Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we're downing caffeine like our lives depend on it. I could use about I don't know, eight extra hours to get some things done today, but alas I checked, still only twenty four hours. Maybe tomorrow. It's Friday, April eleventh, Happy Friday Slices. On today's show, ESPN analyst Rebecca Lobo will join us to look back at another great season of college hoops and take a little peek ahead to the WNBA Draft.
We talk about are getting to call a Yukon championship win as an analyst for the first time this year, whether Gino was actually crying over Pagebeckers in that viral press conference clip, the positive vibe around this year's NCAA tournament, and the influx of transfers changing the college hoops landscape early in this offseason. Plus the Love Finals continue, the Billy Jean Kingcup makes a move, and a goat gets
the dock treatment. It's all coming up. Right after this welcome back, Sligh says, here's what you need to know today in pro Vib's news. The Love Finals continue tonight in Louisville at the KFCM Center, make sure you catch the semi final action starting at six thirty pm Eastern on ESPN two or ESPN Plus. And if you miss the semis remember that a champ will be crowned on Sunday at four pm Eastern. That contest will also be
on ESPN two and ESPN Plus. In tennis news, the billyj and King Cup Finals, which we had the honor of attending this past fall, will be held in September instead of November this year. Quick refresher. This is the top international team tennis competition where each nation's best tennis players team up to take on the rest of the world stars. The Cup is had to take place in Shenjin, China, and has been moved in the hopes of aligning better
with the players competition schedule. In the past, top athletes like IGAs Fontec, Coco Goff, and Jessica Pagoula have skipped the event because of the strenuous travel requirements. The WTA Tour Finals, held around the same time in past years, weren't located anywhere near the BJK Cup site, but this year's BJK Cup Finals in China will run from September sixteenth to September twenty first, the same time WTA Tour
events will be held across Asia. In hockey news, the PWHL's Montreal Victoire have activated goaltender and Renee Debn from long term injured reserve. She leads all goaltenders and wins goals against average and save percentage, but was placed on long term injured reserve last week, retroactive to March eighteenth, after suffering a lower body injury in a game against
the Boston Fleet. Debien is currently in Chechia with Team Canada for the World Championships, and while she didn't dress for the team's opening game against Finland, perhaps we'll see
her later in the tournament. We'll link to the full World Championship schedule in the show notes to the NWSL, where we were so caught up with college hoops we missed last week's announcement of the Best eleven for the month of March, a list that included the Washington Spirits Ashley Hatch, who scored three goals in March, including a game winner against Houston and a brace in week three, and the Casey Currents ten with Shawana also named NWSL
Player of the Month. Shweinga's three goals in March extended her scoring streak to eight straight regular season contests, tying her own league records. In twenty twenty four, Houston Dash midfielder Maggie Graham was also named Rookie of the Month for March after scoring in each of her first two appearances, becoming the fifth player in NWSL history and just the third rookie to do so. Heading into Week four, three teams in the league looked to continue their season long
unbeaten streak. The three and O Orlando Pride taken out Seattle, the three and O KC Current taken on San Diego, and the two to one in oh Washington Spirit who will face Louisville. You could check out the full NWSL schedule in our show notes. Some more NWSL news, Denver's expansion side has made its first big hire, naming Jen Millett as the club's first president. The Colorado native was the chief operating officer for BAYFC. We got to take
a quick break when we come back. We caught up with Rebecca Lobo yesterday and she helped us put this college hoop season in perspective. Keep it locked here, joining us out for the second time. She's an Olympic gold medalist, NCAA champion, inaugural player in the WNBA, and a w All star in ninety nine, member of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame and the Naysmith Hall of Fame. Now a reporter and color analyst for ESPN with a focus
on women's college hoops and the WNBA. She's guest starred on Martin Sister Sister, Matt, About You, and Girls five Eva, And she's got her own street in South mlkmass where she went to high school, Rebecca Lobo Way, It's Rebecca Lobo High. Rebecca.
Hi. When do I get a jacket? Is that like when I'm on for my fifth time?
Yeah? We need we have a five timers club. Okay, so you're working your way toward it.
You're slowly, but Shirley, all right, you.
Have just finished a hell of a run covering women's college hoops. How are you holding up?
I'm tired. It's funny because everybody just assumed, like assumes that when the Final four is over, oh, you take a break. I'm like, no, We've got a week we're preparing for the draft. But then when we have the draft. That's a glorious three weeks that follow it because college over WNBA training camps haven't even started. So it was like, it's the three weeks of my year where I can exhale and there's nothing that I should be prepping for.
But right now we're still in the middle of the work of it all.
Yeah, you're still in the grind when that three weeks comes. Are you more of a staycation, get stuff done around the house, doodle around, or are you like, I hit a tropical spot immediately kind of person.
I'm a mom, so we never get to hit the tropical spot and very rarely does it coincide with my with my kids vacation at school. So usually it's just relax, decompress, do some stuff around the house, and if it is a year where it coincides with the kids stuff, we'll try to get out and about, but it typically does not.
We're going to get to the draft because yeah, it's Monday, which is insane. But let's talk about this run because this was one of my favorite college basketball seasons ever. And I feel like, if you could try to get back into your brain back when the season started, what would you be most surprised to see happen this year, like a certain player popping off or a team under or overperforming. What what did you have a different mind about when things started.
I think we were all pretty open minded because, you know, while South Carolina was the favorite coming in because they had been undefeated and won the championship the year before, you also knew, all right, but they don't have Camilla Cardoso and she was such a huge part of what they did last year. What is USC going to look like this year? What is Yukon going to look like
this year? And then I certainly don't think any of us anticipated, like in December and January, that Notre Dame would be the best team in the country and that hannahad all Go would be playing like the front runner for National Player of the Year. And then sort of the ebbs and flows that we saw from from that point on in terms of you know, I think we had for the first time three consecutive weeks, maybe at some point in January or February, we had a new
number one team. You know, I don't think people would have expected UCLA to, you know, grab hold of that number one ranking in November December, and then ride it for much of the season, So it's kind of fun. We're in a place with women's basketball now are it's a lot less predictable than it has been in previous years.
What do you think is the biggest driver of that parody? Is that nil transfer portal, investment from schools into their women's programs.
Probably a little bit of all of those things. I think the transfer portal has played a really big part in that because you can have a team like LSU, who you know, Kim Molki's done a phenomenal job every year kind of building a Final four caliber team out of the transfer portal by bringing in seniors and experienced players, and so there's a little bit less of you know, ooh, they got a really good freshman class, We're going to watch them grow, and that team's going to be really
good their junior and senior year. You can you know, bring the pieces is and you see what Mark Campbell did at TCU this year, you know, going, you know, from a team two years ago with hardly any wins to this year going to the Elite eight. So I think that the transfer portal has probably played the biggest role in all that, And of course NIL is combined with the transfer portal as well.
You got to see your alma mater, Yukon get the big win in Tampa, Pagebackers gets to ride off into the sunset as a champion. It felt a little different for me and I think a lot of people watching this time. It's been since twenty sixteen since Yukon has won. After all those years of kind of being like, oh, Gino, Riam and company, here we go again. It was like they were kind of an underdog almost. They were a number two seed, which was weird but ended up, you know,
it all worked out for them. How did it feel for you watching this year versus maybe some of the runs they made when they were dominating.
Yeah, I think there's a little bit of all of that. You know, there's that cycle when Brianna Stewart was there where they win four in a row and the expectation is for them to always win, and I think this year what was different was what happened the previous four years where this team, season after season after season was decimated by injury and even last year. I think last year was one of the coach Oriama's greatest jobs as a coach to get that group to the final four.
They were a three seed a year ago when they beat us in the regional final page and Juju going going at it, and and so it just there was a very different feel I think about the Yukon team this year because it's the first time where I think people are like, man, I really want this for this kid. She's you know, she's had all this bad luck going poor coach Oriama and Yukon they've had all of this bad luck. And so it was a completely completely different vibe.
And while they were in some ways the favorite going into the final four because of how well they played, yeah, they were the only two seed in the in the final four, just because of some of the ups and downs that they'd had this season. So certainly a very different journey than we're used to seeing from a Yukon player and a Yukon team.
When you're around as long as you've been and you're such a just legendary member of the women's basketball community, how do you approach knowing that no matter how you call the game, people will say you're being biased for Yukon.
You know what, I have somewhere on my phone a screenshot from you years ago when I was calling Minnesota Links and the LA Sparks in the finals, and I had back to back tweets. One of them said, you know you can be any more biased for Minnesota, followed by you know you couldn't be any more biased for for the Sparks, And so, like, I feel confident in how I call games, and I just sit down and
I'm going to say what I see. I'm going to say what I see, and and that's what I you know, that's what I did this year, and the best way for me to handle it is what I've done since September. And that's not look at any app replies because look, nobody, nobody ever says to me to my face. You know, you really sounded bias in that in that game, you know so, But like you know, we're always hoping on the TV side for close games. That's what's best for us.
It's it's you know, more enjoyable to watch. We know it's gonna have a big impact on the ratings as well. That's certainly not how it played out in any of the games that our crew called in the tournament this year. But yeah, like I I can't even about that, And what's interesting, Sarah is like, I've done a ton of Yukon's championships as a sideline reporter, a sideline analyst, and
as a studio analyst. This is the first time I've ever called one of their national championships as the game analyst. You know, I've been doing it on the National championship last five or six years, and so I've seen plenty of their heartbreaking losses, but this is the first time I got to call one of their wins. So that was kind of a fun new experience for me.
Wait, so you've been out of the Menchi said September. When that three week pause hits, are you going to go digging back in or are you trying to say why would I?
Why would I? Like like I've hopped in and posted some stuff and then I just get right back out, like I don't you know? And this is and I may have told you this story before, I'm not sure, but you know this was back before when I was still in my mensions and I was sitting in my living room looking at him and saying something to my husband like look at this, you know kind of a thing, and he goes, would you invite that person into our living room, and I said no. He said, then why
are you inviting that person into our living room? And I was like, you know what, no one's allowed in my living room. The living room is fine, and so I'm not gonna I'm not gonna worry about any of that stuff.
I love that. You know, We've been talking to a handful of Yukon folks. We even had Gino on the show, but we had him on before the moment that everyone was talking about at the press conference last regular season game. Page gets up and walks away, and everyone says Gino's crying, But Sue Byrd and if you said Collier, all these former players say, no chance Gino was crying. To everyone else, it was very clear it looked like he was definitely crying. And we think this is a new, older, softer Gino
and that the old players just don't get it. You don't You don't think he was crying.
No, And I'm I'm a little bit more informed on this because that was the game where they played the last her last game at Gamble. It was in the second round of the tournament. That's that game. I called
that game. Right after the game, he came Page came and sat down with us and talked to us first live, and then coach came and we had an interview with him, and he was very much in his upbeat spirits, kind of given crap mode, and and so in that press conference, what I saw, and what I believe is one hundred percent true, is him kind of rolling his eyes like you know, they're like just there she goes, or that sort of a thing.
You know.
Here, there was nothing in that moment that should have made him cry, like he had more time with her, and we all obviously saw what happened after the National Championship game and the full emotion that he brought. I more saw him in like, you know, given her crap kind of mode in the moment where people thought he was crying.
All right, we'll take your word for it.
And I can tell this story because I heard him tell a piece of it at their welcome reception back at Gamble Pavilion. But after the game, you know, it's it's late at night. I'm kind of hanging out with Stuwie and Sue and Diana and Ryan and Holly, and we've got some of our you know, former Yukon players saying you should come by. You should come by and
say say hi to coach. Come buy the team hotel and so so we did so so D and Sue and Stuie and Megan and myself we get in a in an uber and we go out to the team hotel and we're not near the players. They're like on the roof or wherever they're doing their thing. And like
we walk by where the parents are, we're not with them. Well, we get like to the back of the area and and coach or Aama is there and CD and Jamel and Morgan and Tanya and all the coaching staff kind of just sitting sitting in their separate places, and there's some other former players back there, and so we're just kind of sitting around and talking and and Coach Arima told the story and uh in their welcome reception and how you know, he started pointing at players, like, you know,
Jen has one, Rebecca has one, Stue has two, d has three, and he's like counting around the part of the story he didn't tell was right before he started
doing the counting. It's probably two in the morning and Page comes down and you know, she's got the net and her championship had on, and she comes over and like it's all kind of the older players sitting around, and Coach kind of looks at her and is like, oh, what you know, you got one and you're done, so you think you can be down here now and then and remember this is just a couple hours after we saw him crying and hugging her and telling her he
loves her. And he looks at Page and he points at me and he said, go sit next to her. You guys only have one.
Oh my god.
And then he started like pointing. He's like, I won, and then he points to Stewie four, Jessic Moore three, like the whole thing. So that's who he is. Never so no, and so him sitting at the podium when she was still his player, you know, after the second round,
he wasn't crying. And the thing that was interesting to me was it was thirty years since our team won the championship, and the night after we won, we all ended up in coaches room and he's like, put the VHS tape of our game on and he starts giving all of us us shit after just winning him as first national championship. And I was just like I felt like I was in a time warp, like thirty years ago.
It was me.
He was, you know, giving crap to tonight. It's Paige. She just won a championship. But he's already said to her, go sit over by her, because you guys at leave.
That's amazing. That's what makes those people great. They're they're they're crazy like that. That's literally what drives him already ready to pop in the tape and tell you what to do. That's such a great story. What are some of the highlights for you from the tournament, regional games, Final four? Anything besides the basketball.
I mean just the the energy and the excitement. You know, my journey in the tournament was I did call the first two games and stores all of them sold out, incredible crowds. Go out to Spokane, we get to call the games out in Spokane. That building was packed for for all rounds. Going to the final four, same thing, the energy and the vibe and the feeling of just
excitement about women's basketball. And you know, I've been at the final covering the Final four for a lot of years and there is definitely a different feeling that we've had in these last three or four. You know, not only the games being sold out, there's just a different energy, excitement, you know, people texting you or whatever excited for these games, for these players, for the stories. There's a different juice.
There's a different juice there and I felt it in stores and I felt it, and we felt it all in the regular season too, because we got to call some incredible games in the regular season. You know, Notre Dame at NC State and the students section is exploding, LSU at South Carolina and you've got twenty five hundred students there. Just like the building felt like it was pulsing. There's a different energy about it, and it's been awesome.
And I will say this year, minus the juju injury, was a mostly positive season. You know, last year I had almost forgotten about the Spokane region having some issues around you know, overscheduling with like I think it was a volleyball tournament, and then players staying in a hotel just outside of state, facing some racial epithets. There was a lot more complaints about investment and resources and all
those other things. It's not fixed, but between the economic units finally getting applied to the women's game, to the storylines around the teams and the players and the game itself. It did feel like there was a leap this year and just talking about ball, which was awesome.
Yeah, and there were still some of those issues and coach o Aama brought them up. Kim Multky was talking about them and that that high school volleyball tournament was still happening because many of those players and their parents were at the hotel we were in No Way Spokane, And yeah, I mean it's hard because how those super regionals are set up, like they literally the teams the day before they're going to play a Sweet sixteen, an elite A game, they only get an hour on the court.
They get a half hour on game day for shoot around and this year one of the ones in Spokane, their time was like five forty five am. There are certain certainly things that need to get fixed and become better, But yeah, I think the basketball was so good. And you brought up the Juju injury. I think that's the one thing that did take a considerable amount of air out of the bubble. And I think part of it is because you know, last year it was like people
are on Team Angel or Team Caitlin. There wasn't that feeling. This year, I think everybody was was hopeful for Pagebeckers, everyone was hopeful for Juju, like they are players that it didn't feel like, you know, that there was as much of a love hate divide this season. It felt just more like, Oh, I really love that player. My heart breaks that she just hurt her knee. I really love this kid. I hope she gets her championship or you know, my lagel full Wiley so exciting to watch
what's going to happen there. So there was I think a better vibe about Possibi this year. Yeah, yeah, for sure.
Speaking of positivity, it seems like you and Ryan Ruco and Holly Road genuinely enjoy each other. Can you give us a little behind the scenes of your trio, like maybe when you have a couple hours off.
I mean, we spent so much time together, so we better enjoy one another. I mean, when when we were out in Spokane, for example, we're staying we were staying outside of the city. We're at a hotel that was right near the airport. There really wasn't much around us, so there was a highway that went by. But even when it's like forty five degrees and cold, like we're out there in the morning, we're going for a walk together, we are eating our meals together, we're hanging out with
one another. You know, we're sitting watching the other games happening in the different regions with one another. We just enjoy each other's company. And and so that was kind of the rhythm of the Final four too. We spend so much time in the arena that by the end of it, like you cannot be in the best mental space. And so we've learned over the years, all right, there's a break, let's get outside, let's get in the sun,
let's get outside, let's go for a walk. And but you know, we're the only ones on our same schedule, and we just spend spend a ton of time together. We laugh a lot, we enjoy each other and and it would be really, really hard to do this job if that wasn't the case.
Yeah, I mean, it makes for such a great watch, such a great lesten. So okay, so this season's wrapped. We got the fairytale ending for page. Before we get to the draft, we've still got to close up the college game, which means we're already seeing players in the transfer portal making moves. What are your thoughts on Olivia Miles to TCU.
That one surprised me a little bit. First, I was surprised that she chose to not go in the draft. I mean, typically if a player is projected to go not only second, but second to a phenomenal franchise, like you have the chance to be the one who sort of follows Sue Byrd as the point guard of the Seattle franchise. That surprised me. And then I did not expect for her to go to TCU, of all places.
I thought, you know, you could actually be a really interesting fit for her because they run the same kind of offense at Notre Dame. So that one was a big surprise. Tadaia Latson when she came out South Carolina is the perfect fit for her. That makes all kind of sense. So and wow, that's going to be really interesting to see her in a back court with my Lesia full Whiley next year.
And yeah, leading scorer in the nation goes to a place that needs someone clutch. That's the go to.
They needed a guard who could just go get a bucket, and she is a guard who go just go get a bucket. The one who's I'm at least as we're doing this podcast now, I don't know where Cody McMahon's going yet, especially this will be her last year. She will be probably a lottery pick in next year's draft. You know, she's in the port a lot of Ohio State. That woman is the real deal as a as a basketball player, as a score. I'm kind of fascinated to
see where she's gonna go. But yeah, like you can't even like project what's gonna happen next year until all this stuff settles, you know, Keyomi mcmiller coming out of Rutgers like, to me, the perfect fit for her is if she ends up at LSU. If she ends up at LSU and a backcourt with Flage Johnson, Holy cow,
this that kid can really really play. So so yeah, it's like, okay, we like we can't even Charlie cream does is you know, way too early top twenty five, And you know, once things kind of settle in in the portal, I would imagine some of those projection projections are going to change a bit.
Yeah, as Fred the Olivia Miles thing, I mean it feels like, obviously TCU was a great spot for Haley van Lit to redeem herself after a tough time at LSU. It feels like from the rumors that they are certainly making it worth a student's while to go there in terms of nil deals and things like that. Obviously, the relationship with the coach there feels like one that the players really take to heart and feel like they're seen by.
But she's not the only Notre Dame player on the move, So I'm as intrigued by her wanting to go to TCU as I am by players leaving the Irish. Are you hearing anything about why that's not a program that's able to hang on to players.
No, No, that's not That's not a rumor mill that I have, you know, any any insight on. But I mean when you look at their uster right now, I think they only have two or three players RFD. You know Kate Kolevaals has on the move to LSU. Actually, that's I think a really really good fit for her too, because Kim Malki is so good about utilizing her big
back to the basket post players. But no, and when we've covered Notre Dame, the players seem to have an incredible relationship with the l Ivy, So I don't know if it's a situation where the NIL is just too appealing at other places, So I'm not sure exactly what's going on there.
Someone of my Menchi's mentioned something about them under investing, and I don't know if they meant overtly or if they meant an nil or otherwise, And it wasn't a source that I knew knew anything, but they seem to have a strong opinion about the team not putting enough into the women's side of the program, So I don't know if there's any truth to that.
Yeah, I don't know either, but it's certainly from the outside. I've never seen anything that looks like the players don't completely respect and appreciate in the l But if that's the case, if you're getting offered a lot more money from another place and you're a kid who doesn't have much money, and how many kids do like you, know, I would understand how that would be a hard thing not to take.
So obviously South Carolina prime to compete again next year, returning so many stars and adding to Nai Lats and Yukon with superstar Fresh and Sarah Strong leading the way, who just already would be a lottery pick right now, Ucla bringing pretty much everybody back. Are those your early favorites for next year's Final four? And who else is on the list?
Yeah? I think those would be my three favorites going in. You know, UCLA has got so much back, they now have the experience of being there. You know, you bring up Sarah Strong, how about Azy Fudd. I'm watching her playing like holy holy smokes. As she plays like this next year, she could be the number one pick in
the draft. Next year they could have three numbers like Sarah Strong to me, but when she's a senior, depending on how everything you know is in the CBA, like, she could be the number one or pick page Backers obviously the number one pick. Asy Food could be the number one pick next year. So I think you kind is certainly dangerous South Carolina, and they'll have a different kind of a chip on their shoulder, of course, coming off of losing Ucla. And then let's let's see what
Kim Bulk does. You know she always finds a way in Texas.
Texas course, Madison Booker just getting better.
Yeah, and you know who's an interesting one is going to be Oklahoma. You know they return most of their pieces or many of their pieces, and they add Alias Chavez the number one recruit, and you mentioned UCLA, they get Sienna Betts, you know, Lauren's sisters. So uh yeah, there's there's going to be a lot of fun games for us to watch and cover next year.
Sienna Bets was in the ESPN W suite with me and everyone else for that UCLA game. It was a little awkward. A lot of us were cheering for Yukon and Paige, and you know, it was kind of hard watching her watch her sister in that game where they struggled. But she was there.
Because they told us she wasn't coming because she was going to be going to her prom.
She was there.
Oh okay, Well hopefully her.
Prom was like maybe a different day. Maybe she was able to Yeah, let's hope. So uh okay, you mentioned it. So I want to ask really quick, do you think the CBA will end up allowing for players to make a decision about their future instead of having the same age in your eligibility rules for entering the double Draft.
I don't know. I don't know that it will, and even if it does, I don't know that it'll impact the women's game all that much because the players right now, the top players, the ones who might want to leave early, are because of NIL, you know, making such a nice living, you know. I mean you see Olivia Miles choosing to go back for NIL instead of go to the w NBA. I would think a player like Juju Watkins, you know,
and how she's beloved in the LA community. Unless LA the Sparks got the number one pick, and you're like, all right, I gotta go out early to ensure that I go here. So it's one thing that the league has protected for the last twenty eight years was sort of understanding how important it is for these women to build their brand in college. So I would expect it to go that route. But even if it doesn't, I can't imagine it would be as drastic as a one
and done. Yeah. Yeah, maybe they let them come out after a junior year.
But their rookie contracts are going to change too. It is anticipated that they'll be coming into a lot more money in the w than they have been for that first three year deal with a four year option that they're going to want to, you know, maybe have a little bit more of a consideration there. But yeah, I think to a degree.
To a degree, seric is keep in mind, it's the veterans that are negotiating, and the veterans protect the veterans more than they protect the rookies. That's the way it's always been. So even if some of the higher end salaries are going to go way up, and of course the rookies will to a degree, it's not going to be like a rookie is going to be coming in. I don't imagine making a million dollars if they're the number one pick.
All right, let's talk about the draft this upcoming Monday. An incredibly fast turnaround for the players in the final four. What's the biggest challenge you think, specifically for the pagebackers and the Taina powepals who barely unpacked from Tampa at this point.
Any sleep at all? I Mean, every time I look on Instagram, I see you know, pages on, you know fallon, she's you know, good morning America. Like their life right now is such an incredible whirlwind. And and what's hard too is, you know, they want to experience the last month of their college life. You know, there's a lot of fun things to do in the spring of your last year in college, but at the same time being
pulled in a million directions. But I'm sure for all of them, it's a huge relief to finally know where you're going. You know, there's such I mean Page No, it's Page nows. She's going to Dallas, Tahina. Probably has no idea right now where she's going to end up.
And so it's the first time really in these young players' lives where they do not choose where they go, you know, and did you get to choose which AAU team you play for, you get to choose which college you go to, or multiple colleges that you go to, And this is going to be the first time where that is completely
out of a player's control. So sure they're like, all right, let's get the draft here, let me know where I'm going, and then like kind of figure out the next what four or five weeks before training camp starts.
Last year, Caitlin Clark's moved to the w prompted some pretty uninformed conversations about being a rookie. As Dana Trossi said, reality's coming for you, which was true and we saw it with our own eyes. The turnover, the timing with teammates you just met that wasn't there yet. But obviously, with a little time and experience, Caitlin eventually excelled at the next level. What parts of the game do you think take the most time for these new players entering the league to figure out.
I think it's a primary ball handler like Caitlin, where you can get you know, you're getting blitzed or double teamed on ball screens. And maybe you got that to a degree in college, but it wasn't from six to Alissa Thomas as one of the people coming out at you. So I think the primary ball handlers, that's one thing. For the bigger post players, it's the physicality of the league. I think the rhythm of the league as well. I
mean they've added games. This is a forty four game regular season this year, but we haven't added time to it. So back to backs in different cities, you know, three games in five days. Those are the sort of things that are really hard on a player's body. So that's a piece of it, the physicality and the speed of the league, the rhythm of it. But what all players do enjoy is they can they just have practice and rest and you know, appearances there they don't have to
go to class anymore. They don't have the stress of studying for exams and all that sort of thing. But it's the pace, the physicality, the rhythm of it is what takes an adjustment for all these young guys.
And it feels like the professionalism is already there at the collegiate level at this point, whether that's the business deals for nil to the expectations from coaches and teammates for your schedule and everything else. But finally it's sort of a reversal of things. The WNBA is catching up
to college in terms of like facilities and resources. For such a long time, that was one thing that players had to adjust to with sometimes being much better treated, flying better, better resources, training facilities, everything at the college level. But thankfully that's changing at the w Is there still a little bit of that that they have to adjust to, or maybe just being up an adult who's in charge of themselves.
Yeah, I think some of it is dependent on franchise. You know, some franchises are in the process of you know, we're seeing the renderings of the Dallas practice facility or New York's practice facility. But certainly the adjustment now with the charter flights is much much easier than it was for you know, players who hadn't flown commercially, you know,
their entire than their entire college career, you know. But like it's that's a big piece of it too, is like you have a lot more time now and when you oftentimes, like when you're in college and you go on a road trip, you know you have they give you your itinerary. You know, you where you're supposed to be. You're having team meals together, and you're with other people
who are about your age. And that was one of the big things for me my early in my pro career is like you're on your own on the road, you find your own meals and like this person's off with their husband or partner and this person's like, you know, talking to their child and I'm, you know, twenty three years old, Like wait a minute, what's going on here? So that piece of it is something to navigate too.
What you need is one you need one teammate who you really get along with, who you go to meals with. You you need what I have now with my Ryan and Holland Yeah, like because it's so much time friends and family you need one road dog. And if you have that one person, and if you know you both like the same shows, you both like to read whatever it is, you desperately need that one person to make it all easier.
Yeah, and I think sometimes teams certainly look to that. You know, Connor Bedard in the Blackhawks here in Chicago was eighteen when he joined the team, and they were going to give him a roommate at first, and he was like, no, I'm all right, but like they ended up putting in a building with some vets that also lived in the building. The building has like the kind of amenities that you don't have to leave to really do anything, because it's tough to be a kid who's
suddenly living in a new city alone. And so I think teams usually are pretty good about figuring out how to at least kind of put you around other people that will help you learn just how to be an adult. Do you being a dentist and.
You know, like and that's a piece of it too, Like you know, as the medities get better, that includes like dentists and doctors, all those all those like insurance. They have to like you when you're in college, like all of your medical stuff is taken care of.
Well.
Now that you're a pro, like you you need an insurance card if you go to the doctor, you better have that a near on you, you know. So like it's just it's just different.
Last couple here, How do you see pagebackers game translating to the pros.
I think it's going to translate beautifully. I think it's going to translate beautifully. I thought Caitlyn's was going to translate beautifully as well, and it did. It just took some time for her to adjust to it all. But you know, Page can get to any spot on the floor. We've seen her navigate pick and roll so well she you know, will she experience some of the defensive attention that Caitlyn did. Yes, but she's going to have a rique alongside or so, you know, no double teams are
coming off a RIQUE. So I think her game and I think the efficiency part of it will translate as well. I mean that that's the part that that was not talked about nearly enough. If it wasn't for her, you know, in the last three or four games missing some free throws, she would have been our first fifty to forty ninety player who led the nation and assist the turnover ratio like it's ridiculous, and I think her efficiency will translate.
I think it'll actually be a good sign if her efficiency decreases a little bit, because that'll mean she's hunting shots more. But her personality, her teammates are going to love her. She's going to fit in seamlessly to what Dallas already has. And she has such a varied skill set already a really good defender, has put on weight since she got to college, gotten stronger. I think she's going to be at a high level really really quickly.
And it's just fund seeing the Dallas players so excited for her to get there because they know she's covered, so they're Yeah. Among the projected top picks, we've got French Unicorn, the six to six, Dominique Malongo, We've got Notre Dame, Guard, Sonya Citron usc Big Kiki Eria Fen Tcu guard, Hayley Van Liz, Let's use Anissa Moro. Those are some big names. Who are a few players that you think will make an immediate impact in the w you see playing time right away.
That really depends on where they go, right you know, So if you Connecticut as back to back picks in the middle of the first round that would be in real players. No players, Yeah, I mean they lost their starting five. And that's the put up part that can be hard for kids on draft day. Do not worry about where you go. You know, you want to go somewhere where you're going to have an opportunity one to make the team and then to to to be able
to play. And so players going and not only Dallas because obviously Page is going to play right away, but they have picks twelve and fourteen. Twelve and fourteen can both make that Dallas roster and have an opportunity to compete to be in the rotation. So that's the kind of the piece that we're all watching too, not just you know who goes where. And by the way, Malonga is an incredible talent. I encourage people to google her and watch video of her because holy cow, she could
be pretty incredible in Seattle. So I think Page and Malonga are two. I think Citron again, you know, projected to Washington. Well, that's another place you want to go, because you want to go to a team that's rebuilding and wants to invest playing time in their younger pieces, you know so, you would it be great for whoever goes thirteen to Vegas because you're going to get to compete. Yes, Are you going to get much playing time?
Probably not.
You're you're seen as a player for the future, which will be great for you as long as you're ready to assume that role, you know so, so we'll see, you know, those are the all of the pieces that fall into place. That's that's pretty exciting.
Well, I think it's going to be just so much excitement heading into that season with the Valkyries getting started, with the pagebackers and these young players we've been watching all season long getting their first crack at the pro games. So we're just so pumped. Thanks so much for helping us get ready for it, and thanks so much for looking back at what was an incredible college season. Thank you, thank you, Thanks so much to Rebecca for joining us again.
We got to take another break when we return, but the fact is back. Welcome back, Slices. It's time for another What the fact, Like we just talked about with Rebecca, the college hoops season is over, which means the WNBA season is rapidly approaching, and after a twenty twenty four season that saw all but three of the league's twelve teams led by women coaches, Twenty twenty five will start
with six men at the head of the bench. Five female coaches, including two of the three black women in charge, lost their head coaching gigs in twenty twenty four. Four of those women were replaced by men. Indiana Stephanie White is the outlier. She parted ways with the Connecticut Sun and then was named the head coach of the Indiana Fever.
For a league whose players have long champion diversity and inclusion and where more than seventy percent identify as players of color per the latest TIDES report, and we're an extreme majority of those folks identify as women. These coaching
don't feel great. Throw in the fact that WNBA Legend Hall of Famer, eight time All Star and two time Champ Lisa Leslie interviewed for two different head coaching vacancies this offseason, and when she didn't get either, told Chicago's Guy Forward Angel Rees on her podcast quote, I will never make another attempt to go into coaching in the
WNBA end quote, Well, then the eyebrows really start raising. Now, we of course don't know for certain why Leslie didn't get the job or what the interview was like, and we certainly know that those men that got those jobs aren't immediately incompetent because of their gender. But these facts do illuminate the truth that the league has a lot of work to do to ensure that the folks playing
the game are represented by the folks leading them. Remember those last two teams standing and unrivaled coach by the two women coaches. I'm just saying there's also a precedent for more women leaders in the W two. In its first season back in ninety seven, nine out of ten head coaches were women. So it'd be nice to have a return to that era because there are so many talented women with big basketball brains that would love and frankly deserve a shot. This is what the fact brought
to you by ELF Beauty. And here's another fact. Companies with diverse leadership make more money. Elf Beauty credits part of its success to its diverse board seventy eight percent women and forty four percent diverse, and because of that diversity, Elf has delivered twenty four consecutive quarters of sales growth, the only cosmetics brand to grow market share every single quarter. ELF is about including everyone, because when you do, everyone wins.
Learn more about what Elf Beauty is doing to help diversefy corporate boards. Visit changetheboard game dot com. We'd love to hear from us. To hit us up on email. Good game at Wondermedia network dot com, and don't forget to subscribe, rate and review slices. It's easy. Watch a Diana Tarasi documentary rating five out of five giant yetti cheers review. Amazon Prime Video has greenlit a three part docuseriies about the life and career of Dina Tarassi called
Simply Tarassi. It's a Prime Video Sports and sky Dance Sports production, and there are some familiar names in the mix as producers and contributors, which I'm psyched about, including Meadow Arc Media, my old friend Dan Lebottart's company, and my friend Kate Fagan is one of the executive producers. Needless to say, this is gonna be good. Now it's your turn. Go give us a rating and review us five stars. Please say something nice, thanks for listening. To
see you next week. Good game, Rebecca, Good game. Three weeks off. You kids and their schedules, and they're always they need to be supervised and shit, Mama needs a break. Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network,
our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan, and Emily Rudder. Our editors are Emily Rutterer, Britney Martinez, and Grace Lynch. Our associate producer is Lucy Jones and I'm Your host Sarah Spain