College basketball will crown it's national champ tonight on the men's side, after the Yukon women got it done over the weekends. Gino rim at twelve and one in national championship games. That is a mind blowing stat. Houston, Florida tonight six fifty Mountain time on CBS. Florida as of now is a one point five point favorite represented the SEC. Of course, Houston out of the Big twelve and Josh
Furlong will join us right out of the gates. And Josh, if you've been watching Big twelve basketball all year long, you're probably not too surprised to see the Houston Cougar's playing for the national championship.
Is that fair?
Yeah? No, I think this is a team that they play together, They've been consistent, they've been together for a long time, and so you know, they're a tough team to beat. I mean, when I put in my bracket, they're the team that I actually put to win it all. So it wasn't a surprise to me by any means.
You know, Florida's obviously a good team. They've got some length, So I'm really fascinated to kind of see how this works, especially with offense and kind of the defensive prowess that Houston brings, so it should be a really fun Matt. I mean, the fact that they could even beat Duke was was pretty remarkable. But love it. So you can't ask for anything more in a in a championship game.
Since you brought it up, one more thing here, then we'll get onto the Utah content portion of the interview. Look, man, I you know, I don't care what level you ever played, uh, if you ever played you know, competitive sports, uh of any kind on any level. Their chances are there's a missed shot that you think about while you're trying to go to bed. There's a game that your team lost that you think about that you that you wonder, uh you know.
I should have, would have, could have? What have you.
I don't care what Cooper Flag goes on to do the rest of the way.
And I think he's got I'm all in on him. I think he's awesome.
Conka Nipple, the Malawatch kid, Like that's a team full of stars. I don't know, Josh, that you ever quite forget a loss that Duke, A loss the likes of which Duke suffered to the hands of Houston. That was one of the most epic collapses I think I've ever seen.
Oh absolutely. I mean I remember looking at the clock thinking like, there's no way Houston really getting into this, and just little by little it just felt like Duke was kind of you know, the whole definition of that around and find out the situation right, Like, I don't know if you could put that on the radio, but I think this was just, you know, a situation where Duke just kind of felt comfortable and obviously they relied a ton on Cooper flag, but he was the only
one that was able to generate anything, and so when he didn't, you know, they really had nowhere to turn and suddenly you've got a Houston team that got momentum and it all changed. But like I think if you were to tell me that that was going to happen, especially with like a minute left of the game, I still don't know that I believe you, especially the way that it did. So definitely one for the ages. But yeah,
you have to feel for Duke. I mean, that's going to be one that sticks with you for a very long time, and I don't know that you can shake it, especially with how that went down.
And I don't know what this means for where Cooper Flags had a that. Of course, the conversation over the past forty eight hours or so have been like, does this motivate him to come back to school? And you know, I kind of roll my eyes at that. But at the same time, he turned eighteen, like three and a half months ago or so. He is a young eighteen year old, and Josh, I cannot imagine what the reaction would be if we're sitting here watching the draft lottery.
I think it's May twelfth, if I remember correctly, and Lady Luck shines on the Jazz they grabbed number one overall, and then Cooper Flag announces he's going back to Duke.
Can you imagine the reaction in this city.
It would be the most like perfect thing that would happen to Utah the one time they finally get the number one seed and Cooper Flag, the guy that they've been taking for decides to stay in college. I mean, I think, yeah, I don't even want to know what that would do to people. I mean, I think people were okay with the Jazz tanking and you know, within reason, but then to not get somebody like Cooper Flag would just be devastating, you know, a generational talent. But that's
the age of nil now, man. I mean, I think you know, he can obviously go get paid a fairly great wage at Duke and if he really wants to get that national championship, you know, good for him. But you know he'd be crazy not to in my opinion. I mean, I think you know, all it takes is
an injury to derail things. At least if you're in the NBA, you've derailed it and you're in the NBA, so you know, it would be crazier things would happen, But it would be the Jazz luck to have that happen where they get the number one pick and then everything goes to crap.
Well, let's hope that does not go down, but only time will tell. Josh, let's move over to some Utah stuff, and let's start with a piece of news.
It appears to be very positive.
I'm not going to be the radio host that claims that I was grinding on Fairley Dickinson tape last year.
But Terrence Brown was their leading scorer.
He's one of the top scorers in the country, and he is a rising junior, which means technically he has three years to play with the grad transfer stuff, and apparently the background is he knows Raphael Chilias, but Utah Lanz, who, according to No. Three is a four star transfer with a composite ranking of nearly ninety two out of one hundred. So again, I'm not overly familiar. I've just been reading about him and watching some highlights. He's a pretty impressive
young six to three sophomore. What do you make of this piece of the puzzle that Alex Jensen and his staff were able to dial in.
Yeah, I'm not going to pretend to know a ton about you know, Fairleig Dickinson or anything other than their tournament ron a few years back, But I mean, this is a guy that, you know, when you look at what Utah needs to be able to compete, or at least what they haven't had for the last few years, it's been guard play, and it's been outside shooters or guys that can be able to create their own shot,
and Utah seemingly found that with Terrence Brown. You know, he's a guy that you know, averages about twenty point six points per game, five point six rebounds, three point two assist. So he seems like he can do it all and is kind of a contributor of the offense more than what Utah's had now. Obviously, you know, how he's able to translate to the Big twelve game will
be the biggest thing. But I mean, when when you're going in there in the first guy that you pull out of the portal, outside of getting Keanuds to withdraw from the portal, this becomes a huge get for Utah just you know, being able to get a guy that they feel confident in, that can score, that can do a lot of things at guard play. You know, he's a combo guard, so you know, I'm curious to see how much he'll have the ball in his hands or
if he'll be the guy that they set up. But I mean, you still need great guard play, and especially in the Big twelve, you need that. So I think this is Alex Jensen working early to be able to work on those connections with with Chilias, but also it's being able to address the needs that they've seen in the past and kind of his mindset of he wants this team to be able to run fast, we have some tempo and be able to do that and the best way to do that is with guard played.
All right, So that's piece number two of the puzzle. And we're still learning about some of these other players and whether or not, you know, Alex and his staff are trying to get any of them back. So let's move over to some of those pieces of news.
And I've got your Twitter feed pulled up.
So wording to an account you retweeted a Running Hoops, Running Hoops podcast, they're reporting the Josh Eilert will not be returning next season. I don't know that this is surprising, although you did join us pretty quickly after the news came down that Craig was out and the rumors were swirling that Alex was going to be in. And you made a really interesting case that essentially, Josh, with two decades a Big twelve experience, might be a guy that
Alex looks at. Josh rolled in a studio a few weeks ago, we spent some time together.
Seems like a great guy. Moved his family out here.
I believe three children, and this business oftentimes is unkind of family dynamics. So what are your thoughts on the news that you know? And I have no idea if aj even talked to him, but Josh Eilert will not be returning in any role next year for Utah basketball.
Yeah, I mean, I know Alex Jensen was. He was in town last week meeting with the players, meeting with the staff and trying to get his lay of the land on kind of what he could do for the for the you know, Ever since Chileus is the first one that he hired, there's been a lot more emphasis
being place. I'm wanting to get his NBA guys, Guys that he feels like he has a great connection with, guys that have kind of that NBA pedigree, and for whatever reason, Josh Eilert didn't kind of pand them out there. I mean, I think when you know, I made the case that if you're going to bring Josh Eilert on, it's mostly because of your ability to be able to scout the big twelves and being able to understand what
goes on there. But since those conversations that we had, you know, I've kind of heard that there was a little bit more waffling there, especially with the entire staff. There's still questions on guys like at David Evans or a low Lease obviously they provide connections to whether it be the AAU circuit or in David Evans's case, where you know, obviously he's coached in the state of Utah,
He's got a lot of connections there. He also has a great international recruiting base that he can pull from, and so there's there's still questions remaining about them. I think the longer this goes on, the less likely becomes.
But I wouldn't I wouldn't be surprised if David Evans is the guy that they hold on to, if they hold on to somebody, I think just from the Utah standpoint alone, that gives you, you know, the connections inside the state, which look, you know, Utah have some good recruiting, but like you also need some guys that can go out there and recruit from other areas, right, and I think with his ability to recruit outside of the country, yeah, you know, the international circuits, I think that gives you
a leg up. But look, I mean, I think there's so many different guys that you can go to. I don't know that it's a huge miss if you don't take any of these guys. But I think you know, these are guys are going to have to fall in line with what the way Alec Jensen wants to do it. And you know, for whatever reason, it seems like Josh Eiler just wasn't the fit there, whether it was his own choice or whether it was Alex's. You know, I haven't heard anything but that direction, but you know, you
wish him best. He's a good guy. He's he's kind of a no nonsense guy, but also kind of stays out of the limelight, just happy to kind of work hard and get a team going forward. So the toughest, but I think Utah or Alex Jensen specifically has an idea of where he wants to go.
While we're in the space of talking about Alex's staff, you know, right out of the gates coach Chillius and then about a week later, Wes hired as the GM and it's been quiet since then. Any insight and Alex hopped on Sean Show earlier today and talked about his desire to have a staff that's maybe a little bit smaller than what we've seen in college basketball as of late, which to me is great. I mean, there's like ten coaches on all these teams now, and so we'll see
how this thing kind of takes shape. But do you have any information on the progress or maybe lack thereof and filling out the staff.
Yeah, I know he's definitely been working hard to be
able to kind of get his guys. I know that there's an NBA guy that he's still trying to work on, and whether that comes down to the NBA season or some other factors, I'm not entirely sure, but I know he wants, you know, at least one more NBA guy, and then outside of that, he's you know, trying to find some connections to the state of Utah, trying to find a good connection that will allow you to be able to whether that be recruiting or just being able to kind of have that guy that's been in the
state in people's homes or whatever that may be, that that is kind of recognizable that way. So, you know, he's definitely being intentional with this. This isn't something where he's trying to hire a staff immediately so that they can get going for this next year. He's definitely looking long term, right. I think he's not trying to just kind of put a band aid over something real quick. As he's dealing with you know, what he's had in Dallas.
He's definitely trying to be intentional. I mean, he said as much in his inturgal press conference, right like, he said that he was going to take his time, he was going to do it, and you're definitely seeing that. I think, you know, he wants people to buy into his process. He wants people that are going to to maximize kind of his potential, especially if he is going to take that small staff, and I've heard the same thing. I don't think he's going to blow up this staff
and make it some massive thing. You still need your directors of operation, you still need, you know, more assistant coaches, you need some other things that way. But I think he really attacked it hard and showed kind of his hand by getting Raphael Chilius as an assistant coach and then getting Wes Wilcox as a general manager. He showed kind of the direction he was going where this is going to be my focus. I'm going to focus on the recruits. I'm going to go from the NBA style
and go from there. So I don't I don't know that he feels the need to necessarily get something immediately, especially because he's got those proven guys that are able to kind of be in the system already.
We did get some news over the weekend Ezrasar has entered the transfer portal. Of course, Ezra had a lot of bright moments playing for Craig this year, including the BYU game here in Salt Lake. And you know, I know he has children elsewhere in the country, I think in the Midwest, so maybe he's looking to get closer to home. He did feel like one of the candidates, along with Keanu Dawes, who will be back playing for the youth, so that maybe Alex would take a long
hard look at Maybe they still are. But can you shed some light on this information and whether or not Ezra is still considering maybe staying here in Salt Lake.
Yeah, Utah's definitely still in conversations with Ezra. You know, I think they want him, but I think they're gonna want him at the right price. I know, only have to say that now in college basketball in college football, which is crazy, but I think, you know, based on his skill set, obviously he had tremendous abilities and tremendous upside, but there's still limiting aspects of his game where he kind of loses the ball on the post. He's not able to, you know, really shoot outside of maybe ten
fifteen feet. Great guy around the rim, but outside of that, his game is pretty limited. So I think, you know, they want him. They want him to be able to be a complimentary player to probably Keanu Das, especially since Keanu has shown that he can be a bit more of a well rounded player, maybe his upside is a little bit better. And so if they can get him for the right price, one hundred percent, they're going to
take him. But I think at this point, you know that if the market's not there, Keana is the guy that they're going to build around. They've clearly made an emphasis that, you know, they wanted to be able to have him as kind of their their focal point of this team. And so if you can build around Keanu and you can have other players that can kind of
work in that system, that helps. And whether Ezra fits in that or not, I you know, I would be surprised if he comes back, just based on everything and kind of how this roster, you know, even though it's not a large roster, but how this roster is taking shape, I would be surprised if those are two players that really kind of complement each other in the game. They have kind of a similar skill set outside of Keanu
having a better shooting outside of the post. So, I you know, I know fans really got to love Ezra. You know, I think he was a great guy that spoke well, he was a great guy that fought for the team. But I think at this point, unless the price isn't right, you know, I think it's time to move on from.
Israel instead of going down the list. One more basketball question then we'll move on. Do you think there are any other play year is currently quote on the roster in the transfer portal that Alex is talking to trying to get back, whether it's Jake Wahaleen or any of the other players, Yeah.
You mentioned it. I mean it's Jake Walleen. He's the guy that I think they really want to see come back. The strikes that he made year over year from you know, his first year to last year kind of shows where he can go, right. They're excited about that. I know other in state schools are really pushing hard for him, and so, I you know, this isn't going to be an easy thing. At the end of the day Jake's you know, a's all these players do. He has to
do it's best for him. But I know that they're really interested in him and want to see him develop. But I know a school up north that is is absolutely pushing hard for him. So whether that comes down to money or kind of a better fit, whatever that may be, you know, he's going to be a hot commodity at least in this state alone. And you know, whether Utah gets him or not, you know, it can be a loss, but I don't think it has to be.
They needed more out of him from from an outside a shooting perspective, and so if he does come back, I think that's where you'd see them definitely grow and try to push his game because he's got He's got a tremendous subset as well. I mean, he gets into that post, he's able to rebound at the high rate. But they do need more shooting from the outside to make his game translates a little bit better with what Alex wants to do.
All right over to the football side of things is there was a scrimmage on Saturday where media was allowed to watch, which doesn't happen often. There was once upon a time where it happened all the time, but of course things change and people get weird about access, as we've talked about. So any main takeaways from that scrimmage, anything you've fan should know.
Yeah, I mean, I think the big takeaway from from this scrimmage alone is that Devin Dampier's the guy, right. I mean, I'm not there was any questions, but I think there's a noticeable enough difference between Devin Dampier and the rest of the quarterbacks, and right now that's Isaac Wilson and Bird Fickland. Those two have been the guys that have been, you know, backing him up. But I really think a guy like Bird Fickland, who who he needs to put on a ton of weight, you know,
just size. He's a smaller bodied guy right now, but he's got one of the best balls that that any of the quarterbacks have. You know, he's starting to make tremendous strides and so you're starting to see Bird kind of pushing Isaac a little bit. Isaac obviously needs to rebuild that confidence that he had after kind of just taking out last year based on having the whole offense on his shoulders and and it just not going well.
But by and large, I mean I think this this team, it's it's making the right progressions that it needs to make right. I think one of the questions about this this offense specifically, is that there wasn't really going to be a huge passing game, and you know, there's there is an emphasis more in the run game, as you know, over the last few years they've wanted to push more
of the passing. But I think Utah's utilizing this in a very effective way where they're being diverse and how they run the ball and as such, they're being able to use that to be able to open up a lot of these receivers. And you know, right now, there's not like a standout guy in that wide receiver room that says, Okay, it has to be that guy, you have to throw it to him. It has to be you know, whoever it is, whether it's Door and Singer
or whomever it was. You know, now it's much more of a spread it out distribution, and there's a lot of guys factoring into that and included in that as the tight ends. You know, Lannon King and Dallan Bentley, who had a great scrimmage they're factored in there, but I think the way that Utah is setting this up where they're going to put the run emphasis there, well, they're still kind of making it a multi dimensional situation, whether that be with Devin Dampierre who can pass and run,
whether that's with Nate Johnson, or even Hunter Andrews. Hunter Andrews has got some tremendous speed and we're starting to see kind of his potential. This offense can be really fascinating, and I'm really curious to see how this continues to develop over the offseason because I think they could be a very potent offense that these things continue.
I was going to ask you about the wide receivers, but he kind of broke it down there pretty well. So before I say you lose, there will be another transfer window opening for Kyle and his staff with the ability to add to the group. Any thoughts, maybe it is wide receiver, but any other holes on either side of the ball that you think they're going to look down to before we actually play football come fall, Yeah.
Wide receiver. They're going to try to find a guy that can be kind of that wide receiver one right, whether that's there or whether they can get it is. It remains to be seen, but that's going to be a big focus. And then defensive line, you're going to get those defensive tackles where you need some more depths there. They've got some good frontline talent, but the guys behind them are either young or they've been in the system a long time and have been injury prone, and so
you just need more guys, more bodies there. Defensive ends, you're going to be okay, but defensive tackles you're going to need a little bit more. And then outside of that, I mean, it's just kind of best player available. I mean, corner would be nice to be able to add another guy in that to be able to have more depths. But I think your big focus going into the transfer portal is going to be at wide receiver in defensive tackle.
All right, Josh, By the way, you were on television during one of the pressers, how long has it been since you shaved that beard?
Is getting weird?
Man, It's been twenty twenty is when I started growing it. So I'll turn it up from time to time, but I'm keeping the beard as long as I can. Maybe it's motivation to get me to get skinny, then I can maybe skip shave again.
All right, man, well do your thing. It looks good. As long as the wife likes it, you're good to go.
Yeah, yes, right, she actually didn't like it before, and now she doesn't want me to see a shaved so it's a good thing, I guess.
All right, brother, thanks for the time. I have a good week.
All right, thanks you too, all right.
Josh fur Long covers the University of Utah for our friends at KS. I'll stop spot today courtesy of our friends at IFA Country Stores. If you've been out and about over the past twenty four forty eight hours, you are feeling spring conditions.
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