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Speaker 1: Head coach Ryan Waifs shing the show right now. Coach,

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Speaker 1: how you doing today?

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Speaker 2: I'm doing great. Thanks for having me.

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Speaker 3: On absolutely, coach. Congratulations. You want to ask you if

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Speaker 3: you have been able to sort of see this coming.

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Speaker 3: I know the Rams haven't been in the tournament I

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Speaker 3: think it was twenty sixteen, but you guys have had

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Speaker 3: good success, a lot of success the last what is

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Speaker 3: it four or five years? I think you've won twenty

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Speaker 3: plus games, are you? I mean, can coaches kind of

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Speaker 3: feel with the recruiting and how their team is playing

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Speaker 3: and going through year after year after year that they're

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Speaker 3: kind of on a good track. And here we are

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Speaker 3: in the tournament this year.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think you're right. We just kind of felt

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Speaker 2: this thing was brewing. We just in a competitive makeup

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Speaker 2: of this group. And although there's some new weies to

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Speaker 2: this group, we thought back in June when we all

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Speaker 2: kind of got together for summer workouts that this group

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Speaker 2: just they had it, and you know that we were

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Speaker 2: of be in a position we felt to win a

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Speaker 2: lot of games. And you know it's not easy, right,

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Speaker 2: It's really hard to win a tournament, but this group

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Speaker 2: stayed the course, really kind of kept getting better as

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Speaker 2: the year went on, and we were playing our best basketball.

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Speaker 2: We are playing our best basketball here into to March,

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Speaker 2: and I think that's why we've had the success, you know.

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Speaker 1: To that end. You started the season pretty hot. January

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Speaker 1: was a little bit of a of a stumble, but

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Speaker 1: then you've won what nine straight I think through mid

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Speaker 1: February and win of the tournament coming into the NCAA hot.

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Speaker 3: How big is that for this program?

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Speaker 1: How big is that for this program? Moving to the

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Speaker 1: PAC twelve next years as sort of a building block.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's. Yeah, it's a really big building block.

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Speaker 2: You know, the mount West was a really good conference

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Speaker 2: for us, and we enjoyed being in it, but you know,

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Speaker 2: we're onto bigger and better things in the pack and

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Speaker 2: to have some momentum heading into that new league with

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Speaker 2: with the championship, with the n C double a birth,

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Speaker 2: you know it it should fuel recruiting. It It surely

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Speaker 2: can't hurt us. So we're we're excited about what's in

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Speaker 2: front of us immediately and in the very near future.

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Speaker 3: You're, as we mentioned, you're the twelfth seed. Uh you're

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Speaker 3: playing Michigan State, the fifth seed, and and for people

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Speaker 3: and they're probably a lot of people listening that wouldn't

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Speaker 3: know much about Michigan State. What what what are you

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Speaker 3: getting yourself into? What kind of club does Michigan State have?

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Speaker 2: Well, obviously the Big Ten is a a big time league,

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Speaker 2: and you know, it's a team that can really score

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Speaker 2: the ball. I think they're ninth in the country and

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Speaker 2: and scoring offense. They've got length, they've just got a

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Speaker 2: really talented roster with not many holes in it, and

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Speaker 2: and they they really compete. You've got to to finish

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Speaker 2: high in that league. You've you've got to you've got

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Speaker 2: to really battle in you know, night in and night out.

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Speaker 2: But but so do we and we know we're going

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Speaker 2: to face really good guard play. They're interior with Vander Sloop,

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Speaker 2: you know, the Oregon transfer seas, she's an elite interior

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Speaker 2: player around the basket. So they've got some pros. We

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Speaker 2: know we've got our work cut out for us. But

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Speaker 2: we've played good teams this year. We played good teams

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Speaker 2: on the road in big environments. Our kids don't seem to,

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Speaker 2: you know, get too wide eyed. They they love these

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Speaker 2: types of things. And we're going to take this thing

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Speaker 2: head on and see what we can get done.

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Speaker 1: You know, coach, you lost your standout guard to the

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Speaker 1: season ending injury midway through the summifinal game in Vegas,

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Speaker 1: But it feels like the bench has really stepped up,

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Speaker 1: especially some of those younger players. You got Froby in

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Speaker 1: there getting rebounds. How has that been as an adjustment

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Speaker 1: for you as a coach and how's the team rallied

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Speaker 1: around the loss of that player.

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Speaker 2: Well, it just shows what type of team that we

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Speaker 2: have to win two games in the Mount West Conference

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Speaker 2: tournament without your best player and we do a lot.

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Speaker 2: I mean, she's our quarterback and you know, she averages

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Speaker 2: sixteen a games. She's our second leading rebounder, and she's

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Speaker 2: our toughness. She's a big ten player. So to see

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Speaker 2: our team rally around that and not just to rally

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Speaker 2: with emotion and that sort of thing and toughness. We

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Speaker 2: had to perform and everybody had to do a little

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Speaker 2: bit more, probably assume a little bit different role and

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Speaker 2: produce in it. And you know, we have all the

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Speaker 2: confidence in the world and those kids, and they obviously delivered.

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Speaker 2: But you know, Marty Laymano was huge both offensively and defensively.

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Speaker 2: The last two games. You know, Froby Carlson, the sophomore

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Speaker 2: duo was spectacular brag on the interior. Everybody we did asked,

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Speaker 2: can you give us, you know, five percent more? And

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Speaker 2: everybody delivered.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, it's kind of It's kind of fun when you

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Speaker 3: when you can see stuff like that happen, even though

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Speaker 3: you hate to lose Lexus. My last question, and of

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Speaker 3: course I've done some digging for this, I'm going to

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Speaker 3: ask you your wife be washing all of your shoes

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Speaker 3: on this trip?

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Speaker 2: Oh my lord, what I mean you guys, You guys

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Speaker 2: aren't that good. You told me you guys are really

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Speaker 2: not that good. Hey, I like my shoes white. I'm

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Speaker 2: you know, Ryan Williams white shoe whatever. But yeah, darn right,

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Speaker 2: they're they're washed.

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Speaker 4: So hey, when did that start?

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Speaker 3: How long has that been that way for you?

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Speaker 2: I don't know. I've always liked my shoes to be clean,

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Speaker 2: I mean years and years, to be honest with you.

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Speaker 2: And I like the white shoes even in the winter time.

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Speaker 2: So I think they make me look faster if I

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Speaker 2: wore black shoes like you know in football, I could

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Speaker 2: never wear black shoes. I mean I'm slow to begin with,

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Speaker 2: so I mean, I'm one of the fastest coaches in America,

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Speaker 2: and these White.

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Speaker 4: Shoes basketball head coach Ryan Williams, the twelve seed at

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Speaker 4: CSU RA, have taken on the fifth seeded Michigan State

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Speaker 4: in the NCAA turn Round one wa Friday at five

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Speaker 4: thirty Mountain time on ESPN.

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Speaker 1: Coach wishing the best of luck on that one. Looking

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Speaker 1: forward to

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Speaker 2: It all right, Thanks gentlemen,