00:15:42.309 --> 00:15:45.409
done? It is not done yet. It is now just starting

00:15:45.409 --> 00:15:47.289
the bottom of the ninth, and I think it's delayed.

00:15:47.830 --> 00:15:49.970
It's actually 10 -4 now. I think they got a two

00:15:49.970 --> 00:15:53.279
-round homer. They're done. Yeah. It's not looking

00:15:53.279 --> 00:15:55.960
great. And by the way, Oregon women moved up

00:15:55.960 --> 00:15:57.460
their start time against Northwest. I don't know

00:15:57.460 --> 00:16:00.419
if this affected them or not. No Elise Sikulski.

00:16:00.440 --> 00:16:03.039
She got hurt in the non -conference game against

00:16:03.039 --> 00:16:08.899
Indiana. And no status update on that. But if

00:16:08.899 --> 00:16:10.620
the Ducks are down to three pitchers now, that

00:16:10.620 --> 00:16:13.000
messes with your rotation a bit. Although Lindsey

00:16:13.000 --> 00:16:15.580
Grein came in, closed out Indiana. That was a

00:16:15.580 --> 00:16:19.840
crazy game, guys. They were down 7 -0 and ended

00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:23.820
up winning 24 -12. Yeah, it was a crazy one.

00:16:23.960 --> 00:16:26.019
But I think as much as anything, what concerns

00:16:26.019 --> 00:16:27.899
me is not just the fact that you're losing a

00:16:27.899 --> 00:16:29.899
really good pitcher, but you're losing innings.

00:16:30.080 --> 00:16:33.159
And you don't want to see Lindsey grind. I think

00:16:33.159 --> 00:16:34.799
her last year was a career high for her, and

00:16:34.799 --> 00:16:37.139
it was just under 200, 191 or something like

00:16:37.139 --> 00:16:39.600
that. And she pitched four innings against Indiana.

00:16:40.120 --> 00:16:42.179
You don't want to pitch her too much. I think

00:16:42.179 --> 00:16:43.919
that's the concern for me is that you can have

00:16:43.919 --> 00:16:45.799
one pitcher that can carry you, obviously, but

00:16:45.799 --> 00:16:47.379
you have to have them fresh by the end of the

00:16:47.379 --> 00:16:49.980
season. It's a discussion point getting a fatigued

00:16:49.980 --> 00:16:52.779
arm near the end of the season, and that was

00:16:52.779 --> 00:16:55.480
kind of where Sikulski and Taylor Spencer and

00:16:55.480 --> 00:16:59.399
others came in to kind of help relieve the load.

00:16:59.399 --> 00:17:01.740
They've got some depth. And Maddie Millhorn,

00:17:01.860 --> 00:17:04.500
a fantastic freshman pitcher. She got a few innings

00:17:04.500 --> 00:17:07.500
today as well. So we'll see how they recover

00:17:07.500 --> 00:17:09.140
tomorrow, but they wanted to get it in because

00:17:09.140 --> 00:17:11.559
there was weather coming into Chicago, and so

00:17:11.559 --> 00:17:13.240
that's the reason they moved it up to an 11 o

00:17:13.240 --> 00:17:16.500
'clock West Coast time first pitch. They'll continue

00:17:16.500 --> 00:17:19.740
the series this weekend just outside of the Chicagoland

00:17:19.740 --> 00:17:22.380
area at the ballpark at Rosemont in Rosemont,

00:17:22.400 --> 00:17:26.619
Illinois, where the AUSL Chicago team, the professional

00:17:26.619 --> 00:17:29.500
softball team, plays. So it's a nice facility

00:17:29.500 --> 00:17:32.299
they've got there. All right, so let's take our

00:17:32.299 --> 00:17:34.319
first break. Why not? We got the coach, the big

00:17:34.319 --> 00:17:38.000
kahuna, Kelly Graves in the wings. Ducks are

00:17:38.000 --> 00:17:39.740
going to be on the sidelines watching the rest

00:17:39.740 --> 00:17:41.660
of the NCAA tournament after getting bounced

00:17:41.660 --> 00:17:46.019
by number one seed in their region, the Texas

00:17:46.019 --> 00:17:48.680
Longhorns. But now the offseason has started.

00:17:48.779 --> 00:17:50.920
There is already a player in the transfer portal.

00:17:51.000 --> 00:17:53.720
We'll talk a lot about the dollars and cents.

00:17:54.519 --> 00:17:57.720
of how you build a roster in today's collegiate

00:17:57.720 --> 00:17:59.460
atmosphere. This is going to move into the next

00:17:59.460 --> 00:18:01.920
conversation we have about Oregon men's basketball

00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:05.440
all this hour on a two -hour edition of the Danny,

00:18:05.539 --> 00:18:08.880
Justin, and Goose show on Fox Sports Gene, Fox

00:18:08.880 --> 00:18:14.940
Sports Newport. Coming up top of the hour, we'll

00:18:14.940 --> 00:18:17.220
have an interview that I did yesterday with Melissa

00:18:17.220 --> 00:18:20.819
Lombardi as the Ducks fall to Northwestern in

00:18:20.819 --> 00:18:23.509
the first of a three -game set. in the Chicagoland

00:18:23.509 --> 00:18:27.329
area at Rosemont. And then we'll have Zachary

00:18:27.329 --> 00:18:29.690
Neal on, our number two. Two hours of the Danny

00:18:29.690 --> 00:18:32.309
and Justin radio program with Goose, Steve Mims

00:18:32.309 --> 00:18:34.769
sitting in with us as well. And let's head on

00:18:34.769 --> 00:18:36.670
over to the Oregon Man Clinics hotline at 541

00:18:36.670 --> 00:18:39.509
-343 -5673 and welcome in our good friend, the

00:18:39.509 --> 00:18:41.569
head coach of the Oregon women's basketball program.

00:18:41.710 --> 00:18:43.769
We call him the Big Kahuna. It's Kelly Graves

00:18:43.769 --> 00:18:46.769
joining us. Coach, is the exhale now started

00:18:46.769 --> 00:18:51.009
from one session now to the next, active playing,

00:18:51.089 --> 00:18:54.500
and now you're... Deep into the offseason, two

00:18:54.500 --> 00:19:00.180
days in. Yeah, not yet. I mean, I've just been

00:19:00.180 --> 00:19:02.940
as busy this week as I have, you know, during

00:19:02.940 --> 00:19:06.339
the season. It's spring break for our kids. Most

00:19:06.339 --> 00:19:09.539
of them went home. But those that have been around,

00:19:09.680 --> 00:19:12.640
you know, we're finishing up some player meetings

00:19:12.640 --> 00:19:17.769
and, you know, looking for the future. So, Coach,

00:19:17.930 --> 00:19:20.369
back -to -back appearances in the NCAA tournament,

00:19:20.589 --> 00:19:22.849
back -to -back second -round appearances in the

00:19:22.849 --> 00:19:24.670
NCAA tournament. I know you wanted to finish

00:19:24.670 --> 00:19:27.170
a little bit higher in the Big Ten. You were

00:19:27.170 --> 00:19:29.750
close in a few games with some really good competition.

00:19:29.910 --> 00:19:32.349
You made a nice run in the tournament. Have you

00:19:32.349 --> 00:19:34.250
been able to have time with your staff to reflect

00:19:34.250 --> 00:19:37.109
on, you know, how you would grade out the season

00:19:37.109 --> 00:19:42.460
with the young women? Not really. I mean, we

00:19:42.460 --> 00:19:44.539
haven't done anything formally as a staff. I

00:19:44.539 --> 00:19:47.980
mean, we informally meet every day. They're all

00:19:47.980 --> 00:19:51.700
still here. You know, there's always work to

00:19:51.700 --> 00:19:56.380
be done, even if the season's over. But I think

00:19:56.380 --> 00:20:00.319
they would share my sentiment. It was a good

00:20:00.319 --> 00:20:03.539
season. I mean, it really was. We weren't picked

00:20:03.539 --> 00:20:07.099
all that high in conference coming into the season.

00:20:07.200 --> 00:20:10.660
We had a lot of question marks. We didn't go

00:20:10.660 --> 00:20:13.799
out and just get a bunch of portal kids to plug

00:20:13.799 --> 00:20:16.420
them in. We kind of went with the players that

00:20:16.420 --> 00:20:19.640
were already on the roster that had lesser roles.

00:20:20.700 --> 00:20:23.000
you know, and hope they would step up and have

00:20:23.000 --> 00:20:26.460
great years, and a lot of them did. And collectively,

00:20:26.680 --> 00:20:29.740
I thought we got a lot out of this team. I truly

00:20:29.740 --> 00:20:33.619
do. And then, you know, to again make the NCAA

00:20:33.619 --> 00:20:36.039
tournament, to win a game there, and, you know,

00:20:36.059 --> 00:20:37.960
obviously it didn't end the way we wanted, but,

00:20:37.980 --> 00:20:40.680
you know, Texas is just so much better than us.

00:20:40.740 --> 00:20:44.339
That would have taken a Herculean effort, you

00:20:44.339 --> 00:20:46.339
know, to have gotten that one done. But like

00:20:46.339 --> 00:20:48.259
you said, a couple wins in the Big Ten tournament.

00:20:50.059 --> 00:20:53.579
Yeah, and an exciting season. I think there's

00:20:53.579 --> 00:20:57.059
a lot to celebrate for sure. And you've obviously

00:20:57.059 --> 00:20:59.319
faced teams like Texas before in your time in

00:20:59.319 --> 00:21:01.539
the NCAA tournament. But for this group in particular,

00:21:01.759 --> 00:21:04.359
it was obviously a good measuring stick moment

00:21:04.359 --> 00:21:06.140
for them to see what it's like to face a team

00:21:06.140 --> 00:21:08.319
like that and the physicality and the speed and

00:21:08.319 --> 00:21:10.259
everything they can do. How much do you think

00:21:10.259 --> 00:21:12.180
that's going to help this team? And even just

00:21:12.180 --> 00:21:14.119
you evaluating the team going forward, having

00:21:14.119 --> 00:21:18.579
faced a team as good as Texas? Well, hopefully

00:21:18.579 --> 00:21:24.579
it gets our kids excited about next year, about

00:21:24.579 --> 00:21:27.500
what they've got to do better. I remember back

00:21:27.500 --> 00:21:30.799
in the tournament in 2017, I had a group that

00:21:30.799 --> 00:21:34.339
made the Elite Eight. Sabrina was a freshman,

00:21:34.519 --> 00:21:36.759
and Ruthie, and all those kids were on that team.

00:21:37.579 --> 00:21:39.900
And in the Elite Eight, we got beat by Connecticut

00:21:39.900 --> 00:21:43.900
by 40. And I know that that drove that group

00:21:43.900 --> 00:21:46.279
in the offseason. You know, they're not going

00:21:46.279 --> 00:21:48.720
to let that happen again. And, you know, a few

00:21:48.720 --> 00:21:51.240
years ago, we were the Texas. You know, we were

00:21:51.240 --> 00:21:54.740
doing that to other teams. So I think it'll be

00:21:54.740 --> 00:21:57.440
good for our kids to, you know, hopefully inspire

00:21:57.440 --> 00:22:00.759
them, motivate them to, you know, to work harder

00:22:00.759 --> 00:22:03.799
in the offseason. And like I told them after

00:22:03.799 --> 00:22:08.750
the game. We had three or four – well, we actually

00:22:08.750 --> 00:22:10.569
had a lot of games, but we had three or four

00:22:10.569 --> 00:22:14.809
really tight ones that we could have won. We

00:22:14.809 --> 00:22:17.450
had the lead in the last minute, and of course

00:22:17.450 --> 00:22:19.210
we had some where we were behind in the last

00:22:19.210 --> 00:22:21.670
minute and won. But I was just saying if we would

00:22:21.670 --> 00:22:25.470
have had two or three of those wins, then we're

00:22:25.470 --> 00:22:28.410
probably a host in the tournament, and we don't

00:22:28.410 --> 00:22:31.150
have to play a team like Texas on their home

00:22:31.150 --> 00:22:33.849
floor in the second round. Maybe you play that

00:22:33.849 --> 00:22:36.680
team on a neutral. neutral floor. So I think

00:22:36.680 --> 00:22:40.099
that's one of the bigger takeaways is maybe we

00:22:40.099 --> 00:22:43.019
can do a little bit more in the regular season

00:22:43.019 --> 00:22:46.000
to earn a better seed and be in a better position

00:22:46.000 --> 00:22:48.809
come NCAA tournament. Kelly, you talk about kind

00:22:48.809 --> 00:22:50.670
of what the offseason looks like now, and obviously

00:22:50.670 --> 00:22:53.789
it's changed in the last 27 years you've been

00:22:53.789 --> 00:22:55.890
doing this. But where are you at now in terms

00:22:55.890 --> 00:22:59.009
of player? I mean, are you negotiating now with

00:22:59.009 --> 00:23:01.730
players in the portal to come in? Are you negotiating

00:23:01.730 --> 00:23:04.730
with your current players? Are their contracts

00:23:04.730 --> 00:23:07.690
going out? I'm just curious what in terms of

00:23:07.690 --> 00:23:09.910
retaining the roster, can you do things now?

00:23:10.049 --> 00:23:11.869
Is there a time you have to wait to? What does

00:23:11.869 --> 00:23:14.049
this week look like when other teams are still

00:23:14.049 --> 00:23:16.490
playing? The portal isn't officially open. How

00:23:16.490 --> 00:23:18.460
much can you? you do in terms of confirming?

00:23:18.460 --> 00:23:20.740
Do you have players confirming we're back? Do

00:23:20.740 --> 00:23:22.759
you have to wait on that? What's that look like

00:23:22.759 --> 00:23:26.319
for a coach? Well, we had a number of players

00:23:26.319 --> 00:23:31.720
whose parents were in Texas. And since this is

00:23:31.720 --> 00:23:34.680
spring break this week, they didn't have to come

00:23:34.680 --> 00:23:38.410
back and go to school. We allowed them, if their

00:23:38.410 --> 00:23:41.170
families were there, to just go home or go with

00:23:41.170 --> 00:23:43.190
them, whatever they were going to do. And so

00:23:43.190 --> 00:23:47.230
we had some player meetings down in Austin late

00:23:47.230 --> 00:23:49.990
that night after the game. And then we've had

00:23:49.990 --> 00:23:52.430
those that did come back. We have met with them

00:23:52.430 --> 00:23:54.890
here. And at that time, we ask them what their

00:23:54.890 --> 00:23:58.769
intentions are. And I've had kids that in this

00:23:58.769 --> 00:24:01.210
meeting. You say, oh, yeah, coach, I'm really

00:24:01.210 --> 00:24:03.589
excited about next year. Can't wait. And then

00:24:03.589 --> 00:24:05.829
a week later, I get a call from, hey, coach,

00:24:05.950 --> 00:24:08.509
by the way, I've decided. You know, so what they

00:24:08.509 --> 00:24:12.069
say here, you know, you take with a grain of

00:24:12.069 --> 00:24:14.329
salt. I mean, I trust my team and love my team.

00:24:14.450 --> 00:24:17.150
And I think, you know, for the most part, they're

00:24:17.150 --> 00:24:19.710
all coming back. Now, you know, we've had to

00:24:19.710 --> 00:24:22.309
make a decision as a staff on a couple of players,

00:24:22.490 --> 00:24:24.809
one of which has already entered the portal.

00:24:24.869 --> 00:24:27.930
And that was actually our decision, not hers.

00:24:29.029 --> 00:24:32.670
You know, that's the part I don't necessarily

00:24:32.670 --> 00:24:36.430
like about the new way of doing things. It's

00:24:36.430 --> 00:24:38.670
different than the old way, but, you know, it

00:24:38.670 --> 00:24:41.710
is a business. And, unfortunately, we have to

00:24:41.710 --> 00:24:45.450
do things that way. And it's uncomfortable for,

00:24:45.549 --> 00:24:48.470
you know, myself. And I talked with Dana Altman

00:24:48.470 --> 00:24:51.829
the other day. We talked for about an hour. And,

00:24:51.990 --> 00:24:56.980
you know, we're old -timers. We like to see this

00:24:56.980 --> 00:25:00.599
journey through to the very end with these young

00:25:00.599 --> 00:25:03.460
people, and it's just become more and more difficult,

00:25:03.539 --> 00:25:06.099
even if they have a great experience here. That

00:25:06.099 --> 00:25:08.500
has nothing to do with kids transferring anymore,

00:25:08.680 --> 00:25:11.799
whether they liked it or not. A lot of them like

00:25:11.799 --> 00:25:14.660
to just transfer to do it. Or the tampering part,

00:25:14.779 --> 00:25:16.180
right? I mean, you may have somebody who tells

00:25:16.180 --> 00:25:18.140
you on Sunday night, hey, this has been a great

00:25:18.140 --> 00:25:20.799
season. Kelly, I'm back. And on Tuesday morning,

00:25:21.099 --> 00:25:23.279
the assistant of the assistant of the assistant

00:25:23.279 --> 00:25:25.779
at some other school texts and says, hey, what

00:25:25.779 --> 00:25:27.119
are they offering you? Because here's what it

00:25:27.119 --> 00:25:29.279
is. Do you have to, when you have those exit

00:25:29.279 --> 00:25:31.099
meetings, are you throwing out numbers at that

00:25:31.099 --> 00:25:33.059
point? Does it have to get that specific because

00:25:33.059 --> 00:25:35.440
you know that some other school may come in with

00:25:35.440 --> 00:25:37.920
numbers that they think they can, you know, lowball

00:25:37.920 --> 00:25:42.000
you or go higher? Well, sometimes we do, sometimes

00:25:42.000 --> 00:25:44.539
we don't. I think we're pretty upfront with,

00:25:44.579 --> 00:25:48.880
you know, their compensation, you know, to them.

00:25:49.019 --> 00:25:51.420
And like I said, we've been, you know, pretty

00:25:51.420 --> 00:25:55.119
forward in terms of, you know, retention bonuses

00:25:55.119 --> 00:25:59.039
and raises and those kind of things. But, you

00:25:59.039 --> 00:26:01.619
know, I've gotten to a point, if that's what

00:26:01.619 --> 00:26:06.099
it's about, see ya. You know, I mean, honestly,

00:26:06.319 --> 00:26:09.799
I... I just can't worry myself about it. I have,

00:26:10.079 --> 00:26:12.500
you know, we're certainly not the richest school

00:26:12.500 --> 00:26:15.700
out there. We have a limited budget. I'm not

00:26:15.700 --> 00:26:19.940
going to lie to you. But, you know, if somebody's

00:26:19.940 --> 00:26:21.920
going to go somewhere else because they can make

00:26:21.920 --> 00:26:26.240
a few more bucks, then God bless you. I'm not

00:26:26.240 --> 00:26:29.920
going to, you know, I'm not going to negotiate.

00:26:31.079 --> 00:26:33.799
I'm not going to try and beg you to stay. I just

00:26:33.799 --> 00:26:35.799
think we're beyond that. I want players that

00:26:35.799 --> 00:26:40.799
want to be here. And, you know, you do better.

00:26:40.900 --> 00:26:42.920
And that's what I loved about my team. We had

00:26:42.920 --> 00:26:45.319
nine players that all returned last year, and

00:26:45.319 --> 00:26:48.180
they played like it. You could see a real chemistry

00:26:48.180 --> 00:26:50.720
on the court and off the court. And they played

00:26:50.720 --> 00:26:52.640
real hard, and they played for each other. And,

00:26:52.640 --> 00:26:55.619
you know, we may not have been the most talented

00:26:55.619 --> 00:26:58.960
team, but, you know, we made up for it in great

00:26:58.960 --> 00:27:01.660
synergy on the court. The big kahuna, Kelly Graves,

00:27:01.660 --> 00:27:03.460
joining us, women's basketball coach at the University

00:27:03.460 --> 00:27:05.359
of Oregon, the postscript of a season that was

00:27:05.359 --> 00:27:08.259
successful, over 20 wins, again, back to the

00:27:08.259 --> 00:27:10.660
NCAA tournament. And the coach now looking at

00:27:10.660 --> 00:27:13.720
his roster construction for next season as the

00:27:13.720 --> 00:27:16.220
kids are on spring break. And, Coach, let's start

00:27:16.220 --> 00:27:20.019
there. And you talked about this recruiting aspect

00:27:20.019 --> 00:27:22.380
before with us on the program about, you know,

00:27:22.400 --> 00:27:24.160
it's a character and it's a culture thing. People

00:27:24.160 --> 00:27:26.920
throw those words around a lot. But here at Oregon,

00:27:27.059 --> 00:27:30.339
it seems to be one of the standards. that you

00:27:30.339 --> 00:27:34.299
set for everyone. So when you take a look at

00:27:34.299 --> 00:27:37.140
your roster, and again, I know you haven't done

00:27:37.140 --> 00:27:39.319
the full evaluation yet with your staff, although

00:27:39.319 --> 00:27:41.740
you talk every day, where do you think the biggest

00:27:41.740 --> 00:27:46.039
needs are going to be for 2026 -27 for your program?

00:27:48.680 --> 00:27:51.119
Well, I don't know yet. Okay. You know, that

00:27:51.119 --> 00:27:54.079
remains to be seen. I'm not exactly sure who

00:27:54.079 --> 00:27:57.039
all is coming back, and then that will tell us,

00:27:57.039 --> 00:28:00.660
you know, what we need. If the entire roster

00:28:00.660 --> 00:28:05.000
stayed intact, you know, most of our starters

00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:07.680
are back, right? Right. All four of our five

00:28:07.680 --> 00:28:11.259
starters would be back. We have a transfer in,

00:28:11.339 --> 00:28:15.240
a Mallory Hire, who spent this last – quarter

00:28:15.240 --> 00:28:17.440
with us the last half of the season, and she's

00:28:17.440 --> 00:28:21.119
an outstanding player, you know, that can step

00:28:21.119 --> 00:28:24.720
in at that Mia Jacobs spot. You know, I think

00:28:24.720 --> 00:28:28.339
the Texas game and some others along the way

00:28:28.339 --> 00:28:30.559
in the Big Ten, we probably need a little bit

00:28:30.559 --> 00:28:33.759
more size. Now we have, you know, EK coming in.

00:28:34.420 --> 00:28:37.940
She's about 6 '5", coming in as a freshman. She's

00:28:37.940 --> 00:28:39.420
a really good player. In fact, congratulations

00:28:39.420 --> 00:28:42.779
to her. She was just named to the Nike Hoop Summit

00:28:42.779 --> 00:28:45.900
World Team. And so that will give us some additional

00:28:45.900 --> 00:28:47.980
size. But, you know, we might need to get a little

00:28:47.980 --> 00:28:51.500
bit more. You know, just kind of, again, fellas,

00:28:51.579 --> 00:28:53.619
I hate to. puts you off, but it just kind of

00:28:53.619 --> 00:28:57.759
depends on who I end up keeping here. It's fair,

00:28:57.920 --> 00:28:59.440
Coach. I mean, and that's the whole thing. In

00:28:59.440 --> 00:29:02.140
this day and age, I mean, going back even five

00:29:02.140 --> 00:29:05.140
years, you would have had probably something

00:29:05.140 --> 00:29:08.259
a little bit more set, right, at this time. You

00:29:08.259 --> 00:29:10.299
would kind of know because kids wouldn't be flying

00:29:10.299 --> 00:29:14.559
in and out and going down to Texas or going to

00:29:14.559 --> 00:29:17.339
South Carolina or getting an offer from whomever.

00:29:17.440 --> 00:29:19.799
I mean, that just wasn't a reality five years

00:29:19.799 --> 00:29:23.079
ago. So, I mean, it kind of delays what you can

00:29:23.079 --> 00:29:27.339
do, correct? It does. Yeah, it does. And the

00:29:27.339 --> 00:29:30.579
portal opens up officially for us on April 6th.

00:29:30.619 --> 00:29:35.259
It's kind of funny because, you know, you'll

00:29:35.259 --> 00:29:38.559
be least surprised on April 6th because everybody's

00:29:38.559 --> 00:29:41.279
announcing now on their own social media feeds.

00:29:41.539 --> 00:29:43.680
So by the time you get to April 6th, everybody

00:29:43.680 --> 00:29:47.339
will already know who's going to be in. And,

00:29:47.339 --> 00:29:50.059
you know, and that's too bad. You know, I have

00:29:50.059 --> 00:29:51.700
some good friends. I reached out to a couple

00:29:51.700 --> 00:29:54.220
of my good coaching friends, one of whom I've

00:29:54.220 --> 00:29:57.839
known for 40 years. And, you know, they're losing

00:29:57.839 --> 00:30:00.019
a ton of players. You know, one's lost eight

00:30:00.019 --> 00:30:02.960
players already. And I just, you know, you can't

00:30:02.960 --> 00:30:06.359
take it personal. And, you know, sometimes it

00:30:06.359 --> 00:30:10.549
just. You know, it happens. And I just feel bad

00:30:10.549 --> 00:30:12.289
for them because they're going to have to, you

00:30:12.289 --> 00:30:14.670
know, retool the entire roster for next year.

00:30:14.829 --> 00:30:17.509
And that's sad, quite frankly, because a lot

00:30:17.509 --> 00:30:20.529
of them, wherever they go, the grass isn't going

00:30:20.529 --> 00:30:22.930
to be greener elsewhere. There's just as many

00:30:22.930 --> 00:30:27.250
negative stories out there about transfers as

00:30:27.250 --> 00:30:29.450
there are positive ones. Well, and the grass

00:30:29.450 --> 00:30:31.369
is damn green in Eugene, as we know, right, Kelly?

00:30:31.470 --> 00:30:34.349
Well, we like to say that. I guess there was

00:30:34.349 --> 00:30:38.210
a football coach that once said that. But doesn't,

00:30:38.210 --> 00:30:40.130
I mean, what we saw from Ahis this year and from

00:30:40.130 --> 00:30:41.650
Katie, and you talked about this, that, hey,

00:30:41.650 --> 00:30:43.450
we had players who maybe didn't do as much last

00:30:43.450 --> 00:30:46.250
year. We kind of poured into them and they came

00:30:46.250 --> 00:30:48.950
out and were really good. Doesn't that give you

00:30:48.950 --> 00:30:50.789
some proof now with those ones who maybe didn't

00:30:50.789 --> 00:30:53.509
play as much, but you can tell them, hey, there's

00:30:53.509 --> 00:30:55.230
a proof that we can kind of build this. Does

00:30:55.230 --> 00:30:58.269
what Katie and Ahis did help you with others

00:30:58.269 --> 00:31:00.049
who maybe whose parents look and say, hey, you

00:31:00.049 --> 00:31:02.250
didn't play as much that, hey, stick with us

00:31:02.250 --> 00:31:04.269
and we can get you to this level that we've seen

00:31:04.269 --> 00:31:06.430
some others do. And it's not just a promise.

00:31:06.470 --> 00:31:08.690
It's something that you saw in every game this

00:31:08.690 --> 00:31:12.150
year. Well, certainly. And those two are what

00:31:12.150 --> 00:31:15.950
great examples and what great seasons those two

00:31:15.950 --> 00:31:19.829
had. And if they stick around, and I sure hope

00:31:19.829 --> 00:31:21.829
they will, and everything tells me that they

00:31:21.829 --> 00:31:26.150
will, but that's something you can really build

00:31:26.150 --> 00:31:30.329
on. And, yeah, so, yeah, we have a track record.

00:31:30.470 --> 00:31:32.190
There's no question. If you look out. Throughout

00:31:32.190 --> 00:31:34.829
my time here, we've had a track record of players

00:31:34.829 --> 00:31:37.230
getting better when they stay in the program.

00:31:37.470 --> 00:31:41.529
Last year, Philly Che is a great example. Stuck

00:31:41.529 --> 00:31:43.690
it out and had a heck of a career for us and

00:31:43.690 --> 00:31:46.049
is now making a really good living in China.

00:31:46.849 --> 00:31:53.769
I love my group. They were a pleasure to coach

00:31:53.769 --> 00:31:56.289
this year. They really were. They were a pleasure

00:31:56.289 --> 00:31:58.869
to be around on a daily basis. I love their growth.

00:31:59.369 --> 00:32:01.450
And I think we have more growth potential. You

00:32:01.450 --> 00:32:03.430
know, you look at those two, Katie and Heath.

00:32:04.089 --> 00:32:06.670
They're not even close to being finished products.

00:32:07.190 --> 00:32:09.910
They've still got a lot of growth potential.

00:32:09.910 --> 00:32:12.049
So if they can grow, and you heard Katie in her

00:32:12.049 --> 00:32:14.970
press conference say that, you know, she made

00:32:14.970 --> 00:32:18.150
great strides between her freshman and sophomore

00:32:18.150 --> 00:32:20.470
year. And she says, and I expect to make the

00:32:20.470 --> 00:32:23.430
same kind of strides, you know, before next year.

00:32:24.069 --> 00:32:26.470
That's great to hear your players say that, those

00:32:26.470 --> 00:32:29.170
kind of things. And I believe them. I think it's

00:32:29.170 --> 00:32:31.670
true. Well, and, Coach, I had Eric Skopel on

00:32:31.670 --> 00:32:33.769
yesterday, and we talked about your program,

00:32:33.890 --> 00:32:36.450
and I made the comment, and I think Eric kind

00:32:36.450 --> 00:32:38.750
of expounded on it, is that I see the same kind

00:32:38.750 --> 00:32:42.329
of chemistry between Katie and Ahis that I thought

00:32:42.329 --> 00:32:44.769
I was seeing on the floor with Sabrina and Satu

00:32:44.769 --> 00:32:47.750
or Sabrina and Ruthie. And that is a great comparison,

00:32:47.809 --> 00:32:49.289
but that's an awful lot of pressure on those

00:32:49.289 --> 00:32:52.529
two young women. But I see that same kind of

00:32:52.529 --> 00:32:55.690
chemistry, and, I mean, they had great success

00:32:55.690 --> 00:32:58.839
together. Oh, no doubt. They're going to be one

00:32:58.839 --> 00:33:03.000
of the bigger, you know, most productive duos

00:33:03.000 --> 00:33:04.980
in the country coming back. And I think the one

00:33:04.980 --> 00:33:07.380
thing that they did, you know, by playing a couple

00:33:07.380 --> 00:33:09.220
games in the NCAA tournament, they got a lot

00:33:09.220 --> 00:33:11.579
of time in studio in terms of people watching

00:33:11.579 --> 00:33:13.319
them, talking about them. So there's going to

00:33:13.319 --> 00:33:16.299
be a buzz around this team next year. You know,

00:33:16.339 --> 00:33:18.119
not many teams can say they're returning four

00:33:18.119 --> 00:33:22.500
starters, you know, off an NCAA tournament team.

00:33:22.599 --> 00:33:24.890
And so I think that. That will generate some

00:33:24.890 --> 00:33:28.730
buzz around the conference, around the country,

00:33:28.829 --> 00:33:31.009
and certainly around this community. So we're

00:33:31.009 --> 00:33:35.609
really excited about those two. as well as, obviously,

00:33:35.609 --> 00:33:38.349
many others. Sure. Absolutely. Well, Coach, we

00:33:38.349 --> 00:33:40.329
always thank you for your time. I mean, we're

00:33:40.329 --> 00:33:42.029
going to talk more in the offseason. I know you'll

00:33:42.029 --> 00:33:43.470
be working on the golf game, and then you're

00:33:43.470 --> 00:33:46.029
going to be flying all over the country. You've

00:33:46.029 --> 00:33:48.630
got to find those last few pieces after the dust

00:33:48.630 --> 00:33:51.069
settles in the transfer portal. So thanks again.

00:33:51.170 --> 00:33:53.109
What a great season. It was a joy watching your

00:33:53.109 --> 00:33:55.869
team and their camaraderie and the way they got

00:33:55.869 --> 00:33:58.009
along. I think I mentioned that to you when I

00:33:58.009 --> 00:34:00.250
was able to watch them up close during a game.

00:34:00.549 --> 00:34:03.089
And best of luck in the offseason. We look forward

00:34:03.089 --> 00:34:06.289
to next year. Well, I appreciate it, guys. And

00:34:06.289 --> 00:34:08.590
listen, you guys do a great job, and I really

00:34:08.590 --> 00:34:12.349
appreciate all the attention you've given our

00:34:12.349 --> 00:34:15.110
team. I know that during the season you guys

00:34:15.110 --> 00:34:16.909
talk about us a lot, and I really appreciate

00:34:16.909 --> 00:34:20.469
that. So, yeah, we'll do it again sometime maybe

00:34:20.469 --> 00:34:22.690
in the offseason. I'm sitting here watching a

00:34:22.690 --> 00:34:26.829
split screen. I've got four baseball games. I'm

00:34:26.829 --> 00:34:29.469
a huge baseball guy. Red Sox, right? And to me

00:34:29.469 --> 00:34:31.090
this is opening day, even though I know there

00:34:31.090 --> 00:34:35.190
was a game last night. been pretty fun. So you're

00:34:35.190 --> 00:34:40.650
a Boston fan, right? I am, yeah. Have been for

00:34:40.650 --> 00:34:43.269
lifelong, man. Freddie Lynn was my favorite player

00:34:43.269 --> 00:34:46.559
when I was a kid. All right, well, you're talking

00:34:46.559 --> 00:34:47.960
to a couple of them. You wouldn't even remember

00:34:47.960 --> 00:34:52.239
that name. Are you kidding? I even remember the

00:34:52.239 --> 00:34:55.880
splendid Jim Rice, Freddie Lynn, and Yaz in the

00:34:55.880 --> 00:34:57.679
outfield. Jim Rice and Freddie Lynn, yeah, they

00:34:57.679 --> 00:35:00.739
came up right together. Carlton Fisk waving that

00:35:00.739 --> 00:35:04.039
ball around the pesky pole. Come on, man. We're

00:35:04.039 --> 00:35:05.000
about as old as you are, Coach. You've got a

00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:08.039
couple 50 -plussers in here today, Kelly. Okay,

00:35:08.780 --> 00:35:11.420
all right, all right. But thanks for thinking

00:35:11.420 --> 00:35:14.280
I'm a lot younger than I actually am. All right,

00:35:14.280 --> 00:35:16.440
bud. You got it. fellas all right I'll talk to

00:35:16.440 --> 00:35:18.500
you later man thanks Kelly there he goes the

00:35:18.500 --> 00:35:21.559
big kahuna I feel young all of a sudden I feel

00:35:21.559 --> 00:35:23.440
great now I feel energized that Kelly doesn't

00:35:23.440 --> 00:35:25.539
think I know who Fred Lynn is they must think

00:35:25.539 --> 00:35:28.019
I'm in my 40s I'm ready I could start throwing

00:35:28.019 --> 00:35:31.000
out names like crazy right now so I mean I didn't

00:35:31.000 --> 00:35:33.099
watch him play but you know Ted Williams the

00:35:33.099 --> 00:35:37.690
splendid splinter you were close I guess I I

00:35:37.690 --> 00:35:40.489
was. I would say just missed it by that much.

00:35:40.550 --> 00:35:43.090
Just a bit outside. Just a bit outside. All right,

00:35:43.110 --> 00:35:45.309
old Harry Doyle. All right, we come back. So

00:35:45.309 --> 00:35:47.909
Coach Graves kind of set the plate for us. Let

00:35:47.909 --> 00:35:50.929
me just tell you, there's not many coaches who

00:35:50.929 --> 00:35:53.449
will be honest like that, especially in the middle

00:35:53.449 --> 00:35:56.130
of it. That was really cool. I hope people understand

00:35:56.130 --> 00:35:58.250
and appreciate that interview gave you more info

00:35:58.250 --> 00:36:00.369
than. Most coaches are giving you right now.

00:36:00.650 --> 00:36:02.789
Absolutely. So we're going to discuss and we're

00:36:02.789 --> 00:36:04.449
going to focus a lot on the men's program right

00:36:04.449 --> 00:36:06.690
now because there's another name in the portal

00:36:06.690 --> 00:36:09.389
and who else could be leaving Oregon. We'll talk

00:36:09.389 --> 00:36:12.349
about that on the flip side. Danny, Justin, and

00:36:12.349 --> 00:36:14.349
Steve. Fox Sports, Eugene. Fox Sports, Newport.

00:36:18.369 --> 00:36:20.349
This is what happens when you have a two -hour

00:36:20.349 --> 00:36:25.059
show. You can... Well, we could have done that

00:36:25.059 --> 00:36:26.719
in a one -hour show because it happened during

00:36:26.719 --> 00:36:28.539
the first hour, right? I can say that. So we're

00:36:28.539 --> 00:36:30.940
not going to talk the NL yet. We're going to

00:36:30.940 --> 00:36:34.579
talk that and the transfer portal in the last

00:36:34.579 --> 00:36:37.099
half of the next hour since you have us for two

00:36:37.099 --> 00:36:39.219
hours because we have breaking news. Breaking

00:36:39.219 --> 00:36:43.440
news from Corvallis as Scott Barnes, as being

00:36:43.440 --> 00:36:46.420
reported by James Creppi of the Oregonian, Scott

00:36:46.420 --> 00:36:49.920
Barnes, who has been in Corvallis almost a decade

00:36:49.920 --> 00:36:55.679
as athletic director, serve as AD until August

00:36:55.679 --> 00:36:59.559
31st. And then he's going to become a senior

00:36:59.559 --> 00:37:02.599
advisor for athletics through the following year.

00:37:02.699 --> 00:37:07.559
So 2026 through 2027. So his reign, so just hired

00:37:07.559 --> 00:37:10.840
a football coach, just fired and hired a basketball

00:37:10.840 --> 00:37:14.639
coach. And now he's going to step away. The whole

00:37:14.639 --> 00:37:20.820
fiasco with blueprint, the NIL, the collective,

00:37:20.980 --> 00:37:25.809
that kind of, over anything that Scott Barnes

00:37:25.809 --> 00:37:27.989
wanted to do. The hiring of Trent Bray after

00:37:27.989 --> 00:37:30.409
Jonathan Smith left, that was a failed experiment.

00:37:31.230 --> 00:37:34.030
No offense to Trent Bray, like the guy, just

00:37:34.030 --> 00:37:37.869
maybe the wrong position. And he has been, Scott

00:37:37.869 --> 00:37:43.650
Barnes has been a lightning rod for Beaver fans.

00:37:44.269 --> 00:37:48.150
Is that fair to say? Yeah, I would say that's

00:37:48.150 --> 00:37:50.710
fair. And now I think there's some, honestly,

00:37:50.809 --> 00:37:52.510
I think there's some dancing in Corvallis right

00:37:52.510 --> 00:37:57.150
now. Feels to me that the president of Oregon

00:37:57.150 --> 00:37:59.730
State is not a huge athletics person. Correct.

00:37:59.969 --> 00:38:01.789
She's made that clear and came in and sort of

00:38:01.789 --> 00:38:04.670
trusted everything there. And kind of as Scott

00:38:04.670 --> 00:38:06.690
Barnes, who was getting older and had a great

00:38:06.690 --> 00:38:09.389
past as an athletic director at other places,

00:38:09.429 --> 00:38:12.010
it was kind of a place for him to just kind of

00:38:12.010 --> 00:38:14.630
do it without anybody overseeing it. I think

00:38:14.630 --> 00:38:17.289
there were too many missteps. He lost the fan

00:38:17.289 --> 00:38:19.449
base. It got to a point to where the fans were

00:38:19.449 --> 00:38:23.280
out on Scott Barnes. And as an AD, you can normally

00:38:23.280 --> 00:38:24.760
kind of keep them as though, hey, our baseball

00:38:24.760 --> 00:38:26.179
is good. As long as something's good and down.

00:38:26.579 --> 00:38:28.579
There were so many things, whether it was him

00:38:28.579 --> 00:38:30.559
hiring Bray and having to get rid of him so quickly.

00:38:31.280 --> 00:38:33.840
Hiring Tinkle and not just firing, I'm sorry,

00:38:33.880 --> 00:38:35.940
not extending Tinkle, but that was years ago.

00:38:36.340 --> 00:38:38.780
Firing Tinkle and doing it so sloppily to where

00:38:38.780 --> 00:38:41.480
Wayne came out looking so much better than Scott

00:38:41.480 --> 00:38:43.539
in that, that it was a huge PR hit. Even though

00:38:43.539 --> 00:38:45.920
you can make an argument for getting rid of Wayne

00:38:45.920 --> 00:38:49.360
Tinkle, Wayne put in a thank you to the newspaper

00:38:49.360 --> 00:38:51.960
and Oregon State never put out even a thank you

00:38:51.960 --> 00:38:54.800
to him. It was such a ball drop there. As you

00:38:54.800 --> 00:38:57.219
mentioned, the blueprint and the Blaylock deal

00:38:57.219 --> 00:38:59.719
all falling apart. I think eventually it's like,

00:38:59.820 --> 00:39:02.150
hey, we can. screw up a couple things and that

00:39:02.150 --> 00:39:03.909
president who doesn't care much about sports

00:39:03.909 --> 00:39:05.989
isn't going to care about it. Eventually, so

00:39:05.989 --> 00:39:07.989
many of them, I think even the president caught

00:39:07.989 --> 00:39:10.230
on like, hey, wait a minute, this doesn't seem

00:39:10.230 --> 00:39:13.090
like our fans are with us. And it just got to

00:39:13.090 --> 00:39:14.590
a level to where I think there was no chance

00:39:14.590 --> 00:39:16.809
he was going to survive. Well, the fan base and

00:39:16.809 --> 00:39:19.170
the donors. Well, and correct. I would have to

00:39:19.170 --> 00:39:22.800
assume that. because of how much money is going

00:39:22.800 --> 00:39:25.340
into sports and how much sports affects revenues

00:39:25.340 --> 00:39:28.360
and all the other things in a university it's

00:39:28.360 --> 00:39:29.900
just a certain point if you're not going to have

00:39:29.900 --> 00:39:32.440
any success And they're just hemorrhaging money,

00:39:32.559 --> 00:39:34.820
I'm assuming, in terms of these other programs.

00:39:34.940 --> 00:39:36.280
And it doesn't seem like they have as much money

00:39:36.280 --> 00:39:39.079
as we thought they would in terms of— With the

00:39:39.079 --> 00:39:41.360
breakup of the Pac -12. Exactly. And everyone

00:39:41.360 --> 00:39:43.360
thought that there was going to be this golden

00:39:43.360 --> 00:39:46.500
pot that both they and Washington State were

00:39:46.500 --> 00:39:48.539
going to share. And what ended up happening is

00:39:48.539 --> 00:39:51.219
that was not the reality, unless they're hiding

00:39:51.219 --> 00:39:53.019
something somewhere that none of us know about.

00:39:53.099 --> 00:39:55.400
But every mistake that the athletic department

00:39:55.400 --> 00:39:58.699
made—and it's easy to point to the top, but leadership

00:39:58.699 --> 00:40:02.019
is where it starts. And I think everybody in

00:40:02.019 --> 00:40:06.320
the athletic department in any organization amplifies

00:40:06.320 --> 00:40:09.500
what the leader is. So if you're using that as

00:40:09.500 --> 00:40:11.719
the example, then everybody else in that organization,

00:40:11.960 --> 00:40:14.900
there's plenty of blame to go around, but every

00:40:14.900 --> 00:40:17.300
single mistake was amplified when they started

00:40:17.300 --> 00:40:19.619
stacking one after another after another. Let

00:40:19.619 --> 00:40:21.159
me tell you what's really tough about this, though,

00:40:21.219 --> 00:40:25.639
is now you have... a coach in football and men's

00:40:25.639 --> 00:40:28.300
basketball, your two biggest sports, who are

00:40:28.300 --> 00:40:30.920
both going to be going into their first year

00:40:30.920 --> 00:40:33.980
working for an athletic director who did not

00:40:33.980 --> 00:40:36.039
hire them. And you always hear this, you know,

00:40:36.079 --> 00:40:39.420
you want to have this camaraderie with your AD.

00:40:39.820 --> 00:40:42.260
So now you've got Jamarcus Shepard going into

00:40:42.260 --> 00:40:46.000
a year. And, again, the AD is not his guy. The

00:40:46.000 --> 00:40:52.000
basketball coach who has hired Justin Joyner

00:40:52.000 --> 00:40:54.519
came in two weeks ago, and suddenly he's like,

00:40:54.599 --> 00:40:55.820
well, wait a minute here. I thought this guy

00:40:55.820 --> 00:40:57.539
that I was interviewing with. So to put you in

00:40:57.539 --> 00:40:59.639
a tough spot where either of those guys have

00:40:59.639 --> 00:41:04.079
any success, do not jump on Jamarcus or Justin

00:41:04.079 --> 00:41:05.940
for leaving somewhere else because the guy who

00:41:05.940 --> 00:41:09.659
brought them in and, like, Justin Jensen might

00:41:09.659 --> 00:41:12.480
feel like. Wait a minute here. Why did you have

00:41:12.480 --> 00:41:15.519
this guy hire me if you were going to get rid

00:41:15.519 --> 00:41:17.079
of him two weeks later? I would have kind of

00:41:17.079 --> 00:41:19.820
liked to have known that the guy who's hiring

00:41:19.820 --> 00:41:22.039
me was somebody else. That could be a little

00:41:22.039 --> 00:41:23.980
bit of a difficult conversation with him. There

00:41:23.980 --> 00:41:26.940
was four years remaining on his contract. I don't

00:41:26.940 --> 00:41:28.900
think this came out of the blue. Scott Barnes.

00:41:29.219 --> 00:41:31.500
Scott Barnes. There's four years left on his

00:41:31.500 --> 00:41:33.820
contract that they're apparently come to some

00:41:33.820 --> 00:41:36.820
agreement that they're buying out. My biggest

00:41:36.820 --> 00:41:40.500
concern for those new coaches is... This is their

00:41:40.500 --> 00:41:43.260
first head coaching position ever for both of

00:41:43.260 --> 00:41:47.440
them. And Oregon State, with a president who,

00:41:47.559 --> 00:41:49.900
again, you just said it a moment ago, admittedly

00:41:49.900 --> 00:41:53.739
is not a sports center. Not a sports gal. Okay.

00:41:54.000 --> 00:41:58.019
So what I'll be very curious about is the committee,

00:41:58.159 --> 00:42:01.519
the search firm that's going to go look out and

00:42:01.519 --> 00:42:04.719
grab a new AD or recommend a new athletic director

00:42:04.719 --> 00:42:06.139
for Oregon State. What's that going to look like?

00:42:06.199 --> 00:42:07.780
Are they going to find someone who has not been

00:42:07.780 --> 00:42:12.360
an athletic director anywhere else? or a senior

00:42:12.360 --> 00:42:13.739
athletic director. Where is that going to come

00:42:13.739 --> 00:42:15.199
from? Is it going to come from the SEC? Is it

00:42:15.199 --> 00:42:17.300
going to come from the Big Ten? They are on the

00:42:17.300 --> 00:42:21.039
advent, the step of the Pac -12 coming back.

00:42:21.400 --> 00:42:23.360
And you have to hire for where you're at. I think

00:42:23.360 --> 00:42:25.079
that's one of the things about Scott Barnes is

00:42:25.079 --> 00:42:26.840
that he's coming from the old Pac -12 and then

00:42:26.840 --> 00:42:28.380
the independent, you know, a couple of years,

00:42:28.400 --> 00:42:31.019
not independent, but, you know, the Pac -2 basically

00:42:31.019 --> 00:42:34.900
for a couple of years. And those are just past

00:42:34.900 --> 00:42:37.300
eras at this point. You have to work with what

00:42:37.300 --> 00:42:39.659
you have now. You can't be looking. Back in the

00:42:39.659 --> 00:42:41.400
past and regretting what's happened, you just

00:42:41.400 --> 00:42:43.639
have to move forward. Well, I think this could

00:42:43.639 --> 00:42:46.139
be the first step in a clearing of the house.

00:42:46.340 --> 00:42:48.519
That's what I'm saying. In Corvallis. It's going

00:42:48.519 --> 00:42:51.199
to start with Scott Barnes and then— What's left

00:42:51.199 --> 00:42:52.980
to clear? I mean, you've got a new football coach,

00:42:53.059 --> 00:42:54.320
basketball coach. No, I'm talking about within

00:42:54.320 --> 00:42:56.079
the administration of the athletic department

00:42:56.079 --> 00:42:59.460
is what I'm talking about. I don't think there's

00:42:59.460 --> 00:43:01.119
going to be anybody in the current administration,

00:43:01.519 --> 00:43:04.260
associate athletic directors, that are going

00:43:04.260 --> 00:43:08.059
to be even considered. for the top job you wouldn't

00:43:08.059 --> 00:43:10.159
you wouldn't promote one of his guys no you would

00:43:10.159 --> 00:43:12.659
bring in somebody new and like you said like

00:43:12.659 --> 00:43:15.119
the the salary i mean scott barnes was the highest

00:43:15.119 --> 00:43:18.840
paid athletic director in the new Pac -12 at

00:43:18.840 --> 00:43:20.820
over a million. That's not going to happen. I'd

00:43:20.820 --> 00:43:22.019
be curious. No, it's not going to be anything

00:43:22.019 --> 00:43:23.679
like that. It's going to be, again, as we've

00:43:23.679 --> 00:43:24.980
seen with the football coach and basketball,

00:43:25.239 --> 00:43:26.559
you're going to get somebody on a budget, so

00:43:26.559 --> 00:43:28.099
you're not going to get a standing athletic director.

00:43:28.139 --> 00:43:30.480
You're going to get somebody who was the assistant

00:43:30.480 --> 00:43:32.679
athletic director at one of these schools coming

00:43:32.679 --> 00:43:34.920
in and pay them less, and you're going to hope

00:43:34.920 --> 00:43:37.780
that they gel with your new football and basketball

00:43:37.780 --> 00:43:40.920
coach. Danny, Justin, and Steve. That's the voice

00:43:40.920 --> 00:43:43.300
of Goose, Steve Mims. He pops in once in a while

00:43:43.300 --> 00:43:46.079
when he feels like it. Or when I'm gone, or when

00:43:46.079 --> 00:43:48.880
Justin's gone, or we're not doing big bets anymore,

00:43:49.019 --> 00:43:50.960
so when we start big bets up again. For now,

00:43:51.179 --> 00:43:53.559
I know. That's one of my favorite segments. We're

00:43:53.559 --> 00:43:56.039
not going to have to do that on Fridays anymore,

00:43:56.119 --> 00:43:58.139
but I'm going to be sad because I liked doing

00:43:58.139 --> 00:44:00.539
it on Fridays. Two -hour show today, so we're

00:44:00.539 --> 00:44:03.559
far from done. We've got Melissa Lombardi at

00:44:03.559 --> 00:44:05.400
the top of the hour. Interview I taped yesterday.

00:44:06.190 --> 00:44:08.869
So we'll have that, and then we'll also have

00:44:08.869 --> 00:44:11.110
Zach Neal in our number two. He might have some

00:44:11.110 --> 00:44:13.969
thoughts on what happens. Listen, it's different

00:44:13.969 --> 00:44:16.329
now because Oregon and Oregon State are not in

00:44:16.329 --> 00:44:17.909
the same conference anymore and haven't been

00:44:17.909 --> 00:44:20.690
for a few years. But what happens up in Corvallis

00:44:20.690 --> 00:44:24.250
sometimes does trickle and does flow downstream

00:44:24.250 --> 00:44:28.190
into Eugene. And their success, and listen, Scott

00:44:28.190 --> 00:44:29.769
Barnes was one that said, we don't want to play

00:44:29.769 --> 00:44:32.880
the Civil War anymore. As well, he was the one

00:44:32.880 --> 00:44:34.119
that came out and said, we don't want to play

00:44:34.119 --> 00:44:37.199
the Civil War. So I'd be very interested to see

00:44:37.199 --> 00:44:41.500
this next athletic director for football go back

00:44:41.500 --> 00:44:44.300
to Rob Mullins and say, hey, you know what? Can

00:44:44.300 --> 00:44:46.739
we move schedules around? And can we get that

00:44:46.739 --> 00:44:49.199
game back again? Because that was originated

00:44:49.199 --> 00:44:51.179
in Corvallis. That did not come from Eugene.

00:44:51.300 --> 00:44:53.539
But that's also not what the fan base wants.

00:44:53.639 --> 00:44:55.159
And if you're the new athletics director, I don't

00:44:55.159 --> 00:44:56.739
think the first thing you want to do is come

00:44:56.739 --> 00:45:00.280
in and say, let's redo something that wasn't

00:45:00.280 --> 00:45:02.300
popular. Why do you say overwhelmingly that the

00:45:02.300 --> 00:45:03.840
fan base doesn't want the Civil War anymore?

00:45:04.349 --> 00:45:05.730
I think they know that they're not going to win

00:45:05.730 --> 00:45:07.150
that game, and I think most organizations, I

00:45:07.150 --> 00:45:08.730
mean, Angie Machado has talked about it, that

00:45:08.730 --> 00:45:11.130
she has said, like, hey, most of the fans are

00:45:11.130 --> 00:45:12.690
like, we don't need to play this game. I mean,

00:45:12.690 --> 00:45:14.489
I know it makes us some money here, but the idea

00:45:14.489 --> 00:45:16.349
of continuing to play this team that's at a different

00:45:16.349 --> 00:45:18.989
level than us, a game we used to be competitive

00:45:18.989 --> 00:45:21.050
in and think we could win, and now we just sit

00:45:21.050 --> 00:45:23.449
there and take the payout for it is not what

00:45:23.449 --> 00:45:24.710
they want anymore. It was a short three years

00:45:24.710 --> 00:45:29.289
ago that Oregon State dashed national championship

00:45:29.289 --> 00:45:33.780
hopes for Oregon. Up there in Corvallis. Yeah,

00:45:33.780 --> 00:45:35.119
but the world's changed since then. The world

00:45:35.119 --> 00:45:37.559
has changed since then. That was a Pac -12 game,

00:45:37.679 --> 00:45:39.219
Danny. There used to be this thing called the

00:45:39.219 --> 00:45:42.980
Pac -12. I'm shaking my stick. I am old, aren't

00:45:42.980 --> 00:45:45.380
I? Well, there it is. 63 -year -old Scott Barnes.

00:45:45.719 --> 00:45:47.400
Four years left. But he's hanging on for a year.

00:45:47.480 --> 00:45:51.050
So this is the other interesting thing. Listen,

00:45:51.630 --> 00:45:53.449
I doubt they even talked to him in that last

00:45:53.449 --> 00:45:56.130
year. But are you bringing in the new guys saying,

00:45:56.230 --> 00:45:57.630
hey, because like right now at North Carolina,

00:45:57.710 --> 00:45:59.690
we've seen with this North Carolina, Bubba Cunningham's

00:45:59.690 --> 00:46:02.409
the AD. They've got an AD in waiting, and Bubba

00:46:02.409 --> 00:46:04.369
is like kind of holding his hand through the

00:46:04.369 --> 00:46:06.489
end of it. That is the most Southern athletic

00:46:06.489 --> 00:46:08.510
director name ever, by the way. Is Scott Bards

00:46:08.510 --> 00:46:11.010
holding the new AD's hand for the next year and

00:46:11.010 --> 00:46:13.510
saying, hey, here's how I do this and how I do

00:46:13.510 --> 00:46:15.369
that? Or are you saying, yeah, hey, Scott, your

00:46:15.369 --> 00:46:18.409
office is now on the seventh floor. The new AD's

00:46:18.409 --> 00:46:20.030
on the first floor. floor and if he wants to

00:46:20.030 --> 00:46:22.070
talk to you he'll come up but you don't need

00:46:22.070 --> 00:46:24.010
to come down and tell him anything unless he

00:46:24.010 --> 00:46:26.590
asks you to come in i don't think justin do you

00:46:26.590 --> 00:46:29.030
believe and i'll open up for both you guys i

00:46:29.030 --> 00:46:30.590
would have loved him in a fly on the wall when

00:46:30.590 --> 00:46:33.670
this conversation was happening but i don't believe

00:46:33.670 --> 00:46:36.670
for one minute that the administration meaning

00:46:36.670 --> 00:46:40.090
the president wants scott barms to be anywhere

00:46:40.090 --> 00:46:43.190
near the new athletic director that this is mainly

00:46:43.190 --> 00:46:46.130
another way to give him another year in PERS

00:46:46.130 --> 00:46:50.050
because that'll be 11 years, and I don't know

00:46:50.050 --> 00:46:51.610
if that makes a difference. There's something

00:46:51.610 --> 00:46:54.190
else that's going on here financially, which

00:46:54.190 --> 00:46:56.090
is the reason that he's being named a senior

00:46:56.090 --> 00:46:58.909
advisor for athletics. I just don't think they

00:46:58.909 --> 00:47:00.929
want anything to do with Scott Barnes anymore.

00:47:01.070 --> 00:47:02.590
I agree, unless there's, like, paper. I mean,

00:47:02.670 --> 00:47:04.349
if you bring in somebody who was an assistant

00:47:04.349 --> 00:47:07.570
somewhere else and, hey, we've got this guy who's

00:47:07.570 --> 00:47:09.690
been an athletic for 30 years. Again, maybe he

00:47:09.690 --> 00:47:11.429
can show you where the pencil sharpeners are

00:47:11.429 --> 00:47:14.210
and some of the contracts. No, but, like, some

00:47:14.210 --> 00:47:16.269
contract -type things. But, yeah, he's not going

00:47:16.269 --> 00:47:19.050
to be having you be, like, his – he's not your

00:47:19.050 --> 00:47:22.710
mentor. But if you have questions on, you know,

00:47:22.730 --> 00:47:24.449
how to fill out some paperwork or something,

00:47:24.690 --> 00:47:26.530
Scott can probably show you that. Secretaries

00:47:26.530 --> 00:47:28.420
can talk to each other. on that, but I also believe

00:47:28.420 --> 00:47:30.199
that James Krepia is going to get to the bottom

00:47:30.199 --> 00:47:31.639
of it. Because if there's going to be a piece

00:47:31.639 --> 00:47:33.559
of paper because it's a public institution and

00:47:33.559 --> 00:47:35.659
there's a buyout, it's going to spell out exactly

00:47:35.659 --> 00:47:37.880
what the buyout is and what the rules are. Or

00:47:37.880 --> 00:47:38.840
the belligerent beef. Have you seen the belligerent

00:47:38.840 --> 00:47:40.340
beef? They're all over it, man. That dude's going

00:47:40.340 --> 00:47:41.820
to be all over it, too. I guarantee you that

00:47:41.820 --> 00:47:43.440
guy, because this is going to have to be the

00:47:43.440 --> 00:47:45.539
separation agreement with Scott Barnes. It's

00:47:45.539 --> 00:47:48.019
going to be public. And whether it be James Krepia,

00:47:48.099 --> 00:47:50.519
who does a great job, or the belligerent beef,

00:47:50.800 --> 00:47:53.719
whoever that might be. Show yourself, belligerent

00:47:53.719 --> 00:47:55.400
beef. Show yourself to us. Come on the show,

00:47:55.480 --> 00:47:57.679
belligerent beef. And we're going to find out

00:47:57.679 --> 00:47:59.820
what that thing looks like. And if that parachute

00:47:59.820 --> 00:48:02.780
is super large, Beaver fans are going to need

00:48:02.780 --> 00:48:04.420
a little bit longer to get over it because if

00:48:04.420 --> 00:48:07.039
Scott Barnes somehow walks away with $3 million

00:48:07.039 --> 00:48:08.800
or something, that's not going to leave many

00:48:08.800 --> 00:48:10.480
people happy either. And that's going to hurt

00:48:10.480 --> 00:48:13.300
you in your search for another AD because you're

00:48:13.300 --> 00:48:15.320
going to have to pay that. Again, we've talked

00:48:15.320 --> 00:48:17.840
about this with coaches, is that if you're going

00:48:17.840 --> 00:48:19.260
to get rid of somebody, you know you're not going

00:48:19.260 --> 00:48:20.860
to make a lateral move. You need to make a move

00:48:20.860 --> 00:48:23.000
up. And I don't think the ceiling is going to

00:48:23.000 --> 00:48:27.019
be very high for folks. who root for the Beavers,

00:48:27.039 --> 00:48:29.079
to think that Scott Barnes, whoever replaced

00:48:29.079 --> 00:48:31.800
Scott Barnes, I think a heartbeat is going to

00:48:31.800 --> 00:48:33.619
be necessary, and that's going to be about it.

00:48:33.780 --> 00:48:36.099
How about Pat Casey? Can we get Pat Casey back?

00:48:36.280 --> 00:48:37.239
Ooh, that would be a very popular choice. Can

00:48:37.239 --> 00:48:38.880
we bring him back for like a five -year run?

00:48:39.019 --> 00:48:40.179
I don't think Pat Casey will. I know he's coaching

00:48:40.179 --> 00:48:42.159
with the Brewers and Pat Murphy right now, but

00:48:42.159 --> 00:48:44.380
can we get Pat Casey to come back for like five

00:48:44.380 --> 00:48:45.760
years? As a Cubs fan, I would not be upset about

00:48:45.760 --> 00:48:48.300
that. Look at you stirring the pot. You know,

00:48:48.340 --> 00:48:52.000
you're in here temporarily, you know, for this

00:48:52.000 --> 00:48:54.019
week. Well, maybe I'll be back longer if I've

00:48:54.019 --> 00:48:57.039
got scoops. All right, kids. Next hour, top of

00:48:57.039 --> 00:48:58.960
the hour, you're going to hear from Melissa Lombardi,

00:48:59.039 --> 00:49:01.619
my conversation with her yesterday. Zach Neal

00:49:01.619 --> 00:49:04.519
in this next hour as well. Hour number two of

00:49:04.519 --> 00:49:07.179
the Danny, Justin, and Steve show as we wind

00:49:07.179 --> 00:49:11.159
you up to the NCAA tournament. Pre -game starts

00:49:11.159 --> 00:49:13.280
at 4 o 'clock. Fox Sports Eugene, Fox Sports

00:49:13.280 --> 00:49:15.019
Newport. Hour number two, right around the corner.

00:49:19.260 --> 00:49:25.450
It's Danny, it's Justin, and it's Steve. Here

00:49:25.450 --> 00:49:28.769
on Fox Sports, you deem Fox Sports Newport NCAA

00:49:28.769 --> 00:49:33.889
Tournament starts anew with Sweet 16. We'll have

00:49:33.889 --> 00:49:36.010
it right here with Westwood One's coverage coming

00:49:36.010 --> 00:49:39.349
up at 4 p .m. Let's head on over to the Oregon

00:49:39.349 --> 00:49:42.869
Man Clinics hotline at 541 -343 -5673 and welcome

00:49:42.869 --> 00:49:47.190
in. Nails, it's the coach of your Oregon women's

00:49:47.190 --> 00:49:49.949
softball program. It's Melissa Lombardi. Coach,

00:49:50.210 --> 00:49:52.409
how's the Midwest? How's the weather there? Because

00:49:52.409 --> 00:49:55.059
it's been raining here. You know what? It's good.

00:49:55.199 --> 00:49:58.679
It's actually going to get a little colder as

00:49:58.679 --> 00:50:01.579
we get into the weekend, but thus far it's been

00:50:01.579 --> 00:50:05.639
beautiful. Okay, so I got to ask, have you ever

00:50:05.639 --> 00:50:09.539
been a part of a game like your team experienced

00:50:09.539 --> 00:50:13.860
on Monday, the downs and then the ups, and then

00:50:13.860 --> 00:50:17.219
the record -setting day that your team had? Have

00:50:17.219 --> 00:50:20.920
you ever been a part of that? Not one that looked

00:50:20.920 --> 00:50:23.579
like that. That was a doozy, but it was just

00:50:23.579 --> 00:50:26.940
awesome from the beginning till the end. So as

00:50:26.940 --> 00:50:29.960
the team goes down, okay, first of all, let's

00:50:29.960 --> 00:50:31.699
start in the first inning. Elisa Kolsky goes

00:50:31.699 --> 00:50:35.559
down after, what, one batter. And that obviously

00:50:35.559 --> 00:50:37.659
is not something you can sit and plan for. It's

00:50:37.659 --> 00:50:39.820
not in your game plan to go, hey, guess what?

00:50:39.880 --> 00:50:42.159
We're going to have to rush somebody else out

00:50:42.159 --> 00:50:45.000
there. So what did that look like for you strategy

00:50:45.000 --> 00:50:47.800
-wise with, like, who was going to be up first?

00:50:49.059 --> 00:50:51.460
Yeah, I had Taylor warming up a little bit in

00:50:51.460 --> 00:50:54.179
the bullpen, but she was not ready. So she had

00:50:54.179 --> 00:50:58.300
to kind of hurry up and get out there. And then

00:50:58.300 --> 00:51:01.099
from there, you know, we were able to get everybody

00:51:01.099 --> 00:51:04.260
to warm up. But sometimes this happens, and when

00:51:04.260 --> 00:51:06.400
it does, you just got to figure it out, you know,

00:51:06.440 --> 00:51:10.059
next man up. So down 7 -0, the team just started

00:51:10.059 --> 00:51:13.559
fighting back. What did this game tell you about

00:51:13.559 --> 00:51:17.429
your team that you didn't already know? Just

00:51:17.429 --> 00:51:21.449
the resiliency. This team is so resilient. I

00:51:21.449 --> 00:51:23.750
think they've dealt with a lot of different adverse

00:51:23.750 --> 00:51:26.989
moments throughout the season, and it's just

00:51:26.989 --> 00:51:29.570
a part of it. It's a tough game, but it's like

00:51:29.570 --> 00:51:32.530
how you handle it, what's the next right thing

00:51:32.530 --> 00:51:34.789
that you do, that's what I care about with this

00:51:34.789 --> 00:51:37.710
group. And they did a lot of really good next

00:51:37.710 --> 00:51:39.750
right things throughout the entire game after

00:51:39.750 --> 00:51:42.179
that. 24 runs. I don't need to run you all the

00:51:42.179 --> 00:51:43.800
way through it. You know all the records. 21

00:51:43.800 --> 00:51:47.280
hits, 23 RBIs. The only other time that Oregon

00:51:47.280 --> 00:51:49.860
won while giving up 12 or more runs was against

00:51:49.860 --> 00:51:52.980
Oregon State back in 2015. So I guess this team

00:51:52.980 --> 00:51:55.239
is proving to you that they can win in different

00:51:55.239 --> 00:51:57.860
ways, which might be helpful down the stretch.

00:51:58.980 --> 00:52:02.099
Very helpful. It's important that you know how

00:52:02.099 --> 00:52:04.739
to win in different ways. I look at the game

00:52:04.739 --> 00:52:10.079
prior and... we needed two runs, and that was

00:52:10.079 --> 00:52:11.739
going to be enough, and we were going to do it

00:52:11.739 --> 00:52:14.500
in the top of the seventh and then defend the

00:52:14.500 --> 00:52:17.139
bottom of the seventh. In this game, we needed

00:52:17.139 --> 00:52:20.800
a lot more runs than that, and that's okay. Just

00:52:20.800 --> 00:52:22.900
figuring out what it is and knowing that we can

00:52:22.900 --> 00:52:25.530
do it. So, Coach, and it's Melissa Lombardi joining

00:52:25.530 --> 00:52:27.710
us on the Oregon Man Clinics Hotline from the

00:52:27.710 --> 00:52:30.170
Midwest as they get ready to take on Northwestern

00:52:30.170 --> 00:52:33.130
in a set back in Big Ten play. So the game against

00:52:33.130 --> 00:52:36.670
Indiana was actually a non -counter when it came

00:52:36.670 --> 00:52:40.570
to league. So can you walk the fans through how

00:52:40.570 --> 00:52:43.389
scheduling works sometimes, especially playing

00:52:43.389 --> 00:52:45.829
somebody who's in the Big Ten, but really not

00:52:45.829 --> 00:52:49.809
playing them when it counts? Yeah, you know,

00:52:49.829 --> 00:52:53.150
we will get our conference schedule. And for

00:52:53.150 --> 00:52:55.170
our spring, we are currently on spring break.

00:52:55.449 --> 00:52:57.650
The beginning of our spring break, we are going

00:52:57.650 --> 00:53:01.010
to play Purdue. And at the end of the break,

00:53:01.090 --> 00:53:02.989
we're going to play Northwestern. And we're not

00:53:02.989 --> 00:53:05.750
going to come home. So for us not coming home,

00:53:05.849 --> 00:53:08.750
we wanted to try to find one more game in between

00:53:08.750 --> 00:53:13.510
the two. And Indiana is right here. Sure. So

00:53:13.510 --> 00:53:16.530
now they, you know, just become a non -conference

00:53:16.530 --> 00:53:18.829
game. even though they're in our conference.

00:53:18.889 --> 00:53:21.409
But their RPI, their strength of schedule, like

00:53:21.409 --> 00:53:25.610
this is a great team to play at, you know, at

00:53:25.610 --> 00:53:29.929
their place and get a big win. So, Coach, you

00:53:29.929 --> 00:53:32.050
checked that one off the box, and now you've

00:53:32.050 --> 00:53:34.989
got Northwestern Square in your face. This is

00:53:34.989 --> 00:53:37.690
arguably going to be one of your longest road

00:53:37.690 --> 00:53:40.610
trips of the season, not counting postseason.

00:53:41.130 --> 00:53:43.150
During the regular season, you know, you had

00:53:43.150 --> 00:53:45.900
the preseason. action and now in conference play.

00:53:46.099 --> 00:53:48.559
So talk about how you adjust schedules because

00:53:48.559 --> 00:53:50.980
on the road, you know, you're not in your familiar

00:53:50.980 --> 00:53:52.820
surroundings. You don't have your batting cages.

00:53:52.980 --> 00:53:55.099
You don't have your weight room. You don't have

00:53:55.099 --> 00:53:57.019
any of this other stuff that you're kind of used

00:53:57.019 --> 00:53:59.679
to. So how is that navigated when you're on the

00:53:59.679 --> 00:54:03.199
road? Well, the good thing is, is that it's spring

00:54:03.199 --> 00:54:05.920
break. So usually anytime we're on the road,

00:54:06.000 --> 00:54:07.980
we have a study hall either every day or every

00:54:07.980 --> 00:54:11.480
other day. And this group not having class, it

00:54:11.480 --> 00:54:15.719
allows us to do some other things, and just kind

00:54:15.719 --> 00:54:18.480
of take a break from that. All of our coaches

00:54:18.480 --> 00:54:20.480
are excellent. So our strength coach is with

00:54:20.480 --> 00:54:24.760
us. So she finds places for us to lift. Coach

00:54:24.760 --> 00:54:27.380
Marder, you know, finds places for us to hit.

00:54:27.699 --> 00:54:31.400
And we may not be at home, but the places that

00:54:31.400 --> 00:54:34.960
we've gone to are wonderful. They've been excellent.

00:54:35.139 --> 00:54:37.739
So it's been a really good trip. We've had a

00:54:37.739 --> 00:54:43.969
lot of fun. It's been nice going to... the big,

00:54:44.190 --> 00:54:47.130
you know, into some new areas for a lot of us.

00:54:47.969 --> 00:54:50.010
So it's been a good trip. It's been a great trip.

00:54:50.170 --> 00:54:53.150
Yeah, Chicago, I don't know if we've talked about

00:54:53.150 --> 00:54:55.190
this before, but that's my hometown. I was born

00:54:55.190 --> 00:54:57.849
in Wheaton, so I'm very familiar with everything

00:54:57.849 --> 00:54:59.550
you're going to be experiencing out there. Make

00:54:59.550 --> 00:55:02.110
sure you have some thin pizza rather than the

00:55:02.110 --> 00:55:03.730
deep dish. I know everyone's going to go deep

00:55:03.730 --> 00:55:06.369
dish, but go thin pizza because that's real Chicago

00:55:06.369 --> 00:55:10.019
pizza, okay? Yeah, you know, we were at, actually,

00:55:10.019 --> 00:55:13.099
we got the opportunity to go to Lindsey Grind's

00:55:13.099 --> 00:55:16.619
home, and her parents did a Taste of Chicago

00:55:16.619 --> 00:55:21.500
for us for our meal. And so we got pizza, all

00:55:21.500 --> 00:55:25.969
types of pizza, hot dogs. All different type.

00:55:26.070 --> 00:55:30.190
The spread was unbelievable. So it was great.

00:55:30.550 --> 00:55:33.230
That's fantastic. So let's talk about softball

00:55:33.230 --> 00:55:34.889
and on the field. The bats are starting to come

00:55:34.889 --> 00:55:38.170
alive. I think that's been a work in progress

00:55:38.170 --> 00:55:40.329
all the way up through this. But I want to start

00:55:40.329 --> 00:55:45.210
with Kayla Jones. And for someone who, if you

00:55:45.210 --> 00:55:47.110
take a look and you size them up against somebody

00:55:47.110 --> 00:55:49.250
like a Riley McCoy or an Emma Cox, you would

00:55:49.250 --> 00:55:51.369
go, where's the power going to come from? So

00:55:51.369 --> 00:55:53.989
I'll ask you, where does the power come from?

00:55:54.059 --> 00:55:58.800
I mean, Kaylin Jones' swing. K -Dub is so strong.

00:55:59.119 --> 00:56:02.679
She is so strong. I mean, all these guys, like

00:56:02.679 --> 00:56:05.519
what they do in the weight room with them. Coach

00:56:05.519 --> 00:56:08.579
KJ is phenomenal. I mean, I know on my other

00:56:08.579 --> 00:56:10.420
calls with you, I've always talked about how

00:56:10.420 --> 00:56:12.579
it all starts in the weight room. Right. And

00:56:12.579 --> 00:56:15.380
you're seeing that. Like, you could look at K

00:56:15.380 --> 00:56:17.480
-Dub and think that she doesn't have power because

00:56:17.480 --> 00:56:19.940
maybe she's not as tall as the others, but K

00:56:19.940 --> 00:56:22.219
-Dub is just as strong as everybody else. And

00:56:22.219 --> 00:56:25.179
what I love is that she has her ability to slap,

00:56:25.300 --> 00:56:28.420
to power slap, to soft slap, but then also take

00:56:28.420 --> 00:56:31.949
one out of the yard. It's been great. So your

00:56:31.949 --> 00:56:35.050
entire lineup, top to bottom, it's still in your

00:56:35.050 --> 00:56:37.730
mind. Do you have kind of a set lineup now or

00:56:37.730 --> 00:56:39.670
is there still a couple of positions? I know

00:56:39.670 --> 00:56:41.710
everything's in competition throughout the season.

00:56:41.750 --> 00:56:43.969
If you don't have that, you don't have a team

00:56:43.969 --> 00:56:47.030
that's fighting to win all the time. So but do

00:56:47.030 --> 00:56:48.929
you have a core now that you feel comfortable

00:56:48.929 --> 00:56:51.090
with? Is your lineup shaping up the way you want

00:56:51.090 --> 00:56:54.369
it? Yeah, I think it is shaping up. I think we're

00:56:54.369 --> 00:56:58.989
starting to find who as far as leading off and

00:56:58.989 --> 00:57:02.769
then just from hitter to hitter. There's always

00:57:02.769 --> 00:57:05.989
competition throughout the year for sure, and

00:57:05.989 --> 00:57:07.849
sometimes there's just certain matchups where

00:57:07.849 --> 00:57:10.269
this might be a better matchup one day than the

00:57:10.269 --> 00:57:13.519
next. But, yeah, I like the way we're swinging

00:57:13.519 --> 00:57:15.539
right now. I like the way these guys are all

00:57:15.539 --> 00:57:17.480
working together right now. I think we're in

00:57:17.480 --> 00:57:19.519
a really good place. Where has been the biggest

00:57:19.519 --> 00:57:21.920
difference from the beginning of the season to

00:57:21.920 --> 00:57:24.239
where you're at now, whether it's offense, defense,

00:57:24.539 --> 00:57:28.480
or even off the field with this team? You know,

00:57:28.500 --> 00:57:30.340
probably a little bit of everything. I just think

00:57:30.340 --> 00:57:32.880
the more that they play together, the more they

00:57:32.880 --> 00:57:35.699
just really understand and get each other and

00:57:35.699 --> 00:57:39.250
know that they've got each other's back. And

00:57:39.250 --> 00:57:41.849
that Purdue game, it was such a pitcher's duel.

00:57:42.250 --> 00:57:45.170
And Lindsey, you know, we gave up that one run,

00:57:45.230 --> 00:57:47.190
and she was frustrated coming in. She didn't

00:57:47.190 --> 00:57:49.610
want to give that run up. And the entire team

00:57:49.610 --> 00:57:51.969
was like, Lindsey, we got you. We are going to

00:57:51.969 --> 00:57:54.010
get that run back and more. And they did. They

00:57:54.010 --> 00:57:56.550
came back and put two on the board. So I just

00:57:56.550 --> 00:57:58.730
think the confidence that they give each other

00:57:58.730 --> 00:58:01.570
by having each other's back, it allows these

00:58:01.570 --> 00:58:03.530
guys to feel like they don't have to be perfect.

00:58:03.630 --> 00:58:06.110
They can just play. And if things go their way,

00:58:06.170 --> 00:58:08.250
celebrate and then move on to the next moment.

00:58:08.369 --> 00:58:11.090
If it doesn't, then we got you, and let's move

00:58:11.090 --> 00:58:13.409
on to the next moment. The leader of the Oregon

00:58:13.409 --> 00:58:15.670
women's softball program, it's Melissa Lombardi

00:58:15.670 --> 00:58:18.349
joining us on the Danny, Justin, and Steve program

00:58:18.349 --> 00:58:22.369
today as we wind towards the weekend. Northwestern

00:58:22.369 --> 00:58:24.590
Square in your sights, Coach. So what do we expect

00:58:24.590 --> 00:58:29.110
out of the Wildcats? They're a really good team.

00:58:30.039 --> 00:58:32.199
I feel like I'm a broken record, but it's just

00:58:32.199 --> 00:58:35.000
all the teams in the big. They're coached well.

00:58:35.300 --> 00:58:37.440
These guys are coached well. They always swing

00:58:37.440 --> 00:58:39.980
it. They've always got great pitching. Their

00:58:39.980 --> 00:58:44.000
defense is solid. So it's going to be a tough

00:58:44.000 --> 00:58:46.519
matchup. You've got to come in from the first

00:58:46.519 --> 00:58:49.820
pitch to the last, and you've got to stay on

00:58:49.820 --> 00:58:52.340
it. We're not going to have one big inning against

00:58:52.340 --> 00:58:54.920
these guys. It's being consistent with what we're

00:58:54.920 --> 00:58:58.090
doing. throughout the entire game. Is the Big

00:58:58.090 --> 00:59:00.769
Ten, so in comparison, obviously you don't have

00:59:00.769 --> 00:59:04.889
a ton of ramp to compare it to, but you think

00:59:04.889 --> 00:59:06.849
top to bottom the Big Ten is a little bit better

00:59:06.849 --> 00:59:09.969
this year than they were last year? Yes, I do.

00:59:10.590 --> 00:59:13.690
I do. I think the Big Ten, like, it's, you know,

00:59:13.730 --> 00:59:16.570
it's up for grabs. So it's about understanding

00:59:16.570 --> 00:59:19.889
how to sweep weekends. And that's what you're

00:59:19.889 --> 00:59:21.829
going to try and do this weekend right outside

00:59:21.829 --> 00:59:24.690
of Chicago. So, Coach, is your team building

00:59:24.690 --> 00:59:27.449
more confidence as the games go along and as

00:59:27.449 --> 00:59:30.110
the season goes along? Because you played incredibly

00:59:30.110 --> 00:59:34.369
stiff competition. One of you had some heartbreaking

00:59:34.369 --> 00:59:37.429
losses as well. But learning from that and then

00:59:37.429 --> 00:59:39.849
growing from it and building, do you feel like

00:59:39.849 --> 00:59:42.170
your team is getting in that groove and that

00:59:42.170 --> 00:59:45.469
confidence groove? Yeah, I think this group's

00:59:45.469 --> 00:59:49.539
in a good place. has come from the beginning

00:59:49.539 --> 00:59:55.679
of the season to now. It's been fun to watch

00:59:55.679 --> 00:59:59.039
these guys grow as individuals and then also

00:59:59.039 --> 01:00:01.880
as a team. This group, I've been bragging on

01:00:01.880 --> 01:00:06.539
their power all year long, and we've seen it

01:00:06.539 --> 01:00:08.960
here and there, but now you're really starting

01:00:08.960 --> 01:00:11.760
to see what this group can do. And they're a

01:00:11.760 --> 01:00:14.900
fun group. They enjoy the game. They enjoy playing

01:00:14.900 --> 01:00:19.860
with each other. I think sometimes you just have

01:00:19.860 --> 01:00:22.480
to go through something to get to what you want

01:00:22.480 --> 01:00:25.630
to get to. And coach, for you as a coaching staff

01:00:25.630 --> 01:00:31.269
with you and Sam and Alyssa and Sydney and, you

01:00:31.269 --> 01:00:32.849
know, and I'll throw Kaylin in there because

01:00:32.849 --> 01:00:34.389
she's a very important part of this strength

01:00:34.389 --> 01:00:36.809
and conditioning. So as a coaching staff, when

01:00:36.809 --> 01:00:38.809
you sit down and you evaluate the talent that

01:00:38.809 --> 01:00:41.030
you have, and we already talked about the lineup

01:00:41.030 --> 01:00:45.170
a little bit, is where do you see or you see

01:00:45.170 --> 01:00:48.780
certain position groups growing? as the season

01:00:48.780 --> 01:00:51.679
is moving on or that you need more attention

01:00:51.679 --> 01:00:54.400
in a certain area or not? And how does that evaluation

01:00:54.400 --> 01:00:58.940
process work for you? I think the biggest thing

01:00:58.940 --> 01:01:00.760
that we can do is just get out there and compete.

01:01:00.960 --> 01:01:03.300
Like what I want is this group to just flat out

01:01:03.300 --> 01:01:07.320
compete and leave it all out on the field. And

01:01:07.320 --> 01:01:10.380
when they do that, that's when it's easier for

01:01:10.380 --> 01:01:12.679
us to grow. Because then you can look back and

01:01:12.679 --> 01:01:15.599
go, it was good enough and this is why, or it

01:01:15.599 --> 01:01:20.360
wasn't good enough. And this is why. So as long

01:01:20.360 --> 01:01:23.780
as they're in competition mode, that allows us

01:01:23.780 --> 01:01:26.659
to continue to move forward regardless. And I

01:01:26.659 --> 01:01:28.719
think that's really important. All right, Coach.

01:01:28.840 --> 01:01:31.519
Well, a long road trip. I'm sure you're probably

01:01:31.519 --> 01:01:34.940
tired of the breakfast buffets, aren't you? Yeah.

01:01:35.739 --> 01:01:38.280
We're excited. We are excited to finish strong

01:01:38.280 --> 01:01:40.679
this weekend and then get back home. All right.

01:01:40.679 --> 01:01:42.059
Well, we'll look forward to welcoming you back

01:01:42.059 --> 01:01:44.059
with Open Arms, a couple of big series coming

01:01:44.059 --> 01:01:46.320
up, especially in the month of April. Best of

01:01:46.320 --> 01:01:49.469
luck. All right. Thank you. There she goes. It

01:01:49.469 --> 01:01:54.150
is your head coach of the Oregon women's softball

01:01:54.150 --> 01:01:55.869
team. It's Melissa Lombardi. When the guys and

01:01:55.869 --> 01:01:57.590
I come back, I have no idea what we're going

01:01:57.590 --> 01:01:59.710
to do next, but hang on. We'll do it together

01:01:59.710 --> 01:02:06.190
on the Danny, Justin, and Steve program. There's

01:02:06.190 --> 01:02:08.250
nothing wrong with your radio. You haven't gone

01:02:08.250 --> 01:02:12.960
back in time. 3 -16 on a Thursday afternoon weekend.

01:02:13.000 --> 01:02:14.900
We're going to talk you all the way up to Westwood

01:02:14.900 --> 01:02:18.139
One's coverage of the Sweet 16 March Madness.

01:02:18.559 --> 01:02:21.360
Four games tonight, four games tomorrow. We'll

01:02:21.360 --> 01:02:23.219
do the same thing tomorrow. Just Justin and I

01:02:23.219 --> 01:02:27.860
tomorrow. Goose is here with us. Hi. Steve Mims,

01:02:27.980 --> 01:02:30.980
formerly of the Registered Guard and other things.

01:02:31.000 --> 01:02:32.679
You start a new job tomorrow. Do you want to

01:02:32.679 --> 01:02:35.139
say that? No, no, no. Sorry, I'm not supposed

01:02:35.139 --> 01:02:37.000
to say that. There might be people listening

01:02:37.000 --> 01:02:41.019
who don't know. Oh, God. Okay. Sorry. I apologize.

01:02:41.420 --> 01:02:43.719
Oh, good. Speaking of which, though, another

01:02:43.719 --> 01:02:45.380
person who used to work at the Register Guard

01:02:45.380 --> 01:02:48.739
is our next guest. Former co -worker of mine

01:02:48.739 --> 01:02:50.760
for a while. And let's head on over to the Organ

01:02:50.760 --> 01:02:54.260
Man Clicks. What now? Late nights at the RG.

01:02:54.360 --> 01:02:57.800
Yes, yes. Taking in Harrisburg versus Monroe

01:02:57.800 --> 01:03:00.880
football scores. Those were the days. Were there

01:03:00.880 --> 01:03:03.260
any poker games or a speakeasy at the bottom?

01:03:03.260 --> 01:03:05.940
There was a Papa's Pizza at about 1130 after

01:03:05.940 --> 01:03:07.920
football scores came in. I don't know if Zach

01:03:07.920 --> 01:03:09.940
was old enough to go out and enjoy the drinks

01:03:09.940 --> 01:03:11.639
at that time, but he would join us for those

01:03:11.639 --> 01:03:14.860
sometimes. The great Zachary Neal. Can I introduce

01:03:14.860 --> 01:03:16.619
you first? I'm sorry, everybody. Unless you and

01:03:16.619 --> 01:03:18.619
Mims want to sit here and just have a conversation

01:03:18.619 --> 01:03:20.800
for a half hour, Justin and I can go get a soda.

01:03:22.379 --> 01:03:24.340
That's fine. I mean, we'll just live in the glory

01:03:24.340 --> 01:03:29.360
days. Those are fun times. I don't think I was

01:03:29.360 --> 01:03:31.679
old enough yet to go get a drink, but I may have

01:03:31.679 --> 01:03:35.420
had an ID that said otherwise. Did it say McLovin

01:03:35.420 --> 01:03:39.199
on it? That would have been great. He is the

01:03:39.199 --> 01:03:41.300
Oregon Ducks beat reporter for USA Today's Ducks

01:03:41.300 --> 01:03:43.179
Wire. Also, the co -host does a great job on

01:03:43.179 --> 01:03:45.559
Believe in Oregon podcast, also a Ducks Rising

01:03:45.559 --> 01:03:47.980
podcast. He's a U of O alum. He joins us. We

01:03:47.980 --> 01:03:49.699
call him Cadillac. It's Zachary Neal. You can

01:03:49.699 --> 01:03:52.340
follow him, Zach Neal, at Zach. Zachary C. Neal

01:03:52.340 --> 01:03:55.780
on the old Twitter. Zach, it's not ever an offseason

01:03:55.780 --> 01:03:58.940
for college athletics, especially when you talk

01:03:58.940 --> 01:04:02.179
football. A lot of basketball chatter. So I'm

01:04:02.179 --> 01:04:03.320
going to leave it up to you. Where do you want

01:04:03.320 --> 01:04:05.300
to start? I mean, because I think front and center

01:04:05.300 --> 01:04:07.219
for us, we just had a conversation last hour

01:04:07.219 --> 01:04:09.539
with Kelly Graves about the women's basketball

01:04:09.539 --> 01:04:13.699
program and how NIL and Transfer Portal and,

01:04:13.880 --> 01:04:16.519
you know, people signing contracts like we're

01:04:16.519 --> 01:04:18.780
in a business office have really changed the

01:04:18.780 --> 01:04:21.019
tenor of the game. So maybe basketball. where

01:04:21.019 --> 01:04:24.159
we start for Dana Altman because another defection.

01:04:24.159 --> 01:04:26.900
I can call it that. That's what it is. Now, there's

01:04:26.900 --> 01:04:28.940
five players that are officially not going to

01:04:28.940 --> 01:04:31.059
be back. Two of them are graduates. And then

01:04:31.059 --> 01:04:33.719
Deserick Lindsey, Kwame Evans Jr., Jackson Shelstad

01:04:33.719 --> 01:04:36.199
all have entered the transfer portal, and I don't

01:04:36.199 --> 01:04:39.199
think it's done yet. Do you? No, I don't think

01:04:39.199 --> 01:04:41.599
it's done at all. I think there will be at least

01:04:41.599 --> 01:04:44.579
a handful more names. Who knows? Maybe some coaches.

01:04:44.679 --> 01:04:47.340
I think coaches are going to leave. Yeah, that's

01:04:47.340 --> 01:04:49.380
the pertinent conversation right now. I think

01:04:49.380 --> 01:04:52.719
that the men's program is definitely at an inflection

01:04:52.719 --> 01:04:55.280
point. Where they go from here will be interesting

01:04:55.280 --> 01:04:58.800
to see. I know there's a very loud group of Oregon

01:04:58.800 --> 01:05:01.199
fans on social media that want Dana to leave.

01:05:01.980 --> 01:05:05.159
You know, I don't... I don't know where I stand

01:05:05.159 --> 01:05:07.639
on that. I don't think he can be fired. I think

01:05:07.639 --> 01:05:10.300
he deserves the respect to if he's going to leave,

01:05:10.340 --> 01:05:12.880
leave on his own accord. I don't think Rob Mullins

01:05:12.880 --> 01:05:14.280
would ever be the guy to say that, hey, we're

01:05:14.280 --> 01:05:16.760
going to get rid of you. He's been there for

01:05:16.760 --> 01:05:18.679
so long and been so successful. I just don't

01:05:18.679 --> 01:05:20.940
think you'd do that. On the other hand, do I

01:05:20.940 --> 01:05:24.440
think this program could use a new face, a new

01:05:24.440 --> 01:05:28.900
jolt of energy? I'd be lying if I said no. But

01:05:28.900 --> 01:05:32.199
I think that it has to be on his decision to

01:05:32.199 --> 01:05:34.820
leave if he wants to. I think the interesting

01:05:34.820 --> 01:05:36.480
part of this, Zach, is that we don't know the

01:05:36.480 --> 01:05:39.119
behind -the -scenes, and it's NIL, right? I mean,

01:05:39.119 --> 01:05:44.559
if he had Kentucky's $22 million or North Carolina's

01:05:44.559 --> 01:05:48.219
$14 million, he probably pays Kwame Evans and

01:05:48.219 --> 01:05:49.780
Jackson Shellstead, and they're back, and probably

01:05:49.780 --> 01:05:51.480
grabs two other guys in the portal, and he's

01:05:51.480 --> 01:05:54.659
a preseason top 25. If he's got $6 million or

01:05:54.659 --> 01:05:57.940
$7 million maybe that we're hearing, then you're

01:05:57.940 --> 01:05:59.800
not going to get there. So is it almost like

01:05:59.800 --> 01:06:02.320
a question of... Whoever the coach is, you kind

01:06:02.320 --> 01:06:04.000
of got to have the funding. I mean, it feels

01:06:04.000 --> 01:06:07.760
like Dana's history and his staff, if they've

01:06:07.760 --> 01:06:09.760
got the money, but it almost feels like you either

01:06:09.760 --> 01:06:12.059
got to fund him and tell him you've got the money

01:06:12.059 --> 01:06:14.960
to go or then you make a change because you can't

01:06:14.960 --> 01:06:16.760
go into next season as a dead man walking. You

01:06:16.760 --> 01:06:19.320
can't go into next year with a terrible roster

01:06:19.320 --> 01:06:21.500
knowing that the fan base is kind of tuned out,

01:06:21.539 --> 01:06:23.940
the attendance is going to be down, and you're

01:06:23.940 --> 01:06:25.960
going to have another 10 and 22 season in a loaded

01:06:25.960 --> 01:06:27.599
conference. It feels like you either have to

01:06:27.599 --> 01:06:29.659
fund him now and say, we're giving you the money

01:06:29.659 --> 01:06:31.460
to go get players. or you make a change because

01:06:31.460 --> 01:06:33.159
you can't have another season like next year

01:06:33.159 --> 01:06:35.380
or else it's just basically six months of everybody

01:06:35.380 --> 01:06:39.320
saying Dana's gone. Yeah, I agree. And it's partly

01:06:39.320 --> 01:06:41.420
the funding and it's also partly the evaluation.

01:06:41.519 --> 01:06:43.460
I mean, you look at Oregon's roster this past

01:06:43.460 --> 01:06:45.840
year and you look at what makes a successful

01:06:45.840 --> 01:06:48.460
college roster. You got, you know, two to three

01:06:48.460 --> 01:06:50.280
core pieces and then fill around it with the

01:06:50.280 --> 01:06:51.940
transfer portal. That's just what today's day

01:06:51.940 --> 01:06:54.280
and age is. They had that this last year. Of

01:06:54.280 --> 01:06:56.199
course, injuries really took a toll down the

01:06:56.199 --> 01:06:58.440
stretch. Some of the transfers they brought in

01:06:58.440 --> 01:07:00.940
just didn't work out. Sometimes that happens.

01:07:00.980 --> 01:07:04.260
Sometimes you just miss. So I think going forward,

01:07:04.400 --> 01:07:07.940
yeah, you do have to say up front how much you're

01:07:07.940 --> 01:07:09.599
going to fund and how much you're going to help

01:07:09.599 --> 01:07:13.179
out. But it's not that they don't have enough

01:07:13.179 --> 01:07:16.019
NIL to be at least competitive. This is Oregon.

01:07:16.099 --> 01:07:18.019
It's a big program. Yeah, they may not be spending

01:07:18.019 --> 01:07:20.420
$22 million on their roster, but they're enough

01:07:20.420 --> 01:07:22.639
to win more than 12 games. I can tell you that

01:07:22.639 --> 01:07:24.400
right now. So they've got to better evaluate

01:07:24.400 --> 01:07:27.119
some of their players. Now it's just, you know,

01:07:27.119 --> 01:07:29.019
where do you get those core pieces? Are you bringing

01:07:29.019 --> 01:07:31.780
in 10 new transfers this year and going from

01:07:31.780 --> 01:07:33.420
there? I don't know. That's tough to do. But

01:07:33.420 --> 01:07:36.659
we'll see. I don't envy anyone in the decision

01:07:36.659 --> 01:07:40.139
-making places right now. Zach Neal joining us

01:07:40.139 --> 01:07:42.019
on the Oregon Man Clinics Hotline. It's the Danny

01:07:42.019 --> 01:07:44.980
and Justin and Goose show here on a Thursday

01:07:44.980 --> 01:07:46.880
from the Bigfoot Beverages Studios, Fox Sports,

01:07:47.019 --> 01:07:49.659
Eugene, Fox Sports, Newport. But, guys, when

01:07:49.659 --> 01:07:52.099
we have this discussion, and I'll come back to

01:07:52.099 --> 01:07:55.639
this, It's easy just to point to money and say

01:07:55.639 --> 01:07:57.039
that was the reason. I think there's something

01:07:57.039 --> 01:08:00.599
more fundamental going on. I think that money

01:08:00.599 --> 01:08:03.059
plays into it, but it's not the be -all, end

01:08:03.059 --> 01:08:05.539
-all. I think that there has been a real concern,

01:08:05.699 --> 01:08:07.900
whether it's legitimate or not, that, quote -unquote,

01:08:07.980 --> 01:08:11.500
the game is passing Dana by. And so I'll throw

01:08:11.500 --> 01:08:13.079
it out there like that, because if you would

01:08:13.079 --> 01:08:14.639
have gone back to Jackson Shelstad, who is an

01:08:14.639 --> 01:08:18.819
Oregon kid, and say, I'm going to give you X

01:08:18.819 --> 01:08:22.569
amount of dollars. to stay because he came back

01:08:22.569 --> 01:08:25.210
and people don't remember this a very short -term

01:08:25.210 --> 01:08:27.550
memory nate biddle and jackson shelstad and kwame

01:08:27.550 --> 01:08:30.329
all said they wanted to come back and play for

01:08:30.329 --> 01:08:33.329
dana another year and then it imploded i said

01:08:33.329 --> 01:08:35.270
it was a train that ran off the tracks that caught

01:08:35.270 --> 01:08:37.430
on fire and then was at the bottom of a lake

01:08:37.430 --> 01:08:39.329
the fire was out but you're now train is at the

01:08:39.329 --> 01:08:41.829
bottom of the lake so i'll ask you jack zach

01:08:41.829 --> 01:08:47.729
has the game passed dana by yes or no I don't

01:08:47.729 --> 01:08:50.470
know. See, but if you're pausing, then there's

01:08:50.470 --> 01:08:52.670
not just saying. That's the question, though.

01:08:52.930 --> 01:08:55.909
It's easier to say yes than no right now. I mean,

01:08:55.930 --> 01:08:57.930
he used to be the guy that could go to the transfer

01:08:57.930 --> 01:09:00.010
portal and get these guys before anyone else,

01:09:00.130 --> 01:09:02.130
not before anyone else, before most people were

01:09:02.130 --> 01:09:03.970
doing it, and that's how he found that extra

01:09:03.970 --> 01:09:06.550
edge. That's how he aligned the Rubik's Cube

01:09:06.550 --> 01:09:10.069
and did Dane Altman things in February. Now everyone's

01:09:10.069 --> 01:09:11.949
kind of doing it. It's kind of like when Chip

01:09:11.949 --> 01:09:15.489
Kelly found the key at Oregon early in the decade.

01:09:16.090 --> 01:09:17.789
And then everyone started to do it, and that's

01:09:17.789 --> 01:09:19.810
when everyone caught up to him. So how do you

01:09:19.810 --> 01:09:21.970
find that next thing? Is Dane Altman the guy

01:09:21.970 --> 01:09:23.989
to find that next thing or take this program

01:09:23.989 --> 01:09:26.170
to the next level or even get it back to the

01:09:26.170 --> 01:09:28.210
level it was at? Because they've been really

01:09:28.210 --> 01:09:30.310
successful under him. They just had a couple

01:09:30.310 --> 01:09:31.909
of down years, and I know last year they went

01:09:31.909 --> 01:09:34.470
to the tournament. I still don't think they were

01:09:34.470 --> 01:09:38.949
as good last year as the record showed. I don't

01:09:38.949 --> 01:09:42.850
know. That's an easy cop -out answer, but I don't

01:09:42.850 --> 01:09:46.229
know where you go from here. So positives for

01:09:46.229 --> 01:09:48.170
both sides. There's negatives for both sides.

01:09:48.369 --> 01:09:49.949
I'm with you, Zach. And I think another part

01:09:49.949 --> 01:09:51.369
that goes into this, and we talked about the

01:09:51.369 --> 01:09:53.729
modern game now, and I think Dana on the court

01:09:53.729 --> 01:09:56.050
has adapted to the modern game. And like you

01:09:56.050 --> 01:09:58.949
say, he was actually ahead of the field in terms

01:09:58.949 --> 01:10:01.789
of bringing in the grad transfers and mining

01:10:01.789 --> 01:10:04.569
Canada with Mike Menega. That's falling off.

01:10:04.569 --> 01:10:07.729
I mean, we've seen since the Shelstad, the last

01:10:07.729 --> 01:10:10.350
two recruiting classes two years ago, it was.

01:10:10.909 --> 01:10:13.670
Jamari Phillips, who has not happened, and last

01:10:13.670 --> 01:10:15.829
year was Frakes, who redshirted. So they basically

01:10:15.829 --> 01:10:17.949
haven't had an impact freshman in two years.

01:10:18.409 --> 01:10:21.090
My question would be, in a season -ending sit

01:10:21.090 --> 01:10:23.529
-down with him, A, do we bring up the idea of

01:10:23.529 --> 01:10:25.930
a general manager? Do you have to have a general

01:10:25.930 --> 01:10:27.649
manager now, especially if you're Dana, who's

01:10:27.649 --> 01:10:30.550
not known as the one who's always been the most

01:10:30.550 --> 01:10:32.770
out -there recruiter? He's had guys on his staff

01:10:32.770 --> 01:10:35.239
doing that. And, again, you get to his staff.

01:10:35.739 --> 01:10:37.340
It's a staff that's won a lot of games, but it's

01:10:37.340 --> 01:10:39.039
also a staff, a lot of people who have left,

01:10:39.079 --> 01:10:41.180
and he's brought back, and he's been loyal to.

01:10:41.500 --> 01:10:44.500
And I wonder if there's a point where you look

01:10:44.500 --> 01:10:47.619
and see McKenna and Fish and Stubblefield and

01:10:47.619 --> 01:10:50.420
Jamison and those. Do you need to mix that thing

01:10:50.420 --> 01:10:51.779
up a little bit? So I guess I would just say

01:10:51.779 --> 01:10:55.180
without – do you think maybe you need to redo

01:10:55.180 --> 01:10:59.020
the – You're running out of voice. Redo the chain

01:10:59.020 --> 01:11:00.859
of command there, whether it becomes a GM or

01:11:00.859 --> 01:11:04.760
bring in assistants. I think, yeah, that's definitely

01:11:04.760 --> 01:11:09.340
a solid question. I'm wondering what Stubblefield

01:11:09.340 --> 01:11:11.520
is, what his role is in all of this. I know that

01:11:11.520 --> 01:11:14.060
he was a huge addition to bring back. He's Dana's

01:11:14.060 --> 01:11:16.000
right -hand man. He's an incredible recruiter.

01:11:17.060 --> 01:11:20.159
I don't know. I think that there's a lot of hard

01:11:20.159 --> 01:11:22.119
questions that need to be asked and answered

01:11:22.119 --> 01:11:24.640
this offseason. Football -related story that

01:11:24.640 --> 01:11:27.340
I know you covered earlier in the week on Monday,

01:11:27.399 --> 01:11:30.260
but kind of a bit surprising for sure. With Kenyon

01:11:30.260 --> 01:11:34.060
Sadiq signing with Adidas. And it's definitely

01:11:34.060 --> 01:11:36.500
a surprise. But I guess the question is, do you

01:11:36.500 --> 01:11:38.220
think this means anything? Or do you think this

01:11:38.220 --> 01:11:39.899
just happened to be one of those things? I think

01:11:39.899 --> 01:11:41.560
people forget, by the way, that Adidas' headquarters

01:11:41.560 --> 01:11:44.539
is up in Portland. So it's not too far away from

01:11:44.539 --> 01:11:47.159
us here in Eugene. But do you think it means

01:11:47.159 --> 01:11:48.760
anything? Or do you think this just really came

01:11:48.760 --> 01:11:51.840
down to dollars and cents? I don't know, man.

01:11:51.899 --> 01:11:54.779
No, it's a weird story that I feel like – I mean

01:11:54.779 --> 01:11:56.380
people talked about it a little bit when it came

01:11:56.380 --> 01:11:58.380
out. I don't know. I forget what it was. Monday

01:11:58.380 --> 01:12:02.199
probably. Yeah, that's kind of weird. It's kind

01:12:02.199 --> 01:12:04.039
of flown under the radar since then. I would

01:12:04.039 --> 01:12:07.039
love to ask him or ask someone in the know because

01:12:07.039 --> 01:12:09.760
it definitely caught me off guard to start. He

01:12:09.760 --> 01:12:12.800
seems like an Oregon guy. It seems like he would

01:12:12.800 --> 01:12:15.260
go with Nike, but hey, maybe Adidas did just

01:12:15.260 --> 01:12:18.000
come out with a bigger check, a bigger bag, and

01:12:18.000 --> 01:12:20.850
he went with them. It's not like he's the only

01:12:20.850 --> 01:12:22.890
one going Adidas. You look at that list of, I

01:12:22.890 --> 01:12:25.409
think, 14 players assigned with him. Yeah, some

01:12:25.409 --> 01:12:27.729
of the top guys in the draft, a lot of first

01:12:27.729 --> 01:12:29.649
-round draft picks. It's like, okay, it makes

01:12:29.649 --> 01:12:32.270
sense. They're making a push for this draft class.

01:12:32.529 --> 01:12:34.930
But, yeah, that one surprised me a little bit.

01:12:34.970 --> 01:12:37.489
I'm curious to see what the numbers look like

01:12:37.489 --> 01:12:40.350
on that contract. So Oregon will resume spring

01:12:40.350 --> 01:12:42.789
practices. Spring game is on the 25th of April

01:12:42.789 --> 01:12:45.210
here shortly. And, of course, the draft's going

01:12:45.210 --> 01:12:47.250
to be on the 23rd. We've got a big party up at

01:12:47.250 --> 01:12:50.449
the club at Autzen. And I think the biggest buzz

01:12:50.449 --> 01:12:53.590
is coming out of the combine and then the pro

01:12:53.590 --> 01:12:57.689
day is Dylan Thienemannstock shot up, especially

01:12:57.689 --> 01:13:01.359
because of his 40 time. Kenyon Sadiqs. Didn't

01:13:01.359 --> 01:13:03.720
need to even hardly go any higher, but it shot

01:13:03.720 --> 01:13:06.159
up a little bit more based on performance. And

01:13:06.159 --> 01:13:07.819
then the question mark to me, I think both of

01:13:07.819 --> 01:13:09.920
those guys, and correct me, Zach, if I'm wrong

01:13:09.920 --> 01:13:11.939
at the end of this question, I'll keep it shorter.

01:13:13.360 --> 01:13:16.060
is that Sadiq and Thieneman, to me, seem to be

01:13:16.060 --> 01:13:17.779
locks in the first round, especially if you take

01:13:17.779 --> 01:13:19.060
a look at the teams and what their needs are

01:13:19.060 --> 01:13:21.119
going to be. The one that I really have a question

01:13:21.119 --> 01:13:23.899
on is Emmanuel Pregnan because offensive linemen,

01:13:23.979 --> 01:13:26.140
they're not a dime a dozen, a little bit better

01:13:26.140 --> 01:13:28.199
if you're a tackle rather than a guard. However,

01:13:28.460 --> 01:13:31.039
I think he's sneaking up people's charts as well,

01:13:31.079 --> 01:13:33.520
and I think based on needs, he could actually

01:13:33.520 --> 01:13:36.430
go in the first round. Your thoughts? He could

01:13:36.430 --> 01:13:38.729
potentially. I agree with you that Thienemann

01:13:38.729 --> 01:13:41.630
and Sadiq feel like first -round locks. Pregnon

01:13:41.630 --> 01:13:43.850
is that one. I mean, I've looked back, and from

01:13:43.850 --> 01:13:47.130
my research, Oregon has never had three first

01:13:47.130 --> 01:13:49.930
-round drafts. They've had two several times.

01:13:50.029 --> 01:13:52.810
I think they tie that again this year. If I had

01:13:52.810 --> 01:13:54.649
to put money on it, Pregnon goes second round

01:13:54.649 --> 01:13:57.890
probably somewhere in the mid to late 30s. But

01:13:57.890 --> 01:14:00.770
it'll be interesting to see. I mean, I talked

01:14:00.770 --> 01:14:03.680
to... Name drop, Bucky Brooks from NFL .com.

01:14:03.760 --> 01:14:06.619
Yes, this is a Believe podcast. And he was talking

01:14:06.619 --> 01:14:08.720
about, you know, Dienemann shot up. He's got

01:14:08.720 --> 01:14:11.439
him going, I think, number 18 or 19 to Minnesota.

01:14:11.819 --> 01:14:14.039
He actually had Sadiq lower. He had him going

01:14:14.039 --> 01:14:17.140
number 29 to Kansas City. No. Whoa, that is the

01:14:17.140 --> 01:14:20.180
lowest I have ever seen. But he said that, you

01:14:20.180 --> 01:14:23.739
know, some teams just aren't as sold on his abilities

01:14:23.739 --> 01:14:26.760
because of smaller size tight end. I'm more open

01:14:26.760 --> 01:14:29.890
to the fact of him. going somewhere in the 20s

01:14:29.890 --> 01:14:31.789
and maybe dropping a little bit still first round

01:14:31.789 --> 01:14:36.710
but maybe not that 11 18 range uh but i don't

01:14:36.710 --> 01:14:39.470
know this is also a the time of the draft calendar

01:14:39.470 --> 01:14:41.630
where there's not a lot going on and we're kind

01:14:41.630 --> 01:14:43.930
of making up storylines. Just ask Dan Orlowski

01:14:43.930 --> 01:14:46.050
what he thinks and you'll kind of get what stage

01:14:46.050 --> 01:14:48.649
we're at here. Let's make up another one then.

01:14:48.729 --> 01:14:51.710
I love doing that. So just looking at this class,

01:14:51.930 --> 01:14:54.130
Oregon over the last few years has had guys,

01:14:54.369 --> 01:14:56.909
Bucky Irving, I think Tez Johnson did better

01:14:56.909 --> 01:15:00.020
than his draft position last year. I think I'll

01:15:00.020 --> 01:15:02.340
give you my answer first. I think it's, for me,

01:15:02.380 --> 01:15:03.979
going to be Malik Benson's a guy that I think

01:15:03.979 --> 01:15:07.020
wherever he gets drafted, it'll be a better value

01:15:07.020 --> 01:15:08.760
than where he is drafted. Is there a guy that

01:15:08.760 --> 01:15:10.899
you look in this class that you say, hey, whoever

01:15:10.899 --> 01:15:13.000
gets this guy, wherever it is, he's going to

01:15:13.000 --> 01:15:17.159
get a good player? Yeah, I mean, Malik is a good

01:15:17.159 --> 01:15:19.920
answer. I think that he's got an NFL, you know,

01:15:19.939 --> 01:15:23.000
future ahead of him. I've been surprised to see

01:15:23.000 --> 01:15:25.340
how high Bryce goes in some of these mocks. I've

01:15:25.340 --> 01:15:27.800
seen him in, like, third round, like in the 90s

01:15:27.800 --> 01:15:31.319
range. That seems incredibly high to me. I think

01:15:31.319 --> 01:15:33.060
he's more of a fourth, fifth -rounder, special

01:15:33.060 --> 01:15:35.899
teams player. But I'm interested to see what

01:15:35.899 --> 01:15:38.380
his NFL career looks like because we know him.

01:15:38.420 --> 01:15:42.680
We've seen him play in Oregon forever. He's going

01:15:42.680 --> 01:15:46.420
to be that guy. Effort is not going to stop his

01:15:46.420 --> 01:15:49.100
career. Maybe he doesn't get the shine down the

01:15:49.100 --> 01:15:53.470
road that some of these other huge... physically

01:15:53.470 --> 01:15:56.189
gifted linebackers get, but he's going to be,

01:15:56.189 --> 01:15:58.229
you know, one of the hardest working special

01:15:58.229 --> 01:16:00.630
teams players to start his career. We'll see

01:16:00.630 --> 01:16:02.310
where that gets him, but I'm just, I'm fascinated

01:16:02.310 --> 01:16:04.970
by what his career turns out to be. All right,

01:16:04.989 --> 01:16:06.649
Zach, last question for you, and it is still

01:16:06.649 --> 01:16:08.970
staying around the draft. For Dan Lanning and

01:16:08.970 --> 01:16:12.090
what he's been building in Eugene for his program,

01:16:12.170 --> 01:16:16.729
and part of the selling point is what Alabama

01:16:16.729 --> 01:16:19.590
built and Georgia built and Texas has built,

01:16:19.649 --> 01:16:22.189
is that you come play for us, you are going to

01:16:22.189 --> 01:16:25.090
get a great opportunity to play on Sundays. And

01:16:25.090 --> 01:16:27.409
that's been proven out, and Justin just mentioned

01:16:27.409 --> 01:16:30.170
several of them. But this could be another half

01:16:30.170 --> 01:16:33.470
-dozen, eight. 10 players getting drafted again

01:16:33.470 --> 01:16:36.569
out of the Oregon program. So draft day is becoming

01:16:36.569 --> 01:16:39.010
more and more important for Dan Lanning's recruiting

01:16:39.010 --> 01:16:42.430
process, isn't it? Oh, absolutely. I mean, you

01:16:42.430 --> 01:16:45.170
look at, it's only the number of guys getting

01:16:45.170 --> 01:16:46.890
drafted, I think. Yeah, you probably have eight,

01:16:46.930 --> 01:16:50.949
maybe nine this year. You look at the guys that

01:16:50.949 --> 01:16:53.829
got drafted that came to Oregon for only a year.

01:16:53.909 --> 01:16:56.510
And yes, some opposing fan bases say, yeah, you

01:16:56.510 --> 01:16:58.569
didn't develop those guys. Those aren't homegrown

01:16:58.569 --> 01:17:01.250
talent. Look at someone like Malik Benson or

01:17:01.250 --> 01:17:03.489
Jaden Kennedy and then go into the transfer pool

01:17:03.489 --> 01:17:05.689
and say, hey, this is what you could be. Those

01:17:05.689 --> 01:17:07.810
guys had no draft stock last year. They came

01:17:07.810 --> 01:17:09.430
to Oregon and played for a year. Now they're

01:17:09.430 --> 01:17:11.369
for sure getting drafted. I mean, that's such

01:17:11.369 --> 01:17:13.550
a selling point for this program. And then you

01:17:13.550 --> 01:17:15.649
look at all the guys that could have been drafted

01:17:15.649 --> 01:17:17.329
this year but decided to come back for another

01:17:17.329 --> 01:17:20.029
year. I mean, there's a chance that this draft

01:17:20.029 --> 01:17:24.350
class could have had 14, 15 guys in it had everyone

01:17:24.350 --> 01:17:27.119
declared. Fortunately, another good sign for

01:17:27.119 --> 01:17:28.600
the program, they wanted to come back for another

01:17:28.600 --> 01:17:30.239
year and say, hey, we're going to compete for

01:17:30.239 --> 01:17:33.279
a national championship again. So, yeah, this

01:17:33.279 --> 01:17:35.699
is turning out to be one of the most intriguing

01:17:35.699 --> 01:17:38.699
and important days for Oregon football. Ducks

01:17:38.699 --> 01:17:40.439
Wire, you can catch him on the Believe in Oregon

01:17:40.439 --> 01:17:43.079
podcast, Ducks Rising podcast. It's the great

01:17:43.079 --> 01:17:45.899
Zach Neal. Follow him on Twitter, Zachary C.

01:17:46.000 --> 01:17:49.699
Neal, N -E -E -L. Zach, I'm glad you have a valid

01:17:49.699 --> 01:17:52.359
ID now. You can break it in with Steve any time

01:17:52.359 --> 01:17:55.699
you want. Always appreciate your time. Congratulations

01:17:55.699 --> 01:17:58.699
on the move. Keep everybody safe and happy, and

01:17:58.699 --> 01:18:01.010
we'll talk to you soon. Let's get Steve some

01:18:01.010 --> 01:18:04.409
water first. No, he's fine now. Get him some

01:18:04.409 --> 01:18:06.210
water. I didn't think the question was ever going

01:18:06.210 --> 01:18:08.670
to end. He's trying to get it out. I wanted to

01:18:08.670 --> 01:18:11.430
help him so bad. He pushed through. I'm back

01:18:11.430 --> 01:18:13.250
to good. I'm back to good. As I always tell you,

01:18:13.250 --> 01:18:15.069
Zach, tell your better half, Mac, I said hello.

01:18:15.680 --> 01:18:18.079
I will. Thanks, guys. Thanks. We'll see you.

01:18:18.079 --> 01:18:21.060
There he goes, the great Zach Neal. Always a

01:18:21.060 --> 01:18:23.960
great insight. I say that pretty much from all

01:18:23.960 --> 01:18:26.819
the guests that we have. Well -deserved. And

01:18:26.819 --> 01:18:30.199
be able to have fun while we're doing this. Don't

01:18:30.199 --> 01:18:33.260
take life so seriously. Steve almost died in

01:18:33.260 --> 01:18:35.539
that interview. Zach's voice often sounds like

01:18:35.539 --> 01:18:37.279
he's got a little parched, too. He's got kind

01:18:37.279 --> 01:18:39.500
of that throaty voice. He's got a distinctive

01:18:39.500 --> 01:18:41.960
voice. It sounds like he's parched a lot, too.

01:18:42.439 --> 01:18:44.800
Maybe I was just trying to do my Zach impersonation.

01:18:45.239 --> 01:18:46.939
That was kind of funny. I thought you were going

01:18:46.939 --> 01:18:49.539
to pass out. You turned red as a beet. When we

01:18:49.539 --> 01:18:53.180
come back, we are going to dissect the transfer

01:18:53.180 --> 01:18:56.180
portal, NIL, the money. You've heard from Kelly

01:18:56.180 --> 01:18:58.640
Graves. You've heard from Zach Neal. Now you're

01:18:58.640 --> 01:19:00.600
going to hear from us knuckleheads. Us chuckleheads

01:19:00.600 --> 01:19:02.960
are going to be... I also want to talk about

01:19:02.960 --> 01:19:06.840
the first games tonight in the Sweet 16 that

01:19:06.840 --> 01:19:08.640
you're going to hear right here on Fox Sports

01:19:08.640 --> 01:19:12.500
Eugene, Fox Sports Newport. Well, baby, Jay's

01:19:12.500 --> 01:19:15.880
got his work cut out for him. He's going to have

01:19:15.880 --> 01:19:19.279
to have a two -hour podcast uploaded wherever

01:19:19.279 --> 01:19:26.340
you platform your music and or talk. Danny and

01:19:26.340 --> 01:19:28.500
Justin, go search that. You don't want to miss

01:19:28.500 --> 01:19:30.539
Kelly Graves' great interview with Coach Graves

01:19:30.539 --> 01:19:34.079
talking about what Oregon is going to do to evaluate

01:19:34.079 --> 01:19:37.539
talent and pay people. That was as honest as

01:19:37.539 --> 01:19:39.760
you'll hear a coach say, and that's the thing.

01:19:39.779 --> 01:19:41.180
You normally get a lot of coaches speak at this

01:19:41.180 --> 01:19:43.180
point. He was very honest, I thought. And that's

01:19:43.180 --> 01:19:45.239
why we love the Bakuna. But we've got him, we've

01:19:45.239 --> 01:19:48.039
got Melissa Lombardi, and we just finished up

01:19:48.039 --> 01:19:50.239
with Zach Neal, which was very entertaining because

01:19:50.239 --> 01:19:53.319
Steve almost lost his life during the interview.

01:19:53.920 --> 01:19:56.300
So I'm not going to read. You go back and listen

01:19:56.300 --> 01:19:58.779
to it again. It's all on Memorex. Don't relitigate

01:19:58.779 --> 01:20:01.880
it. I'm not going to. So in this segment, let's

01:20:01.880 --> 01:20:03.939
talk a little bit more about the transfer portal,

01:20:04.079 --> 01:20:08.119
NIL money. Because Oregon, and I don't think

01:20:08.119 --> 01:20:11.420
I'm going, I'm not stretching this at all. Oregon,

01:20:11.500 --> 01:20:14.979
as a university, as an athletic department, made

01:20:14.979 --> 01:20:18.600
the decision years ago that they were going to

01:20:18.600 --> 01:20:21.800
heavily invest into the football program to win

01:20:21.800 --> 01:20:24.880
a national championship. pushing all of the resources

01:20:24.880 --> 01:20:28.260
they can that direction. So then programs like

01:20:28.260 --> 01:20:30.500
men's and women's basketball, men's baseball,

01:20:30.699 --> 01:20:35.119
softball, they are, I'm not saying they're fighting

01:20:35.119 --> 01:20:40.859
for scraps, but there's a lot more demand on

01:20:40.859 --> 01:20:43.460
the coaches and assistant coaches' time to go

01:20:43.460 --> 01:20:45.779
out and try and raise funds or have their own

01:20:45.779 --> 01:20:48.000
little, like Mark Wasikowski's got the Diamond

01:20:48.000 --> 01:20:51.319
Ducks. So Joe Giansanti is behind that along

01:20:51.319 --> 01:20:55.560
with, I think, I think Pat Kilkenny is a part

01:20:55.560 --> 01:20:57.880
of that as well. So they're a fundraising arm

01:20:57.880 --> 01:21:00.859
for baseball, specifically for baseball. Softball

01:21:00.859 --> 01:21:03.439
is looking for something like that. We just had

01:21:03.439 --> 01:21:07.399
a discussion about money for women's basketball.

01:21:07.460 --> 01:21:09.239
Same thing for men's basketball when it comes

01:21:09.239 --> 01:21:11.760
to going out and recruiting players, keeping

01:21:11.760 --> 01:21:15.489
players, going out for the high school. What

01:21:15.489 --> 01:21:17.250
I'm saying is not that those other sports are

01:21:17.250 --> 01:21:19.470
at a disadvantage, but in some respects they

01:21:19.470 --> 01:21:22.029
are, and a lot of schools go that route. So I'm

01:21:22.029 --> 01:21:23.609
not saying good, bad, or indifferent for the

01:21:23.609 --> 01:21:25.930
University of Oregon. So I'm just throwing that

01:21:25.930 --> 01:21:28.909
as the starting point for you guys. Agree? Disagree?

01:21:29.329 --> 01:21:31.630
So first off, this is one of the most difficult

01:21:31.630 --> 01:21:33.829
things to discuss, whether it be radio or media,

01:21:33.909 --> 01:21:35.550
because we don't know the answers. Normally we're

01:21:35.550 --> 01:21:38.529
used to contracts and things we can FOIA and

01:21:38.529 --> 01:21:40.310
get public records. These are not public records.

01:21:40.970 --> 01:21:43.350
An exact example of this was we just had Kelly

01:21:43.350 --> 01:21:45.930
Graves on, and he said, hey, we're not the richest

01:21:45.930 --> 01:21:49.069
people out there, just to let you all know. And

01:21:49.069 --> 01:21:51.270
then we had Zach Neal on, and he said, hey, Oregon's

01:21:51.270 --> 01:21:53.069
got money, this and that. So that just shows

01:21:53.069 --> 01:21:55.310
you that we don't know what that number is. Maybe

01:21:55.310 --> 01:21:57.630
Kelly's got a certain amount that he knows that

01:21:57.630 --> 01:21:59.510
sounds like a lot, but that's not a lot compared

01:21:59.510 --> 01:22:01.390
to what South Carolina and the others are doing.

01:22:01.670 --> 01:22:04.310
And maybe Zach's talking about, hey, Oregon's

01:22:04.310 --> 01:22:06.810
got enough, but is it Kentucky money, this and

01:22:06.810 --> 01:22:09.430
that? So we don't have the exact number, which

01:22:09.430 --> 01:22:11.539
makes it difficult. And that was my point to

01:22:11.539 --> 01:22:13.920
get to with Zach there was it's tough to have

01:22:13.920 --> 01:22:16.420
the Dana Altman discussion without knowing how

01:22:16.420 --> 01:22:18.319
much NIL money they have. Because you could have

01:22:18.319 --> 01:22:21.859
John Wooden and if you gave him two nickels as

01:22:21.859 --> 01:22:26.050
his NIL money and. The worst coach in the world's

01:22:26.050 --> 01:22:27.989
got $22 million over here. The other guy's beating

01:22:27.989 --> 01:22:30.850
John Wooden. So it's no longer just, hey, you've

01:22:30.850 --> 01:22:32.489
got to have relationships and this and that.

01:22:32.609 --> 01:22:35.270
So that's the part that's difficult in the Dana

01:22:35.270 --> 01:22:37.850
Altman discussion for me. And as I told you earlier,

01:22:38.069 --> 01:22:39.750
I think you have three options with Dana Altman.

01:22:40.029 --> 01:22:42.270
One is you've got to fund him. Look, right now

01:22:42.270 --> 01:22:44.210
he needs probably $10 to $12 million to put together

01:22:44.210 --> 01:22:46.189
a roster that can beat in the Big Ten next year.

01:22:46.250 --> 01:22:48.329
The Big Ten has six teams in the Sweet 16 tonight

01:22:48.329 --> 01:22:50.329
and tomorrow. They're not getting any worse next

01:22:50.329 --> 01:22:52.789
year. They're still funding. If Dana Altman has,

01:22:52.909 --> 01:22:54.630
and I have been told. Seven to seven and a half

01:22:54.630 --> 01:22:56.869
million is their NIL this year. If that's what

01:22:56.869 --> 01:22:58.550
he's got, that roster they have is not going

01:22:58.550 --> 01:23:00.250
to be good enough to compete. It's going to be

01:23:00.250 --> 01:23:02.630
another middling season, and then it's a dead

01:23:02.630 --> 01:23:04.789
coach walking season, which is your biggest disaster

01:23:04.789 --> 01:23:07.489
as an AD because nobody's in the stands and nobody

01:23:07.489 --> 01:23:09.670
cares about your team. So you either fund him,

01:23:09.729 --> 01:23:11.449
or if you're not going to do that, then you fire

01:23:11.449 --> 01:23:13.590
him, and then you try to rejuvenate your crowd

01:23:13.590 --> 01:23:15.390
base by saying, hey, we've got a new young coach,

01:23:15.529 --> 01:23:17.850
but the worst alternative is the dead coach walking,

01:23:17.989 --> 01:23:19.710
which is my fear, is they're going to tell Dana,

01:23:19.710 --> 01:23:21.310
hey, we're not going to get rid of you after

01:23:21.310 --> 01:23:22.750
one bad year, but you've got to get this thing.

01:23:22.760 --> 01:23:25.260
going, but do it with this budget that's ninth

01:23:25.260 --> 01:23:27.739
or tenth in the Big Ten. Then he comes in ninth

01:23:27.739 --> 01:23:29.460
or tenth, and the fans are like, hey, this team

01:23:29.460 --> 01:23:31.760
isn't good. So to me, it's a fund him, fire him,

01:23:31.779 --> 01:23:33.699
or it's a dead coach walking, and I fear that

01:23:33.699 --> 01:23:35.479
the worst case scenario is it's going to be part

01:23:35.479 --> 01:23:38.939
three. Yeah, I think the biggest thing for me

01:23:38.939 --> 01:23:41.659
is that I just think it's going to be hard for

01:23:41.659 --> 01:23:43.460
them to rebuild a team that's going to be competitive

01:23:43.460 --> 01:23:45.680
based on where the roster is right now. So it

01:23:45.680 --> 01:23:49.000
does seem to me that you have to fund them. Or

01:23:49.000 --> 01:23:50.439
else you're basically going to end up with a

01:23:50.439 --> 01:23:52.479
team that's, I think, going to be worse than

01:23:52.479 --> 01:23:54.300
9th or 10th. I think they're going to be closer

01:23:54.300 --> 01:23:56.640
to where they were this year because looking

01:23:56.640 --> 01:23:59.619
at where their roster is going to be right now,

01:23:59.760 --> 01:24:02.100
it doesn't seem like it's even what it was this

01:24:02.100 --> 01:24:04.239
year. Between graduation and transfers, half

01:24:04.239 --> 01:24:05.880
the roster is already turning over. Correct.

01:24:05.960 --> 01:24:08.279
And more likely. And more likely. So I'll throw

01:24:08.279 --> 01:24:10.840
out Sean Stewart, Wei Lin, Jamari Phillips, and

01:24:10.840 --> 01:24:14.720
I'll even say Devon Pryor. And then I am still

01:24:14.720 --> 01:24:16.899
concerned, and I brought this up the other day,

01:24:16.899 --> 01:24:19.859
about Taj Ariza. Because he's the five -star.

01:24:19.899 --> 01:24:21.420
There's only three players in the class, and

01:24:21.420 --> 01:24:23.600
one of those is a football player. Kendrick Harrison

01:24:23.600 --> 01:24:26.180
is that. I'm not counting him. So there's basically

01:24:26.180 --> 01:24:28.760
two recruits coming in from the high school level.

01:24:28.939 --> 01:24:31.239
It's just Ariza, isn't it? No, there was another

01:24:31.239 --> 01:24:34.439
kid. Look it up. I think there's one more. Sneak

01:24:34.439 --> 01:24:38.380
in there and take a peek. But, yes, Ariza could

01:24:38.380 --> 01:24:40.520
ask out at some point. He could say, this isn't

01:24:40.520 --> 01:24:42.039
the team I said I was signing with. He's a five

01:24:42.039 --> 01:24:44.840
-star, and as a freshman, he could go to most

01:24:44.840 --> 01:24:47.989
programs. I said two, right? Most programs. It's

01:24:47.989 --> 01:24:50.670
just those two. Okay, Kendry and Ariza? Taj,

01:24:50.670 --> 01:24:53.029
yeah. And Taj? Okay. And one of them's not joining

01:24:53.029 --> 01:24:56.050
the team until January 25th. And not in Dana's

01:24:56.050 --> 01:24:57.109
system. That's not going to work. I'm not counting

01:24:57.109 --> 01:24:59.750
him. They tried that before with Eric Armstrong.

01:24:59.789 --> 01:25:01.890
It did not work. I would have to get to know

01:25:01.890 --> 01:25:04.390
young Taj Ariza's game a little bit better because

01:25:04.390 --> 01:25:07.449
his dad was a 3 and D guy. So I'm not going to

01:25:07.449 --> 01:25:08.649
sit here and say he's the same game as dad. Either

01:25:08.649 --> 01:25:10.350
way, if he's a five -star, he's scoring. I'm

01:25:10.350 --> 01:25:12.739
assuming that he's going to be a scorer. I think

01:25:12.739 --> 01:25:14.399
it could go either way with a guy like that because

01:25:14.399 --> 01:25:16.119
you could either sit there and say, hey, you've

01:25:16.119 --> 01:25:17.460
got the keys to the kingdom. You're going to

01:25:17.460 --> 01:25:19.899
get as many shots as you want. You can get your

01:25:19.899 --> 01:25:21.579
minutes. You're going to be able to have room

01:25:21.579 --> 01:25:24.340
for being able to fail a little bit. But couldn't

01:25:24.340 --> 01:25:27.300
he do that in a lot of programs? He could. He

01:25:27.300 --> 01:25:30.300
also could like Dana Altman. He could like what

01:25:30.300 --> 01:25:32.899
they have here. I hope that's the case for Dana's

01:25:32.899 --> 01:25:36.539
staff, be able to show that he can still do that

01:25:36.539 --> 01:25:39.399
because it's— Crazy for me to say he has to go

01:25:39.399 --> 01:25:40.800
out and prove himself, but it's almost like he's

01:25:40.800 --> 01:25:42.520
got to go out and prove himself right now and

01:25:42.520 --> 01:25:45.479
to the fan base. And the only way that happens

01:25:45.479 --> 01:25:48.739
is success on the floor. You can't have a moral

01:25:48.739 --> 01:25:51.619
victory next year. That is just out of the picture,

01:25:51.699 --> 01:25:53.920
and that's the corner that's been painted. But

01:25:53.920 --> 01:25:57.840
this is accelerated because of the money, because

01:25:57.840 --> 01:26:01.140
of the portal. This is not the way that coaches

01:26:01.140 --> 01:26:05.079
used to recruit and maintain rosters. Not even

01:26:05.079 --> 01:26:07.960
close. No. And as Baby J said, he has to rebuild

01:26:07.960 --> 01:26:10.859
his roster. Again, if you have $15 million, you

01:26:10.859 --> 01:26:12.460
can do that. You can go out and get players to

01:26:12.460 --> 01:26:15.340
do that. If you have $7 million, now you're getting

01:26:15.340 --> 01:26:17.359
a bunch of 500 ,000s and you're not rebuilding

01:26:17.359 --> 01:26:19.439
it. So that's the thing. We've seen Rick Pitino.

01:26:20.140 --> 01:26:22.479
Got St. John's right there. He was all of a sudden

01:26:22.479 --> 01:26:25.100
had the money guy who's there with St. John's.

01:26:25.159 --> 01:26:27.359
The teams that have that, you can rebuild it

01:26:27.359 --> 01:26:29.220
with money, but you can't tell Dana, hey, do

01:26:29.220 --> 01:26:30.739
what you've always done and bring in some young

01:26:30.739 --> 01:26:32.960
guys and we'll build this thing up and we'll

01:26:32.960 --> 01:26:34.859
add in a couple guys here and there on your $6

01:26:34.859 --> 01:26:36.439
million budget because he's not going to be able

01:26:36.439 --> 01:26:38.600
to compete with Illinois, Michigan, and the others

01:26:38.600 --> 01:26:40.319
in the Big Ten doing that. But money isn't the

01:26:40.319 --> 01:26:43.319
only factor here. It plays an important role.

01:26:43.439 --> 01:26:46.640
Okay, have you ever? Whatever Jackson Selstad's

01:26:46.640 --> 01:26:47.920
getting somewhere else, you tell me if Oregon

01:26:47.920 --> 01:26:49.560
didn't go one more dollar than he went. to come

01:26:49.560 --> 01:26:52.979
back? No, I'm not saying that. But what I'm saying

01:26:52.979 --> 01:26:55.220
is this. Have you ever made a bad hire before?

01:26:55.460 --> 01:26:57.319
Have you ever paid somebody? Nobody's ever put

01:26:57.319 --> 01:26:59.199
me in charge of hiring anybody before. I'm not

01:26:59.199 --> 01:27:03.619
as important as you, Danny. Stop. My point is

01:27:03.619 --> 01:27:07.840
that you can spend money on someone and it's

01:27:07.840 --> 01:27:10.260
the wrong dollars that you're spending. Kentucky

01:27:10.260 --> 01:27:14.720
had the highest salary. So money is not the only...

01:27:14.720 --> 01:27:17.720
It is a factor. I'm not dismissing. I've been

01:27:17.720 --> 01:27:21.560
saying that for since this has all happened.

01:27:21.939 --> 01:27:24.380
However, there is the other part of it, and Kelly

01:27:24.380 --> 01:27:26.479
Graves has had success, and you heard him say,

01:27:26.640 --> 01:27:29.359
if you didn't, go back to the podcast and listen

01:27:29.359 --> 01:27:31.359
to it, and he said this multiple times on our

01:27:31.359 --> 01:27:33.939
program, right, Baby J, where it's like, if I

01:27:33.939 --> 01:27:36.319
sit down with a kid and all they're about is

01:27:36.319 --> 01:27:38.420
how much you're going to pay me, thanks but no

01:27:38.420 --> 01:27:40.560
thanks. I don't care how talented you are because

01:27:40.560 --> 01:27:43.000
that's not what I want to build within this program.

01:27:43.319 --> 01:27:45.180
Now, if you come up within the program, you've

01:27:45.180 --> 01:27:49.409
proven yourself, and you have earned, More of

01:27:49.409 --> 01:27:54.310
what that means, I say go for it. Jackson Shelstad,

01:27:54.550 --> 01:27:57.369
I think was, and this is me talking. This is

01:27:57.369 --> 01:27:59.109
not, I haven't had a conversation with Jackson

01:27:59.109 --> 01:28:01.829
Shelstad. I think he looked at what happened

01:28:01.829 --> 01:28:04.909
this year and he doesn't see a way out except

01:28:04.909 --> 01:28:06.970
for going to another team where he can have more

01:28:06.970 --> 01:28:08.609
success and know he's going to go to the NCAA

01:28:08.609 --> 01:28:11.949
tournament. That to me is my theory. I think

01:28:11.949 --> 01:28:14.189
so too. I think that, I don't know. I kind of

01:28:14.189 --> 01:28:16.630
felt like he might leave regardless of what was

01:28:16.630 --> 01:28:18.930
going on though. It just felt like. Some team.

01:28:19.010 --> 01:28:20.430
I don't know. For some reason, the team that

01:28:20.430 --> 01:28:22.430
comes in my head is Arizona. I just feel like

01:28:22.430 --> 01:28:23.689
Arizona is going to offer him a bunch of money

01:28:23.689 --> 01:28:25.449
or something like that. Probably will. But who

01:28:25.449 --> 01:28:27.130
knows if Tommy Lloyd's going to stay there. I

01:28:27.130 --> 01:28:28.670
think the thing I just keep on thinking about

01:28:28.670 --> 01:28:30.409
with Dana Altman. North Carolina's calling Tommy.

01:28:31.390 --> 01:28:33.489
Go ahead. I think the thing is with Dana Altman

01:28:33.489 --> 01:28:36.029
is the reason I go back and forth about it is

01:28:36.029 --> 01:28:38.930
because, like we're saying with Scott Barnes

01:28:38.930 --> 01:28:41.029
and all the hires the Beavers have done, you

01:28:41.029 --> 01:28:42.750
kind of have to hire for where you're at. And

01:28:42.750 --> 01:28:46.020
it does feel like. And we're now transitioned

01:28:46.020 --> 01:28:48.619
to a new era than when the Dana Allman era started,

01:28:48.699 --> 01:28:52.800
obviously. And so on one hand, it's hard to say

01:28:52.800 --> 01:28:55.500
how that transition is going to go because we

01:28:55.500 --> 01:28:57.939
haven't seen him with the right funding. We haven't

01:28:57.939 --> 01:28:59.779
seen him with the roster. We haven't seen him

01:28:59.779 --> 01:29:02.100
put it together. Right. But at the other side,

01:29:02.220 --> 01:29:06.300
it could be easy to see why it could be attractive

01:29:06.300 --> 01:29:10.100
to hire somebody. in this new situation and say,

01:29:10.220 --> 01:29:12.720
well, here's what we have now, and here's what

01:29:12.720 --> 01:29:14.899
you're going to have to work with, and let's

01:29:14.899 --> 01:29:16.800
see what you can do. But see, then you're talking

01:29:16.800 --> 01:29:19.899
about a different coach, and the dollars are

01:29:19.899 --> 01:29:22.180
still going to be the same. So it's the whole

01:29:22.180 --> 01:29:24.020
Penn State argument that we had in football,

01:29:24.180 --> 01:29:27.020
is if you're going to get rid of a James Franklin,

01:29:27.239 --> 01:29:30.479
you cannot make a lateral move. in the coaching

01:29:30.479 --> 01:29:32.800
ranks. You need to make a hire that's going to

01:29:32.800 --> 01:29:35.159
move you up. But to me, I don't even see it as

01:29:35.159 --> 01:29:38.119
a coaching thing. I think Dana Altman, in terms

01:29:38.119 --> 01:29:40.399
of the best coach available, he's got to be the

01:29:40.399 --> 01:29:42.199
best coach that Oregon has available to them.

01:29:42.340 --> 01:29:44.479
But in terms of the roster building, and this

01:29:44.479 --> 01:29:46.479
is something that you talked about, I don't know,

01:29:46.539 --> 01:29:48.439
a few weeks ago when you were on the show, they

01:29:48.439 --> 01:29:50.739
might just need to put somebody that is able

01:29:50.739 --> 01:29:53.880
to manage those sort of things around him. And

01:29:53.880 --> 01:29:55.579
then just let him coach. That might be the best

01:29:55.579 --> 01:29:57.579
solution to all this. But I could also see why

01:29:57.579 --> 01:30:00.659
it could be attractive to a university, especially

01:30:00.659 --> 01:30:03.359
because I agree with everybody. He should be

01:30:03.359 --> 01:30:06.020
able to determine when he leaves. But he's also

01:30:06.020 --> 01:30:08.060
not going to be around here forever. It's not

01:30:08.060 --> 01:30:10.359
going to be another 10 years of Dana Altman.

01:30:10.500 --> 01:30:12.739
So whenever the transition happens, it has to

01:30:12.739 --> 01:30:14.840
be a smooth one. And the biggest problem, and

01:30:14.840 --> 01:30:17.079
we discussed this last time too, is you bring

01:30:17.079 --> 01:30:19.159
in a GM tomorrow, that's for next year. These

01:30:19.159 --> 01:30:21.260
teams have already started. The players in the

01:30:21.260 --> 01:30:23.119
portal have already said who. It would be hard

01:30:23.119 --> 01:30:25.359
to hire a GM now and say, hey, get this a great

01:30:25.359 --> 01:30:27.520
roster next year because those relationships

01:30:27.520 --> 01:30:31.979
haven't been built. You bring in a GM, and it's

01:30:31.979 --> 01:30:33.420
hard to, because most of the guys are already

01:30:33.420 --> 01:30:34.979
in and out of the portal on that one. there.

01:30:35.020 --> 01:30:37.520
I would also say, yeah, if you're getting rid

01:30:37.520 --> 01:30:40.420
of Dane Altman, who are you bringing in? Because

01:30:40.420 --> 01:30:42.060
you're not in the North Carolina pool. You're

01:30:42.060 --> 01:30:44.939
not in the Tommy Lloyd. You're not in the Dusty

01:30:44.939 --> 01:30:47.399
May pool. You're not in that one. You're in a

01:30:47.399 --> 01:30:49.300
different pool, and I don't know who that person

01:30:49.300 --> 01:30:51.449
would be that gets us around. Last thing, two

01:30:51.449 --> 01:30:53.289
years ago, Kelly Graves was in the same spot.

01:30:53.390 --> 01:30:55.630
I know he was. They were not good. There were

01:30:55.630 --> 01:30:57.949
people asking if he should come back, and he

01:30:57.949 --> 01:30:59.949
bounced back with two straight tournament ones.

01:31:00.210 --> 01:31:02.890
Right. And Rob Mullins had the patience on that

01:31:02.890 --> 01:31:04.229
one there when some people were saying, hey,

01:31:04.250 --> 01:31:06.189
the game's passed. Kelly Graves, bye. And Kelly

01:31:06.189 --> 01:31:08.430
brought in Deja Kelly, was a big money person

01:31:08.430 --> 01:31:10.350
that they paid a decent amount. Sophia Bell and

01:31:10.350 --> 01:31:12.949
Katie. And they got it going there. So you give

01:31:12.949 --> 01:31:16.319
Dana that opportunity. But again. Kelly had some

01:31:16.319 --> 01:31:18.300
funds there because Deja Kelly was an expensive

01:31:18.300 --> 01:31:21.159
one. That was a three -time All -ACC one. Do

01:31:21.159 --> 01:31:23.439
you have to, I think if you're expecting Dana,

01:31:23.579 --> 01:31:26.239
what's the old definition of insanity, doing

01:31:26.239 --> 01:31:27.720
the same thing and expecting different results?

01:31:27.960 --> 01:31:29.880
If you're expecting Dana to have a roster like

01:31:29.880 --> 01:31:31.500
last year and do better, it's not happening.

01:31:31.600 --> 01:31:34.079
So you have to have more funds for him. So that's

01:31:34.079 --> 01:31:36.000
why I say you either have to fund him or you

01:31:36.000 --> 01:31:37.859
get rid of him or next year is just going to

01:31:37.859 --> 01:31:39.319
be basically going through a walkthrough of this

01:31:39.319 --> 01:31:40.619
year and you're just putting it off for a year.

01:31:40.659 --> 01:31:43.100
So are we diminishing the effect that coaching

01:31:43.100 --> 01:31:46.090
can have on teams? You say I can just go be the

01:31:46.090 --> 01:31:48.630
New York Yankees and buy a roster or the Dodgers

01:31:48.630 --> 01:31:50.409
and buy everybody up and just throw everyone

01:31:50.409 --> 01:31:51.930
out there? I think you could win 90 games with

01:31:51.930 --> 01:31:53.689
the Dodgers this year. I didn't want to bring

01:31:53.689 --> 01:31:56.409
up the Dodgers. But so, I mean, there was an

01:31:56.409 --> 01:32:00.789
old adage is that some of the greatest coaches,

01:32:00.970 --> 01:32:02.689
and this was more related in football than anything

01:32:02.689 --> 01:32:05.989
else, is that I could take my roster and my team

01:32:05.989 --> 01:32:08.350
and beat you with my guys, and then I could take

01:32:08.350 --> 01:32:11.869
my same exact roster and with your guys and beat

01:32:11.869 --> 01:32:14.949
my guys. If you think that. But, you know, who's

01:32:14.949 --> 01:32:16.710
the great, you know, the North Dakota State coach,

01:32:16.829 --> 01:32:19.170
if you think he could take his roster and beat

01:32:19.170 --> 01:32:22.109
a team that had a worse coach. The great example

01:32:22.109 --> 01:32:25.069
of this is Texas Tech football. If you look at

01:32:25.069 --> 01:32:27.550
people ranking the top, and there's a lot of

01:32:27.550 --> 01:32:29.289
postseason football polls, like rank the top

01:32:29.289 --> 01:32:31.750
25 college football coaches. Joey McGuire's not

01:32:31.750 --> 01:32:33.250
on a lot of those. He made the playoffs this

01:32:33.250 --> 01:32:34.949
year. But people are like, they just bought the

01:32:34.949 --> 01:32:36.590
guy a roster, and he's the guy who puts them

01:32:36.590 --> 01:32:38.210
all together. People don't look at Joey McGuire

01:32:38.210 --> 01:32:41.010
as one of the top 10, 15, 20 coaches in college

01:32:41.010 --> 01:32:43.029
football. They just say he was able to go out

01:32:43.029 --> 01:32:44.659
and buy a roster. roster. So, yes, we have reached

01:32:44.659 --> 01:32:47.079
a point to where maybe it's the Barry Switzer

01:32:47.079 --> 01:32:49.899
with replacing when Jerry Jones got drunk and

01:32:49.899 --> 01:32:52.000
said, hey, I can hire Barry Switzer to do it.

01:32:52.220 --> 01:32:54.739
And he did it. If you have the talent, that coach

01:32:54.739 --> 01:32:57.079
can do it. For one year. For one year. But you

01:32:57.079 --> 01:32:59.260
also can't tell Dana Altman, hey, we're going

01:32:59.260 --> 01:33:01.319
to give you this amount and everybody else in

01:33:01.319 --> 01:33:02.779
the league has this amount and you've got to

01:33:02.779 --> 01:33:04.460
go beat them. It doesn't happen that way. Well,

01:33:04.479 --> 01:33:06.279
so that's what I'm saying. There has to be a

01:33:06.279 --> 01:33:08.340
balance somewhere between the coaching and the

01:33:08.340 --> 01:33:12.560
funding. And I think that's where the trick comes

01:33:12.560 --> 01:33:15.039
in. in for successful programs. And that's where

01:33:15.039 --> 01:33:17.020
I think some of this gets lost in the conversation

01:33:17.020 --> 01:33:18.560
because it's like, well, we can just throw money

01:33:18.560 --> 01:33:20.840
at it. Well, not necessarily because if I don't

01:33:20.840 --> 01:33:23.039
have the right guy doing the X's and O's stuff,

01:33:23.239 --> 01:33:25.180
it doesn't matter how much money I throw at it.

01:33:25.239 --> 01:33:26.899
And Zach made that point too. Zach had said,

01:33:27.039 --> 01:33:28.600
hey, you know, it's, yeah, it's, and he kind

01:33:28.600 --> 01:33:30.180
of shot back on what I said, but he's probably

01:33:30.180 --> 01:33:32.060
correct. Hey, yeah, you can put money at it,

01:33:32.079 --> 01:33:33.979
but they had money and they got some guys that

01:33:33.979 --> 01:33:35.880
maybe weren't, you know, Waylon wasn't a great

01:33:35.880 --> 01:33:38.420
fit for Oregon and Devin Pryor wasn't a great

01:33:38.420 --> 01:33:40.800
fit for Oregon. And yeah, you can put money.

01:33:40.859 --> 01:33:42.319
I remember me and you were. in here doing the

01:33:42.319 --> 01:33:43.899
show, Justin, the day Devin Pryor. And it was

01:33:43.899 --> 01:33:45.199
like, hey, well, he only averaged three points

01:33:45.199 --> 01:33:46.760
at Texas, but he's a former four -star, it looks

01:33:46.760 --> 01:33:48.560
like. And maybe that was what Oregon thought,

01:33:48.680 --> 01:33:50.220
and it turns out he wasn't more than that. I

01:33:50.220 --> 01:33:52.699
do think that one benefit that you have in basketball

01:33:52.699 --> 01:33:55.420
versus a football program is that one player

01:33:55.420 --> 01:33:57.420
means so much more in basketball. We talked about

01:33:57.420 --> 01:33:59.119
this. It was in our open for forever. You get

01:33:59.119 --> 01:34:01.020
two or three of them, you're set. All of a sudden,

01:34:01.079 --> 01:34:02.159
you have a completely different team. Hence the

01:34:02.159 --> 01:34:04.479
$10 million roster. If you get three $2 million

01:34:04.479 --> 01:34:07.840
guys, all of a sudden you've got a team. I would

01:34:07.840 --> 01:34:10.239
go top -heavy. I would absolutely go top -heavy

01:34:10.239 --> 01:34:13.930
if I'm Oregon right now. And look, Ariza's a

01:34:13.930 --> 01:34:16.170
five -star guy. Those are $2 million to $3 million

01:34:16.170 --> 01:34:18.189
guys right there. Like I said, I was told last

01:34:18.189 --> 01:34:19.750
year they were in the $7 million to $7 .5 million,

01:34:19.750 --> 01:34:22.369
but half that was the three guys that they brought

01:34:22.369 --> 01:34:25.909
back. So they didn't have as much. And then TK

01:34:25.909 --> 01:34:28.569
Simpkins was the top guy that they got in there

01:34:28.569 --> 01:34:30.810
for like $7 .50. So now you're at like $4 million.

01:34:30.989 --> 01:34:33.029
So now Dana, with the rest of the roster to put

01:34:33.029 --> 01:34:35.130
together, only have like $3 million, whereas

01:34:35.130 --> 01:34:36.909
other guys are filling out their roster with

01:34:36.909 --> 01:34:38.090
guys that are making $2 million and $3 million

01:34:38.090 --> 01:34:39.670
at a time. So you're telling me that they freed

01:34:39.670 --> 01:34:42.689
up a lot of cap money? Yeah, in the last couple

01:34:42.689 --> 01:34:45.369
of weeks. They did, but again, even if you now,

01:34:45.489 --> 01:34:47.310
if you're, again, if we're at the $7 million,

01:34:47.449 --> 01:34:48.930
and even if you do what you, I want to go top

01:34:48.930 --> 01:34:51.069
heavy, okay, so you go two $3 million guys, and

01:34:51.069 --> 01:34:52.590
then you're filling, you know, it's the old fantasy

01:34:52.590 --> 01:34:53.710
and fantasy baseball. I know, it's like that,

01:34:53.710 --> 01:34:56.270
yeah. It's scrubs and stars. Stars and scrubs

01:34:56.270 --> 01:34:58.529
theory in fantasy baseball. Hey, we want, I want

01:34:58.529 --> 01:35:00.590
Otani and Judge on my two guys in the auction,

01:35:00.689 --> 01:35:01.810
and then I'm just going to fill out the roster.

01:35:01.810 --> 01:35:03.710
Who are your $1 guys? Exactly. They need some

01:35:03.710 --> 01:35:05.710
good $1 guys. But then there's one injury, and

01:35:05.710 --> 01:35:08.229
it blows up the entire process. I think that's

01:35:08.229 --> 01:35:10.500
still what you have to do, because it's, seems

01:35:10.500 --> 01:35:12.800
to me that you're more likely to build a team

01:35:12.800 --> 01:35:14.859
that's going to be able to do something with

01:35:14.859 --> 01:35:18.159
a couple guys than a bunch of pretty good guys.

01:35:18.300 --> 01:35:20.279
And that's generally, obviously you want a good

01:35:20.279 --> 01:35:23.520
all -around team, but you can't have both. You

01:35:23.520 --> 01:35:25.140
can't have your cake and eat it too in this situation.

01:35:25.359 --> 01:35:28.520
Well, Dana's coming back. He's got two years

01:35:28.520 --> 01:35:31.680
left on a contract that paid him $8 million total,

01:35:31.859 --> 01:35:34.079
$4 million a year. It's guaranteed. So that was

01:35:34.079 --> 01:35:35.800
one of the reasons I think that there was some

01:35:35.800 --> 01:35:37.939
pause. It was just like, okay, again, if you're

01:35:37.939 --> 01:35:38.779
going to go out and get somebody, you're going

01:35:38.779 --> 01:35:40.560
to have to pay Dana the $8 million, and you're

01:35:40.560 --> 01:35:41.600
going to have to get somebody who's going to

01:35:41.600 --> 01:35:43.920
move us up and move us forward without committing.

01:35:44.510 --> 01:35:46.609
more resources to it, or maybe not. Again, we're

01:35:46.609 --> 01:35:48.729
not in the room. This is all supposition. This

01:35:48.729 --> 01:35:51.569
is all conjecture on our part. But from the outside

01:35:51.569 --> 01:35:54.750
looking in, that's what it appears to be. I mean,

01:35:54.770 --> 01:35:57.289
there is a beautiful new football facility, practice

01:35:57.289 --> 01:35:59.529
facility. I mean, how many players could that

01:35:59.529 --> 01:36:01.350
have bought? Now, that money was earmarked by

01:36:01.350 --> 01:36:03.909
certain donors to be able to go do that, but

01:36:03.909 --> 01:36:05.470
that's the investment in the football program.

01:36:05.569 --> 01:36:07.029
That's when I started this whole thing is that

01:36:07.029 --> 01:36:09.850
Oregon has made a commitment, and I'm not just

01:36:09.850 --> 01:36:11.670
from the outside looking in. I'm not saying it's

01:36:11.670 --> 01:36:13.550
good, bad, or indifferent. They have made an

01:36:13.550 --> 01:36:14.859
investment. and a commitment to the football

01:36:14.859 --> 01:36:17.819
program. They've got a beautiful new basketball

01:36:17.819 --> 01:36:19.859
office. That new building next to MKU. It's been

01:36:19.859 --> 01:36:21.600
there for a couple years. It's beautiful. It's

01:36:21.600 --> 01:36:24.760
fantastic. Can you believe Matt Knight Arena?

01:36:25.380 --> 01:36:30.180
How old is it now? It's 2010, so 16 years. 16

01:36:30.180 --> 01:36:32.920
years old. That's crazy how old it is. And you

01:36:32.920 --> 01:36:34.739
know what? If this team is not good next year,

01:36:34.840 --> 01:36:36.180
it's going to be a ghost town, and it's going

01:36:36.180 --> 01:36:37.720
to be miserable. So that's why I say you can't

01:36:37.720 --> 01:36:39.479
do the dead coach walking. You either fund him

01:36:39.479 --> 01:36:41.659
or you fire him. Don't have a dead coach walking.

01:36:41.659 --> 01:36:42.960
All right, real quick, I'm just going to go around

01:36:42.960 --> 01:36:46.500
the table real fast. The first of the Sweet 16

01:36:46.500 --> 01:36:48.720
games tonight starts here in a few minutes right

01:36:48.720 --> 01:36:50.399
here on Fox Sports. Eugene Fox Sports in Newport.

01:36:50.460 --> 01:36:52.720
Who wins between Texas and Purdue? Goose. I've

01:36:52.720 --> 01:36:54.659
been in on Purdue all year. Purdue, you're wrong.

01:36:54.699 --> 01:36:56.720
I like Braden Smith and Purdue. They got a true

01:36:56.720 --> 01:36:58.390
point. I like that in this situation. Nebraska,

01:36:58.810 --> 01:37:01.229
Iowa. Ooh, all Big Ten right there. I would say

01:37:01.229 --> 01:37:05.670
Nebraska. Wrong. I am not a Hoiberg fan. I'm

01:37:05.670 --> 01:37:07.609
going to go with Iowa. If you don't like us,

01:37:07.609 --> 01:37:09.369
the Bulls? And you're still angry about the Bulls?

01:37:09.789 --> 01:37:12.640
Still, still. Arizona, Arkansas. I think it was

01:37:12.640 --> 01:37:14.680
one of the best games of the night. This is one

01:37:14.680 --> 01:37:16.520
I want to watch. It's going to be a 6 .45 tip

01:37:16.520 --> 01:37:19.680
our time. Yep. Give me Arizona in that one, but,

01:37:19.720 --> 01:37:21.680
yeah, that's going to be a fun one. Okay. Give

01:37:21.680 --> 01:37:24.119
me Acuff. I don't know. He's just electric. I

01:37:24.119 --> 01:37:26.100
wouldn't count him out. Well, Arizona 7 .5. This

01:37:26.100 --> 01:37:28.039
is about when Arizona always falls apart. It's

01:37:28.039 --> 01:37:30.600
always Sweet 16, Elite 8, one of those two. I

01:37:30.600 --> 01:37:32.420
don't have them moving on, so I'm taking Arkansas

01:37:32.420 --> 01:37:34.880
there. And then Houston, Illinois, which is another

01:37:34.880 --> 01:37:36.979
intriguing game. Yeah. I like Illinois in this

01:37:36.979 --> 01:37:38.359
game. I've been on Illinois all year long, but,

01:37:38.380 --> 01:37:40.560
man, this time of year, give me Kelvin Sampson

01:37:40.560 --> 01:37:42.630
over Brad Underwood. It feels like they're ready

01:37:42.630 --> 01:37:44.689
to win the big one at some point. Yeah, Houston.

01:37:45.210 --> 01:37:49.909
But I'll take Illinois. Oh, a joke! I got fired

01:37:49.909 --> 01:37:51.829
from the bank today. A woman asked me to check

01:37:51.829 --> 01:37:56.869
her balance, so I pushed her. Dad jokes! What's

01:37:56.869 --> 01:38:00.909
a mountain's favorite type of pet? It's a mountain's

01:38:00.909 --> 01:38:03.029
favorite type of pet. It can't be a mountain

01:38:03.029 --> 01:38:05.869
lion. It's a peaking dog or a peaking something?

01:38:06.350 --> 01:38:10.470
It's a rockwiler. A rockwiler. Did you get the

01:38:10.470 --> 01:38:12.149
satisfaction you were looking for? Absolutely.

01:38:12.569 --> 01:38:14.630
A peaking duck is what I meant to say. A peaking

01:38:14.630 --> 01:38:19.050
duck. We need to have a groan button on the hotkeys

01:38:19.050 --> 01:38:22.229
over there tomorrow. Two hours. Thanks, Goose.

01:38:22.329 --> 01:38:23.729
Yeah, that was fun. Thanks for having me on.

01:38:23.829 --> 01:38:25.949
All right. Tomorrow on the program, we're going

01:38:25.949 --> 01:38:29.369
to have Stitch Head talking about baseball, and

01:38:29.369 --> 01:38:31.909
he's going to be at the Oregon USCB Series. So

01:38:31.909 --> 01:38:33.869
put a smile on your face. Someone else, they

01:38:33.869 --> 01:38:36.710
deserve it. So do you. God bless. Basketball

01:38:36.710 --> 01:38:37.590
next. Peace.