This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera on Fox Sports fourteen fifth Day powered by Nova Insurance Services insure your most prized possessionets.
Good afternoon, everybody, Welcome to Why and the Ball here on Fox Sports Fortune fifty. I'm Steve Rivera in with me today is going to be Blake Eager and we got Henry at the controls. How you doing, Henry? Good?
Good good good? Uh.
Once you go to the door and grab and grab our guy, Blake, he's here now. Good afternoon, everybody, Welcome to Friday, the last show of the week. What a game last night, right, What a fantastic game and how they played, how hard they played. I don't think there are very many disappointed people out there, you know, talking about last night, but there could be. I think that
had they been blown out, had been different. But they didn't get blown out, and there was a lot of I don't know, inspiration on that team, and a post game they had a lot of very kind words about Caleb and in the year and how cool it was, if that's the right word. Cool. Blake, how were you?
I'm good.
Thanks for having me so I had to run up the stairs. That's fine. You get a little exercise here. Yeah, I need it?
Did you?
What did you think about the game last night?
Like, I'm sad today, and that sad because I'm frustrated because we lost, but kind of what you just hit on, I think watching it's sad because it's the last time we're going to see that team play.
Together, right, yeah, right?
And they worked their tails off this year to get to the point where they were, and yeah, I mean I love watching them play. I love the grit and it's I never say there's a good win or a good loss, right, but it was impressive what they were able to do last night.
Yeah.
I was talking about Henry off the air and we could talk about it again, Henry that had they been blown out by twenty twenty five, and that's what it looked like it was gonna cap, you know, like it was going. And then they made that rally, which was
very got cut it to five. I think, great, they did cut it to five and you're thinking, God, they might be able to pull this off with a couple of minutes left, and you think, God, this team has a lot inside of it because they didn't really get blown out this year, maybe twice, if not even blowouts. He just didn't play well.
I mean when iwa State game right, which was a revenge game, but it's still I mean, they were able to keep it somewhat close in that second.
Half, so maybe two three games, yeah, but last night was just you know, holy crap, they might be able to pull this off, and they played fairly well.
Yeah.
I mean, listen, you're down nineteen I think at one point, right, And the one thing I was thinking about all day to day when we were texting was I don't think there's a better way for Caleb Love to go out right.
I mean exactly right, exactly right.
That's going to go down as one of the greatest performances as a Wildcap because when you were down, we were down nineteen. Uve was down, sorry, Uve was down nineteen. He scored seventeen points. I was fifteen fifteen sorry, fifteen points straight straight. I mean, it's unbelievable what he was able to do. And he willed that team back into that game and we had a chance. And you know, we can pinpoint different situations in different circumstances. I don't
I hope you don't agree with me. Duke is Duke is more talented than we were, no question, Yeah, no question. But the heart that that that you've eighteen showed was it was incredible.
More talented and they had a better go to Yeah, because let me tell you if I'm if i'm their coach of shi or whatever I'm saying, when you're down on our side on the offensive side, give the ball to Yeah, it has to run through it. Give it to him. If he decides to shoot, we're okay with it. If he doesn't, we're okay with it.
Yeah.
When's the I mean, we were talking about this last night in our one of our group chats. When who's the last college basketball player that you've seen that's that good not just talented on the offensive side, but defensively, passing, dribbling.
That's a good question. I Mean, names are like, uh, Kevin Durant were thrown out. Yeah, okay, but did they see him or you guys must have been young when they Yeah. Yeah, God, there's so many good guys, right. The guy that that comes to mind, but I saw him just go off on Arizona stroll myle Swift and he says he was just so good in terms of athletically talented, Right, But not like this basketball guy, this guy. And I didn't see Larry Bird because I was in
seventy nine. I was like fifteen the time. The probably your friends saw Yeah, Drec and Larry Bird was fantastic, Michael and Michael magic conson And this is when you're impressionable, right fifteen, You're thinking, God, I want to beat these guys. It's hard to say, although you know, Jimmer for Debt was pretty damn good.
Yeah, but not defensively, No, no, no, no, are just I mean Flag had and I know they talked about it throughout the whole game, right, but Flag has the ability to turn the game around on both sides.
And he's kind of savvy. It's a savvy of knowing the right decisions to make. And you know that block that he had just came out of nowhere and YadA, YadA. And you know what, Caleb matched him, if not more, Oh yeah, you know Caleb them and like you said, you kept them. Both guys kept to each team in the game. I did think and I hate to bring this up because I don't do this. I don't do this. I may have done this one time this year, for the first time in forever. The refs were were were
what they were right. But it's not just one person thinking that it's nationally they're thinking of this.
When you have every analysis or analyst at the same time saying the same thing and it's not the call that's being called on the floor, right, there's a I think there's an inherent problem there, especially when you're talking about that flagrant call right that just happened with Bradley. It was exactly, in my mind, the same situation and in time in the game that could have turned in our favor and it wasn't. It wasn't a home. It would have bought a closer, it would have brought it closer.
You you know, you have a chance to meet I mean at the at the best case circumstance, at the five point swing, right at the worst case in circumstance, you're you know, you're still it was what.
It was, right, Yeah. But it's funny because I saw something today MS and something that whatever it was, and they talked about the refs, right, talked about the refts and the refs. They're asking there's going to petition these three should not move forward, blah blah blah, and not one came from Arizona side. There were all tweets from the duke. Yeah, so it wasn't just one side, No, no, it was both it both sides were disappointed. I thought I had never seen this, like maybe you have the
charge block. Yeah, either it's one or the other.
Yeah, I don't know how they determined that that was. That was a weird That was a weird time frame in the game that I think my wife and I were going back and forth going what the heck, Like, I've never seen this in all the years that I've been watching college.
But you had chocolate in your peanut butter, you know what? What the hell? In fran Fochela even tweeted about this. It was He called it a blarge and what the hell? He says, I've never seen this either, And there's some some questions about this call from the outside.
Yeah.
Yeah, And there was a few of those, and to be honest, on both sides, Yeah yeah, the bucking holds, yeah, the hook and holds. The I mean there was some I don't know, some fouls download that you're going even for them, You're going that doesn't I don't think any ay touched anybody.
Right, So that didn't really it affected the game as it was, but you know, you don't want to blame that on anything, no, because it was both sides. But I thought it was an entertaining game. It was a point there I said Arizona might be able to pull this off, which would be a huge miracle. And then I was watching some of the other game at the same time. I'm thinking, these guys are going to pull this off.
Yeah, well, I mean, I you know, I wasn't going to turn the channel. But then you go back and watch, You're well, you go back and watch the last six minutes of the Texas Tech game, You're going, what is happening? Like that's that was incredible to you know, it's it's kind of strange. I don't know how you feel about this. You know, growing up, I always rooted for Pack ten or Pac twelve teams that were in it, and that
if we weren't in it. I don't have that same feeling about the Big Twelve yet, really, but but but I still, you know, Texas Tech is kind of very similar I think to U of A, especially this year. So I was really hoping that they would pull it off because I think it's a good group, similar coaching style, similar talent level. And to watch them pull that off against Arkansas and I any team in the SEC, I have no.
Loe and topons a lot like uh, Caleb in as much as they move around him. Yeah, he's the guy that stirs that drink. Yeah, yeah, no. But to your point to begin, is Caleb, what a way to go out? What a way to go out? He's going to be Uh if he has I don't know if he drinks or not, you know, but if he goes to the bar and he has to pay for drink, shame on you.
Yeah.
If he's in Tucson drinking and he's paying for drinks, that's there's a problem there. I don't care what anybody says. And you can you can you know the two years that we've had to these ups and downs to people on message board saying this or that, you cannot ever speak ill of love?
Right.
The funny thing is, did you see any of the press comments to read any of the quests we went over it this morning? Yeah, so so it was a love fest. Yeah, it was a love for all for all the reasons that it should have been a love test. Right.
Uh.
And the thing is the V SARS V Stars comments. I don't think the Do you think the media had a lot of the hatred. I think there's more of the people.
Yeah, I don't. I never really got that feeling. I mean there were times there was questions asked, but never a hatred. I think I think you have a fans more so, Henry, just because you follow it.
To I think it kind of just was a perception that might have carried him from North Carolina, right, yeah, right, and maybe being a ball hog or or whatever in addition to other things probably were not pretty to know about. But but really, I mean, come on and and last night, if he was a wallhog, which he which he he needed to be in fact, you aren't you thinking, yeah, in fact for another games? Yeah? So how come you could have taken over other games?
Yeah?
I Henry's absolutely right. Yeah, you know, I think it's I think it is perception at this point. But I mean, if you watch the evolution of him as a facilitator and defensively this year, I don't know where the question stands. I mean, it was just it was unbelievable. It was unbelievable to watch them put up ninety three points institute team. But that's you know, average heights is what six eight?
Yeah, it was dominating in that Arizona had no chance. It was overwhelming.
Yeah, you know, I mean even with Vassar and uh At, you know they call seven foot, he's probably closer to seven to one. He just doesn't have the same yet, the same kind of dominance and presence down low that the bigs had. And then I mean, you just don't. It's a generational player and Flag you don't see that. Yeah, I know he's not flashy, he's not that. He's just good. Yeah, he's a workhorse. He's a blue collar workhorse.
That's why you know, if if the kids today, the Tanneries of the world, how impressed were you a flag? Yeah? Okay, So to your what's your question to me? Who's the last god bubble?
Yeah?
Who's the last time? Did you'll know this because you fall this?
Yeah? Who?
I mean? For you, Henry, who's the last person the best college player I've ever watched him?
Oh?
Really? Okay?
And there's I don't know if that you can especially in his life lifetime. I don't think you can argue that.
You know, because you're twenty something and you've bobably been following since you're twelve or whatever. Paid attention, right, not the stats, but the way he controls the game exactly. He's the He's on a chessboard, he's the he could do whatever you want, you can move wherever you wanted to. So growing up, like I say, Larry Bird to me, you know, Lebron didn't go to college Carmelo. I mean he had that great stretch. I didn't cover Sean, but
he was Sean. Here was I tweeted last night. I don't think you and I our tweet Twitter friends, right or whatever, And I said, I've been covering this team since ninety one, day to day under Loot, a little day to day under Sean, and a little day to day under Tommy. But I only remember three dudes taking over like Caleb did last night. Kalid a time or two, but not to this degree. Uh Salim every now and again. And David Sanomar. Oh, you just give him the ball and get the hell out.
Of the way.
Well, I guess maybe this is a better question because you've been around the game and you've seen so many games for the University of Arizona, what what performance would you put up there with kleb b loves Oh.
The first thing that comes to my is two. There's two Khalid's game against Michigan when he had I think it was forty three here in the in the Little Wlson Classic or the fest About Classic ninety four, ninety three, ninety four I won. And two when Damon went for forty two forty two against Stanford over there, I think it was overtime and he just took control of the game and won the game for u A against a damn a good Stanford team. Would you put Derek Williams
in there for the last time they played Duke? Yeah?
See?
And I wasn't there. It's one of the games I did not go to, probably probably in fact, as I was waiting for quotes last night and the press converence, I flipped on YouTube and that game and then that's when the second half happened, and Derek was like dunking and having this great moments and they were getting away from Duke. Maybe maybe, but I can't remember it specifically
because I was not there. So the two first few examples you gave were during well, I mean one was a preseason tournament, one was regular season right for who glid Reve was a festible class again so.
Preseason tournament for pre conference tournament right, and then in the Dame it was during So but I mean to do this in a Sweet sixteen performance against which, now that I've seen Duke, I'm I'm a little disapointed. I picked Houston to win the whole thing because I'm like, I don't know if it's I still think I do you do I do Florida or Houston.
Yeah, I don't know. Maybe anyway Florida. I play Florida and I still think they're the better team. Houston. I love Houston. I love Houston because they're I think if they played Duke they can rough them up.
They can.
I thought Arizona would be able to do some of that. It just didn't enough. I don't think you had this. I don't think you. I don't know if you've had this size to do it. I think they did the best they possibly could with what they had. Yeah, what did you say about the game? About the game in terms of I was on a plate computer game all season. By the way they played offensive, I mean, I I don't know if you can disagree with it. I mean you hang ninety three points on a Duke team that
hasn't given up. Seventy eight was the highest. Yeah so, and I mean like it's it's ridiculous, and you still could have gotten better played from a couple of people.
I think there was a couple open threes down that stretch. Now, you're not going to make him all the time Duke made. I thought most of, if not all their open looks from three point land, and I think we missed three of our last four down the stretch.
Yeah, no, let's go because Todd's gonna call. We'd have Todd hold House at three seventeen and Pete Williams at four seventeen today, So let's go.
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Breaking down all the xs it ohs.
This is I on the Ball with Steve Ravera.
On Blox Sports fourteen fifty.
Welcome back to Wind the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifteen. I'm Steve Bava and with me today is break Eager and we have Henriette to control boards. Now on the phone, we have Todd Holdouse from pem UP Women's Basketball. Todd, how are you?
I'm doing great. How are you guys doing?
We're doing fine? Thank you. Congratulations on what it was a fantastic season.
Oh, it was Yeah, it was. It was fantastic.
I think that it was something that as time goes by, you just look back and you're just going to be even more proud of it, you know, realizing all the things that were accomplished and what we did last week was truly incredible.
Do you how can I say this? Is it a great high where it takes you a while to come down from? Or do you have like two days and then you have to worry about next year?
No, it's it's taken me a few days, just because it's so intense for you know, for a week. So we played four games in six days, and so the more you're winning, obviously, the higher this and the more pressure you put on yourself to make sure the kids are ready. And so once I got home Sunday night, my wife can attest to the fact that it's taken me till about today to kind of get back up and get moving.
And as much as you want to, you're just drained.
And so yeah, probably it's a good feeling though, you know what I mean, Like it was because you just left it all out there and so that's a great feeling. And now we'll celebrate it in a few ways and then we'll get ready for next year.
So just real quick before Blake comes in, is it a kind of a I don't know, a depressing feeling too, where all this excitement in those six days and even leading up to that the six days, and then you finally realize, what am I going to do? Now? I have no game to go to.
No.
It totally is like that, and I think it's like that for coaches and for players because you just get used to a certain routine and then all of a sudden, it's just all over and.
You never plan on an ending. Now.
The nice part is we knew that Saturday night was going to be our last game no matter what, So that part of it's kind of satisfying. But then you know, come Monday morning, you don't have weights, you don't have conditioning, you don't have study table do You just kind of look around and the normalcy has been disrupted. And so I think it takes not just the coaches. I know the players are so used to that structure. It just takes a few a few days to kind of get
through it. And then you kind of you know, we'll start doing some preseason stuff in the spring and the sophomores that want to join us are obviously going to be welcome to come in participate too, because they're athletes and they want to you know, they're they're just used to things a certain way.
Hey, Todd, this is Blake.
I ended up having a coffee with Edgar Soto yesterday and he was just singing your praises, and I just want to say congratulations in the season.
That's amazing.
The run that you guys had and what you were able to do is uh, it's monumental for the not only for the city, of the community and and hopefully for your future athletes.
So I do have a question.
And then you're being into it and you're you're in that routine and you're going and every single day you wake up and you understand what the end goal is, or you hope you understand what the end goal is. Did you have a chance during this run to step back and kind of take it all in.
I don't think as coaches you allow yourself to because we were we had such good momentum going that I didn't want to be the guy that screwed it up. So we uh, we got rolling after our you know, our last loss, was at Scottsdale, and I think it was twelve or thirteen games ago, and at that point we kind of had like our looking in the mirror
meeting because we had lost back to back. We lost Ta Mesa and Scottsdale back to back, and you know, the point is to try to be playing your best at the end of the year.
And it was after that loss at Scottsdale that I just.
Kind of had everybody kind of evaluate themselves, not so much other people, but really evaluate ourselves and decide.
What we want to do going forward.
Because as coaches, we knew what we were capable of, and so just taking that moment to kind of reflect and move forward was probably the spurning point of our season. And then you know, you don't allow yourself to stop while it's going, and you know how superstitious coaches are. If you get into a rhythm, you don't want to be a guy that screws it up. So yeah, we just kept going. I've never heard of superstition before. Is that a thing we talked about that two days ago?
You kept talking about your superstitions because it'll screw it up. But Todd as you as you had that self reflections a few games ago, twelve games ago, did you find out something different or something more that you didn't know about this team?
Yeah, I think I think it was good good for them.
I think I knew what we were capable of, but I don't play, so it's up to the kids to figure it out. And what I told them that day is that the stuff that we go through each day is tough, and so you just have to be tough. And everybody had to be just a little bit tougher
and a little bit tougher together. And once they started rolling, they kind of got into a nice rhythm and rotations got figured out, so everybody got comfortable in their role and it just kind of kept building, you know, And last week was kind of the climax of it, because, you know, we were seeded sixth, but along the way, you know, we beat we beat the ten seed, we beat the sixth or the three seed, then we beat the two seed, and for the championship they had to
play the four seed. But we were definitely playing our best basketball at the end of the year, and I think it was because the kids kind of looked at each other and decided that, you know, we have the talent. Now it's good about all the little intangible things and accountability things, and so I was just proud of them, because for a group of twenty year olds to figure that out, it doesn't happen very often.
I was asking, I asked Brian Peabody a couple of days the same question, At what point did you know that this group was special?
I think I knew that point when we went up to Masa on February twenty second, and they had beaten us the previous two times, and so in our conference you play everybody three times, and so this is our third time in the regular season against Mesa and they were two and aero against us going in there, but then all of a sudden their place, it just kind of all came together, and you guys know that our story rivalry between Mesa and US goes back, you know,
as long as I've been here. And it was that moment where they looked at each other after the buzzer went off and we had defeated Masa at Mesa, they knew what they were capable of, and then to go up there on the region championship game and beat them again at their place really sealed the deal, because you know, we beat them at their place for a region championship and got cut down their nets, and I think that first win at mesa kind of clicked in for them
and they realized what they were capable of.
How does this run and the success that you've had recently specific to this year, though, how does this make you guys move forward? I'm assuming that maybe you'll get calls from people you never heard from before.
Yeah, and I'm sure Brian is the same way. The more success we have, I won't say the easier it is to recruit, but it definitely makes the quality of recruits better because they understand and they see what we do on a yearly basis and they want to be part of that.
So that part of it's easier.
And then you know, as coaches, we get to be a little bit more selective in terms of the types of kids we want to bring in. We don't have to rush to sign kids. We can kind of wait our turn and you know, wait for them to kind of come to us because the portal makes everything a little bit crazy. So now you have two went to four year schools out of high school. It didn't like their freshman year or didn't play their freshman year that
are maybe looking for another start. So you know, it kind of has changed how we recruit, you know, in this modern era of the portal.
Yeah, no, Brian benefited from that with Marley for sure.
Yeah.
So okay, do you have you done that too or no?
Not yet, not to that extent.
I think women basketball players, I don't think they jump into the portal as quick.
As guys do.
I think they think they value their education and they want to make sure that if they do go in the portal that it's not going to set them back with their academics as well. So we've had a couple.
I mean Kylie.
Kylie wasn't necessarily a portal kid, but she was gonna go D one out of high school and then kind of sat back and said, you know what, the rat race is a little crazy. I'm gonna go to Juco and get at my footing underneath me. And then you know, she went out and had an amazing year this year. So we've benefited, maybe not directly from the portal, but the existence of the portal.
Probably we've got to call it's I think it's a d on the line. She wants to disagree with you with the women jumping into the portal just real quick. So are you a better coach now?
Yeah?
I think I'm I've gotten better over the years. I don't know if you're compared to me that I'm a better coach now than I first started, I think. And I think the big reason for that is I've had daughters now that have grown up, so I learned a lot.
That's bad.
Yeah, I've learned a lot being a dad of young females and them, you know, kind of cluing me into certain things that different between men and women. And obviously I got to coach Analyst the last couple of years, which was magical, and I'll always cherish those memories too.
Well what inside, because that's bardy very true, right you get Yeah, you have one, so you know you know a little more and they dad.
This absolutely And I like coaching like and I always I always tried, like I want to. I want to learn too, So I don't ever want to get to a point where I'm just content and think I know it all about basketball. I think the fun part for both Brian and I each year is that is essentially a new chemistry experiment every year. And so you're flopping out at least half your roster usually. Yeah, and to
maintain success over eighteen years, uh is rewarding. I think I like the wins and losses, but when I look back, it'll be it'll be gratifying to know that we were relevant for you know, twenty years and and then region championship all those years. And so just the ability to adapt to a you know, the climate has been a lot of fun.
Yeah.
Ton you just said something that I don't think a lot of people can grasp is that you essentially lose half your roster every year. Right, so if you're a four year coach, you might turn over you know, three maybe five people. I mean, you're turning over half the roster. How do you deal with that year in and year out? Do you have a formula that you try to go into the season with and end the season with or does it just change from a year in to year out?
Basis.
I always like to explain it, like we have a certain philosophy, Like there's certain things we like to do and want to be really good at that being like half courtman defense, and we want to push the ball.
And then you know, I have great assistant coach. Pete Fajardo is what I would call my recruiting coordinator, and Pete and I have been together for twelve years now, and he just loves going out and going to tournaments and watching high school games, AAU games, and we look for certain types of kids and he kind of identifies them and then we, you know, bring him down to visit.
We always try to. I always categorize.
Myself as when it comes to recruit the more of a sniper than a shotgun guy, where I'd like to pick out the kids that we want to be part of our program as opposed to offer a bunch of kids, and then it's first come, first serve, And so we've kind of developed that as our formula. But obviously we stick to our philosophy of good man defense, rebound strong,
and push the tempo. And then as we get the kids in, we may tinker some of our offensive sets, and we might do some things differently on defense in certain instances, but for the most part, that's kind of our formula.
How involved are you with your outgoing sophomores and their recruitment process for the next next level?
Super involved? In fact, I probably sent out about.
Four hundred emails today just for our sophomores that want to go on now, because not all of them want to go on, but the ones that do want to go on, I want to them Holmes, because that's their future. And so I take a great deal of pride in watching those kids go on and use basketball as a tool to get out of college with less loans, with a degree, so that they can go back to wherever it is they want to go and produce, you know,
what they want to do in life. And so I take a great deal of pride in it, and I work hard at it, and we've been at it a long time. So the nice part is PIMA has a good reputation in terms of the type of kids we put out every year, and so college coaches, four year coaches, really value that and they know what kind of kid they're getting when they get a PEMA kid.
I know that sounds like a silly question because I think the general public just expects that to happen. But as a kid that played at a junior college, I'm a juco athlete. My juco coach didn't help me at all. I don't think he ever made a phone call for me. I mean, I know he picked up the phone to tell Scouts not to draft me because Scout's told me after my sophomore year.
Really, so like for.
People don't realize is Todd what you do is incredible. And those athletes later on in life, when they become a full blown adult and hopefully mature, which I'm still trying to do, we have a lot of people to think or not a ton of people to think in our lives for our career path or our life path. You are one of those people. And from a Juco athlete, I want to say thank you for that, because it takes a lot of it takes a special person to
do that. So what you're doing is incredible, Todd, and I want to thank you for that.
Well.
I appreciate that I too was a Juco kid, and I wouldn't be where I am without Coach Mason at Waldorf College in Iowa if he wouldn't have taken a chance on a skinny high school senior in Iowa that was far from being fully developed, and so he took a chance on me. And because of that, I learned the value of junior college and what it can do. And I think that I'm never going to be rich, but I hope that I can make the world a
little bit better by producing good people. So that's kind of a whole mission behind us.
That's that's nice, that's let me ask you a dumb question. But it's just an optionality from my past. So Arizona, and you know I've covered Arizona forever. So they win the title in ninety seven and no one thought possible. They don't do it in ninety eight when you thought it was possible. But in two thousand and one they finished second with a great team and a great run. But no one talks about two thousand and one, right, even though I think that's the best team that ever
Arizona ever had. Now you finished second, is it a disappointment that you didn't win at all? How do you think eventually when in ten years that the team will be looked at?
Well, I think the thing that I know for a fact is the group that went through it, all the team, the coaches, the managers, athletic personnel, they'll they'll always value it. And so for me, that's all I really need to know. And you know, I think as I was sitting there Saturday getting ready for the game. This is the second national championship I've been in, and we came up short in twenty eleven as well, But I never looked back
and regretted it. I mean, I wanted it to I wanted to win because I wanted to see I wanted to see the kids cut down a net and just like the unbelievable joy that that would get to give team of their first national championship in women's basketball.
And so that part of it's a little bit disappointing.
But I know for a fact that these ladies walked away with so much pride and a sense of accomplishment that that's good enough for me. Now, one of these days, I hope we do win it, because I'm tired of coming close. So competitor, the competitor in me is gonna keep going. But I also know that the value of the memories that the kids made, you know, last week, will always stick with them.
Well to that point, I talked to Cosgroove a lot. Obviously he's had a lot of great success, won a couple of national titles, and I said this to Brian, I think on Monday, you're a car salesman. You sold ten cars twenty cars this month, you got to do? What do you got to do the next month? Twenty two? Twenty five cars?
Right?
So you finished second? How do you repeat something like this because you felt the joy and the pain.
Yeah.
I think the good part is that we have kids coming back that were a big part of coming that close, So they'll be hungry. And I think that the kids that we have already signed for next year and the few that we have left to sign will have to fall in line in terms of what expectations we set. Because the thing that I learned most more than anything last week was that we're just as talented as anybody there. And so there's nobody, there's nobody that's without, you know,
not within our reach, you know. And Ethics was the two seed, and we played them in the semi finals and they were averaging ninety five a game, and they thought they were world beaters, and they only had one loss going into the game. But the kids found a way to come back from seven down and with fifty two seconds left to tie it up and send it to overtime. And so just that belief in knowing that you're that close and you're good enough to do it will fuel us next year.
Well, no, fantastic, tog. Congratulations again.
I appreciate it. I love I love getting on here with you guys, So I appreciate it. I love being from Tucson. I love representing Tucson. So they have a pretty special thing in our in our city. So it's always fun.
Great.
Wait, don't don't say you love it too much, because I'm gonna have you in as a guest host this summer. You guys are gonna do.
Yeah radio, you guys are gonna do a remote out at uh somewhere on the concrete somewhere right here.
Yeah, yeah, Hey, I'm gonna hold you to it.
Tom, Thank you, man, I might.
Thanks Tom. Yeah, thanks Matt.
Oh, appreciate you guys. Thank you.
All right, take care. We got to go take a break and then come back and just maybe take some calls. If you're an Arizona men's basketball fan, you know it's been successful for nearly forty years. Now take a look back at the Ludolsen era in my new book, Lessons from lut It was a labor of love through the eyes of twenty five former players, coaches, and friends to give insight to the coach and the man who led them, competed against them and inspired them. Twenty five chapters for
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This is I on the Ball with Steve Ravera on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. Subscribe now to the podcast on the iHeartRadio while just search Ie on the Ball.
Hey, welcome back to My the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera. In with me today is Blake Eager from.
Southern Arizona Sports Tourism and film authority, and we got Henry from.
His mama, New York, New York. Hey, if you guys want to call and talk about last night's game, even the naysayer vic Vic, I didn't hear from you last night, so I guess the game was okay for you. You want to give me a quick call because ck Vic is the one that kind.
Of what the hell?
Oh, he's just always angry, just always, you know, what the hell? Turnover here because he just satisfied. Only if they win by twenty points yesterday he can send me a go Cats. You know he's all happy. Call him mister front runner.
Yeah, I mean, maybe he needs to move to the city up north and fair a fair Weather fan. He'll never do that, You'll never do because he loves the Cats. He loves the cats, but you know, and there's a few others obviously, right who. I didn't see very many bad comments last day from the game, because you usually say, ah, this is companying, this is not happening, YadA YadA, yeah, and I didn't. Maybe I didn't see it often enough or check off enough, but there were very few, very
few things said that went bad. I mean, uh, what what would you have decided? I mean KG was being kJ, yeah, but defensively he was. I mean, what do you what do you want from? I mean that is who he is? Right, So when you say love is love, kJ is KG? Right, right right? You gotta take with the good with the bad. Yeah, absolutely, yeah, we gotta call who's this? You're on the on the air?
Well, Steve, you bind me lunch?
Why is that?
Well?
You gave me points?
No no no no, no, no no no. I told you to take the points. You better made some money to move into the foothills, sir. I told, I told everybody who listened, and I wrote a story, and I wrote a story yesterday that Arizona covers most of the time. I think I think they've they've covered thirteen now, thirteen of eighteen, and anybody who is smart enough to take the points got some money.
So you what you're telling me is you're not going to honor your art.
Bet No.
So what you're telling me is is as you're making up stories. I have a witness here. You did you didn't say double or nothing? Last time? We couldn't figure out that was what was war. Yeah, we didn't know what the hell you were talking about. It also points out that you don't pay attention to anything I say, which is sad.
Oh come on now, brother, I love you anyway.
Actually, hey, there's a lot of that.
I'll tell you what I was dismissed the flag. This kid is a baller, yeah, and I am, and I'm you know, if he were to stay one more year, he could make a ton of money with then I am.
Oh, yeah, no, he's gonna make a ton. He's the first overall pick. Yeah, he's the number one pick. He's gonna make a ton.
I know he's the first overall pick. But if you put this in perspective, you realize how much better he's what eighteen, barely eighteen years old. No, he can't even go he can't even go out with the guys and have a beer.
Yeah, no, No, he won't be able to do that next year. Either. But let me tell you here's the question. What about Kobe Bryant. What's he gonna do? Kobell him? I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Carter What I think Kobe?
Kobe?
Yeah, Carter Bright, I don't think, maybe a psychic. I don't think we know what he's gonna do. I apologize, Carter Bright.
You have a media in there. Yes, I think, in all seriousness, I think one more year would do him a ton of good.
Yeah, I think you're really doing Yeah.
I think he needs to physically, he needs to build up and then another five ten pounds and defensively. And somebody pointed out something really important and I don't forget where I read it, but it was about the fact is in Europe they play a lot. They played, you know, club ball all the time, and they learn how to pick. And Duke did an amazing job on the pick and rolls and the you know, making themselves available and putting up a strong pick for their guys to break in.
I think that was real evident when you look at the way they played that game, they played like it was almost European club ball. Versus college ball last night. They were very, very impressive. You got to tip your hat and you know, appreciate what the Cats gave Tucson. They really we have a lot to be proud of.
I think that's the way it should be today and moving forward. Right, Okay, thanks for thanks.
Thank you.
Still try to pride me out of a lunch? I know I don't. Does he have a Have you ever taken him to lunch?
Yeah?
Yeah, he's paid. Well, he paid because he lost the bet to me. Oh so you only you only sure up when you no, no, no, have lost time? Yeah, I'm putting on my text. He owned me so much.
Oh you're claiming hasn't a Yeah, so we just said something interesting. So to get back to Carter Bryant, I almost said Kobe as well? Uh does he stay for another year? Because I mean you think about the great signing that we just had yesterday morning. Who's coming is co o Pete? I mean that was listen. I I my my cousin and my dad and my uncle because we're in a group chat. And the whole year I've been like swooning over this kid, right because if you
if you watch any of his tape. It's unbelievable but very similar player and Carter Bryant and co A Pete. So do you think Carter Bryant stays?
I don't know.
If he's guaranteed to go in the top fifteen, you got to go. If he goes in the top twenty five, maybe you stay. I'm sure he's getting a ton of money for next year. How much money is actually a lot of money? And how much do you really need right here? Be a sophomore? Realistically, he probably should come back.
He should come back. How much stock he'll improve is anybody's guessed because the NBA values potential and he has all that, right, and are there and we I don't know if you've seen a lot of college ball, but but are there twenty better people better than him in college?
Right now?
And you're talking, you're talking from a you're talking from an NBA standpoint, So you're you're going off ceiling. What's the ceiling?
Right?
I think he probably argually as one of the highest ceilings in college top twenty yeah, right, right, and he hasn't reached it. Obviously that was not even happening there probably no I.
Think he you know, you're probably looking at sixty percent fifty five to sixty percent of what Carter Bryant can possibly be. It's a tough conversation to have, right, I do think you have a lot of areas to improve. You've's got to be one of the best colleges for development. I don't think there's an argument there. Maybe you try
to argue that. I think, if I'm a college athlete or high school athlete and I'm looking to develop, and I know that I have another step in my game, uve's got to be in my top five schools that I would go to.
So let me ask you this, I think, maybe correct me if I'm wrong. Guys, he came here with the intention, or at least not with his intention, but our observations were that he was going to be won and done.
Yeah, I mean that's what I mean from the get go. I think he went for He was anywhere from six to twelve when he stepped.
On came okay, So that probably hasn't changed. At least the perceptions are or that he's going to leave rather than stay. Right, So there's that if he leaves, no one should be upset because that's what the projection was.
I don't think you can get upset with athletes anymore in this day and age. Whether he goes into I mean even if you went into the transfer portal, which I would think would be kind of silly, but that would be a money thing.
I don't know.
It's such a weird time frame for college athletes at this point. But if he does stay and you have co opete, then do you you think kJ leaves them?
No?
I don't kJ. No, No, what's he going to do? I mean unless he gets more money? And that's the sad part of it, because somebody else is going to lure you away with more money. And at the end of the day, is that really what you want to do? Happiness for money? Yes, I guess when you're in nineteen twenty. Are you asking a nineteen year old blue that on question where I grew up? Yeah, I'm asking a forty two year old Blake, which I mean no, absolutely not. You don't need to say my age out loud because
you could be right or you could be wrong. Just gonna say, but you don't want to throw me under the bus. Uh, sixty year old Steve, I don't know why you start over when you have what you have here and people trust you and people love you.
It's the same conversation we have with Sean Miller right leaving to Texas. And I get that, you get it, but I mean, Xavier took you a second gave you a second chance at a coaching op.
You would you date. Here's here's my analogy for the Kobe thing and that Kobe thing the Carter thing. Yeah, and it's probably a dumb analogy, but Okay, you meet the supermodel, you meet the supermodel, and you know that, uh that, but you know that you and your date, but you know that she's gonna cheat on you and leave you after nine months. And Carter is that situation. You know you're gonna get them for one year and possibly leave you for do you do Dater?
I mean, that's a strange analogy to put towards college athletes. But but you understand what I'm saying is that super model gonna give me a better chance of winning a national championship.
It's gonna make you look good. Then you probably you probably take that chance. Yeah.
So yeah, it's a you know, it's a it's a weird it's a weird time frame. I've said it multiple times. I keep saying it over and again, but I'm so excited for what we just had in this season. And I know the reason why I don't want it to end because I've watched this team grow and grow and grow, and then as soon as it's done, the conversation turns into who's leaving.
Well, I mean, come on here, good point. Let me say this because last night it was like five minutes after the game and I started seeing that who's staying and who's going.
I'm thinking people don't know how to enjoy the moment, enjoy the moment, step back and watch what just happen. That's why I was asking Todd earlier. At any point and from a coaching standpoint, I know it's really difficult, but there's got to be a time where you take five minutes to yourself and you step back and you go, man, this was pretty incredible what we were able to do, or this is pretty incredible what we're able to do
right now in this moment. But you're right, I mean five minutes after the game where I mean, there's a group text that I'm in that people are like, Okay, well, who's leaving now? Because CoA Pete's coming in and it's like, I don't want to think about that, you know. I want to enjoy this team for what this team was, uh and for what they gave us as fans. Yeah, okay, so we'll see, we'll see what happens.
So we'll see. We're moving forward. Yeah, you know what else yesterday was?
Right?
Anybody should be a national holiday?
There you go, and you know what else happened yesterday is MLB the app and the MLB TV.
What's it working?
So we go?
I tell you, I go in my dad's house every year. I've done it since we were like, I mean took me out of school when I was twelve. I think probably actually elementary school, so I was younger than that.
Uh.
We have we have friends that come over to the house to watch the games, and we're sitting there trying to get the Guardians game on. And MLB completely doesn't work on opening day, Like what is what's happening? Like you literally even spend your whole off season. I'm preparing for this one moment and then nothing. So I know, Steve, You're not a baseball guy. So no, I am a baseball guy. He's just not as much as you are.
Well, that's because you don't like baseball players, which is strange that I'm here. What are you talking about? Baseball player? We were talking about from a just a next Yeah, well, I'm assuming when you said that the JC guys didn't didn't the Jayse coaches didn't endorse you, you must have been.
Okay, I would say you're correct, So I would. I would more, I wouldn't normally say that. Here's my argument against it. Todd Engelheart, who's still the head coach at Coaches College, is the one that helped me get recruited and helped me get to the Northwood Summer League that put me on a national attention level. Like, so, if I was a pay in the butt, maybe I was. Other coaches wanted to help me, just not my own. So maybe you're right.
Yeah.
Funny story though, I mean, my junior year, the Saint Louis Cardinals scout called me and was talking to me and he was like, yeah, I want to draft you last year, but your head coach told me. Your coach at Eastern told me not to. And I was like, it'd been nice to like know, why did you ever talk to him again?
No?
I have no interest, really no interests. Yeah, I'm still run and I still deal with Eastern a lot. Like I still give a lot of credit to Eastern Arizona College, like phenomenal. I love thatcher, I love that area. But yeah, I'll never have a conversation with him again. Okay, let's go come back, do some breaking news yep.