Speaker 1: About a week removed from the twenty eighteen draft, are
Speaker 1: previewing the pick series continues here on the podcast. Brian
Speaker 1: Seltzer welcoming you into this edition in which we will
Speaker 1: hear from as Zaire Smith a brief one on one
Speaker 1: with him, conducted after one of his workouts with the
Speaker 1: seventy six ers Billier this month, and we'll go in
Speaker 1: depth on Zaire's background, his game and what he did
Speaker 1: and his very impressive alone season at Texas Tech with
Speaker 1: the Red Raiders head coach, the co Big twelve Coach
Speaker 1: of the Year, Chris Beer. Those conversations in just a moment.
Speaker 1: A reminder that to subscribe to our feed, you can
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Speaker 1: not yet already. Zire Smith emerged as the top pick
Speaker 1: that the seventy Sixers acquired in last Thursday's draft. Of course,
Speaker 1: the six are sending the number ten pick mckhell bridges
Speaker 1: to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for not only Zaire Smith,
Speaker 1: who the team is very high on as a prospect
Speaker 1: three and D guard forward, wingman, but also a precious
Speaker 1: coveted twenty twenty one unprotected first round pick from the
Speaker 1: Miami Heats. But you can't do a full podcast, maybe
Speaker 1: you could on an unprotected future pick. So why don't
Speaker 1: we go full fledged into Zaire Smith mode. At a
Speaker 1: press conference after the Sixers made the deal to a
Speaker 1: pick up Smith, Brett Brown spoke about one of the
Speaker 1: newest members of the team. If he is anything, he
Speaker 1: is an eight plus athlete, and then you take that
Speaker 1: defensive toughness in the city of Philadelphia, and so you say, wow,
Speaker 1: if that also can translate into you know, a reliable
Speaker 1: to good to very good three point shooter and can
Speaker 1: play off a live ball, that's a modern day NBA player.
Speaker 1: Smith averaged round eleven and a half points, five rebounds,
Speaker 1: two assists, in a block in a steal per game
Speaker 1: pretend xas Tech. Last season a historic season for the
Speaker 1: Red Raiders. More on that in just a bit, but
Speaker 1: let's been a few minutes hearing from Zaire Smith himself.
Speaker 1: This was after his first workout that he attended with
Speaker 1: the seventy sixers back on June. The twelfth even through
Speaker 1: about a half dozen of these what distinguishers the seventy
Speaker 1: sixers from what you were able to tell during the
Speaker 1: three on three sets? Usually you just downscreen, but we
Speaker 1: ran sets that they run, so that was pretty good.
Speaker 1: I like how they ran assists, We ran their offense
Speaker 1: on three on three. Probably have a long ways to go,
Speaker 1: But what sense do you have of where your game
Speaker 1: is now and how it might be able to translate
Speaker 1: to the next level. Right now, my game is just
Speaker 1: play a hard He's very introvesting. But I can go
Speaker 1: on one through three, but I can see him again
Speaker 1: being a combo lars last point guard. When you look
Speaker 1: at this past season when you got moved into the
Speaker 1: starting lineup, what click at that point in January midway
Speaker 1: for this season for you guys? That help things get
Speaker 1: rolling for you? Despite the Zach smith asery, we just
Speaker 1: had to play together. Though we lost a big piso,
Speaker 1: everybody had to step their game up. Really, do you
Speaker 1: feel like that forced you to grow up mentally as well? Man?
Speaker 1: We have to grow a big time. Yeah, because not
Speaker 1: too many freshman's doing that, especially a three started coming
Speaker 1: out high school. They inspect that. But yeah, we have
Speaker 1: to grow fast. Did you surprise yourself at all with
Speaker 1: what you were able to do? I did. I really
Speaker 1: did surprise myself. Was there a moment or a game
Speaker 1: that reinforced that too where you felt like, Okay, my
Speaker 1: confidence is at a different level. Probably the first game,
Speaker 1: I guess exposisting game I did pretty good. I was like, oh,
Speaker 1: not that bad. You put up really efficient numbers on
Speaker 1: both ends of the court. Can you give me a
Speaker 1: summary of where you think your skill set is at
Speaker 1: right now offensively and then flip it over to the
Speaker 1: defensive side of the floor. Offensively, I can be really
Speaker 1: aggressive about passive a little bit, so I gotta continue
Speaker 1: to be more aggressive and defensively, I can go out
Speaker 1: one through three and kick them rows and everything, and
Speaker 1: pretty good on defense though, I think that's my strength.
Speaker 1: You told the media group that you view yourself as
Speaker 1: someone who prided themselves on defensive You always in a
Speaker 1: defense first guy. When did you gain some confidence and
Speaker 1: start to really refine your defensive game. Yeah? I always
Speaker 1: been a really good defensive guy. When I first shot
Speaker 1: planning basketball in fifth grade, that's all idea. It was
Speaker 1: just black shots. Couldn't do nothing else on offensive black size.
Speaker 1: But I guess the black sots leading now is just
Speaker 1: staying in front of your defender. As far as your
Speaker 1: overall package. What's been the major things you've wanted to
Speaker 1: showcase in these workouts? And my ability needs a handle
Speaker 1: the ball, come off screenings and make the right player
Speaker 1: all right, Sire, thanks so much for one. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Zire Smith type of guy that you think, in this
Speaker 1: day and age of position list basketball, especially the emphasis
Speaker 1: of the seventy six ers put on that concept, someone
Speaker 1: who could be very valuable on both ends of the courts.
Speaker 1: To get more on the value that Zire Smith brought
Speaker 1: to Texas Tech during the historic season in which the
Speaker 1: Red Raiders finished with their second highest win total of
Speaker 1: all time, made their first appearance to the Elite Eight ever,
Speaker 1: we'll bring on Chris Beard. He is the head coach
Speaker 1: of Texas Tech. Chris gotta think there is a lot
Speaker 1: of excitement right now surrounding the Red Raiders community in Lubbock,
Speaker 1: Texas given Zaire Smith the second ever first round pick
Speaker 1: out of the program. That's pretty awesome. It is a
Speaker 1: great time in love it right now with basketball, you know,
Speaker 1: in our just our second season building the team. We
Speaker 1: made a nice tournament run to the Elite eight. You know,
Speaker 1: Ze got drafted in the first round, and we feel
Speaker 1: like Keenan Evans is a definite NBA player as well,
Speaker 1: and put Zack Smith in that same category. So a
Speaker 1: lot of excitement here. I think the biggest thing going
Speaker 1: on right now is just a raised level of expectations.
Speaker 1: And that was kind of our plan from day one
Speaker 1: when we came here. We wanted to compete not only
Speaker 1: at the Big twelve level, but the national level, And
Speaker 1: in just two short years, I think the expectations have
Speaker 1: been Rose Zaire arguably the highest rated prospect to come
Speaker 1: out of Texas, Texas Tony Batti just the second first
Speaker 1: round or ever As a coach, how much does that
Speaker 1: helps spread the words, spread the message, reinforce things when
Speaker 1: you can use an example based on something like that
Speaker 1: so fresh, Yeah, it means everything to us. I kind
Speaker 1: of compare it to winning. Like in other words, when
Speaker 1: we get here, we have a process, we have things
Speaker 1: we believe in the way we play, where we work
Speaker 1: in a vision we're selling, and then when you start
Speaker 1: winning games, it kind of validates what you're doing the process.
Speaker 1: It's one thing for recruits to kind of buy into
Speaker 1: what you're saying in a vision, it's a whole other
Speaker 1: thing to see it with their own eyes. And it's
Speaker 1: very similar with Zaire's situation. You know, getting a guy
Speaker 1: in the in the first round of the NBA Draft,
Speaker 1: almost a lottery pick, kind of validates everything we do
Speaker 1: in our program from a day to day basis. Ultimately,
Speaker 1: to win the Big Twelve you have to have several
Speaker 1: NBA players on your roster. So Zaire, I think, is
Speaker 1: going to pave the way for a lot of future
Speaker 1: success here and love it when we look back at
Speaker 1: Draft night, just the entire chain of events leading up
Speaker 1: to that. On the outside, and to me, it seemed
Speaker 1: like Zaire was one of the fastest risers in this
Speaker 1: year's draft class. Did you see it that same way too?
Speaker 1: I know you're obviously certainly plugged into the sport, but
Speaker 1: did you get that feel as well? Absolutely. I think
Speaker 1: z you know, represents a lot of people out there,
Speaker 1: not just in the world of basketball, but just kind
Speaker 1: of in life where you know, there's no substitute for
Speaker 1: hard work. You know, our country, America was kind of
Speaker 1: formed on a dream, right, and kind of the the same
Speaker 1: thing with z In today's world with all the rankings
Speaker 1: and the Internet and the mock drafts and the you know,
Speaker 1: top one hundred when you're coming out of high school
Speaker 1: and all this. All that stuff's good for sport because
Speaker 1: I think it brings attention, But none of that stuff
Speaker 1: means anything unless you can back it up. And was
Speaker 1: Zaire's story, which has been well documented and I'm sure
Speaker 1: over the next months to years will even be more
Speaker 1: known by everyone. You know, coming from a non top
Speaker 1: one hundred recruit, a guy that really didn't have any
Speaker 1: BCS offers in the signing period in the fall, stay
Speaker 1: true to what he wanted and what he believed he
Speaker 1: could do, signed in the spring, and then you know,
Speaker 1: in one short year, you know they're calling his name
Speaker 1: on the NBA green room stage. So I think he's
Speaker 1: just an example for a lot of people just what
Speaker 1: hard work can do. Zee always had a lot of
Speaker 1: confidence in himself, and I don't want to speak for him,
Speaker 1: but I think one of the main reasons he chose
Speaker 1: to play for US at Texas Tech because we shared
Speaker 1: that confidence with him that we believed he was an
Speaker 1: NBA player from day one, and he just outworked everybody.
Speaker 1: You know. I was giving Ze a hard time the
Speaker 1: other day when I showed up to the draft. I
Speaker 1: got to the green room probably thirty minutes before it started,
Speaker 1: and I said, hey, Zee, you've been in the gym
Speaker 1: the day and he kind of smiled say like no,
Speaker 1: And I was like, oh, you're already cheating the process. Man,
Speaker 1: Don't be sitting around and getting off fat, living and
Speaker 1: all this. You need to get back in the gym.
Speaker 1: He And really, I think it's probably the only day
Speaker 1: since I met Zaire Smith that he wasn't in the
Speaker 1: gym was probably the night of the draft. And even
Speaker 1: that night he was joking about, you know, trying to
Speaker 1: find a twenty four our fitness there in Manhattan where
Speaker 1: you could go get some shots up after all the
Speaker 1: party and stuff. But again, I think he just represents
Speaker 1: a lot of people not on even basketball, with just life,
Speaker 1: people that just work hard, know what they want and
Speaker 1: go get it. It's a great story. But we've been
Speaker 1: trying to connect with the head coaches in college of
Speaker 1: all the draft picks that the seventy sixers had, and
Speaker 1: we spoke with Tim Jankovic earlier in the week and
Speaker 1: he said, obviously being based out of the Dallas area
Speaker 1: that Sayer was on their radar, but not even they
Speaker 1: could say they expected something like this, this type of
Speaker 1: outcome from him, the player he became. What did you
Speaker 1: see Inzyre Smith when you were recruiting him? And when
Speaker 1: did you first see it? You know, I think the
Speaker 1: whole world sees the athleticism and the obvious talent. What
Speaker 1: I saw early on was the character, the background, the story,
Speaker 1: how he was raised. His dad was an elite athlete.
Speaker 1: Billy played basketball and football at KSE Stay for two
Speaker 1: Hall of Fame coaches Lin Krueger and Coach Snyder. His
Speaker 1: mother was a great track and field athlete growing up,
Speaker 1: a very disciplined person, so you knew the background was there.
Speaker 1: Z knew how to work and work hard long before
Speaker 1: he met me. Then equally impressive, just just the love
Speaker 1: of the game. You know, again, today there's a lot
Speaker 1: of talented players, and the game can give you a lot,
Speaker 1: but it's the guys I think that truly love the
Speaker 1: game and respect the game that maximize their potential. And
Speaker 1: with Z, he's just getting started. I mean, I hope
Speaker 1: people will put me on the record that the story
Speaker 1: is just getting started going from being kind of unknown
Speaker 1: the first round. Now you're about to see him go
Speaker 1: from kind of unknown to what I believe could even
Speaker 1: be an NBA All Star one day. And I understand
Speaker 1: how hard that is and how difficult it is, But
Speaker 1: you know, I never bet against the guy that number
Speaker 1: one has the talent, number two has the character, and
Speaker 1: then three just the love of the game. Nobody will
Speaker 1: outwork Zire. Ever, was there a moment after a practice,
Speaker 1: a game, anything like that when you and your fellow
Speaker 1: coaches looked at each other and we're like, Wow, we've
Speaker 1: we've got something here. Was there ever a time where
Speaker 1: you were like, even this is exceeding our own expectations.
Speaker 1: I don't know our own expectations, because they were pretty
Speaker 1: high from the start. I mean, me and z we're
Speaker 1: talking about the NBA the first time I talked to
Speaker 1: him on the phone. But I would say this when
Speaker 1: he got to Texas Tech last summer about this time
Speaker 1: last year, he walks into summer workouts and we have
Speaker 1: a good team. We have five seniors. Again, I think
Speaker 1: Keenan Evans is an NBA player. In my opinion, he
Speaker 1: was the best player in a Big twelve this year
Speaker 1: best college player. So Z walks in as a young
Speaker 1: guy and just immediately not only kind of fits in,
Speaker 1: but starts excelling. And so I think as early as
Speaker 1: last summer, just in the summer workouts and pickup games,
Speaker 1: we knew that he had a chance to be special.
Speaker 1: Third thing about Z, and this is kind of where
Speaker 1: the story kind of goes, is just the consistency, you know,
Speaker 1: is where I think he's an NBA player so quickly.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of guys that have big games or
Speaker 1: have talent, but Ze was just consistent, I mean, simply
Speaker 1: stayed in a thirty five thirty six game season. He
Speaker 1: had no bad nights. He shows up, you know, he
Speaker 1: brings his defense every night, he brings his work ethic
Speaker 1: every night. He's coachable, he's a great teammate. These things
Speaker 1: just never never take a day off. And then you
Speaker 1: know what the world's about to see really really quick
Speaker 1: because he's a very skilled player too. I kind of laugh.
Speaker 1: I don't watch a lot of TV, but obviously wassire
Speaker 1: being in the situation, we are trying to get our
Speaker 1: hands on everything we can here at Tech to use
Speaker 1: and recruiting, and the thing out there about you know,
Speaker 1: his shooting is almost comical. I mean, the guy's got
Speaker 1: a great stroke. He works on it tirelessly every day.
Speaker 1: It's just a matter of time until people know him
Speaker 1: as a shooter, not as a guy that you know,
Speaker 1: can't shoot him. He's gonna be on the other end
Speaker 1: of the spectrum very soon. I think he'll be a
Speaker 1: shooter in that league at some point. I was going
Speaker 1: to ask you bat then, since you brought it up,
Speaker 1: what the seventy sixers feel like and they had him
Speaker 1: obviously in for two workouts. Is they were even able
Speaker 1: to use some motion technology that they have here at
Speaker 1: the training complex to study a shot, and they feel
Speaker 1: like the trajectory, as you just said, is really really
Speaker 1: promising and it checked out. Can you get into some
Speaker 1: of the stuff that you were seeing with that, How
Speaker 1: you see that aspect of his game developing. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: appreciate you saying that. I'm really proud of that. I mean,
Speaker 1: obviously the story is z and all the work that
Speaker 1: he put in, he deserves one hundred percent of the credit.
Speaker 1: But I would point to our program. You know, we're
Speaker 1: proud that Zaire came in in one short year. You know,
Speaker 1: his dreams come true. We have a lot of people
Speaker 1: on our staff, a lot of hours you know that
Speaker 1: we worked on our assistant coaches and gas and player
Speaker 1: development team and everything we did. You know, we're proud
Speaker 1: of the product. You know, Z's always had a soft
Speaker 1: touch on his shot. He gets the ball up, he
Speaker 1: very rarely misses short. Again, we just had a special
Speaker 1: team at Texas Tech with five seniors. Ze got on
Speaker 1: the floor early in his career through his defense and
Speaker 1: through just again being consistent, and as a year went on,
Speaker 1: you know, I was begging him to shoot more. But
Speaker 1: at the at the core of what Z is, he's
Speaker 1: a winner. You know, you tell him exactly what he
Speaker 1: needs to do to win. He's not a stat guy.
Speaker 1: You know. I've seen Z doing backflips and happy locker
Speaker 1: rooms after games after an eight point game, and I've
Speaker 1: seen him really really down after a twenty point game
Speaker 1: when we came up short. So at the core who
Speaker 1: he is, he's a winner. He's a team player. He
Speaker 1: really doesn't care about the individual stuff. He just wants
Speaker 1: to win. When we got beat by Villanova in the
Speaker 1: Elite eight, where a lot of people in the Texas
Speaker 1: Tech program, you know, deep, deep, inside, even though they
Speaker 1: might not admit it, we're probably just happy with the run.
Speaker 1: I looked in these eyes, and this was a guy
Speaker 1: that was not content. I mean, he was just like me,
Speaker 1: just distraught and was visioning us playing in the Final four.
Speaker 1: And I say that just to make the point again.
Speaker 1: I mean, this guy wants to win above all, and
Speaker 1: I think at the NBA level, when he gets around
Speaker 1: those resources and people simply stay and tell him exactly
Speaker 1: what he has to do, he'll find a way to
Speaker 1: get it done. How much is his defense as we
Speaker 1: break down that part of this game is based on
Speaker 1: the type of mindset, the DNA, the intangibles that you've
Speaker 1: been referencing for the last ten minutes. Now, how much
Speaker 1: is it skill and ability? How would you break down
Speaker 1: that part of his game. It's a big part of it.
Speaker 1: I think again, it starts with you know who raised him,
Speaker 1: Billy Smith's and no nonsense competitive guy, and it's mom
Speaker 1: Andreas Special. At a young age, you know, Z didn't
Speaker 1: have any distractions in his life. He just worked on
Speaker 1: his game, learned how to play at the highest level,
Speaker 1: learned how to compete, learn how to win. And a
Speaker 1: big part of that is on the defensive end. That's
Speaker 1: why I know our staff is so excited that he
Speaker 1: went to Philly. We're all NBA guys on the staff
Speaker 1: at the core were basketball junkies. We watch every game
Speaker 1: he possibly can, and the seventy six ers to me,
Speaker 1: not knowing anyone there except for the string coach. I
Speaker 1: know it's a team. I know it's a defensive mindset,
Speaker 1: and I know it's a player development where young guys
Speaker 1: get better quickly. So I thought Ze was the perfect pick.
Speaker 1: But he is a defensive mindset like and you could see.
Speaker 1: You could tell that early on. Also think he gott
Speaker 1: to give his high school coach from credit. JT. Lockler,
Speaker 1: one of the best younger coaches in the Dallas Fort
Speaker 1: Worth area, put Z in a lot of great situations
Speaker 1: in high school. Let him guard multiple people. They pressed,
Speaker 1: they trapped, they switched a lot on defense. I think
Speaker 1: this played a big part of these development as well.
Speaker 1: How many different ways were you guys able to use
Speaker 1: him on the defense? Van You know in college he
Speaker 1: could really guard one through four and sometimes even the five.
Speaker 1: I think in the NBA today, I really believe he
Speaker 1: could play in an NBA game the night guard one
Speaker 1: through three. I might be a little bit biased because
Speaker 1: it's pretty obvious how much I love the kid, but
Speaker 1: I say that from my mind too, and he can
Speaker 1: really guard. It starts obviously with the athleticism, the length,
Speaker 1: the quickness within you got to go to the next level,
Speaker 1: which is toughness, and then thirdly the IQ. He is
Speaker 1: a very very very smart basketball player. And coaching him.
Speaker 1: You know, I said I told him something one time.
Speaker 1: He always picked it up. He spent a lot of
Speaker 1: time in the film room on his own. He's just
Speaker 1: he's special offensively, as we flip it over that side.
Speaker 1: He spoke about the shot off ball. How comfortable do
Speaker 1: you see him being in those two spots. You know,
Speaker 1: he's just a work in progress, but it'll happen very quickly.
Speaker 1: You're talking about a guy that just, you know, less
Speaker 1: than two years ago, I was playing on a high
Speaker 1: school court, kind of playing a forward spot because that's
Speaker 1: what his team needed. In AAU, he played a little
Speaker 1: bit more in the Primmeter, not so much with us.
Speaker 1: He played all over the floor. You know, we kind
Speaker 1: of try to play the game just like they do
Speaker 1: in the NBA, where positional liston means anything I don't
Speaker 1: really know what a one, two, three, four is. I
Speaker 1: just know Lebron's the best player in the league and
Speaker 1: this other guy's right behind him. And I would put
Speaker 1: Z in the same category like some of the NBA
Speaker 1: scouts that would come in. You know, the question I
Speaker 1: always got is can't he play the two? Can he
Speaker 1: play the three? And I was like, Hey, that's up
Speaker 1: to you guys that decide. I just know in college
Speaker 1: he's one of the best players in the country. He
Speaker 1: comes back to college another year, I think he'll be
Speaker 1: the number one pick. I believe that. But offensively, I mean,
Speaker 1: he can do a lot of things that I don't
Speaker 1: think people understand yet. Obviously the seventy six years due
Speaker 1: because they invested a high pick in him. But he's
Speaker 1: an undervalued shooter. He's worked, can progress with the ball.
Speaker 1: He can create his own shot, not only with his
Speaker 1: vertical and his athleticism, but also with quickness. He's really
Speaker 1: good in the triple threat. And above all, I would
Speaker 1: say cutting. He's one of the best players I've ever
Speaker 1: played coached without the ball in his hands, which normally
Speaker 1: comes later on in a college career. You know, as
Speaker 1: a freshman that's normally the thing they kind of lack.
Speaker 1: But Z brought that mentality to play without the ball
Speaker 1: in his hands from day one, and I think that'll
Speaker 1: be special. Just knowing some of the players that Philly
Speaker 1: has on their team, I think Z's gonna get a
Speaker 1: lot of, you know, cheap, easy baskets by moving without
Speaker 1: the ball. When did you start to hear from NBA
Speaker 1: personnel types about their interest in desire or was there
Speaker 1: a stage of the season when that happened. You know,
Speaker 1: I'm a kind of I'm kind of a simple, isolated guy.
Speaker 1: I don't even really talk on my cell phone much
Speaker 1: during the season besides my three daughters and girlfriend. But
Speaker 1: you know, I think around Christmas time, some of the
Speaker 1: big games on national TV, some of our guys were
Speaker 1: telling me that he's starting to show up on mock
Speaker 1: drafts and stuff like that. I didn't even know what
Speaker 1: a mock draft was, but certainly in a Big twelve.
Speaker 1: Another thing to me kind of on my radar was
Speaker 1: just the other coaches. You know, when a coach Huggins
Speaker 1: or coach self or coach career, some of the friendships
Speaker 1: we had within this league. When people started kind of
Speaker 1: talking about Z in that world. That's kind of where
Speaker 1: it became real to me, and then you know, just
Speaker 1: kind of watching it materialize. I really felt like when
Speaker 1: we made the turn in the Big twelve for the
Speaker 1: second half of the season that he was going to
Speaker 1: have an opportunity to be in the mix. And then
Speaker 1: certainly making a great run in March, playing meaningful games
Speaker 1: all the way to the lead eighth. That always helps
Speaker 1: the process. So again, I'm so proud aszire, but I'm
Speaker 1: also equally proud of our program, all the people that
Speaker 1: worked with Z on a daily basis. This was a
Speaker 1: win for all of us. It really was an amazing
Speaker 1: season for you guys. Just want to ask you a
Speaker 1: couple more things. I mean, when we were able to
Speaker 1: speak with him a few times, he seems very straight
Speaker 1: to the point, business like. Is he the guy around teammates,
Speaker 1: his coaches in the locker room? Absolutely? Uh, you know,
Speaker 1: Z is what he is. He is. Not an ounce
Speaker 1: of faith in him. It'll be interesting to watch how
Speaker 1: he matures and handles the NBA lifestyle. But I have
Speaker 1: one hundred percent confidence he's a no distraction guy. Never
Speaker 1: had a problem with any kind of vices. You know,
Speaker 1: he's got his faith and his family and then basketball.
Speaker 1: I think academics might have been somewhere down the line.
Speaker 1: But you know, he's a talented, talented guy that's very,
Speaker 1: very disciplined. He's got a great personality the people in Philly.
Speaker 1: It'll come out eventually and you guys will see it.
Speaker 1: But really, really funny, got great humor the other night,
Speaker 1: sitting there in the green room at that table. You know,
Speaker 1: with each pick it starts getting a little nervous more
Speaker 1: and more. But Ze kept his sense of humor all night.
Speaker 1: And he's just a great guy. He's you know, I
Speaker 1: told people this openly, like when everybody came in the
Speaker 1: spring to talk about Ze, it's almost like, you know,
Speaker 1: everybody wants to know advice, everybody wants to know a negative,
Speaker 1: everybody wants to know a concern, and character wise, there's
Speaker 1: not any. And I didn't want anybody kind of thinking
Speaker 1: we're overselling our guys, because we're true tellers at our core.
Speaker 1: But I mean, there's just literally nothing I can tell
Speaker 1: you about Z that's on the wrong end of things.
Speaker 1: He's special, he's got a great personality and above all,
Speaker 1: he's a big, big time teammate. Why don't we leave
Speaker 1: it at that, excellently put by Chris Beard, head coach
Speaker 1: of Texas Tech men's basketball, Chris, thanks so much. You're welcome.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Just a phenomenal season for Chris Beard at
Speaker 1: Texas Tech. Collectively, the Red Raiders their first ever Elite eight,
Speaker 1: second most wins ever, and a record setting number six
Speaker 1: ranking in the national poll, and of course, their second
Speaker 1: first round draft pick in addition to Tony Batilla, former
Speaker 1: seventy six Erzire Smith, one of the newest seventy sixers.
Speaker 1: Thanks to Chris Beard for taking the time to chat.
Speaker 1: Thanks to you for listening. We will hear from Greg Marshall,
Speaker 1: the head coach of a Wichita State, talking about Landry
Speaker 1: Shammon before the week is out. To stay tuned for
Speaker 1: that coming up next time on the broadcast. I see
Speaker 1: it