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Speaker 1: Is Tony Pike, sincey three sixty about Cincinnati from Cincinnati.

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Speaker 1: This is ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.

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Speaker 2: Welcome back, since he three sixty rolling along here ESBN

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Speaker 2: fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station. We we have an honor

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Speaker 2: and a privilege right now to talk some college hoops

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Speaker 2: and let's talk some high level college hoops with a

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Speaker 2: top twenty five ranked Miami RedHawks team and the head

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Speaker 2: coach of the Miami RedHawks, Travis Steel, is in studio

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Speaker 2: with us today. Appreciate the time, coach, what's going on?

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Speaker 3: Thanks for having me on, Tony.

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Speaker 2: Just picking the easiest day to get the studio.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, you know this, we got Snowmageddon going on out here.

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Speaker 3: But you know what, there's no stopping us.

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Speaker 2: This is it's kind of the microcosm of your guys

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Speaker 2: season right now. Obviously you guys have had hurdles, but

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Speaker 2: nothing has stopped you to this point twenty to zero.

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Speaker 2: The way you guys have went about it. I want

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Speaker 2: to get to the games you've just played in the

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Speaker 2: ones that are coming up. But when as a coach,

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Speaker 2: when do you get an idea? It is we've talked

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Speaker 2: off there. It's a different landscape in the college world.

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Speaker 2: So you get guys in or you know you have

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Speaker 2: guys coming back. When as a coach, do you know, Okay,

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Speaker 2: this is a team that that can do something special.

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Speaker 3: You know, I knew we had a chance to be

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Speaker 3: really good after last year. We won twenty five games

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Speaker 3: last year, single season record at Miami, and we were

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Speaker 3: able to retain a good portion of that roster from

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Speaker 3: last year into this year. So we only had to

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Speaker 3: add one guy to the transfer port, which is really

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Speaker 3: unique in today's landscape. And yeah, the retention piece is

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Speaker 3: the key, and we hit on our eVols, right, I

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Speaker 3: think that's what it comes down to. We're very confident

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Speaker 3: what we eval our evaluations in our high school recruitments,

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Speaker 3: our development of players. You see guys like Brant Byers

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Speaker 3: or Evan Epsorrow or Ian Elmer, these guys take a

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Speaker 3: massive jump. I knew that they would, right, They're great kids,

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Speaker 3: they work hard, we got a great staff, and I

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Speaker 3: felt like they'd take a massive jump. So I'm not

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Speaker 3: surprised with our success. I knew we chance to be

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Speaker 3: really good.

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Speaker 2: A little bit about that evaluation period, because again it's

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Speaker 2: a different landscape, and listen to coach Kyle last week

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Speaker 2: talked about the high school recruiting and how this world

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Speaker 2: affects that, and there's a trickle down effect to all

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Speaker 2: of that. So I would imagine anymore it's never ending

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Speaker 2: the evaluation process of you or your staff. There's never

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Speaker 2: a time to just feel comfortable within a season because

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Speaker 2: you're always looking forward to the next one and who's

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Speaker 2: going where. So how does that process even come together?

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Speaker 3: Yeah? You know, I think Number one, you trust your

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Speaker 3: own eyes. You know, you value what you value, right,

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Speaker 3: It's all about fit. Just because one thing fits at

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Speaker 3: one school doesn't mean that it'll fit at another school, right,

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Speaker 3: or another situation. Knowing thyself, your non negotiables, and our

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Speaker 3: staffs done a good job. We use high school as

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Speaker 3: our main source of recruitment, which a lot of people

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Speaker 3: weren't doing sure when the transfer portal came around, Get old, stayaled, right,

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Speaker 3: But we did. We used high school. We brought in

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Speaker 3: five kids my second year out of high school, just

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Speaker 3: brought it. We got five freshman on our current roster

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Speaker 3: right now as well, and we develop them, we get

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Speaker 3: them better. And I think it's good to see kids

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Speaker 3: in the AAU setting. It's good to see guys in

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Speaker 3: a high school setting, sure, right, because they're very very

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Speaker 3: different and can guys play with other really good players, right,

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Speaker 3: guys at have won, Like you look at a guy

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Speaker 3: like Evan Epsarak from CUFCAF winner yep Right, Ian Elmer,

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Speaker 3: state champion at Taft High School. Right, Trey Perry's a

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Speaker 3: local kid here from Lakota East winner Peter Sooter won

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Speaker 3: two state titles at Carmel High School. Justin Kirby want

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Speaker 3: a state title at Fisher's Winners win Man and I'm

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Speaker 3: a firm believer in that. And then getting guys obviously

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Speaker 3: that are talented as well still that fit our style

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Speaker 3: of play and our core values. That's kind of been

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Speaker 3: the key man throughout our evaluations.

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Speaker 2: I've had the guys in studio from Red Brick Legacy before,

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Speaker 2: Matt mcew and Kyle Decker and those guys and talking

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Speaker 2: about just the nil side of it, but also you

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Speaker 2: mentioned the retention side of it. I think that speaks

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Speaker 2: more volumes than anything to a program when you do

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Speaker 2: have success, and you mentioned last year's success, but to

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Speaker 2: come back and have guys that that say, I want

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Speaker 2: to come back and build back into this that as

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Speaker 2: a coach in today's world has to be very gratifying

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Speaker 2: that that you're doing it the right way that kids

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Speaker 2: want to still be around it.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I'll never forget Tony. I met with Peter Soter

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Speaker 3: right after our game against Akron in the Mac Championship

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Speaker 3: game last last spring and sat down. I had all

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Speaker 3: these notes, man like, hey, listen how the season went

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Speaker 3: for him individually, for us as a team moving forward.

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Speaker 3: And he said, hey, coach, can I see something before

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Speaker 3: we get started? And I said sure, and he said, hey,

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Speaker 3: I'm not going anywhere. You know, he was the first

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Speaker 3: team All Mac player right. People were tampering with him

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Speaker 3: that it is what it is, and he zero hesitation.

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Speaker 3: He said, I love this place. I've never played better

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Speaker 3: in my life. We're gonna win, Like I feel like

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Speaker 3: I'm getting better, getting a great degree. And I was like, dang.

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Speaker 3: I called my wife Amanda right after. I said, listen,

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Speaker 3: what we're doing is working. You know. It kind of

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Speaker 3: reaffirmed that a little bit and that our culture culture

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Speaker 3: does still matter. And they didn't ask for a dime,

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Speaker 3: you know which again, which is just speaks volumes to

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Speaker 3: who he is and who his family is. And retention

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Speaker 3: is a bad premium. It really is, I think for

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Speaker 3: fans too, because you get to see the same player

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Speaker 3: get better.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's hard to follow college sports now.

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Speaker 3: It is, well you get you get these mercenaries right

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Speaker 3: one year hit guys and it's like, do we have

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Speaker 3: to do that a little bit? Yes, But I'm still

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Speaker 3: holding on to the old model a little bit more

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Speaker 3: than what probably a lot of other schools are now.

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Speaker 2: Your team. Seven times this year you've eclipsed a one

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Speaker 2: hundred points, including each of the last three games, and

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Speaker 2: those last three games themselves what it took to come

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Speaker 2: from behind to beat Buffalo talk about the Kent State

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Speaker 2: game as well. But in a season in which you're having,

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Speaker 2: you see it all the time, you have to have

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Speaker 2: these type of things happen. You have to be tested,

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Speaker 2: and you have to have guys that are going to

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Speaker 2: answer the test, and you find ways to win games

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Speaker 2: that maybe in the past you had or maybe at

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Speaker 2: times you don't deserve or feel like you're going to win.

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Speaker 2: That's the kind of the melting pot of what goes

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Speaker 2: into a season like you're having right now.

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Speaker 3: Ye winners find a way it. You know, even when

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Speaker 3: you don't maybe play your best game. You figure it out.

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Speaker 3: Our groups unflappable, like if you can go into our

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Speaker 3: huddles during those media timeouts, which we have way too

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Speaker 3: many media timeouts if you ask me. But again that's

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Speaker 3: for another day. But our guy. You hear our guys'

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Speaker 3: voices in there. It's not just me. I hear Peter Souter.

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Speaker 3: I hear Evan Epsars out for the year, arguably the

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Speaker 3: best mid major point guard in the country. He's been

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Speaker 3: out for nine games. Man, he's having a great year.

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Speaker 3: And you hear his voice. He's on crutches and he said, guys,

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Speaker 3: we got this. We're fine. We've been here before, and

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Speaker 3: it's like, man, it's so refreshing to hear. The player

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Speaker 3: leadership that we have on our team allows us to

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Speaker 3: navigate those tough moments and fix it live, which a

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Speaker 3: lot of people can fix it after the game right

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Speaker 3: watching film. Hey, we gotta do this. I'll call this.

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Speaker 3: That's something, you know, the Monday quarterback is what they

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Speaker 3: call that.

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Speaker 2: That's a Monday quarterback.

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Speaker 3: You know, like, our guys can do it live, which

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Speaker 3: is super, super impressive.

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Speaker 2: You know, I thought the Kent State game out of

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Speaker 2: a lot of impressive games. I thought it was for

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Speaker 2: me the most impressive because there has been this fight

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Speaker 2: and this push, not just locally, but you're seeing it nationally.

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Speaker 2: Scott Van Pelt is talking about Miami basketball and ranked

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Speaker 2: Miami basketball, and I'm watching along. And then you guys

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Speaker 2: get ranked and here you go to an away match

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Speaker 2: at Kent State. They're giving away beer, they're giving away jerseys,

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Speaker 2: they're giving away tickets, and it's like playing sports. You

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Speaker 2: get it, like there's there's sometimes all right, we get

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Speaker 2: we've got there. Yep, we can relax a little bit.

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Speaker 2: I think that was the most impressive part about the

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Speaker 2: Kent State game for you guys, is everything going on

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Speaker 2: off the court. You guys come out on fire, and

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Speaker 2: then you face adversity in the second half and you

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Speaker 2: find a way back. To me, I think you check

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Speaker 2: so many boxes in one game and one event.

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Speaker 3: Incredible environment too, Tony. It was sold out, Like to

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Speaker 3: your point, they were giving away free jerseys, free beer,

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Speaker 3: free tickets, everything to get as many people there as

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Speaker 3: they could. You know, again, I'm not surprised our guys

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Speaker 3: that I love visuals and I showed it. I showed

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Speaker 3: our guys a picture of a guy driving with a

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Speaker 3: phone in his hand, and I asked those guys, said,

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Speaker 3: what do you guys see and they said, well, I

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Speaker 3: see a guy texting and driving. Antoine Wolfolk said that

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Speaker 3: and I said, well, is that a good thing? He

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Speaker 3: said no. I said why. He said, because he's distracted.

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Speaker 3: He says, exactly right, I said, the front windshield. We

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Speaker 3: got to keep your eyes on the front windshield, on

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Speaker 3: the obstacles that are in front of us. We can't

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Speaker 3: start reading all of our press clippings and all the

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Speaker 3: stuff that's on the phone and all this social media

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Speaker 3: stuff because all the games are in the rearview mirror,

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Speaker 3: that the nineteen previous games or in the rearview mirror.

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Speaker 3: There's a reason why the review mirrors are so small.

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Speaker 3: That's in the past. Nobody cares. Sure, you got to

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Speaker 3: look forward and you can't be distracted. Our guys do

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Speaker 3: a great job of just staying focused, embracing the process

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Speaker 3: day to day.

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Speaker 2: And as a coach, now you understand and they understand

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Speaker 2: because of the team you have that you're not sneaking

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Speaker 2: up on anyone. Now you have the target squarely on

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Speaker 2: your back. Is that something obviously you guys played Ken

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Speaker 2: State last week, had the weekend off U Mass tomorrow.

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Speaker 2: Is that something you even have to have the discussion

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Speaker 2: with or because of the group you have, and it's

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Speaker 2: kind of known. We got the.

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Speaker 3: Target now, Yeah, they know me. Everywhere we've gone. It's

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Speaker 3: been almost a sell out, you know. And we want

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Speaker 3: to be the hunter. Oh, I've told those guys that's

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Speaker 3: another analogy. So we want to be the hunter, not

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Speaker 3: the hunted. We want to be the aggressor. We play

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Speaker 3: to win everything we do and now, but that's how

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Speaker 3: we attack weights, it's how we attack film, it's how

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Speaker 3: we attack practice, not just game days.

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Speaker 2: How exciting is it as well? And I know this

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Speaker 2: upcoming weekend you've got the one Miami basketball weekend, so

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Speaker 2: the doubleheader sold out with the women's and your guys

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Speaker 2: team as well, but a chance for I think as

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Speaker 2: well people that may not be around the program as

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Speaker 2: much or are still new to the program or coming

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Speaker 2: into it. How important are days like that to get

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Speaker 2: people to to let hall and see what you guys

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Speaker 2: are obviously building in person. Yeah.

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Speaker 3: I want to give a special shout out to our

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Speaker 3: women's basketball team. They're undefeated in MAC play. Yeah, their

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Speaker 3: role in Glynn Box is crushing it. But it's a

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Speaker 3: great opportunity see both teams get behind both programs. I

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Speaker 3: think they're both We're both have really really been trending up.

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Speaker 3: You look Glenn Box, this is his third year, he's

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Speaker 3: got them rolling first place in the MAC. We're obviously

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Speaker 3: first place in the MAC as well during my fourth year. Again,

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Speaker 3: I always say, be obsessed with trajectory, not necessarily the results, right,

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Speaker 3: and we are both moving up and it's a good

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Speaker 3: brand of basketball. Yeah, not only we win it. I

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Speaker 3: think it's a front. Watch our guys, our guys and

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Speaker 3: girls both play really really really hard, and they play

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Speaker 3: for one another and are extremely connected.

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Speaker 2: I think that's the point. They're playing for one another.

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Speaker 2: You have star power on your team, but you also

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Speaker 2: have the guys that'll make the extra pass, that will

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Speaker 2: share the basketball, that'd like to move the basketball. It's

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Speaker 2: just a from from if you're a fan of just basketball.

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Speaker 2: I think in today's world, there's a lot of instances

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Speaker 2: where it feels like one on one, but it feels

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Speaker 2: like you know you're you're playing at the rect league.

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Speaker 2: Instead of man, they share it, they move it, you

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Speaker 2: find the open guy. It's a it's almost a selfless style,

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Speaker 2: and you're seeing the fruit of the labor now as

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Speaker 2: it comes together.

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Speaker 3: I think a lot around college athletics people are collecting

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Speaker 3: stats the kind of impacting winning. There's a difference. Our

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Speaker 3: guys only care about one thing and one thing only

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Speaker 3: that's winning. Ian Olmer could scare could care less whether

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Speaker 3: he scores twenty five or whether he scores ten, because

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Speaker 3: there's gonna be certain games where he's gonna have to

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Speaker 3: score twenty five. There's gonna be certain games worth ten

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Speaker 3: maybe the answer for us to win, right, And he

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Speaker 3: is more than fine with that. He puts the team

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Speaker 3: in front of everything else, which is special.

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Speaker 2: Do you guys talk openly about finishing it off an

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Speaker 2: undefeated season? And I know you set goals at the

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Speaker 2: start of the year. I'm sure a MAC championship, NCAA tournament,

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Speaker 2: things like that. Do you embrace it, do you talk

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Speaker 2: about it? Or do you do have that one game

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Speaker 2: at a time mentality and we just take it one

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Speaker 2: day at a time, you know.

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Speaker 3: And it's funny. I told our guys I could care

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Speaker 3: less about our record. I would play to win. Yeah, listen,

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Speaker 3: I want to make that very clear. We're super competitive, right,

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Speaker 3: but my overarching theme is that trajectory piece. Are we

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Speaker 3: getting better? Can we peak at the right time in March?

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Speaker 3: That's when we need to be at our best. And

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Speaker 3: that's got to be always the front thing in my

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Speaker 3: front wind shield. Like it's like for me, it's like,

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Speaker 3: are we getting better? Are we not? Obviously there's obstacles

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Speaker 3: to get there right, certainly U Mass on Tuesday night.

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Speaker 3: But at the same time, are we getting better? That's

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Speaker 3: my whole thing.

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Speaker 2: On the UMass side of thing. It has it's been

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Speaker 2: a weird weekend. Whether it has been an issue, it's

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Speaker 2: going to continue to be an issue. Might just feel

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Speaker 2: different going into a game like that. But again, you

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Speaker 2: lean back on the group that you have to kind

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Speaker 2: of just say, Okay, here's another obstacle in your way

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Speaker 2: and you move past that.

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Speaker 3: We just figure it out, man. You just roll with

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Speaker 3: the punches a little bit. It is what it is.

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Speaker 3: You can focus on the things you can control. That's

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Speaker 3: what our group does.

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Speaker 2: I think it's a testament to your team. As I

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Speaker 2: was watching the Kent State game. At times, Kent's going

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Speaker 2: on a run and different things, and I'm looking like man.

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Speaker 2: Coach looks confident on a sideline, he looks relaxed. It's

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Speaker 2: like you know the group you have, and you know

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Speaker 2: how they feed off each other. And like you said,

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Speaker 2: it's a fun style of basketball to watch and I

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Speaker 2: look forward to continue to watching more. And can't thank

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Speaker 2: you enough for stopping by today ahead of tomorrow night's game.

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Speaker 2: Thank you for having me on. That is coach Travis

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Speaker 2: Steele of the Miami RedHawks. The undefeated, top twenty five

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Speaker 2: ranked Miami RedHawks in action tomorrow night against UMass. We

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Speaker 2: got plenty more to go since E three to sixty,

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Speaker 2: ESPN fifteen to thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.

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Speaker 3: Now here's your