This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera on Fox Sports fourteenth fIF day powered by Nova Insurance Services in sure your most prized possessionets.
Hey, good afternoon, everybody. Welcome to I on the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera, and today with me is Michael Quinn. Yep, we got ready at the control, so we should be okay. I thought you guys didn't enter the portal, get lost portal. Thank you for now entering the portal at least today tomorrow. I don't know what the hell's gonna happen. The only one that's not in the portal at this point. Yes, another guy bites the dust or doesn't like the bench smell whatever.
Yeah, yeah, exactly, Manuel Stefan, you don't watch yeah, So how many people are are? Are we losing out of a so far to so far? Breck anything? No, no, tick tick tick. The clock is on. You're on the clock. See what happens. Both of them not surprising. We talked about KG last week. I think it was, uh, Emmanuel, not a shock, you know, go somewhere else. I don't even know if he was Arizona good. But that's that's not me. I just read it somewhere else. You know,
it's like kill play somewhere else. But I mean, I'm not.
Sure that he's Yeah.
Well, you know, I think he's a perfect fit for Houston, perfect fit for Houston. They played defense, he could score. Eventually, he'll score better because he couldn't score.
The much this year. Yeah, I wrote over the weekend.
Maybe we didn't talk about it Friday because he hadn't done it yet, but I had said I was not surprised because the fans have given him a lot of grief.
Online and really the internet.
Yeah, they were there on him and he I think he acknowledged that last week or two weeks ago with and his mom chimed in.
She was proud of him. But YadA YadA, of course, like any mom would do.
Right.
But but he hadn't played that well, you know, he hadn't played that well.
Oh yeah great, but you know, you know, so he ran the offense.
Well, it was clear that that Lloyd wanted him to push the ball. I think a lot of times he pushed the ball too much, too fast, Yeah, faster than he was able to.
Yeah.
Well, it's like it's like you and your head in your mouth. Sometimes your mouth goes ahead of your head.
Yeah.
Well I rarely bite my fingers anymore, but when I ate, But I think I know what you're talking about.
Yeah, you just I mean, for him all the respect, he came into the year very highly talented, I think among the NBA hopefuls right sure, in the in the lock drafts, and then he just didn't have that year. But I think part of the reason is one he didn't you know. He according to the rewards of the story was that he requested to go to the bench and give them more of a boostuff bench And that was according to him. You know, Tommy said it was him. Maybe that wasn't true that he wanted to be a starter.
The thing is, too, is I think that Tommy had already found his groove with the starters. There was no question that kJ was better than a couple of guys that he had started. But once you got that group going, you you stick with it, right, you kind of go with what you got and then you know your routine.
KG. You'll come off the bench to what he does and work is magic. Yeah, I don't know. I I thought he was.
He certainly, like I said, he would turn the ball over and you'd be like, oh, come.
On, dude. Yeah, and not just once or twice.
Yeah, not just once or twice, but it'd be like it'd be like, hey, great defensive play, got the ball, driving the ball down, fumble, fumble.
It's like, oh, come.
On, And that's what upset the fan base. Yeah, but see, that's the thing about it.
If you're going to go fast, you're going to make those mistakes, and got to be willing to make those mistakes. Sure, you know there's you know, Magic Johnson turned the ball over to you know, trying to run or in the Lakers fast offense. But yeah, you're gonna make You're gonna make those mistakes. And that's a trader, trader if you got to have Uh could he have been better with the ball, Sure, but I'm not sure. I don't know if he's a point guard to a prototypical point No.
He's not, all said the Caleb's not a typical point guard either the ball the ball, it's hard to handle. I we just don't know if we live I kind of know that we live in a time like that. No one's ever happy and money is involved here. Ray would you agree when he's involved here, but no one's ever happy. And I can get some more here, somebody be appreciated somewhere else, and then go there and get another divorce.
Yeah well grasshows Grenner. That's the thing about it. It's like going, you know, you don't like what you're doing here. Well, look I can go somewhere, you know, I'm going to go get promised the world again. Uh, somewhere else. We got a call right by the way. Hello, you're on the air on Eye on the ball. Who's this this?
And Brian, how's it going?
Bryan? Fine? Good, good first call. What's up?
Well, not surprising the guys are leaving. It's you know, just the way it's going to be. And you know, come around October we'll find out who.
Our roster is. Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure basically it right. No, No, I mean totally agree.
About the same the same thing as Boswell last year.
Yeah, yeah, no.
The thing about us now, it's all speculation on everybody, right. I think you'll know when you know, let's just kind of be paid. Although that's asking like the world to end or world to be safe and free.
Yeah, but what else are we going to talk? About Yeah.
It's like, okay, yeah, you gotta get coffee cake recipe, right, which, by the way, my sister's got a great coffee cakes. I get a shout out to my sister. Okay, So Brian, go ahead.
It just it just uh, you know, it makes it difficult for the fans only the fact do you want to get season tickets because buy him now? Because you have no idea what kind of roster you're going to have. You know, at least in the past you had a basic idea of what your roster was going to be sure, but.
Now it's a lot different because you know, you may.
Want to get the tickets. But let's say three or four of the primary guys decided to leave, you know, and then this team, we don't know what we're gonna have. Is it worth you know, is it worth the extra money you have to pay now for tickets?
So, Brian, let me ask you, do you have tickets? Because I asked because the guy in front of me here, Mike, has season tickets for for like football. No I don't, So so here's the question. I think, Mike, let me ask you this because you are a fan kind of slash booster, uh, you buy for the kids, or you buy for your entertainment or for the school because you're you're a luve.
Well yeah, I mean look, I mean it's not like you know, oh, I never would have bought season tickets if Noah had hit the portal.
No, I'm not.
I'm not sitting there following Noah. It'd be it'd be my kid, Okay, I mean, if my kid was playing, they'd be there for the kid. But other than that, No, you're there for the team and you're hoping that the coach puts together a team.
Brian, right, you.
Know, I totally agree, but I think the problem is, Okay, right now we have those two guys are leaving, or one of them is leaving, and when it is possibly leaving, but you know, we have to worry about Bassar and uh the other the other ones you know, don't know what a walk is going to do, or or the.
Other big man grievous.
We're not too sure about it. But now it's the other guy going, maybe.
It makes it better for all those guys to stick.
Around, and you you got a great recruiting class coming in and maybe pick up a coup of other kids from the portal and you're by right back where you were last year.
I think this is kind of an interesting thing. You bring a good point about the recruiting. You know, who do you recruit? I mean, do you sit there? I mean it's one thing to sit there and go, okay, listen, I know I've got my power forward as a senior year, so I need to go recruit a power forward. But now when it's one of those things where it's like, hey, anybody could leave, you know, do you bring in somebody to play?
I don't want to piss this guy off because she'll leave after this ship.
Right. No, that's a delicate line.
That happened last year. Yeah, that happened last year when.
Caleb came back, right exactly. He came back, and you're like going, okay, well now we lose a guy.
Yeah, but you know we were better off with Caleb Love than the kids who went to ASU.
No.
True, true, I think that people would have thought differently in early November or mid November. But you're exactly right. You don't know until you know. There's no real solution for this. I mean there isn't. There's money involved, there's playing time involved, there's happiness involved all these things that they need.
To put rules in. They need to say, Okay, here's your transport portal from April first to April thirtyeth.
Okay, and once that's done, okay, you can you can't.
Jump into portal in May, June or July.
Yeah, they have that. They have that, where whereas yeah, there's limits on what.
Yeah, So the timing of the whole thing because it's during the tournament that they opened the portal and people are jumping through. Uh, there's going to have to be some changes, there's no question, Brian, Because here's the funny thing for me is there was on A. There was on A doesn't know about the portal until it happens to them, right, everybody everybody's dealing what they're do. Oh no, it's us.
I hate it.
Yeah right, yeah, yeah, you took my good guy.
Yeah yeah, I mean, I mean you look what Satan John's has done with two guys already. You know, they got the kid from as U, and they got the kid from I think it's Providence, and other that the guard they got for Providence. So you know they're they're attacking you very hard. But you know, we'll see, it's.
Going to be interesting to see. I don't know where Lewis is going to go.
I'll talk to Georgetown or yeah, that name.
That that name had been mentioned. I thought he'd be a perfect fit for Houston going back to Texas. Who knows, it doesn't does it really matter where he goes he's gone.
You know, and and and and tell he learned not to make.
Uh fifty mistakes a game. You know, you're right, that's good. That's could be his biggest problem.
Yeah, well, you know, like I said, if he slows down a little bit, I think that he made that he makes better decisions.
Well, not to their ball control. Not to bring up this guy with kurk Cruso. Now he's leaving again Kentucky. He was here for three years, went to West Virginia, Okay a year, and went to Kentucky a year. No, I think he's just enjoying the system. He's not going to be in the NBA. He's not going to play in the nb He's not going to make the money he's making now. And you're thinking, maybe that's just the way some of these guys going to treat this.
What's give me a hand out? You know his hands out, what do you got for this hand? Give me that?
Well, pretty soon these guys going to run out of They can only play basketball for five years, right, and that's going to be it. I mean some of these guys, I think have been like, you're a Stanford, you've been around for fifteen years.
I think, yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, Brian, Well thank you, miss Thanks Okay, good.
Call the Uh yeah, Well that's the thing about it.
I mean you you know, you you move, you go somewhere else, you get get another nail money, you know. I can't knock these guys. I mean they're going to go out after five years and go sell insurance. So this is a bad how much that?
Yeah? Okay? So then ask you you.
I'm asking you as a professor, because you teach that you they you touch, you talked, you talked about professor, you talked this mor well you you're obviously at west Point. Teaching is what you at west Point, and that's a bad example because it's a different type of different, very different school.
Okay.
So so I'm asking you this and just in your thoughts on student athletes. Student athletes member of that phrase back in the day, do they actually matter.
I know a bunch of them do.
But a bunch of them don't care about the student part of it and the academic part of it or the graduation part of it. Right, that's all lost in this. Yeah, no, no, no, it's gone. Yeah there there.
You know, there are still students, Like I said, there are still students that are out there that are going to spend five years at a universe why or multiple universities that at some point are going to go out there and sell insurance or at some point they're going to go out there and get a job. They're not going to make the NBA. But Shaquer Sanders, you know, when they asked him about classes, he never attended a
class the whole time he was at Colorado. You know, it's like, it's okay, you know what, that's not a student athlete, Okay. And there are students that are like that. I mean, I guess there's always been students that are like that. Yeah, that have been that way. But yeah, yeah, it certainly is different at West Point. At West Point, you're you're in a very different situation.
Right, And no transfers.
I don't think they can't take any transfers in that people can transfer out, but only after they're up to the sophomore year. No nil money. That's why you know. I was talking to somebody today. They just got a new athletic director to shoots. Pronounce his name, Dad Dokas. He used to be here at Arizona. He's a new athletic director at West Point. They said they had over
thirty sitting athletic directors apply for that job. Because you don't have to deal with this crewer, you don't have to deal with anything, you don't have to deal with the nil you don't have to deal with transfer portal, you don't have to deal with revenue sharing, none of that stuff.
So, yeah, wouldn't this happen? They just just announced the job. Two three?
The guy used to work here, Yeah, in what capacity? He was a development officer.
Oh really, it must have been under my last not the last ten twelve years, because I would have known who it was back in the day.
I know he was here.
He was here since I've been here, since you've been here, since you returned here. Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, that's my point. It wasn't the paper yeah for them? Yeah, okay, So anyway, which makes sense? When did you know, I don't want to do what there. Yeah, you still got a d job. You can move on from there. I think the last time that they opened up that ad job, they didn't. I bet they didn't have thirty sitting athletic directors apply
for it. Wasn't it wasn't that great of a job, right, Okay, Yeah, I mean we get a minute, good a minute?
Okay, okay, cool.
No, I didn't know that. That's interesting. Navy, same way, Navy, the same way.
Yeah.
As a matter of fact, the American Athletic Conference just announced mandatory revenue sharing for everybody except Army and Navy Air Forces. Air Forces in a different conference. Oh no, yeah, Army Athletic Conference. It was the American Athletic Conference. It was the first conference to formalize the revenue sharing model. But Army and Navy obviously are not part of that. You can't do it. You can't take care extra money. So okay, let's go. We'll get ahold of Bruce Pasco here.
In the first hour, we're going to talk to the coach of the wheelchair.
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Streamy live on the iHeartRadio app. This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera on Fox Sports fourteen to fifteen.
Thank you come back to Dying the Ball here on Fox Sports Fortune fifty.
I'm Steve Rivera.
In today with me is Mike Quinn Ray at the handle here and now we have Bruce Pasco from.
The Daily Star. Bruce, howa you?
How're we going?
Guys?
Fine?
Fine, welcome back. Welcome back from your long journey of the season and tournament.
Are you u well?
The portal is going to keep you busy for a while. I'm assuming you you know that and realize that, right.
Oh yeah, yeah, it's just it just now like you know, you remember, like he used to have like a few days or a week after the season because everybody sort of wanted to think about it or at least look like they're thinking about it. But now things happened almost right away. And yeah, so that that's you know, it's no suppose and it'll be it'll be spending for yeah, good six eight weeks probably right the last years.
With no probably access to Tommy for a while until.
It doesn't know, I mean you know, yeah, typically not and he likes to wait until things are more settled, and you know, unless it's possible. I've had success the last couple of years, catching him at you know, one of these fans things that they'll have around the state. If he goes to one of those, I'll usually go and ask him, Hey, what's going on.
He's great man, he just.
Doesn't he doesn't want to set up press conferences or whatever until he knows, you know, what's going on, because I think right now, frankly, they're probably scrambling and there's there's no need to you know, it's like what we even say at this point.
Right, were you surprised about kJ one and Steph on two?
Not really about kJ but definite a little bit, only because I talked to him after the he played a couple of minutes against Akron in the first round, and he was really really excited, and I mean he's always excited, just kind of that kind of guy. But he said some things like that he was it was hard, but he was being patient and he felt like he was
in a good program. He said something about Tommy. I couldn't make out exactly what he said, but it seemed to be pretty upbeaty, and so I left that conversation thinking, well, at least he's probably coming back. And then but then again, you know, the other thing is and this is true.
This is true with kJ on a on a on a higher level, these guys both showed enough potential that they could, you know, somebody else could see them and say, Okay, I want that guy from my starting five, and I've got my NNIL collective which can give him X amount. And that's possibly what's going on, or at least at least their families and or agents are saying, hey, we
got to shop around and see see what's best. But you know, and and then there's you know, aside from the end of Aisle, there's always the consideration of playing time and role. And you could make an argument that if Arizona keeps, Tobay Waka and Henry Vase are combined with Cope and there's no there's no guarantees to any of that. But if you see those all and you're Steven Sepan, you could say, okay, maybe maybe I should go somewhere else's you know, as long as like you developing.
But again, I was surprised because he was talking about developing and how happy he was, and I think, you know, I think they sold them on the fact that, hey, it's going to take you two or three years, but you could really be something and maybe now he's not gonna not going to do it at Arizona.
Yeah, So do you think you know, one, how much testing of the water is? Is this thing when you when you jump in a portal like that for for a guy like Stephan the But the other thing is do you think that uh, Tommy sits down with these guys and says, hey, not looking really good for you doing stuff here?
He does sit down with them, Yeah, yeah, No, he does sit down with him, and they're they're actually having meetings, I believe this week and and and those kind of things can be said and and from what I've been able to tell so far, I don't think that was the case with Stefan. I think they I think they want him. And but if somebody's gonna throw a whole lot of playing time and a whole lot of money at him and more than you.
Know he might get here, then you know they're they're not gonna.
Hold him back either. I think we saw that a little bit last year with on a on a higher level with Tilmar Ballo, where where he had you know, options, and you know, it's not like they wanted him to leave he was a.
No conference player.
But it's like at some point you're like, okay, get it and we'll see you later. So but but to your point thought, Yeah, I don't think he. I think they wanted Stephan to stay, and I'm pretty sure they felt the same way about kJ. But I don't know. It's hard to say event exactly what happened with kJ lewis. He hasn't you know, we haven't been able to talk to him since that game, and he hasn't posted anything publicly other than he retweeted a post where somebody said
it's time for fresh start. So if if that's what he thinks as well, then then maybe it is that it's possible because you know, I know he told me so. It was really up and down here. Obviously went through a lot with you know, going to the bench. He had those texts early in the season that didn't didn't look good for him. They Tommy Blake took him out of lineup, and then he stayed out and then he had the you know, you know, he had some pretty good play in Big Twelve Conference and but suffered the
wrist injury. And you know, so and he's from Texas. It's very possible, you know, especially if the nil is better somewhere that you might want to take a different book somewhere else too.
So in our conversations, if you can, you don't have to talk about the price it takes to get a good guard party minimum one and two. Oh god, I was going to ask you, Oh, of the international players, could you clarify on what they can and cannot do in terms of nile or get.
You know, that's that's been I believe it's technically still that international players are only supposed to get passive income, meaning they're not out you know, signing autographs or whatever. I think that's you know, or howkeying cereals or whatever. They can't do that, and you don't really see a
lot of that. But but these whole collectives are based on sort of passive things because and there's this huge gray area and nobody's really come down on because the whole international thing that's like a it's like a you.
Know, a federal issue. It's it's a issue.
It's not an nc double issue. The NCAA doesn't care, and I think the government's kind of just it sounds like they're not you know, I've tried to get comment for years now, literally what's.
Going on with it?
They I think there's this other fish deprived from the government. They don't really care. I don't think so. So meanwhile, people are going ahead with this and and and most of these collectives are such that they'll they'll pay guys and and in exchange for them, you know, being part of this deal where they're supposed to show up, but they're sort of invited to show up so that technically they don't have to, and and that that that can be declined. I think that's where they're kind of defining it.
That's pass it.
So there's there's a real you know, pray area, and that's where this is all happening.
Just what you're selling the subject and just with he was on commercials AC commercials, right, So did he get paid for that?
Is that?
Yeah?
I don't know. I mean that that is done and I remember those and I was thinking the same thing. And and you know the thing with all this anile stuff is done that is transparent. We can't see any of it. I did public records request to you of
AD to see the ones that run through them. They won't return them because it's protected and they say or whatever, and I think, you know, it's just it's so nobody knows, I mean, and you know, I think I'm guessing in his case, he probably figured, Okay, if they come after him, then he'll just leave or whatever and not be in college anymore, right, you know, I don't know, but I don't think anybody did. So it's just, honestly, I have
no idea. It's just there's so much gray area and so much untransparent things about all this that it's really difficult.
And now the price the price of a good point guard guard at this level.
Well, I think you're seeing you know, there's people I think what you know, it used to be last year, going into this season, it was about three million for your whole, you know, whole power five kind of team. And then I was talking to somebody at Open Doors to the company who runs a lot of these NL contracts through them, and he was saying, you know, the numbers were seeing there is now three million for starting five.
So and so that was a year ago now, and now you're talking about people who, you know, some boosters get excited and they dump a bunch of money into the NIL at whatever school and there there's talk that you know, could be more like you might need five to ten million in a collective to get a team
for next season, and I know that that. I think Jeff Goodman, who's pretty plugged in, tweeted something earlier today that the top players in the transfer portal are now asking or that their agents are asking two and a half to three million each for them. But that's just asking price, and so you don't know who's actually getting what. We don't know. It's possible the agents are just saying that because they want to inflate the value of their players.
Who knows, but it is it is possible. I think the open doors is pretty legit on the because they see the stuff, but you know, we can't, but they can't. And it's possible that, you know, based on the fact that if it was three million for starting five, maybe it's going to be you know, more like five or six million, and the starters will be making about a million, which is astounding when you think about it, because you know, that's that's like NBA minimum money, and so now is
that what it's going to be. I don't know, but that's you know, I think we're just we're kind of in this wild less period still where it's not really nothing's really settled down yet. The revenue sharing hasn't kicked in, and there's some talk that when that happens, there's going to be a little more package where it's packaged with an IL and therefore it's more controlled. Although it's hard to imagine, but that's that's what I've been hearing. But
we honestly, we just we just don't know. It's just it's really pretty crazy right now.
Wow wow, wow, So well you threw out a number, I think yesterday the day before you collected three quarters of a million just to I'm thinking, what the world?
What the world?
That's kind of on the low end now that you're turn about that. So let me ask you, because you know, I, yeah, I lived, I lived with this season with you every now and again.
I'm not the day to day guy like I used to be. We all know that.
So how was it for you to go through the season because the team is four and five? You know, sometimes it's difficult, sometimes it's not How would you rate this season from front to end for you as far as how they.
No for you?
And then we'll talk about how they did overall, but for you, because you know, we all go into the seasons. I did twenty five of them in the newspaper world and you've done a number.
Of them now obviously. But is it enjoyable? Is it a pain?
Is it?
You know what I'm saying?
Is it?
Is it fun?
Ye?
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, No, I'd say it was. It was up there as far as any of them that I mean, as far as being enjoyable to cover, because they're good guys. I don't think there's really like a jerk on this entire team, and it's not.
Always the case.
There's usually at least a couple. And I think up and down and and you know, people kind of wondered about Caleb Love for example. I've had many people and you know, I don't know him as well. You know, we don't you know how much time. We don't spend that much time with him. But I send a lot of people within the program tell me, you don't know,
Kale was great. Everybody loves them, so okay, you know, so there's that, you know, every time we've dealt with them, and I would say, you know, and then I think, just interestingly to me as a journalist, you know, is what they went through, because they went through this crazy November was you know, they they scheduled really difficult, and then they you know, they came in with a lot of unsettled pieces and they really struggled, and they went
to the Bahamas and they lost two of three games there, and to me, that was really interesting to cover. I mean, you know, I mean, it's I'm sure it's hard for them to go through. I remember I was was kind of awkward on the way out. We were all stuck in that Nasau airport trying to get out, and I remember I had to walk by the team to get to my flight, which was different, and they're all just
sprawled out. You can just tell how upset everyone was, and you know, it was kind of like trying to you know, it.
Was just it was just awkward.
So it was so it went through that, and then December they kind of.
Hit rock bottom with that UCLA loss, giving up that game and then then UH crevious being declared out uh for the season later November, and then after that started pulling it together and they had a great run there in the Big twelve and especially the first twelve games, and then you know, the win at b YU, and I mean there was some really some really fun spots like that, and you know, and I just like going to some of the new venues and seeing what they're
all about. And you know, they did live up up to that too, I think, you know, And interestingly, I thought b YU was actually probably as good as anything as much as you know, Kansas is probably the top environment. And then and then Iowa State was really something and a lot of times even though those crowds were loud and passionate, they were actually pretty nice and that that also struck me too, So it was fun to see that. And then the players were fine to deal with. And
I fell on the road. I was usually only one from Arizona, so so I got a little bit more chance to talk to guys one on one, which I don't get to at home, So that was that was also fun. So I would say all to together, yeah, I would say it's up there in the top three or four years that had cover on.
Yeah, that had to been neat seeing all the new places you and it probably will probably we'll probably get a little less nice when the rivalries really start kicking in. But it was good to it's good to have good people. I'm going to try and get it word matchwise with with River because he very rarely.
Lets me talk. But I'm interested.
I'm interested to know you're when in the sweet sixteen they ranked ESPN ranked US thirteenth out of the sixteen. We performed pretty darn well against a Duke team that is just crushing people. If you were to have ranked US in the Elite eight against the Elite eight, not not the final four, against the Elite eight, where would you think we'd fall if we didn't play Duke.
Yeah, that's a good question, because in fact, I was talking with somebody earlier about this, Hey, what if what just plan? What f which common needs to do?
What?
What if?
What if that call wasn't made against the Yu and they beat B y U and they sweep b YU, They get a big quality win there, And maybe they're not the last number four seed, maybe they're not in Duke's East regional, maybe they're pod in Seattle is a Midwest or South pod instead. All these things could happen and history could be different than You're right. They could be in the lad eight and yeah, I mean, I
don't know. I honestly think after the first certainly the first three, maybe even the top you know four or five teams, it's pretty much everyone's pretty close at that point. And we saw Arizona just be Texas Tech. You know, they say that that impact that game in the Big twelve semi finals, that might have been that might have been their best game of the year. That and the win at i was at Bay and then the home
win against Iowa State. But yeah, I would say, yeah, they would you know, I would say maybe they'd be solid there in that seven eight range based on that. It's just right they got a tough, drab playing duke and that could be traced to you know that they they lost the game or two. Actually don't see as much as the even though you could argue that VA
you game maybe that called the other way. But the one that really hurt him, in my opinion, is losing that Kansas State and that was again I could have won. The kind of fell apart at the end and it was a big crowd, but it wasn't that nasty, and you know, they could have done it, but it just it just didn't didn't work out.
And that that was costly since we're talking hypotheticals. I often dream of being six for five and good looking without will leave you.
Thank you, thank you, Bruce, get them and yeah what I get is nil, no money exactly.
They made that. They certainly don't want his image and likeness, that's for sure.
Yeah, thank you, Okay, thanks you guys.
Nothing.
That's why you don't get any words WI because they say he said you heard me say, Hey, that's a good question.
Yeah.
See everyone Swanwing get you. He never said that to you.
Well, welcome back to the Steve Rivera show. Maybe his Mike will not be here when we come back. 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 Loudolsen era. In my new book, Lessons from Loot. 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 his
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This is I on the Ball on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. Want to take part in the show Call up Steve now went five to two oh FO seventy four.
Hey, welcome back to one of the ball Pok Sports fortune fifty. I'm Steve Ver your my twin. I am My Quinn persona on Greda. I'm not person and ray he breaking news guys, Henry Vsar in the portal.
Yeah, that's the fall off your chair. Yeah, I almost did. Just as Bruce was leaving.
Uh, he got off the air and texted me Vsar is gone, but he's in the portal.
I don't know to what's it's him and tweeting it to Star. Yeah.
So another one, another one. It's not like this is not a surprise. I mean you could see probably one or two more, if not more. I mean, just the way that it is, I'm thinking that's tough. I mean, that must be tough. Whom I breaking news? Tymy Lloyd is going to have a lot of work to do. And then I realized, here's the man who makes five billion dollars a year.
Give me that problem. Yeah, I know exactly. It's one of those things where it's like, hey, it's your job. There are people with much harder jobs.
If my heart surgeons operated me, he better be damn good. Yeah, he better get be good enough.
Ani Olmney. We're paying him enough money to figure it out. Now, the question is, like you mentioned, it's like going, okay, who's gonna give how much money to to visa and this stuff?
The I don't know this is I think another thing you want to think about too is, you know, can you find comfort in seeing how Tommy like develops as developed players?
I mean, like even this season started rough. We've all talked about it, we all saw it.
By the end of it, you know, everyone's saying, hold your head high, played into the wire.
But did he develop the players or did he develop the team? So it's one thing about developing the team, okay, but you know how much lawyer development do you do when you got one and one and done? I mean, how many or super other than Caleb Love.
I mean, we're not peak or shouldn't they just get better?
It's like when when when Calor Party's coaching, even to the extent of maybe Sean which is a bad example, but these guys are NBA players already. They go to Kentucky because they have to go to school for a year. So he ran them for six seven months. Did he make them better? Were they already good and they just started playing back? You know what I'm saying, He didn't make him any better. They're just sitting and winning because they want to go to the NBA. They had someone
need somewhere to go. Ayton, Was he any better? Was Trier any better? Was all Cons any better? All these guys probably not. They just here because they were here and they needed a place to go. Doesn't make sense. There was something I was gonna s there was something I was gonna say, Uh be sorry, blah blah blah.
It's just so difficult and good luck. Oh oh no, this is the reason. This is the reason. And you know, I'm not a big fan of sports.
I watch them, I observe them, I take things away from them, but I'm not a fan of any team because how can you be loyal?
How can you be loyal to.
A team that your guys are going to be gone somewhere else in a year or two and then you've got to reach here, you know what I'm saying. Like the Cows, I used to be a huge cab and now free agency and all that stuff. You don't even know the players without a program. Now now you've you've invested money in IL for the last year or two. Right, I'm not you, I'm second general public another gone, my money, what the hell did I buy?
But it's you know, okay, So first off, I mean, one, you're cheering the jersey.
Okay, certainly you're just get the question that asked at the beginning to show you're in Arizona. You're an Arizona grad. We're hearing Tucson go Wildcats bear down.
Okay.
Now you hope that Tommy is playing the game smartly and he's saying, Okay, the star's gone, we got someone else it's coming in. We've got we're gonna I'm putting the pieces together. I'm recruiting this guy and bringing this other guy in. So it's like, you just hope that he's putting together the puzzle correctly and well so that you get a team that he could then build into a team that.
Goes out there and shines in the tournament. So you're hold twenty four.
So when you're twenty five, guess what we're gonna be talking about two days after the season's over. Yeah, same damn thing, Same damn thing, mister Max, who committed to the program roster Kate played twenty five to thirty minutes a game.
He's unhappy he's in the portal. Yeah, Yeah, he's getting more money somewhere else.
It's just one of those made you know, there's those press releases you just have to fill in the name of something. Sure Blank is gone, Uh yeah, blah blah blah blah blah, Sure Bank has gone.
Someone else? Yeah, got someone else.
Do you think you see it more in basketball because it's a smaller team, Like, I mean, you think about the core that Brennan like, you.
Know, I think it more in basketball.
Okay, you know, you see I mean you see that in the NBA, you get you get one draft choice, it changes your team around completely, right, Okay, because you got five people in the court.
You're not going to do that in football. Okay.
Uh And it's the same thing here. We we're gonna lose people into the draft. We're gonna lose people into the portal in football, and it's gonna be unfortunate.
But you can build. I think you can bring people in and hopefully Brennan's doing that. We gotta we got to.
I think I heard fifty seven new people at at practice now. But I think in basketball it's a little more, a little more impactful, right, because there's so few spots right spots because in football they leave three to thirtieth time or twenty at a time. Look at the Colorado Arizona one what's his name? Left the fish left and he's losing guys. But the thing is that nobody finds the right spot, like not in a sweet spot. Yeah, because they don't have to. Hey, Mike, you know where
you're gonna go? How much you need?
Just gonna go somewhere else. I got it, Yeah, got to go somewhere else. Are you happy? Are you happy? Are you happy with her?
No?
No?
Yeah, Well that's the thing. You know, It's like when you hit you hit the portal find you know grass grasshouse green?
That uh that woman? Uh gosh darn it. Where did she play South Carolina? I think Carolina?
No.
They asked her if she was going to transfer, and she's like going, She's like they're like going, well, you know the grasshouse Green and he goes the grasshouse Green and where you water it?
You know?
Hey that you know that's great. You're dedicated. But I don't think you're going to get that.
And you're not going to get that in the on the men's side, men'sid are gonna sit there and go see.
You show Goodman. Goodman who I you know is a U A grad. I kind of read every now and again. UH have issues with how he covers the team, but he's pretty good at what he does. He kind of proposed I don't think of a flip about this, where if if Mike Quinn goes from team Team X not a mid major, I'm a mid major. I'm sorry, but he goes to a high major, that that high major has to pay the mid major off.
It'll never happen. But and then see know what people said, that's hardly enough. That's hardly enough for coaches.
Right, what you're gonna get now, we're gonna go to and Gino Orima said it. Uh said that said the quiet part out loud. We're gonna go to contracts. We're gonna sign contracts. We're gonna have collective bargaining agreements. We're gonna sit there and be like going, Okay, you've signed a contract for two years. You got to be here for two years. If you want to get out of the contract, you can buy out of the contract. Your new school is gonna have to buy you out of this contract.
I like it.
You can do something like that you know, you get recruited by mid major, you got to be at that mid major for two years. You sign that to year contract. But right now you can't keep somebody there and you won't be able to keep them there without a collective. So you can't just have a school say we're going to contracts because that's against like the ruling uses this.
As a fan, as a fan who spends money there, does this bother you? I don't know what's going on. It's frustrating. It certainly is frustrating because, like you said, you would like to sit there and go, oh my gosh, look at this team. Next year, we're going to have these guys coming back, and then we've got these new recruits coming in and you're like, oh man, I'm all excited. And now it's like, man, there's no telling who's going to be on the team next year. We could be
the bad news bears. We could be like really really good. But you have no idea. It bothers me to a degree, and I don't know why because I'm not a fan. I'm not a fan.
I'm just here to write about it and talk about it. How much of an athlete?
Yeah, yeah, think thank you well, but remind me tomorrow, are ready to bring my my my clips from that kind of exactly?
This is probably.
They eight millimeters, But I have.
A story about you know, it bothers me. It bothers me that way says God. It's not that I long for the good old days. But it was much simpler. Well, it was much simpler, Okay, and it was It was cleaner, and it was funner. And you're gonna have Christian Lightner is gonna play four years of duke and you know you got that team that they're gonna build up. Talk about developing players. You know you're gonna be developing players. You're gonna be developing a program.
Now. You know, you sit there and like, okay, hey, we're gonna go to the Bahamas. We had ten guys who've never seen each other, Barr, you know what it's like going We're gonna go to the Bahamas, and we're gonna bond together as a team. We're not gonna bond together as a team. We're gonna change We're gonna just change names. What's your name again? It's yeah, because we don't know each other. So it's not surprising that we go into the Bahamas and get our butts kicked by Dayton or something.
Well to your point, Mike, and I think it's noble. And I think a lot of people are like you. They go to cheer the name on the back, and it's well on the front. Actually, Yeah, And that's what fills up McHale. No matter who comes in, they're gonna be there. If they're really good, they'll be there more right, absolutely. But if they're not, if they're not winning, they're gonna be there more.
No.
But that's the thing about it. That's why you bring in a guy like Tommy Lloyd. I mean, you rely on Tommy Lloyd to be the guy that is going to be the recruiter that is going to bring in the good players. You got the guy that's going to understand how the pieces fit together. You got someone that's gonna develop the team.
Uh.
I think that that's that's why you bring that guy in. You get the got you got the you know KLi Paris, you know that they're in Patinos. Those guys are going to be doing that all the time. Uh Izzo. I mean, he's he's got this. There's people that have this stuff figured out. Yeah, Well, they have to, and they have money, they have backing. Imagine in the tiers of basketball college basketball, specifically, uh Arizona's in the probably top twenty five, but not in the top twelve.
I'm sure not in the top twelve. And and look at the issues that they're going through. Imagine, if you're a Colorado state, you're you're Colorado, You're the you're the non twenty five, right, you can't compete with the twenty five.
You can't. You can't compete.
And if you're fearing to get into the you're you're leveled up at fifty. Yeah, because you ain't gonna get into the forties, right, You're not gonna find that right. Well, like like Rutgers, Rutgers got that guy you just declared for the draft. You know he's gonna be looking at the number two in the draft, and Rutgers was a yeah, media there, yeah, yeah, you know, uh, you know, Maryland had a good run this year, and of course their coach bailed on them, but uh uh, they had a
good run this year. But are they going to continue to have a good run?
Yeah? Probably not.
Yeah, you know yet a couple of minutes, Okay, yeah, do you think it's gonna come to a point where a coach in name matters more than like the brand or like the place.
I don't, I don't, I don't think so, but it helps the brand. It's like the Patino, Yeah, rich like Richie going where is it going down to Xavier?
He'll help them.
You know, everybody loves Sean there because he was like, you know, their kid, their best kid who left.
But Patino's name is gonna.
I thought his name, well, well, Patino's got a reputations like I'll prepare you for the NBA. Well he's that's what he's a dad or the son I'm talking about the dad the same yeah, son, probably the same way.
I think that.
You know, the thing that they're looking for is that they're looking for the nil money now and they're looking for the NBA.
Do you a favorite? How much time do we actually have?
Okay, google on the other side, we're going to google this, uh Donovan Dent and maybe nil money because I heard on another show I didn't get the number because I just missed it, and how much he was going to get by going to U C.
L A.
You know, and are these kids are gonna go save programs right right. Really, they don't look. I don't think they care about where they go.
I mean they heck, they'd play a bug tussle attack if you gave me, if you wrote them a check. I mean, and I can't blame them, you know right now. I mean, if someone offered me a million bucks, I'd go, Yeah, tell me when the cat's are plane, Yeah, exactly, I don't I'll be ready for you.
I don't care. I don't care who.
No, if they offered me a million bucks, my wife would like, drive me there, get.
Me out of the house and guess what. Yeah, you're not giving me a going here, give me you're gonna miss me, not that much. Mike, you want to do a radio show, Yeah, you gotta go this