WEBVTT - KJ Live - Tyson Wheeler 0:00:01.280 --> 0:00:10.479 This is kJ Live with Chris Johnson. And Chris is 0:00:10.520 --> 0:00:14.480 having conversations with influencers in the sports world and entertainment 0:00:14.520 --> 0:00:21.400 in a strain. Now here's Chris Johnson. You're now tuned 0:00:21.440 --> 0:00:24.759 into kJ Live. Today's guests to the show is a 0:00:24.880 --> 0:00:28.680 March Madness legend. Start at the University of Rhode Island 0:00:28.680 --> 0:00:31.040 in the backcourt with Patino Mobil, considered one of the 0:00:31.040 --> 0:00:34.720 best backcourts in the history of college basketball. Later went 0:00:34.760 --> 0:00:38.839 on to play in the NBA and overseas Italy and 0:00:38.920 --> 0:00:43.880 other countries. Let's welcome Tyson Wheeler to the show. What's up, Tyson? 0:00:44.240 --> 0:00:46.880 What's upkay Jee? I appreciate you having me on. I'm excited. 0:00:47.159 --> 0:00:49.919 I know you got all the U best guests on here, 0:00:49.960 --> 0:00:52.800 so I'm excited to be on here and very humble. Well, 0:00:53.280 --> 0:00:55.240 I thank you. I don't know if I have the 0:00:55.280 --> 0:00:58.040 best guests, but I have the most people I think 0:00:58.040 --> 0:01:00.920 are the best, and so I think that most important 0:01:01.160 --> 0:01:04.440 and you fall into that category. My man. Congratulations on 0:01:05.160 --> 0:01:09.039 your tenure at the U mass uh coaching right now, 0:01:09.120 --> 0:01:12.839 you're a free agent. Uh, let's talk about the process 0:01:13.520 --> 0:01:15.959 for you. Kind of the day, day to day grind 0:01:16.000 --> 0:01:18.959 of of a college coach. Having coach finished the season 0:01:19.000 --> 0:01:21.280 now has to look for another situation. Talk about what 0:01:21.319 --> 0:01:24.880 that looks like. Well, I think, Um, you know, obviously 0:01:25.280 --> 0:01:28.679 it's gonna this is my thirteenth season coaching, so, UM, 0:01:28.880 --> 0:01:32.000 I've been in for a while, going by pretty fast. 0:01:32.200 --> 0:01:35.640 So you know, I remember playing for ten years professionally 0:01:35.760 --> 0:01:37.000 and I thought that was a long time. And I'm 0:01:37.000 --> 0:01:39.600 already passed that as a coach. Um. You know, it's 0:01:39.600 --> 0:01:42.360 a process. You know, it happens in the business. You 0:01:42.360 --> 0:01:44.880 don't win enough, they let you go. So you know, 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:46.840 for me, you know, I have to try to find 0:01:46.840 --> 0:01:50.000 a new job anywhere in the country. You know, I've 0:01:50.000 --> 0:01:52.480 been coaching now for thirteen years, like I said before, 0:01:53.080 --> 0:01:55.720 and I basically always been on the East Coast. Now 0:01:55.920 --> 0:01:58.120 you know, I'm looking to, you know, make a move. 0:01:58.280 --> 0:01:59.720 You know, I don't mind staying on the East Coast 0:01:59.760 --> 0:02:03.320 close home. I'm from Connecticut. Um, there's some openings in 0:02:03.440 --> 0:02:06.760 New England that I would love to work for. UM, 0:02:07.400 --> 0:02:09.200 but you know, I have to keep my options over 0:02:09.960 --> 0:02:14.359 yeah you do. UM, talk a little bit about just 0:02:14.840 --> 0:02:19.040 how maybe the coaching game has changed from when you 0:02:19.080 --> 0:02:22.440 were a player being recruited by attend of schools to 0:02:22.600 --> 0:02:26.680 now being on the other side doing the recruiting recruiting players. 0:02:27.040 --> 0:02:31.600 How much has the game changed in that twenty five years, Spanners, 0:02:31.600 --> 0:02:35.000 So it's changed tremendously. Um. You know, back when we 0:02:35.000 --> 0:02:38.800 were getting recruited, it seemed like coaches were everywhere at 0:02:38.840 --> 0:02:41.919 the park, at the Y M c A, at high 0:02:41.960 --> 0:02:45.280 school practices, at games. You know, you pull up and 0:02:45.360 --> 0:02:48.239 the coach will be there, And I think that was 0:02:48.360 --> 0:02:51.960 very beneficial for us in our evaluation of our talent 0:02:52.040 --> 0:02:55.040 and where we should be playing. UM. I think nowadays, 0:02:55.160 --> 0:02:57.519 as as a college coach, we don't get as much 0:02:57.520 --> 0:03:01.640 time to really evaluate the kids. Uh, we may see 0:03:01.680 --> 0:03:04.600 him two or three times because we're flying all over 0:03:04.600 --> 0:03:07.280 the place because we have a shorter period to evaluate them. 0:03:07.840 --> 0:03:11.040 So then we rely on scouting services UM and not 0:03:11.160 --> 0:03:14.040 our own eye. So it could be kind of messy 0:03:14.120 --> 0:03:16.800 when you you see a kid played great one weekend, 0:03:17.280 --> 0:03:20.160 and then you might see him play three weeks later 0:03:20.560 --> 0:03:22.919 and he just plays okay, So you're not very sure 0:03:23.080 --> 0:03:25.800 if he's at that level. But then the dynamic comes 0:03:26.160 --> 0:03:29.040 where if you're at you Mass, you get a Miami 0:03:29.080 --> 0:03:31.080 that offers him in the A C. C. So now 0:03:31.160 --> 0:03:33.440 you're like, Wow, I'm never gonna get this kid. But 0:03:33.480 --> 0:03:36.800 I think he's at the Atlantic ten level. And before 0:03:36.840 --> 0:03:39.160 I was coaching at Fairfield University in Connecticut in the 0:03:39.240 --> 0:03:42.080 mac um so it was a dynamic where I thought 0:03:42.080 --> 0:03:44.240 the kid was a MAC level kid and he would 0:03:44.240 --> 0:03:47.160 get offered by a big East school. So it's been 0:03:47.360 --> 0:03:49.600 it's changed a lot, and I think back when we 0:03:49.760 --> 0:03:52.480 played it was a little bit easier to evaluate us. 0:03:53.520 --> 0:03:57.400 Is that because the there was more flexibility with like 0:03:57.560 --> 0:04:00.080 budget or is that because the n t a A 0:04:01.240 --> 0:04:04.840 wasn't so strict in terms of the viewing period and 0:04:04.880 --> 0:04:07.200 things like that, or is it a combination both, Like 0:04:07.280 --> 0:04:11.240 why why are coaches nowadays not allowed to see players 0:04:11.280 --> 0:04:13.320 as much as they were in the past. I mean, 0:04:13.320 --> 0:04:15.560 they're restrictions on the n c A. They allow you 0:04:15.600 --> 0:04:17.719 a certain amount of live periods we can go out 0:04:18.400 --> 0:04:21.960 to watch and evaluate talent um. There's tournaments all over 0:04:22.000 --> 0:04:25.440 the country. There's so many AAU programs. You know, I'm 0:04:25.440 --> 0:04:27.880 sure back when you were playing, you played on one 0:04:27.880 --> 0:04:31.920 team and basically all your boys from up and down 0:04:31.960 --> 0:04:35.080 California on one team. You know, in New York you 0:04:35.160 --> 0:04:37.280 had all the best players on two teams at Gauchos 0:04:37.279 --> 0:04:41.400 the Riverside. So you know, now it's a very watered down. 0:04:42.240 --> 0:04:46.480 Parents are making teams just so their child can play. Um, 0:04:46.520 --> 0:04:50.400 there's about ten teams just in one city of a 0:04:50.400 --> 0:04:53.719 lot of talent. Now, now, is daddy ball so bad? 0:04:54.040 --> 0:04:56.280 I always ask this question, is I want to hear 0:04:56.320 --> 0:04:58.520 from the hooper? Why why is daddy ball so bad? 0:04:58.560 --> 0:05:00.840 At your eyes, I don't think it's bad at all. 0:05:01.200 --> 0:05:02.760 I think you're trying to do the best thing for 0:05:02.839 --> 0:05:05.440 your child exactly, and they don't get the opportunity to 0:05:05.480 --> 0:05:06.800 be seen. And you want your child to get a 0:05:06.800 --> 0:05:09.280 scholarship and get that opportunity because like I said before, 0:05:09.760 --> 0:05:12.680 there's not enough tournaments or enough time for college coach 0:05:12.760 --> 0:05:15.920 to evaluate those kids. So if your parents can get 0:05:15.960 --> 0:05:18.480 you on the team with some other guys that can 0:05:18.520 --> 0:05:20.919 play and get you on the scene to be seen, 0:05:21.080 --> 0:05:25.000 that that's there, that's good for them. So I'm not 0:05:25.040 --> 0:05:29.000 mad at them at all. No, me, neither me neither. 0:05:29.360 --> 0:05:31.640 And the game was so different as far as the 0:05:31.680 --> 0:05:35.440 AU there's there was just so much more emphasis on 0:05:35.640 --> 0:05:38.839 AU and things like that. As a recruiter, and this 0:05:38.880 --> 0:05:40.920 would be kind of my last one talking about that. 0:05:41.160 --> 0:05:44.960 How much do you know back in the day got 0:05:45.080 --> 0:05:49.800 the AU affiliation wasn't necessary for a guy's coach to 0:05:49.839 --> 0:05:53.240 get players. It seems like nowadays, you know, it's one 0:05:53.240 --> 0:05:56.680 of the prerequisites sometimes you're getting the gig. How how 0:05:56.760 --> 0:05:59.040 much how important is that or is that overblown and 0:05:59.160 --> 0:06:03.600 overstated the streets and you know media or whatever your 0:06:03.960 --> 0:06:07.119 you mean, like, um, the the like an assistant coach 0:06:07.320 --> 0:06:10.479 having like a good relationship with the AU director or 0:06:10.520 --> 0:06:14.400 maybe an affiliation may have coached for them in the past, etcetera. 0:06:14.800 --> 0:06:16.560 Is that is that really is? Does that really give 0:06:16.600 --> 0:06:18.400 you a leg up in today in the landscape of 0:06:18.440 --> 0:06:22.440 today's college coaching game, It absolutely does. I think, um, 0:06:22.480 --> 0:06:24.919 you know, you are so prominent now and all the 0:06:25.000 --> 0:06:29.000 kids are there. And again, a lot of high school 0:06:29.240 --> 0:06:30.800 I mean sorry, a lot of college coaches don't go 0:06:30.880 --> 0:06:34.480 to high school games as much. They concentrate on AU 0:06:34.800 --> 0:06:37.320 and then end on the directors and and the coaches 0:06:37.360 --> 0:06:41.520 in the AU circle, um to get kids, you know, 0:06:41.600 --> 0:06:45.159 because whatever level you're at, you're gonna recruit to the 0:06:45.200 --> 0:06:49.000 AU programs in your area and across the country. So 0:06:49.400 --> 0:06:52.599 you know, it does a beneficial for coaches to know 0:06:52.839 --> 0:06:55.800 a lot of AU programs. One thing I would say 0:06:55.800 --> 0:06:58.479 about me that I have an advantage because I played 0:06:58.520 --> 0:07:01.839 basketball and I could recruit all over the country. It 0:07:01.880 --> 0:07:04.080 makes us because people may know my name and that 0:07:04.200 --> 0:07:06.920 just may start the conversation. And I can say I'm 0:07:06.920 --> 0:07:09.320 at Atlantic ten school and somebody in California might not 0:07:09.320 --> 0:07:11.800 want to go to school in California, so that might 0:07:11.800 --> 0:07:15.000 give me a lego. Absolutely, that's good, man. You gotta 0:07:15.080 --> 0:07:17.600 use everything you've got. It is a competitive world. Use 0:07:19.680 --> 0:07:22.000 players out there, and now there is And speaking of 0:07:22.000 --> 0:07:23.400 good players, man, I want to I want to flip 0:07:23.440 --> 0:07:26.240 the script to the transfer portal because you know there's 0:07:26.240 --> 0:07:28.800 a thousand, you know, players in that thing, and you 0:07:28.880 --> 0:07:32.480 know you're getting guys are getting good quick. But by 0:07:32.560 --> 0:07:35.800 snatching guys out the transfer portal now with the emphasis 0:07:36.000 --> 0:07:42.320 on getting older and experienced college basketball players for college programs, 0:07:42.640 --> 0:07:46.480 does this make the three to four star high school 0:07:46.640 --> 0:07:50.679 player less relevant than he has been in the past. 0:07:50.760 --> 0:07:52.600 Kind Of like that guy that tweeter you feel like 0:07:52.600 --> 0:07:54.440 you can develop. He may give him a shot as 0:07:54.440 --> 0:07:56.840 a coach because you think he can be something out 0:07:56.840 --> 0:08:00.080 of development, but you don't anymore because you gotta I 0:08:00.120 --> 0:08:02.720 did average two of the game, and you know a 0:08:02.880 --> 0:08:07.840 D two you got you know, you got to cook. Yeah, 0:08:07.880 --> 0:08:10.040 I mean it's a it's tough. It's tough. You can 0:08:10.080 --> 0:08:13.400 go both ways with its positive and negative. UM. And 0:08:13.480 --> 0:08:15.640 it also depends on what level you're at. You know, 0:08:15.720 --> 0:08:17.600 you you would love to get a kid at a 0:08:17.600 --> 0:08:20.360 lower level that's a three or four star because you 0:08:20.400 --> 0:08:23.120 wouldn't be able to do that before. UM. And then 0:08:23.400 --> 0:08:25.640 you can get transfers that were playing in the Big 0:08:25.680 --> 0:08:28.400 Ten that average three or five points, but you can 0:08:28.440 --> 0:08:30.320 see that they're pretty good. They come to the Atlantic 0:08:30.360 --> 0:08:33.920 Tent and the average ten to twelve points, but they 0:08:33.920 --> 0:08:36.320 couldn't do that at the Big Tent level. So you're 0:08:36.320 --> 0:08:38.160 more apt to try to take a kid that played 0:08:38.200 --> 0:08:41.920 in a bigger level come down, and then a kid 0:08:41.960 --> 0:08:44.319 that's at a lower level that's always had aspirations to 0:08:44.360 --> 0:08:47.600 play up like myself. I did work as a freshman 0:08:47.679 --> 0:08:51.600 sophomore at to say a St. Peter's, well you St. 0:08:51.640 --> 0:08:53.960 Peters for example. Now those kids are gonna be looking 0:08:53.960 --> 0:08:55.800 at like they could play in the Big East at 0:08:55.800 --> 0:08:58.720 a stick home. So that it's it's it's all over 0:08:58.760 --> 0:09:02.520 the place, and it's good and bad with it So 0:09:03.160 --> 0:09:04.679 do you think it's good for the game? I mean, 0:09:04.679 --> 0:09:07.400 do you think this is something that you could say 0:09:07.440 --> 0:09:10.040 this is good for for the balance of competition and 0:09:10.080 --> 0:09:13.040 college basketball? A lot of teams got good quick. They're 0:09:13.040 --> 0:09:15.360 able to make, you know, deep runs. You see some 0:09:15.440 --> 0:09:17.840 teams out there with these kind of guys that are 0:09:17.880 --> 0:09:20.440 making runs and and that are good when you don't expect. 0:09:20.600 --> 0:09:23.560 Is this good for the game? Um? I think it's 0:09:23.600 --> 0:09:28.920 good for the game because college coaches don't get a 0:09:29.000 --> 0:09:33.679 uh a long period of time to become great. You know, 0:09:34.000 --> 0:09:36.960 when we were coming up again, uh you know, we 0:09:37.000 --> 0:09:39.640 had coaches that coach for ten or twelve years and 0:09:39.679 --> 0:09:42.480 may Haetta had three or four losing seasons. Now, if 0:09:42.480 --> 0:09:45.440 you're not winning after three years, you're on the hot seat. 0:09:45.920 --> 0:09:47.880 So you have to you have to win right away 0:09:48.160 --> 0:09:51.959 in order to keep your job, which is unfortunate because 0:09:51.960 --> 0:09:54.160 now you're not being you're not able to develop the 0:09:54.360 --> 0:09:56.120 younger kids. So now you're probably not gonna want to 0:09:56.120 --> 0:09:58.080 get a young kid because you only have two or 0:09:58.080 --> 0:10:02.760 three years to be good. Yeah. No, that makes total sense. 0:10:02.840 --> 0:10:05.439 And this is something I think that started has been 0:10:05.480 --> 0:10:09.320 happening for a little bit now. Probably I'd say around. Well. 0:10:09.360 --> 0:10:12.560 I felt it in two thousand fourteen fifteen when my 0:10:12.640 --> 0:10:14.559 son Will was just difficult to get him a look 0:10:14.800 --> 0:10:18.439 and I couldn't understand why. But then as I started 0:10:18.480 --> 0:10:21.360 to look at the makeup of rosters around the country 0:10:21.360 --> 0:10:24.480 and start to understand the different themes associated with what 0:10:24.559 --> 0:10:27.400 coaches were doing, it kind of made sense that because 0:10:27.400 --> 0:10:29.120 I was thinking of it like our time, like why 0:10:29.120 --> 0:10:31.120 can't you get like now you better believe it, my boy? 0:10:31.480 --> 0:10:33.840 You know the type of thing. But it's like, like 0:10:33.920 --> 0:10:36.959 you just said, hey, man, I gotta win now. I 0:10:37.000 --> 0:10:40.840 don't have no time for one roster spot to being 0:10:41.120 --> 0:10:44.280 to being unknown. I need a prom commodity. I'll take 0:10:44.320 --> 0:10:46.839 a guy that played in the MEAK or you know, 0:10:46.960 --> 0:10:50.719 the Horizon League that I a thousand points score. They 0:10:50.720 --> 0:10:52.480 don't miss the king of this he was doing it. 0:10:52.520 --> 0:10:54.760 I was like, dang, he bringing all these thousand points 0:10:54.800 --> 0:10:57.679 score and I'm like, oh, there we go. All right. 0:11:00.559 --> 0:11:03.160 But but all that to be said, that's the game. 0:11:03.800 --> 0:11:07.120 Competition is still competition, but you gotta you gotta adjust 0:11:07.160 --> 0:11:10.800 and adapt. Um. The final thing on the college thing, man, uh, 0:11:10.880 --> 0:11:14.560 the current college climate, the n I l you know, 0:11:14.679 --> 0:11:16.480 when it first came out you know, I was really 0:11:16.520 --> 0:11:20.480 interested to see how this would affect the players, the 0:11:20.600 --> 0:11:24.080 athletes mindset. You know what would this motivate people? With this? 0:11:24.160 --> 0:11:27.040 Get guys and girls you know, in the gym, on 0:11:27.080 --> 0:11:29.240 the track, working hard and the way, Hey, I want 0:11:29.240 --> 0:11:30.600 to be the most market I want to be the best. 0:11:30.679 --> 0:11:33.400 I want to look good or or did it or 0:11:33.480 --> 0:11:36.480 is it something that hey, I'm you know, are these 0:11:36.600 --> 0:11:39.840 kids responding to it with complacency? I want to know 0:11:39.920 --> 0:11:41.520 from a college coach, I don't know if your guys 0:11:41.559 --> 0:11:43.720 had any and if they did, you know, what is 0:11:43.720 --> 0:11:46.920 your sense of how they responded to it? I would 0:11:46.920 --> 0:11:51.840 say overall general, overall, um, the synopsis of it is 0:11:52.720 --> 0:11:54.920 there's good and bad in it. You know, you have 0:11:55.000 --> 0:11:57.840 some players that are really good, uh, that can that 0:11:57.880 --> 0:12:00.600 are marketable and they'll get the those type of deals 0:12:00.640 --> 0:12:03.320 where they can make some money or some clothing deals. 0:12:03.679 --> 0:12:06.000 And then you have some players that are getting it 0:12:06.040 --> 0:12:09.240 because they're on a team, but they don't play a lot, 0:12:10.000 --> 0:12:16.880 but they'll film themselves uh more marketable and they're just 0:12:16.960 --> 0:12:19.440 working out just because of the n I L deals 0:12:20.000 --> 0:12:23.480 or to get likes and so you know, it's a 0:12:23.640 --> 0:12:25.400 it's a gift and a curse. I guess you can say, 0:12:25.760 --> 0:12:27.560 you know, there's some really good players that are making 0:12:27.840 --> 0:12:31.240 really good money as they should and they're helping uh 0:12:31.600 --> 0:12:36.120 you know, um establishment make money and that putting some 0:12:36.120 --> 0:12:38.559 money in their pockets. So but then there's some players 0:12:38.600 --> 0:12:42.920 that shouldn't have en n I l deals what they do. Um, 0:12:42.960 --> 0:12:45.080 but it's coolos to the kids. I mean, if they 0:12:45.080 --> 0:12:47.440 can get it, they should get it, you know. I 0:12:47.520 --> 0:12:50.560 think I think really it's all about, you know, the 0:12:50.640 --> 0:12:53.160 lens in which we view it. Now, if we view 0:12:53.200 --> 0:12:55.960 it through our lens, we might say something like, hey, 0:12:56.080 --> 0:12:58.640 you know, kids are getting it when maybe they shouldn't. 0:12:58.679 --> 0:13:01.120 But we have to realize that the game is totally changed. 0:13:01.520 --> 0:13:04.520 So so who gets it and who deserves it? That's 0:13:04.520 --> 0:13:07.480 just it's up to social media, it's up to your following, 0:13:07.559 --> 0:13:09.400 it's up to your soul. So so you might have 0:13:09.440 --> 0:13:12.160 the most game, you might average twenty game, but you're 0:13:12.200 --> 0:13:15.080 not the best on social media. And that is and 0:13:15.120 --> 0:13:17.400 I see this with U. C. L A, where you 0:13:17.480 --> 0:13:19.720 got a guy like Hamie ha Kennis, who's who's really 0:13:19.760 --> 0:13:22.680 good on social media, But there's these other guys that 0:13:22.720 --> 0:13:24.360 are you know, a little bit better and they're getting 0:13:24.360 --> 0:13:28.240 a little bit more notoriety. Um um that this Uh, 0:13:28.280 --> 0:13:30.160 I forgot what it is. But they gave like this 0:13:30.360 --> 0:13:33.240 all the bench guys left in the tournament. They gave 0:13:33.320 --> 0:13:36.200 him a whole uh N I L deal. So every 0:13:36.200 --> 0:13:39.080 guy that was like a walk on or that rode 0:13:39.120 --> 0:13:43.000 the bench. Yeah, so this is now becoming. They're becoming 0:13:43.040 --> 0:13:45.600 stars their performance on the bench. They're cheer leading their 0:13:45.640 --> 0:13:50.319 school spirit. Like I'm telling you, Dog, I would kind 0:13:50.320 --> 0:13:52.720 of like I was my freshman year wearing all the 0:13:52.720 --> 0:13:55.760 town like I wouldn't Hey, I would have got an 0:13:55.840 --> 0:13:57.280 N I L deal. Bro would have been like on 0:13:57.360 --> 0:14:00.520 Fatburger or something. Man, hey man, Christine to get the 0:14:00.520 --> 0:14:05.440 starting local man too big starting local back and dog 0:14:05.559 --> 0:14:09.360 but free on me. Hey but I want to be 0:14:09.440 --> 0:14:13.040 cracking man. But so but I like that part. It's 0:14:13.080 --> 0:14:16.480 gonna be interesting to see just how big this stuff gets. 0:14:16.559 --> 0:14:19.280 You know, you see the high level at least the 0:14:19.320 --> 0:14:22.760 elite guys getting you know, Mercedes Bins and Beats by 0:14:22.840 --> 0:14:25.800 Dre and you know these high level brands, and so 0:14:26.120 --> 0:14:28.880 that's interesting, but it still needs to be sorted out, 0:14:28.960 --> 0:14:32.120 you know what I'm saying. So Fox Sports Radio has 0:14:32.160 --> 0:14:35.080 the best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all 0:14:35.120 --> 0:14:38.440 of our shows at Fox Sports Radio dot com and 0:14:38.520 --> 0:14:41.080 within the I Heart Radio app search f s R 0:14:41.200 --> 0:14:47.400 to listen live. Yeah, but looking back two days of 0:14:47.560 --> 0:14:50.320 old man, when we were young bucks dude and we 0:14:50.600 --> 0:14:53.080 could run around real fast and you know, go through 0:14:53.080 --> 0:14:55.080 our legs behind the back. I crossed you over a 0:14:55.080 --> 0:14:57.480 lot back in the day. But looking back on that 0:14:57.520 --> 0:15:02.040 area at it out of the dog, I wanted to 0:15:02.040 --> 0:15:06.640 revisit You're run through the march madness, the whole tournament 0:15:06.680 --> 0:15:09.880 because I always found found it interesting that you played 0:15:09.920 --> 0:15:12.360 for coach Herrick who recruited me, who I played for, 0:15:12.480 --> 0:15:15.720 what a national championship? He was fired the year before, 0:15:16.240 --> 0:15:19.920 and now the very next year he's taking you guys 0:15:20.720 --> 0:15:24.200 on your own magical run. Can you just talk about 0:15:24.520 --> 0:15:25.920 and that was in its first year. Can you just 0:15:25.960 --> 0:15:29.400 talk about that? You know, coach Herrick as getting coach 0:15:29.480 --> 0:15:31.840 Eric as a coach with everything you heard about and 0:15:31.880 --> 0:15:35.400 knowing his pedigree with U C l A and ultimately 0:15:35.480 --> 0:15:39.479 going on that run. But guys like Catino Mobile and Lamorrow. Yeah, 0:15:39.560 --> 0:15:42.800 so Lamar wasn't with us at that point, but at 0:15:42.840 --> 0:15:48.360 the school. Yeah, yeah, that counts. That counts and having 0:15:48.400 --> 0:15:50.920 a good time. But uh no, it was a great 0:15:51.240 --> 0:15:54.680 to get coach here. Um, myself and Antony Reynolds Dean 0:15:54.760 --> 0:15:58.120 were on the search committee. You know, we were uh 0:15:58.360 --> 0:16:01.840 what they call it now player the player now the 0:16:01.840 --> 0:16:05.880 search firms. We were the search firm. So Antonio and 0:16:05.960 --> 0:16:07.880 I and some of the you know, the A D 0:16:08.480 --> 0:16:10.760 We had a list of coaches and his name came 0:16:10.880 --> 0:16:13.040 up and I was like, that's the coach I want. 0:16:13.760 --> 0:16:16.400 You know, he coached tyas Edne. I was a small guard. 0:16:17.360 --> 0:16:19.000 They were up and down. I love the U c 0:16:19.120 --> 0:16:21.560 l A offense. You know, we played the flex offense 0:16:21.560 --> 0:16:23.680 with Al Skinner and I love that as well. But 0:16:23.760 --> 0:16:26.280 Contino didn't love it, you know, because he didn't get 0:16:26.320 --> 0:16:28.880 to handle the ball. So when when coach Hare came 0:16:28.880 --> 0:16:30.280 and he put the U c l A offense and 0:16:30.320 --> 0:16:34.040 he let Cotino handle the ball, and that really roses Stock. 0:16:34.840 --> 0:16:37.640 So I know Contino loves coach Hair because of that. 0:16:37.680 --> 0:16:40.320 He got to handle the ball. And so you know, 0:16:40.360 --> 0:16:43.440 we had a veteran team. Uh, we knew we could 0:16:43.480 --> 0:16:46.120 be really good. Coach Hare came in and I thought 0:16:46.160 --> 0:16:47.800 Ty said and he was great because he was a 0:16:47.840 --> 0:16:50.160 small guard. They won a national championship, like you were 0:16:50.200 --> 0:16:52.400 talking about you guys want a national championship and he 0:16:52.480 --> 0:16:54.000 was a little guard. So I was like, Okay, this 0:16:54.040 --> 0:16:55.800 is gonna fit in perfect with the way I played. 0:16:56.320 --> 0:16:58.000 And when coach Hare got there's like, Tyson, you need 0:16:58.000 --> 0:17:00.640 to pass more. You're you're you're shooting too much. You 0:17:00.640 --> 0:17:02.960 need to understand the game. Or I was like what 0:17:03.520 --> 0:17:06.080 now what the year before? What? What? What did you 0:17:06.119 --> 0:17:07.920 do the year before? Like what kind of what were 0:17:07.960 --> 0:17:10.840 you coming into it? The confidence level off of what 0:17:10.880 --> 0:17:13.919 type of performance? Well, we we lost, for dude, we 0:17:13.920 --> 0:17:17.639 were up against for Due in the tournament first round, uh, 0:17:17.680 --> 0:17:19.879 and we gave up the lead and lost. I was 0:17:20.320 --> 0:17:23.440 averaging about fifteen points a game. I was a career 0:17:23.480 --> 0:17:27.159 average about fifteen points a game and six assists. So 0:17:27.280 --> 0:17:31.119 you know, I never wanted to score more than fifteen points. 0:17:31.160 --> 0:17:34.760 I definitely tried to, but I never got over fifteen. 0:17:34.840 --> 0:17:36.680 But I well, the most important for me is to 0:17:36.680 --> 0:17:41.680 get assist, lead the league, and try to win. So 0:17:42.000 --> 0:17:44.000 you know, I came in with some bravado that you know, 0:17:44.040 --> 0:17:46.840 this is gonna be our team. My team, me and Contino. 0:17:47.280 --> 0:17:49.239 Coach Harris gonna come in. He's gonna coach us up. 0:17:49.880 --> 0:17:51.200 And then he was like, yo, Tyson, you need to 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:53.560 stop shooting so much. I was like, oh, man, come on, coach, 0:17:54.119 --> 0:17:58.040 That's what I do. But it helped me out tremendously. 0:17:58.080 --> 0:18:02.320 You know, I had learned to be a better point guard. UM, 0:18:02.400 --> 0:18:04.480 we want a lot more. We got to lead eight. 0:18:06.480 --> 0:18:09.119 At what point did you during the season did you 0:18:09.200 --> 0:18:11.600 know that you guys could do something special? Like was 0:18:11.640 --> 0:18:13.439 there a turning point? Was there a game, was there 0:18:13.440 --> 0:18:15.520 a performance that you guys had you might have beat 0:18:15.560 --> 0:18:18.600 somebody going on the road or I don't know, was 0:18:18.640 --> 0:18:21.520 there a moment or did you guys kind of have 0:18:21.640 --> 0:18:25.440 a steady flow during the year. Um, we started off 0:18:25.480 --> 0:18:28.520 really hot and then we you know, we I think 0:18:28.520 --> 0:18:30.760 we won our first like three or four games. We 0:18:30.800 --> 0:18:32.920 got it to the top twenty five for the first time. 0:18:33.440 --> 0:18:36.919 And then we went to play yukon Umlilo Me and 0:18:37.000 --> 0:18:41.840 Kevin Freeman, Richard Hamilton's UM. So we knew and it 0:18:41.920 --> 0:18:44.639 was a close game. We're up and down, we were up, UM, 0:18:44.880 --> 0:18:47.000 but that at that point we knew that we were 0:18:47.000 --> 0:18:50.440 really good. We went to Cincinnati on Super Bowl Sunday 0:18:50.560 --> 0:18:52.479 and played them. I had the flu and we were 0:18:52.560 --> 0:18:55.560 right there with Kenyan Martin the helicopter. They had a 0:18:55.640 --> 0:19:00.400 dynamic team, let all the Yeah, so we we played 0:19:00.440 --> 0:19:02.840 really well. We lost, but the games we were in 0:19:03.520 --> 0:19:05.000 we felt we were one of the best teams in 0:19:05.040 --> 0:19:09.840 the country. So we had that mindset. Uh, we were 0:19:09.880 --> 0:19:13.080 older group, so we had to play that way. But 0:19:13.200 --> 0:19:15.520 we we had a tough schedule. We went out to Stanford, 0:19:15.520 --> 0:19:18.800 play Stanford in a Cable Car Classic and we're up 0:19:18.800 --> 0:19:21.120 again and we lost the same exact way we did 0:19:21.119 --> 0:19:22.920 it in the lead eight against him. Yeah, that was 0:19:22.960 --> 0:19:26.479 a tough loss. Man. I thought you guys had the magic. 0:19:26.840 --> 0:19:28.600 I thought you guys had it going, especially after what 0:19:28.640 --> 0:19:32.560 you beat Kansas in the round before or the round 0:19:32.560 --> 0:19:35.760 of thirty two or yeah, that was the second second round, 0:19:35.800 --> 0:19:39.240 second round. Every state year old coach God favorites the 0:19:39.280 --> 0:19:45.000 head coach. So was Marcus Brown on that team? No, 0:19:45.160 --> 0:19:48.359 he wasn't. Okay, thank god, thank god he's on there. 0:19:48.600 --> 0:19:54.199 He's on their staff. Now, okay, okay, okay, So whendn't 0:19:54.200 --> 0:19:57.320 you get into the later rounds of the tournaments sixteen 0:19:57.400 --> 0:20:00.200 elead eight time and which we're looking at now out 0:20:00.280 --> 0:20:02.800 you know, we're watching teams like you know St. Peter's 0:20:02.880 --> 0:20:05.960 or underdogs, right when when you get to those rounds, 0:20:05.960 --> 0:20:09.840 what do you think it takes to continue to advance 0:20:09.920 --> 0:20:12.800 in the world, Because I would consider you guys an 0:20:12.840 --> 0:20:17.200 underdog that year. Although you may not consider yourself a underdog, 0:20:17.280 --> 0:20:20.000 I know I feel like you guys were underdogs. What 0:20:20.080 --> 0:20:23.080 does it take to keep advancing? Um? I think just 0:20:23.520 --> 0:20:26.119 making sure that you guys are playing as a team. 0:20:26.240 --> 0:20:29.680 That's the most important thing. Um, Sharing the ball, being 0:20:29.720 --> 0:20:32.600 locked in defensively, being locked in on the scout that 0:20:32.680 --> 0:20:35.040 was really big for us. You know, every team we 0:20:35.160 --> 0:20:39.080 played in that tournament, we scouted to a team and 0:20:39.359 --> 0:20:42.800 guys all were locked in. Um. I think, you know, 0:20:42.920 --> 0:20:47.040 taking care of the balls, chief rebounding is very key, 0:20:47.080 --> 0:20:49.760 and then you know being able to score. You have 0:20:49.800 --> 0:20:51.399 to be able to score. And I think, as you 0:20:51.480 --> 0:20:55.600