This is I on the Ball with Steve Ravera on Fox Sports fourteen fifty powered by Nova Insurance Services Insure your lost prized possessions.
Thank good, enough to do and everybody, welcome to I on the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera and with me today on a Monday, Troy Hutchesson of Go easycats dot Com. And we got our guy Ray here probably for a lot of the summer.
Ray.
Yeah, cool, cool, A lot of things happened over the weekend, right, smootball graduation, kids are gone, Ray, how men more years agot twelve. You're gonna take it easy. Na, you already have been in the real world. You don't need to go back in the real world.
I do. You know.
It's fun, it's fun being in college, but you don't make a lot of money there.
So well you don't. I remember those days. Troy. You're still in college too.
You're looking you gotta be like rat bye boy ro Troy here, he's on the twenty year plan.
Okay, yeah no, but you don't make a lot of money out, so it's a problem. That's true.
I don't have you graduates. It's gonna be a tough haul out there. Yeah, no one said it was going to be easy. Guys, were you surprised this weekend in terms of softball?
No, I don't know.
I can't need to hear nor of there from me because I don't know enough about it. But I watched them play yesterday. Obviously they played well the first game with the strong pitching of of tell.
Me her name was it?
Yeah, and then they didn't go with her in the second game, which, of course I think you go with your best person, right, and she got rocked nets I got hurt early and.
Left her in too long.
Yeah. Well, I think that's the biggest thing with people talking, you know, or criticizing. Everybody has an answer, right, like it's Scott, It's every sport there, because everybody knows that they kept her in too long. The pitching, YadA YadA. That was the downfall. They lost what thirteen games total? Fourteen games? Yeah, but in a really crappy conference. Okay, well, I can only play. I can only play what I put in front of me.
I get it. But compared to what they're using.
Well, then they well, then they weren't there. Then they weren't ready to play in the tournament because the SEC is what it was, right, Uh, and they like basketball, right you? You you beg that they have this conference because it gets you ready for the tournament. And people said it got Arizona ready for the tournament such.
That it is. They finished in the sweet sixteen again.
And here now softball, if they were in a bad conference, maybe minus a player a team or two, they weren't going to get any further than this.
Oklahoma and Texas were in that bad conference for a long time and nominated. Yeah. Now, I'll say this Oklahoma State, it's not what it used to be as usually they're that other team there. Yeah, but I'm gonna be honest after watching the third, the well, the seventh game, the final game last night, in covering softball for a while, it's one of the worst coach games I've ever seen. The final game. The final game was what was best base running blunders. I don't know why that early in
the first Okay, still the same. I don't know what the heck you're doing there down by four, Yeah, with your power coming up to the plate. Just sloppy defense in the infield. They had that ball get behind. I think stratterard before she went to the mount into the circle, which led to a couple of runs in that ending as well, a little late polling out Devin nets and then you bring Aisa, she gets blown up to finally
you bring in stratter and easy working for her. I just felt like it was a game where Caitlyn got completely out coached. And I can't remember a game that poorly coach from Arizona. Have they lose Friday night? Was it? Friday? Kind of got blown out from the starting, Yeah, but the ole Miss kind of jumped out. That's what I'm saying. They were playing catch.
Up, yeah, or maybe they just weren't good enough. And sometimes sometimes teams, and I say this every now and again, and people look at me, sometimes you get beat by or better team and no matter how how good you looked or think you looked during the season, you're not as good as you think you are.
I don't think Ole Miss was the better team, though I know they're moving on. I know they're moving on. Okay, their resume would prove that wise, but go ahead, I don't. I don't think they were the better team. I think the overarching theme of this is and we've been talking about this for a long time. Arizona still doesn't have pitching. Oh yeah, and they haven't had it forever. You can talk about they haven't had it forever. They haven't really
had it since I say, ken zy Valor. But you could argue Taylor McQuillan, who was in All Conference performer back twelve. Elysidenum was there too. But they haven't had decent pitching. I mean, their pitching seems to except for this year. Devin had a very good year, but the last two years you can argue that with some of the worst pitching errors on stop all history the last right, right.
And also recruiting well also, yeah, well your computer, you're recruiting as good as you can because the good old days are garden?
Are they?
Though? The Google days are guard Yeah, I'm not. I'm not saying the nineties the nineties are winning six titles and and years long, right, but you're not even close to being a team that should be in Oklahoma City and no offense that can't low. But that first year they backed door their way into to make it.
Sure, Well, no apologies, they shouldn't give you an apology. But I don't disagree with you they And that's fine. I mean it is on my resume. If I were them, we got there. Don't bitch about how you got there. Uh and you were there, right, I was okay, So they got there, they got you there, but they were not that good compared to and yes, back in just it was like the uh, the the Mike Dunlap, the
penalty year with those guys that got to the Street sixteen. Yeah, for sure, and it was it was the circum the doors opened for whatever reason. Yeah, and they got to the Sweet sixteen, got their ass handed to him. But they got there, and everybody talks it was a down here, sure it was, but Sweet sixteen pretty damn good. Same place Arizona got this year and last year or last year.
But when is the recruiting had taken up.
It looks those days, those days of Arizona being their parents may know, but not anymore.
But I think you limit yourself when you're basically just still recruiting the state of California. You're not going into Texas, you're not going into the South. You're staying in California to stay in Arizona. You haven't expanded your recruiting pool, your stadium is one of the best in the country outside of maybe Oklahoma. You have tradition, you have the facilities, you have the weather, okay, and I all, okay, you can make up for it in another way.
Have you have you posed this question to the powers that be, the coaches, the assistant coaches, the AD or not maybe not so much the AD now but in the past, because it is what you're saying true. Is what you're saying true, and even off the record, you don't have to tell me about the record stuff. But what's the problem then if they can't get that done?
Well, I think it's coaching.
Do you think if they had a different company they get they're not go If they do, it'd be so shocking to me.
I don't think if they will, because she's.
Done really well, I don't think she has Holy crap, who are you?
I don't think she has in what sense. I think the program is not where it was when Andrea left. First of all, they had a Jazon infield, they got to the Women's College World Series. They had pitching on that staff, so he was recruiting at a higher level. His final days were not as great as people think. I mean, he went to back back Women's College World Series and teams that did back into that respect, they didn't. Yeah, no,
they didn't back into that. They hosted the super Regionals his second last, Mississippi miss and then they they kind of fumbled around the season his last year, but then they got the draw of Arkansas. They got to the Women's College World Series. But they were a very talented team. They were top five, I think top ten team to start that year, and then people graduated. She got talent
in Charlie's Pelacio is transferred out. They've had other transfers to How much does she make, you know, Kalin Low? I think it's very low.
Okay, so okay, there's okay, So let's assume second she no longer here. Who are they going to get that's going to be paid low?
I think they were able to pay pay low because it was an assistant coach off the staff. I don't think you had to spend big bucks. I think you could spend a little bit more to that degree. According to Google two and twenty five thousand. Okay, yeah, that's very well, that's for the position. I can't remember what was Candrea's final count, Probably around five hundred thousands around there.
But I mean the top paid coaches. Oklahoma coach, I can Yeah, she's making one point whatever her players are making that. Yeah, but I'm not saying you need to do that. But there are coaches out there. Oh no, I think I think you could take a shot at the Clemson coach who was with Hendrea for Team USA and did a good job at Stanford when he was there. Yeah, Ritman, we went to college together. I think you could take a shot at him. I think he's at the Arkansas coach,
who I think has done a very good job there. Female. I think there's probably some assistants out there cross the country. I just I think Caitlin is a very good person, very good, uh like inspirational type of I think there's that piece missing.
How is she in terms of getting on the girls, like not motivating them, but getting on them, like let's go.
It's It's not the same as what it was coach, Oh.
No, no, of course not. They played differently. They played different for him, like they played different for lut than they did for Sean, And you know, Sean kind of scared them into painting hard.
And I'm not trying to compare it to everybody's thinking that that's not what I'm trying to do. But are you trying to do? I think the standards are higher than what the what I think the standards are higher for hers on a softball and the expectations haven't been met. And I'm not saying you need to be number one in the country year in a year. Are they realistic expectations? I think they are. With everybody else getting better, I think they are. Andrea his last contract. Look, I told
you here there's no drug testing in this place. What was it? Yeah? I still that wasn't that much. Well back in the day, when did he sign that? Yeah? In comparison, but no, I mean, you have the facilities, you have the weather.
I won't argue any more than I've already argued with you because I don't know enough. But I know that how good they were back in the day because I was part of the covering the team and following him a lot. Now not so much. It's hard to sustain that. Obviously. You know, UCLA isn't the UCLA back in the day. Duke isn't the same either, Uh.
And it hurts him that you don't have the pac twelve.
Yeah yeah, yeah, So so what are you saying the record of forty whatever it was in thirteen, whatever it was, is you should have an asterix there.
I'm saying you hosted a region First of all, that was the first time she's ever hosted a regional. Okay, it should be bare minimum. She's already missed a tournament. You've had a hard time getting out of the regionals. And this is Arizona soapotball, who's probably the second third best program in the history of the game. And yeah, people are saying, oh, well, it's not the ninety Well no, it's not the nineties, but you can still put on a good product out there on the field. What they
didn't put out a good product. I don't think it's an extremely talented roster. I think it's a no, no, no, that wasn't my question. The product winning all those games. Okay, it's the regular season. What do you do in the postseason?
Oh no, let me tell you. I'm the guy that it says matter it matters in March. Guess what in softball it matters in May?
Exactly. I get it. But again, you're measured by that, and that's just how it Arizona is and I just discussions.
Where did you go to lunch today? We should have you go there more often. Uh, okay, we'll talk more about this later. How much time we have we okay not three minutes?
Okay?
No, well okay, I uh, I don't feel as strongly as you. I do understand your point. So maybe we'll talk more about it after after we talked to our guy today.
What's his name, Gusky Crowd Crowley, he's the GM. Yeah, we'll talk about what that all tails.
You were kind of giving me a background of all these people they have in the room and maybe five of the same guys doing the same thing. Because he's the he's not he's the GM, but not the right hand man to to Brennan.
We got a call.
Let's go take this call real quick. Hello, you're on the air nine on the ball. Who's this?
This is guy Crowley and the GM at University of Very Well.
Oh, we're just a perfect timing coach. Hi, guys, guys, sorry about if we mispronounce your name there that that is on us.
Yes, uh, let me let me let me say this coach. Uh, We're just gonna go to break to get you in at because we were just thinking we go. We scheduled for three seventeen. Could you give us a quick call back in about four minutes. That way you won't have to stick it around and listen to our bs. We'll call a little commercial break right now. Thanks a bunch of cos.
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Streamy live on the iHeartRadio WI. This is Eye on the Ball with Steam on Fox Sports sporteen fifty.
Hey, welcome back to I and the Ball Here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera. In with me today is Troy Hutchinson of goezycats dot com. Now on the phone, we have Geiska Crowley the general matter of you a football How are you doing.
I'm doing great, guys, Thanks for having me. I really appreciate it.
Yes, no, thank you, thank you. You know, back in the day and I'm old and I've been here a long time covered football undertow me and the rest of my time was with coach coach Olsen Sean and stuff. So GM it's new to me, right, it's new to people like me who have never seen this. But you've been on board for a couple of years. Could you explain to the listeners what you do and what that title means?
Of course, of course, the landscape of college football has has really changed, obviously, you know, not just football, all the sports, but football especially, and a lot you know, has to do with just the size of the team, right where traditionally you might have a couple of guys in recruiting, you know, maybe a director or player person or a director of recruiting title, but really you know, post COVID with the eligibility extensions, a transfer portal and
then now kind of with nil and potential revenue share coming up later on this year. Having a person or people in these roles and their job solely focused on, you know, roster building, roster retention is something that is kind of you know, it's popped up in a lot
of different schools. Obviously you're in the U of A so you know, having someone like myself is really just dedicated to that and trying to be a resource for our coach and support our coaches any way we can let them focused on, you know, focus on the field and obviously recruiting and then some of the back office stuff. Uh. You know, I kind of work more day to day with coach Burnt.
You know when you look at the landscape of college football you mentioned it with nil and all that just your day to day's stuff, how much of it is nil and also looking for opportunities, uh, for current players on the roster that are seeking those NIL deals.
Yeah, that's a good that's a good question. So I think to start off what my day looks like. There's always kinds of different pillars that we talk about, right, There's always the prospect identification, which kind of falls more into the scouting world, you know, whether that's the high school prospects, junior college prospects, or are obviously transfer portal. And then you have the recruiting itself, right, that's the
on campus aspect. That's the relationship building and the culture building and kind of selling what we have here at the U of A. Right, So that's kind of the recruiting aspect. And then and then there's also the player retention, right, and that's making sure you know, our coaches and creating an opportunity for our players that when other teams come calling, which which is the nature of football nowadays, that we have the structures and systems in place to support them,
you know. And that's socially, that's academically, spiritually, obviously athletically. And then now in the in the name, image and likeness space, you know, we have a beyond football program that Tobrio Blaine runs. She's in our director of player development, works with our guys deal in creating, you know, their
brand and creating what she calls a parallel path. Not just everyone always talks about life after football, which is important, but the way that she builds it is she wants our guys to have football and whatever that next profession is kind of working side by side. So we've been really lucky here. We've got an incredible group of supporters and people who not only give obviously financially, but also give their time, mentorship, internship programs for our current players.
Is really really important in the in the transfer portal era, is that the players need to feel like they're being supported not just from a football perspective, but kind of holistically.
So in this whole process of getting here, and you've been here since Brennan got here, Uh, did you intend to coach in your previous life before here? And did you want and did you want? Because this is this is more administrative stuff. And you know when when you ask a kid what do you want to be? I want to be a pro baseball player or a pro football player. Well, when you're a kid, what did you want to do? And and how what led you along this path?
Yeah, I'm a little bit like you guys. I think are a little bit older, right, And I always tell people, so I got my degree from Florida State in social studies education. So I was a high school coach and a teacher, so was my wife. You know, I thought that's what I was going to do. I taught and my coach for for about six years and I taught football or steming coach football, wrestling, track. Just kind of had that that that that path really wanted to break
into college football. I loved college football, like that's what I wanted to work in. For this reason or that reason. It just kind of didn't work out at the collegiate level on the coaching side, But really in that process fell in love with recruiting and fell along with scouting and player evaluations and team building. And that's what took me from you know, a high school football coach to now now here at the U.
Men. You know, when people think of the term GM, they look at the pro model in terms of a guy that roster builds and oh, you know, he chooses his coach. It's completely different obviously at the college. But you brought up the player development and the scouting side of it. How important is it to have those things in place? And how useful is it for the coaching staff to have a guy like you that is out
there scouting. This world of recruiting that has grown substantially, and it seems like it's harder and harder to find guys that are hidden gems that you would find back in the day. The hidden gum is a harder thing to find now.
It is. And I think a lot of that is, like you said, the volume, right, So like where we're at right now, from January when we had our mid year rolies to the summer. I mean we're going to bring in in the mid fifties new players, right, So we're for our coaches to be able to be on the road coaching or beyond the road recruiting. Obviously coaching, the volume is just so much bigger, where in the past you may only sign you know, twenty or twenty
five guys. So to have people off the field that can create systems and processes and structures to allow our coaches to be at their best coaching. What my job is is to kind of filter through it all. Right. If a high school coach from Phoenix reaches out and they give us our prospect list, you know, me and my staff are the ones that evaluate them, will grade them.
We have an internal grading system based on our critical factors at each position, and then we bring them to the position coaches, and then the position coaches will watch them and it kind of works up the ladder, and we really try to act like, you know, like an NFL scouting department, and we want to provide the background information, talk to the high school coaches, get that kind of character info as well, so then we can package that and give it to the coaches to then ultimately, you know,
make the decision with coach Brennan on you know what players we want to bring in and bring into the program. So it looks different, you know, sometimes the years it's heavy high school, like right now, all our coaches are out on the road visiting high schools and high school coaches, and obviously when it comes to portal season, it's a little more transfer portal, so it changes based on where you're in the calendar. But the foundation and the systems and the processes are all the same.
Now to your point, shroy I was thinking about, you know what timming goes through too, because there are no secrets, right, I'm sure there's every school in the in the country as you as, right, don't they have you doing the same thing somewhere else, and so you don't. Everyone kind of knows everything. But what when you do you go overseas as well? And maybe look at people who potentially have that football potential.
We definitely do, probably less so than than than coach with the you know, the basketball program. Obviously that's that's really mainstream. Sure, but you know we had, uh, you know, we had you know, we had a German tight end last year. We've got we signed a kid from New Zealand, a big defensive tackle. We signed an Australian punter. Uh had a defensive tackle you know from Obviously, the Polynesian community in Tongo and American so are huge to the
u of A that Polynesia pipeline. So we absolutely will. Now it's a little bit different than basketball because in basketball they're playing the same game right in Europe or you know, Africa and wherever they're going. So typically what will happen is guys will come from overseas, maybe played a junior college or a prep school, and then that's when we see some of the football foundation to kind
of recruit them for our response. But yeah, you know, we'll probably have four or five international kids every year on the roster.
You know, I know, for a lot of journalists out there and for a lot of people out there, National Signing Day has become a heck of a lot more hectic than it was just three or four years ago. What is that day and what are those signing periods like for you and your staff, because not only like you said, as at high school, it's transfer portal, it's juco kids. It seems like a whole abundance of things going on that day that really never used to happen before to that level.
Yeah, you really kind of have four signing days now, it's a little bit different, like you know, traditionally, right, it was that day in February, you know, that Wednesday in February, and everyone you know, you flipped onto you know, your scouting side of choice if you follow high school kids.
Now you've got you know, the December signing period, and then you're going to have you know, you're going to have your your you know, your February signing period, and then you have the spring portal window in April, and then you know you're still able to add players kind
of throughout the summer. But to answer your question, signing day, it really is a culmination of a lot of work, right, you know, eighteen months, twenty four months of work that is put in getting to know the families, hosting them on visits, getting to know the parents and the high school coaches. So so you know, it's definitely a moment of pride. It's definitely a moment of accomplishment. Uh. And it's really fun when when coach Brennan's making those calls
and see the excitement in the family. You know, this is you know, I've done this a while, right, I've been to a lot of signing day ceremonies, but for the kids, it's there only one, right, so we really want to respect that process. And and you do get humbled by the families and the reactions of their you know, their kid or their grandson, whomever it is. And it's something that I always I always enjoyed. It's a little bit like Christmas morning for me. But then we tell
them like, hey, signing day is just one step. Now you got to get here the work and then and then develop into the football players you want to develop into. We always tell people, hey, you don't want you know, we don't want to win signing you know, we want to win Saturdays in the fall.
That's what we're focusing Christmas.
When you open the presence, you really don't know what you got until three four months later or longer, and sometimes the gift turns out to be not to get you thought it was right.
It's a developmental it's a developmental game.
You know.
There's definitely guys we think, you know, hopefully will help us as freshmen or early in their careers. But people have their own developmental pass and you know, getting whether that's in the weight room or from an ex as an o standpoint. But that's a beautiful thing about football. It's the ultimate team game for that point.
So let me ask you who found whom? Did the Brent find you or you searched Arizona and Brent.
That's a great question. The football world is a very small, a very small circle. So I was I was at UNLB for the twenty twenty one twenty two seasons as the chief of staff and director of player personnel. The head coach there was Marcus and Royal. Coach roy and I are really close and he's been a great mentor to me. And Coach Royal and coach Brennan when he
was at San Jose State obviously friends. So I met coach b uh through that process kind of on the field across from each other, you know, and then you know, didn't know him really really well, to be honest, but just got obviously through Country Royal and when they were looking for someone to kind of head up the personnel department, Coach Royal put in a good name for me, and you know, obviously very grateful and humbled that he did that, and Coach Coach called me, kind of went through the
interview process, and then that hopped out a plane and headed into something.
What are the challenges because Arizona has obviously been trying to get more into the state of Texas in terms of recruiting and having a footprint there, But what are the challenges of doing that in Texas where you have all these universities and major universities that are recruiting in the same area and you guys being in Arizona trying to re establish a foot footing there in that state, what are what are the challenges of that?
Yeah, that Texas is going to be huge for us. It's something obviously with the move to the Big twelve that's going to be critical for our success. You know, we'll always make Arizona, Utah, Southern California home basement, but
Texas is going to be critical. I think I think the biggest challenge is just the name recognition right in the brand, Like Arizona has such a strong brand with with women's softball, women's basketball, and men's basketball, but then competing against those Texas Big twelve schools, so kind of getting in there and continuing to sell our brand and
sign players. The other thing is just you know, logistical, right, Like if you're a kid from Dallas, like you can go to those schools much easier, right, that's just to drive down the road. So what we try to give them is a different option. We try to say, hey, you're going to play big time college football. You know you're going to play in the Big twelve, You're going to play in front of your family a lot in Texas. But then also why don't you kind of set your
path a little different. You know, come to Tusaana, and you guys know, as soon as parents and families and the kids get here that they fall in love with the town, They fall in love with the collegiate atmosphere and the support four hour student athletes. So once we get them here, we feel pretty good. But you know, obviously we're gonna have to win, continue to do a great job in that space and prove that we can
develop players. But we're really excited. We feel like we did a really nice job in Texas in the twenty twenty five class, and we're super excited for twenty twenty six. You know with coach Dad's a Texas guy, Coach Ronnie Palmer's a Texas guy. So we still have those Texas ties on our on our on our staff, which are going to be really important for us.
To your point, Rich Rod used to say, uh, and we all know this. I've been here a long time, Troy grew up here probably yeah, Ty where you know, this is Tucson. People usually fly over Tucson to get to La or wherever. You know what I'm saying, it's it's not the destination place. But once they land, like you said, and they get to see the place, just get them here and they'll realize how cool this place is.
Yeah, and it's something different right and and this is again no disrespect to those are great institutions, but they're bigger cities right there, the more metroplexus and and we're Tucson is it's u of AG. I mean, that's what people love and that's what people care about. And and it's a great city that you can you can live here and create a great network professionally, you know, that parallel path that we talked about earlier. So that's a
big one is getting them, getting them on campus. You know, we're gonna have a ton of official visits coming up here the next handful of weeks where we're gonna have kids from all over where we really get to kind of show off the city and show off our schools. So we're excited about that.
So you said you were in at UNLV and I read in the background bio you were at Western Michigan, I believe, before Arizona. What was it like adjusting to this Tucson weather, the Tucson summers for you.
Yeah, it's the three years in Vegas health, right, so we got least with college football, as you guys know, brings you everywhere. I grew up in Florida, but in the Midwest and the West Coast. As I've gotten older, I've realized I'm more a fan of the desert heat. So it's it's nice not having to shuttle snow and get to work every day. So I'm I'm a shorts and foot flops to the office kind of guy. But
I really enjoyed it. It's been but I've got two little kids, so they've they've really enjoyed the outdoors, the hiking and the campaign and that kind of stuff. So we've we've really enjoyed our time here some more.
I'll leave this to be the last question because we've got to get out. But what's what's a nice day for you? And is there ever a slow day because you're probably always looking at film from somebody or out to seek somebody or whatever, because uh, you know, football nowadays is almost twenty four seven five, or is it it is?
It is certainly in like the recruiting space, right, you know, with the coaches, there's a lot of the x's and o's, you know, but for recruiting for us, it's you know, we'll have a bunch of summer camps coming up in June, or we'll have prospects on campus and and then you look into the season, right, how are we going to you know, go through our cut up processes, which is how we make cutout taps on each kid and evaluate
so it doesn't really stop. You know, July is a nice little break in the dead period, you know, before you get to August. But I love what I do. I really do. You know, I'm really humble for the opportunity to, like I said earlier, to be here and work in college football. It's something that I worked really
hard to get here. But at the same time, like, if I can come to this building every day and get to be around the kid and be around the coaches, it's something that's really special that I definitely don't don't take for granted. So even the hardest day in my chair is really is really special.
You get to do exactly what you wanted to do. Coach, thanks a bunch for joining us. Appreciate good to know you, and then the job.
Of course, so I really appreciate it. If you guys ever need anything, let us know. And Breda you.
Get our tapes and you can evaluate those later. Yes, sir, thanks coach, appreciate it. We got to go come back. Maybe take a caller too. 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 Ludelsen 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.
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Breaking down all the ass and ohs. This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera on Fox Sports fourteen fifty.
Hey, welcome back to I on the Ball here on Fox Sports fortune fifty. I'm Steve Rivera. Your Troy Hutcheson, grumpy Troy Okay Ray Sunshine Roy Ray, Sorry, take it and me your host. I was good to talk to him. It was good to find out what's going on. Yeah, every school does it. I'm sure that they go through tons of video and well and quests.
Hear the name in GM, and you automatically thinks the Pro style and it's like, no, that it's very different, very different.
And Arizona has a couple of those dudes, not GM, but another guy that helps uh Brennan. I'm sure the schools do, you know, just right hand and just to kind of let him do his coaching and the other people do other things.
Chief of staff recruiting director GM. Right, No, who's the finance guy?
Then if like like you said, because it's not like the Pro style, it's like very different.
No, I'm sure there's a finance person there, I don't you think or just that's the at that they probably have like a finance person in terms of what they have in terms of nil what they can do. Oh okay, wouldn't he be the guy or he could probably be part of it. But I'm sure there's somebody out more more about the money.
Tell me, tell me why the programs are going under financially. You got all these people, Oh yeah.
We'll create a job do word, but it we got it, hey, transfer and nil. It's changed a lot, no question.
I mean, it's of course has changed. It's not the team that I covered twenty five years ago. That's for damn sure.
Imagine telling Dick Tomy you're gonna need a GM chief of staff recruiting director. He's gonna say, what the hell for?
I got the stuff under control. Almost cussed this stuff on the guy. I don't need no right hand man. I know what I'm doing. You know I'm joking, of course. Well but I'm joking, of course because back in the day they just did what they did. You know, give me that film and let me see if he's good enough. Does he like to playing? He's like to win? I wanted gotta have winners. Does he eat nails for breakfast?
Yeah yeah, that's like the Georgia Patton of the Yeah. Yeah.
So if anybody wants to call five to two, O four one, six, seventy four forty, give us a call.
Let us know what's going on. Maybe you can refute or agree with.
My boy Troy here on the softball program, and not much is going on another bise football, Just finish basketball.
Baseball. They got the number four seed in the Big twelve tournament. Okay, that's another program. Don't get me started on Yeah. Yeah, well you've seen that more too, don't you. Or no, you haven't done not as much as baseball, I mean softball, but I know it's been successful in the past. Andy Lopez, Yeah, I'll say this, Andy Lopez was there for how many years? Oh, tennis, twelve, ten, twelve years and won a title, got to series, very competitive. How many college World Series did it get to? You
just won? You don't want it in twelve? I think maybe another one, maybe another You ask me questions, but you know, Chip Hall's made I think the tournament every year. Maybe he missed it once. I don't know. We'll see what they do.
Well, that's another program that has a long history and a good history, and other programs have gotten better too. You know, Troy, you're not gonna walk into a room and be the best looking man in the room all the time.
I could be. Well, let me.
Tell you, let me tell you. Don't be a delusional you're part of the u ain't fandom. They go ahead, keep quiet.
I'm gonna say nothing. Did you have that in town? I just think it's very different for Arizona softball then it could be for yeah, let's say baseball. Let's say so her other and.
Yeah, I get it. I get it's because it is a signature program.
Here and you have everything in place that you need except for maybe nil again.
And I okay, nil and pitching history. I mean, over the last ten fifteen years, it lost that luster. It just lost it. Tendrea didn't have that either. He lost it too with the pitching.
He did, but his pitching was still substantially better than what they have right now. Well, it's okay.
You know, I used to be thin and young too.
Not so bunch anymore. I mean Stanford they were able to Nigi Kennedy again. I know she got the million dollar deal from Texas tack she's going back. Well, no, I'm saying that when she transferred from from Stanford to Texas tack right, the report was around a million dollars in terms of the transfer right. But the original recruitment of her, I mean she was in the middle of nowhere Kansas. Yeah, you know, Montana, outset Alabama, middle of nowhere, Kentucky.
They were out there recruiting them. They lifted rocks, stuck up this, you know what I mean. But you're sticking in southern California. We got the Bathbusters, so see Batbusters. We're happy with that. Well, if they're not producing anymore and you're not getting in the top talent, I always see bat buses, you better start leaguing somewhere else.
That sounds like a column call them at a nice little take here on the radio.
I get it. I get it. Recruit other places than California. You have to give yourself more options, and they're not not as much as what they could. I mean, I don't think there was a player from the state of Texas on the roster. You can't tell me there's not softball talent in Texas.
No, well, Texas Texas and m were pretty good. Some of the other ones were pretty good.
Somewhere in the South. Again, it is the game of softball is growing somewhere in the South. Now. Ali skagg she was a top player in the state of Kentucky. She transferred to the state of Arizona, went to the u of A. I think she was probably going to the u of A before she came to Tucson and played at Iron Royd her rap last year in high school. But you got to do more of that. It's just too it's such a big game now to just stick to one area. No, of course not.
I'm sure that's that's they're probably trying that, just not having any success.
I don't know.
I mean, that's a question for her to be asked and for her to answer, you know, because I still think that Arizona has a name, but maybe not as named as everyone thinks.
That they are. Well, for sure, they're no longer thought of as an Oklahoma or you.
See, right, those are the good old days. But what was last time they wanted title? Oh?
Seven oh seven?
Okay, so little a little later than the men's basketball program. Do you feel the same way about Arizona basketball.
I think Arizona basketball isn't what it used to be in the nineties, same conversation, But their talent draw is much higher than what softball has been doing over the last four years. And I think they're at a better spot too. I think they're in a better spot to actually compete for a national title compared to softball, where you're just trying to get to a Super Right now, I mean again outside of the her here the one.
So so, had they gone to a Super would you still feel the same that you're talking right now?
I'd give them a little bit more the way if they got to Super this year again they did failed and failed and failed. Yeah, at least make it competitive. Now they got there and they got smacked, run rolled in both games, now i'd be having this.
So so in review of the men's basketball program. How did they do overall this season?
Yeah, I think they did a good job because they were very competitive against Duke, and everybody thought Duke was the national championship level team. H It wasn't like they got smacked against Houston Thomas first.
Don't you think that the last two or three games, the last two or three weeks of the Pro of the season, elevated the season and how you looked at it up until there was a point there where you're thinking, I'm not you specifically, but many thought, oh, this is not very good.
They're not really well. Let's be honest. After that UCLA game, I was on the radio view and I said, I don't know they're going to make the tournament. You're talking about the December game. December game, I don't know if they're going to make the turn four and five, especially going into a top So when did it change?
Had it would change only in the last month because they were still that same kind of Okay, what's happening. They went on that nice streak, but they hadn't played anybody, and then they got beat a few times. Yeah, and then I can't remember who they played twelve turnam, I will stay, I will stay here, and they want that that game here in the last second.
And I think the big twelve tournament twelve tournament kind of started turning things around, and you got it. That's mid March it is again. I just don't think they ended up at the same place they did last year. The season before three sixteen they did, so there was but I'll give you this. There's more happy faces this year than there were last yearn the way the difference is, everybody thought Duke was gonna win that game, Like most
people thought there was gonna win their game. Nobody thought in their right mind clubs, someone's going to be in Arizona. They thought, of course, of course, maybe they could give them a game, but Arizona should beat them. Get to a sweet sixteen, I mean Elite eight, sorry, Lade eight. And you underformed this one. You kind of overperformed because it was close and everybody, dude was going to just wallop Arizona. So I think there's a difference there.
Yeah, And it turned out, you know, kind of rehab the team's perception, rehabbed Caleb Love's perception in the way he played last a few weeks, a few three.
Weeks, Yeah, basically from the Big Ball Tournament on phenomenal. Well that's two yeah, two three weeks. Yeah. And first of all, you just again that talent, that's what I keep coming back. So they probably played to the level of what they were capable of. And that is that good? Is that good enough? I don't know, depends how loftier expectations are. And I know they're high here. I know they are.
Yeah, I'm not trying to be a defender of her aora or or whatever you're trying to do. But no, right whatever, I have no idea what you're trying to do or say.
I'm not going to defend either way. I think we've seen enough where it's time to start thinking about possibly a change.
I saw a post like that on Facebook and I couldn't believe I saw that post. They were doing really well, seasons. It is what it is. They got to this point and I covered them, and when he first won the title, first one, two titles, I don't I don't won't go that far.
I won't go that far.
But but you can't send letters to Troy, No, no, send letters and emails to Troy. Don't send them to me.
And nobody's getting my number. No, Yeah, hold on, I can find you here. They can call and say you Dubby. Oh, next week we're gonna have Mike Andre on the showy Mike my choice of this? What do you think that doesn't know what he's talking about? You get in the box and face I heard that, right, I still get the call from down shows.
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right. You remember that one that was good. Anybody want to call five too?
Well?
How mush that we five minutes?
Yeah, if I two four, one, six, seventy four forty did you go to the games where you disappointed where you're not?
It was good, good weekend to watch softball, at least beautiful weekend. And that's the greatest thing in terms of it was on a softball. You host the regional, you host a super regional softball, whether you have all those teams, and yes, it's ninety five degrees during the day, but you get those lower games where it's like eighty eighty nine degrees. Last night, it was beautiful. It's funny. The pan to the uh pan, to the crowd. I don't
think anybody was under fifty. I was gonna say I noticed something, would I would have fit right in, But you know what it was. It was louder than McHale. I heard. I heard it was pretty crazy. It was loud. It gets louder than mckail there right right, Chris is the music and you pipe in all that stuff. It's it's it's nice and you're outdoors.
Yeah, no, no, I heard it was fantastic. The atmosphere. The team just didn't live up to that level of excitement.
You know, some I'm going to be honest, some of the meanest crowds I've seen or have been at softball, women's basketball in terms of getting on the opponent. I'm just like, you say that once you tell, once you reach a certain age, try you become grumpy and you unfiltered. Yeah, what the hell They're gonna put me in prison?
I tell you, guys, you don't turned out to be like the two muppet guys that are up in the balcony.
Yeah, a bunch of those dudes, you know, Simon, Yeah, tell them. I don't give a crap. No, I mean some of the stuff that I've heard in those two sports, I'm like, did she really just say that about the player on the field or the player on the court. Wow, I'm laughing, but wow.
Yeah, it was a high school softball game, just commentating it, and it was Yeah, you hear some parents getting into it for sure. Getting on the players or the the players are sometimes you ever gone to a little Yeah you're married, you ever been to a little league game?
I can't say literally, parents are crazy, man, I believe it. I mean, that was the whole conversation we had last week too. Yeah, yeah, right, we did remember that.
It is what it is.
Yeah, okay, second hour you got breaking news. Yeah, we'll get a lot of stuff.
Okay, cool, and then that a nice little treat, right, Toby waka four fifteen seventeen. That'll be great just to talk to him. We don't really get those guys too often. Perfect timing.
Right now he is back in New York? So oh is he's not? Okay? So okay the people that threw the trash bag at that Pacers guy.
Probably he's gonna be did you you got I saw that over over the wire earlier? Are you ready to go? Okay, we have time. We had about a minute. We'll just talk to him more about, you know, the season, what's coming up, putt. He needs to work on things like that, how he was in Tucson, things like that. Okay, great, what not, let's just go