WEBVTT - Alex Caruso 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:02.160 People don't realize the size of some of these guys 0:00:02.160 --> 0:00:04.400 that are moving around. That's that's the number one thing 0:00:04.680 --> 0:00:06.400 that people tell me when they see me, when they've 0:00:06.400 --> 0:00:09.160 never met me before and they recognize me, that oh wow, 0:00:09.200 --> 0:00:10.720 I didn't know you were that tall. So yeah, I'm 0:00:11.280 --> 0:00:14.560 I'm six four, six ' five and I'm the small guy. 0:00:16.320 --> 0:00:18.920 That's you look small to me. Yeah, you look small 0:00:18.960 --> 0:00:21.000 to me, So I could take it. 0:00:21.120 --> 0:00:25.000 Yeah, I got that guy. Give him my fade away 0:00:25.160 --> 0:00:31.400 fade away jumper. Hi. 0:00:31.520 --> 0:00:35.159 I'm Alex Caruso and I am a professional basketball player, 0:00:35.479 --> 0:00:43.960 golf savant, an overall good guy. 0:00:45.760 --> 0:00:50.400 Hi everybody, thanks for joining me today for another episode 0:00:50.440 --> 0:00:53.720 of Off the Beat. This is your host, Brian Baumgartner, 0:00:54.240 --> 0:00:58.600 And as you just heard, today's guest is none other 0:00:58.640 --> 0:01:03.480 than NBA star are Alex Caruso, or maybe you know 0:01:03.600 --> 0:01:07.480 him by one of his many many nicknames, Bald Mamba, 0:01:07.680 --> 0:01:12.319 Bald Eagle, Caru Show, or as Lebron James likes to 0:01:12.319 --> 0:01:16.319 call him the Goat. And even if you don't regularly 0:01:16.440 --> 0:01:19.760 watch the NBA, you're missing out by the way, you 0:01:19.840 --> 0:01:26.400 have undoubtedly seen Alex as well a meme, an internet meme. 0:01:26.560 --> 0:01:30.920 He's a presence to say the least. Alex in college 0:01:31.200 --> 0:01:33.400 was a part of one of the most memorable comebacks 0:01:33.560 --> 0:01:37.200 in March Madness history, a game I still remember when 0:01:37.240 --> 0:01:40.800 his Texas A and m aggis defeated Northern Iowa in 0:01:40.840 --> 0:01:44.280 twenty sixteen. He then went on to sign the first 0:01:44.440 --> 0:01:48.680 ever two way contract in NBA history with the Los 0:01:48.720 --> 0:01:51.720 Angeles Lakers. Now this means he played for both the 0:01:51.840 --> 0:01:56.120 NBA and the Development League at the same time. Alex 0:01:56.360 --> 0:02:00.560 slowly worked his way onto the NBA roster, and he 0:02:00.560 --> 0:02:04.760 helped the Lakers take the championship back in twenty twenty. 0:02:05.160 --> 0:02:07.880 After that, he moved to the Bulls and just this 0:02:08.120 --> 0:02:12.280 year he was named to his first NBA All Defensive 0:02:12.639 --> 0:02:16.120 First Team. Today, we're going to dive into Alex's career, 0:02:16.240 --> 0:02:19.880 from his high school days in college station to his 0:02:20.160 --> 0:02:24.200 taste of victory with the Lakers, to his well social 0:02:24.240 --> 0:02:28.600 media popularity and his favorite nickname. He's been called an 0:02:28.680 --> 0:02:33.000 underrated player, but well, he's one of my favorites. Here. 0:02:33.040 --> 0:02:38.600 He is the goat Carusio Alex Caruso. 0:02:42.200 --> 0:02:49.840 Bublon Squeak, I love it Bubl and Squeagano, Bubble and 0:02:49.919 --> 0:02:54.840 Squeaker cook it every month left over from the ninety. 0:02:54.520 --> 0:03:07.240 Four what's up, hey, Ry, what's going on? 0:03:08.320 --> 0:03:09.960 What's up? White Mamba? 0:03:10.560 --> 0:03:14.560 Not much? Not much. This is the this is the 0:03:14.760 --> 0:03:16.520 calm before the storm part of the year for me. 0:03:17.120 --> 0:03:18.919 Calm are you where are you right now? 0:03:19.120 --> 0:03:20.040 I'm back in Chicago. 0:03:20.400 --> 0:03:22.720 Are you working out? Are you preparing? How does this 0:03:22.840 --> 0:03:23.560 work right now? 0:03:23.840 --> 0:03:24.080 Yeah? 0:03:24.080 --> 0:03:27.240 I mean, you know, most professional athletes will say, like, 0:03:27.360 --> 0:03:28.520 the work never really stops. 0:03:28.600 --> 0:03:28.720 Right. 0:03:28.760 --> 0:03:30.640 It's been a long summer because we didn't have a 0:03:30.639 --> 0:03:33.120 great year last year. But we just started getting in 0:03:33.120 --> 0:03:34.960 the gym for a couple of weeks, been working out 0:03:34.960 --> 0:03:37.680 here at the facility, like you said, just getting ready for. 0:03:38.080 --> 0:03:41.920 We are moments away from your first preseason games for 0:03:42.080 --> 0:03:44.840 the twenty three to twenty four season. Have you started 0:03:44.920 --> 0:03:48.080 officially practicing together yet or no? 0:03:48.080 --> 0:03:51.000 No, not yet. Monday we leave. 0:03:51.040 --> 0:03:53.760 We're actually doing training camp in Nashville this year, which 0:03:53.800 --> 0:03:58.880 is you know, absurd destinations. You're obscure, I guess not absurd. 0:03:59.000 --> 0:04:02.920 But we'll start practicing on on Tuesday next week. 0:04:03.800 --> 0:04:04.240 All right? 0:04:04.560 --> 0:04:04.880 Yeah? 0:04:04.880 --> 0:04:07.400 Are you excited? Excited for the season to start. 0:04:07.880 --> 0:04:10.520 I'm always excited for the season to start. But training camp, 0:04:10.640 --> 0:04:12.680 you know, that's a different. That's a different question. 0:04:12.760 --> 0:04:12.920 Man. 0:04:13.000 --> 0:04:17.039 Those things takes you back to college practices where it's 0:04:17.080 --> 0:04:19.080 two two and a half hours and you're getting after 0:04:19.160 --> 0:04:19.760 it every day. 0:04:20.240 --> 0:04:22.000 That's actually what I was just about to ask you. 0:04:22.120 --> 0:04:25.120 Is it like a lot of running, Like do you 0:04:25.240 --> 0:04:27.200 do they still have you do that? Are you still 0:04:27.200 --> 0:04:29.480 doing the what is it called where you have to 0:04:29.480 --> 0:04:33.080 touch the back suicide? Do you have to do suicides? 0:04:33.400 --> 0:04:34.240 No, No, it's not. 0:04:34.560 --> 0:04:38.000 It's not quite to the level of that, right, But 0:04:38.080 --> 0:04:40.960 I mean most of it, like we it's we're working out, right, 0:04:41.000 --> 0:04:42.640 so we're playing pick up a couple of times a week. 0:04:42.680 --> 0:04:45.000 We're having one day where it's just running conditioning. But 0:04:45.880 --> 0:04:48.560 that's kind of the that's kind of like the expectation 0:04:48.640 --> 0:04:50.560 as you come into camp and in a certain kind 0:04:50.600 --> 0:04:54.039 of shape. That's like the professionalism of it. Okay, but yeah, 0:04:54.080 --> 0:04:56.720 thank god, dude, I hated those. Those Those were never 0:04:57.040 --> 0:04:59.360 I don't think there's a single person like it was 0:04:59.600 --> 0:05:02.080 a coach his favorite thing just to make you run suicides, 0:05:02.120 --> 0:05:03.400 and all the players just hated it. 0:05:03.880 --> 0:05:06.320 Yeah. I know, well they because they don't have to 0:05:06.320 --> 0:05:10.000 do when they just are watching you run suicides. Dynamic, 0:05:10.080 --> 0:05:14.520 it's just like exactly. Yeah, go run all right, Well, 0:05:14.640 --> 0:05:20.560 let's go back to your childhood. Now, your dad, I learned, 0:05:20.880 --> 0:05:27.599 played basketball at Creighton College ball and was still is 0:05:27.920 --> 0:05:31.160 associate athletic director at Texas A and M. Is that right? 0:05:31.200 --> 0:05:34.800 What was was he's retired now, okay, good for me 0:05:34.839 --> 0:05:36.840 and my two sisters graduate from A and M all 0:05:36.839 --> 0:05:39.479 within a six year span and then once we once 0:05:39.520 --> 0:05:41.840 all the kids are gone. Him and my mom both 0:05:42.000 --> 0:05:44.200 couple of years shortly after retired. But yeah, he was 0:05:44.240 --> 0:05:47.200 at A and M for thirty years working in athletic department, 0:05:47.240 --> 0:05:49.640 and my mom worked in human resources at A and M. 0:05:50.200 --> 0:05:53.520 And still she still does some office of admission stuff 0:05:53.520 --> 0:05:56.240 on the side now just to stay busy. But yeah, dude, 0:05:56.240 --> 0:05:59.600 we're we've been drinking the kool aid from a young age. 0:06:00.120 --> 0:06:06.120 Right, So growing up there, because not only did you 0:06:06.200 --> 0:06:09.400 go to A and M for college spoiler alert, you 0:06:09.760 --> 0:06:15.920 went to A and M consolidated high school as well. Now, 0:06:16.080 --> 0:06:18.600 so basketball, this was a part of your DNA from 0:06:18.640 --> 0:06:19.400 the very beginning. 0:06:20.320 --> 0:06:23.640 Yeah, honestly, sports in general was just because, like I said, 0:06:23.680 --> 0:06:26.240 my dad was one of the associate athletic directors and 0:06:26.279 --> 0:06:29.000 he basically ran all the home sporting events from the 0:06:29.040 --> 0:06:31.680 big hitters from football and basketball down to like track 0:06:31.720 --> 0:06:33.960 and field, equestrian, like the ones that have just you know, 0:06:34.040 --> 0:06:37.479 even a couple hundred to a thousand fans, And I 0:06:37.480 --> 0:06:41.240 would tag along anytime I could. And obviously basketball was, 0:06:41.480 --> 0:06:43.920 you know, kind of the main stay, and then football 0:06:44.040 --> 0:06:46.159 just growing up in Texas. But yeah, I mean for 0:06:46.160 --> 0:06:48.760 the most part, growing up, I was I was heavily 0:06:48.760 --> 0:06:51.760 involved in sports and just kind of outside at any 0:06:51.760 --> 0:06:52.960 given time of the day. 0:06:53.320 --> 0:06:57.520 Were you was basketball always the sport that was like 0:06:57.640 --> 0:07:00.560 your sport or did it start with something else? 0:07:01.120 --> 0:07:03.120 No, that was always the one. I want to say. 0:07:03.120 --> 0:07:06.159 I started playing in first or second grade, you know, 0:07:06.320 --> 0:07:08.920 just like city league kind of competition stuff like everyone 0:07:08.920 --> 0:07:10.840 gets a trophy at the end of the year. The 0:07:10.920 --> 0:07:14.240 type played flag football fifth and sixth grade, and then 0:07:14.440 --> 0:07:18.360 you know, regular school tackle football from seventh to ninth grade. 0:07:18.360 --> 0:07:20.960 And then after my ninth grade year, I made I 0:07:21.000 --> 0:07:24.120 made varsity as a freshman basketball, and once I got 0:07:24.160 --> 0:07:26.720 a taste of that, I was kind of like, yeah, 0:07:27.160 --> 0:07:29.240 I liked playing basketball a whole lot more than I 0:07:29.320 --> 0:07:31.320 like waking up at six am and putting pads on 0:07:31.360 --> 0:07:35.000 and hitting people in a hundred degree heat, So I 0:07:35.080 --> 0:07:38.360 was I hung it up. I retired, But then I 0:07:38.440 --> 0:07:40.600 just got bored later in high school and I would 0:07:40.600 --> 0:07:42.800 do I did high jump and track and field my 0:07:42.880 --> 0:07:43.760 junior and senior. 0:07:43.600 --> 0:07:46.960 Year because it was that at the end of the year, it. 0:07:46.920 --> 0:07:48.400 Was in the spring and I had nothing to do. 0:07:48.480 --> 0:07:49.400 I was getting nothing out. 0:07:49.440 --> 0:07:51.280 Yeah, I was playing travel ball, but other than that, 0:07:51.480 --> 0:07:52.400 just bored. 0:07:52.960 --> 0:07:56.560 You just mentioned you made varsity basketball your freshman year. 0:07:56.600 --> 0:07:59.400 I assumed you were never cut from the team. So 0:07:59.600 --> 0:08:03.000 four years, at the end of your high school you 0:08:03.040 --> 0:08:08.080 were a four star recruit, a top one hundred national recruit. 0:08:08.400 --> 0:08:09.760 Yeah fringe, but yeah. 0:08:10.480 --> 0:08:15.800 Well third best shooting guard in Texas and fifteenth best 0:08:15.800 --> 0:08:20.080 shooting guard in the nation according to ESPN and ninth 0:08:20.120 --> 0:08:22.760 according to scout dot com. So you probably like them better. 0:08:23.560 --> 0:08:27.560 Were you recruited to multiple schools or was it just 0:08:27.680 --> 0:08:30.840 a done deal that you were gonna go. 0:08:30.800 --> 0:08:33.400 To A Yeah, that's a great question, because it was. 0:08:33.440 --> 0:08:35.920 It was really kind of wacky the way it happened, 0:08:35.960 --> 0:08:37.840 Like I was a late bloomer as far as like 0:08:37.880 --> 0:08:41.240 college recruiting, Like I played on varsity all four years, 0:08:41.240 --> 0:08:44.280 but my freshman sophomore year we weren't very good, and 0:08:44.600 --> 0:08:46.880 that's kind of what helped me stay on the team. 0:08:47.040 --> 0:08:48.800 Was just like I was good enough to be on 0:08:48.880 --> 0:08:52.000 our average teams, and then I kept getting better and 0:08:52.040 --> 0:08:55.760 kept getting better. And then after my junior season, going 0:08:55.760 --> 0:08:58.760 into that spring between junior and senior year was like 0:08:58.880 --> 0:09:02.520 the last year that you play AAU basketball. And I 0:09:02.679 --> 0:09:05.400 had a couple really really good tournaments in Vegas and 0:09:05.400 --> 0:09:07.960 in Denver, kind of the same same way I play now, 0:09:07.960 --> 0:09:09.560 where I had a couple of highlight dunks, and then 0:09:09.600 --> 0:09:11.880 the rest of my game was just really like based 0:09:11.960 --> 0:09:14.360 on heart and playing hard and making the right plays, 0:09:15.080 --> 0:09:17.080 and nobody really knew who I was, and so I 0:09:17.120 --> 0:09:20.360 got I mean, I got calls from just about everybody, 0:09:20.520 --> 0:09:22.240 and that was the big question a lot of them had, 0:09:22.400 --> 0:09:25.599 was you know, is it worth our time with a 0:09:25.880 --> 0:09:28.520 you know, nine months left in this guy's recruitment to 0:09:28.559 --> 0:09:31.200 even even call him because he's from college station, dad 0:09:31.200 --> 0:09:34.120 works and Flake department. But I tell people all the time, 0:09:34.679 --> 0:09:38.040 I was really really close to going somewhere else, and 0:09:38.240 --> 0:09:41.840 the only other places I considered was Colorado, Okay. Tad 0:09:41.880 --> 0:09:44.600 Boyle was the head coach, Mike Rohan was an assistant 0:09:44.600 --> 0:09:46.440 coach who was at A and M previously when I 0:09:46.520 --> 0:09:50.000 was in middle school, and I had actually played basketball 0:09:50.000 --> 0:09:51.720 with him at the park before, like we'd played one 0:09:51.760 --> 0:09:53.600 on one, like three drouble one on one and seventh 0:09:53.679 --> 0:09:56.640 grade and then he moved on. But I just got 0:09:56.640 --> 0:09:58.960 a great vibe from you know, the coaching staff, and 0:09:59.000 --> 0:10:01.760 then they took me to Old and like, you know, 0:10:01.800 --> 0:10:04.280 the beginning of September when it's perfect and you know, 0:10:04.280 --> 0:10:07.880 there's snow, and it was like, you know a college 0:10:07.880 --> 0:10:09.600 scene out of a movie where there's just you know, 0:10:09.600 --> 0:10:12.040 people playing frisbee in a big field and people like 0:10:12.120 --> 0:10:16.400 laying on panky. Yeah, yeah, yeah, real American pie vibes. 0:10:16.559 --> 0:10:18.920 It was just like, yeah, this is great, but yeah 0:10:19.040 --> 0:10:20.160 that that was it. 0:10:20.559 --> 0:10:21.720 How close was it? 0:10:21.720 --> 0:10:22.360 It was close? 0:10:22.400 --> 0:10:24.080 I think I think just at the end of the day, 0:10:24.440 --> 0:10:26.079 I had grown up such a big fan of A 0:10:26.120 --> 0:10:27.880 and M. Like, I don't think I was gonna be 0:10:27.880 --> 0:10:30.280 able to look back on it and not regret passing 0:10:30.360 --> 0:10:31.040 up the opportunity. 0:10:31.080 --> 0:10:33.000 I thought. I thought I'd had to take it, whether. 0:10:32.840 --> 0:10:35.760 It was you know, the right decision or wrong decision, 0:10:36.000 --> 0:10:37.640 just to have the have the chance to go to 0:10:37.679 --> 0:10:39.320 A and M. For me, it was was a pretty 0:10:39.360 --> 0:10:42.960 special thing. But Colorado was close. Man, I really liked Colorado. 0:10:43.360 --> 0:10:44.400 You and Dion apparently. 0:10:44.440 --> 0:10:46.240 Yeah, I was a I was the first one. You know, 0:10:46.480 --> 0:10:47.280 I set the trend. 0:10:48.960 --> 0:10:51.600 You mentioned AAU ball. I know you played for the 0:10:51.640 --> 0:10:54.680 Texas Ambassadors, So talk to me a little about this. 0:10:54.760 --> 0:10:59.520 And I know basketball is so nuts with these side 0:10:59.720 --> 0:11:03.800 camp and the tournaments and the AAU ball on all 0:11:03.840 --> 0:11:06.280 of the traveling, I mean, all of that investment that 0:11:06.320 --> 0:11:08.840 these parents are are putting in that may or may 0:11:08.880 --> 0:11:12.840 not work out. Do you feel like for you playing 0:11:13.000 --> 0:11:17.480 high school basketball versus the AAU stuff, what what for 0:11:17.600 --> 0:11:19.800 you was more valuable or what do you think is 0:11:19.840 --> 0:11:20.560 more valuable? 0:11:21.640 --> 0:11:24.320 I think the AAU is more valuable just from an 0:11:24.360 --> 0:11:27.880 aspect of like, if you're not a top forty recruit 0:11:28.040 --> 0:11:30.440 in the country, I don't think coaches really come to 0:11:30.480 --> 0:11:31.439 your high school games. 0:11:31.480 --> 0:11:32.920 Like if you you. 0:11:32.880 --> 0:11:35.040 Know, you're not one of these heralded guys that that 0:11:35.120 --> 0:11:37.480 people already know about. You have to go to these 0:11:37.480 --> 0:11:40.480 tournaments and you have to play against good competition or 0:11:40.520 --> 0:11:43.520 the guys that they say are the guys right in 0:11:43.559 --> 0:11:45.920 front of these coaches and in front of these people 0:11:45.920 --> 0:11:48.640 who run you know, the websites, the Scout dot com, 0:11:48.640 --> 0:11:51.440 the ESPN dot com, just to write, you know, gain 0:11:51.520 --> 0:11:53.319 some favor, some attention. 0:11:53.200 --> 0:11:56.800 And when you're there because you see, I don't know, 0:11:56.840 --> 0:11:59.520 I feel like I've seen, you know, the video on 0:11:59.720 --> 0:12:03.000 the ESPN or Fox Sports or whatever of some of 0:12:03.040 --> 0:12:06.320 these games and you look up in the stands and 0:12:06.400 --> 0:12:12.840 there's like Shashchevski and Patino and all of the old 0:12:12.880 --> 0:12:15.120 school coaches are like, are like taking a look. Did 0:12:15.160 --> 0:12:18.200 you experience that? Like, were you suddenly there and seeing 0:12:18.240 --> 0:12:21.920 some of these coaches at these universities that you respected. 0:12:22.360 --> 0:12:24.480 Yeah, definitely that was part of the experience for me. 0:12:24.559 --> 0:12:26.559 That was kind of cool. It was just like I 0:12:27.080 --> 0:12:30.280 told you, I jumped onto the scene late. So I 0:12:30.320 --> 0:12:32.480 had a couple of those tournaments where I played in 0:12:32.520 --> 0:12:34.800 this one called the Eastern Classic in Vegas, which was 0:12:34.800 --> 0:12:36.960 a big one which had a bunch of the big 0:12:37.000 --> 0:12:39.200 Power five schools, and whether it was the head coach 0:12:39.280 --> 0:12:41.400 or one of the assistants, I knew who these people were. 0:12:41.480 --> 0:12:43.520 And they all wear a team polo, so you know 0:12:43.559 --> 0:12:44.440 who they are. 0:12:44.600 --> 0:12:46.360 They want to make sure you know, yeah. 0:12:46.240 --> 0:12:46.960 Yeah, exactly. 0:12:48.360 --> 0:12:50.120 And it was one of those things where like the 0:12:50.160 --> 0:12:52.520 more tournaments and games I played in and played against 0:12:52.520 --> 0:12:55.240 these really good players. I was holding my own and 0:12:55.280 --> 0:12:58.760 I was just as competitive in doing things that I 0:12:58.840 --> 0:13:01.239 maybe didn't even know I you know, had the capability 0:13:01.240 --> 0:13:03.240 of doing, and that you know, kind of helped me 0:13:03.280 --> 0:13:05.080 break out of my shell to just be who I 0:13:05.120 --> 0:13:07.040 really am, which is a really competitive guy at the 0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:07.840 end of the day. 0:13:08.360 --> 0:13:10.800 Right, you know, and it only gets more and more. 0:13:10.920 --> 0:13:14.439 Went to these camps and then got invited to a 0:13:14.480 --> 0:13:17.440 camp called the Pengos All American Camp, Yeah, which is 0:13:17.480 --> 0:13:19.720 like a big, big West Coast one. And then I 0:13:19.720 --> 0:13:22.560 got invited to the NBPA Top one hundred camp, which 0:13:22.559 --> 0:13:24.920 is like, you know, the one that the NBA puts 0:13:24.920 --> 0:13:27.600 on to host people. And I got to see NBA 0:13:27.679 --> 0:13:30.880 guys coaching me and like have this interaction and just 0:13:30.920 --> 0:13:33.360 have like my foot in the door to this space 0:13:33.400 --> 0:13:36.520 that I never thought was possible. And then from there, 0:13:36.600 --> 0:13:40.000 like I said, I'm just wildly competitive and you know, 0:13:40.360 --> 0:13:42.440 almost naive to the fact that like these guys are 0:13:42.480 --> 0:13:44.439 supposed to be better than me and just go out 0:13:44.440 --> 0:13:45.000 there and play. 0:13:45.760 --> 0:13:48.800 You go to a and m your dad's there, your 0:13:48.840 --> 0:13:52.520 mom's there. You grew up a fan. Is this a 0:13:52.559 --> 0:13:57.200 college career. Is this a college activity or when did 0:13:57.240 --> 0:14:00.880 you begin thinking about life. 0:14:00.600 --> 0:14:02.240 Beyond professional sports. 0:14:02.600 --> 0:14:05.440 I know you studied sports management, or did you just 0:14:05.440 --> 0:14:08.440 feel like you wanted to be involved in sports and 0:14:08.480 --> 0:14:12.080 maybe following your dad's footsteps and you know, be at 0:14:12.200 --> 0:14:15.000 college or professional working in management. 0:14:16.200 --> 0:14:16.360 Man. 0:14:16.440 --> 0:14:19.600 To be honest, I you know, the entry to college 0:14:19.840 --> 0:14:22.960 was like I had no idea what I wanted to do, 0:14:23.240 --> 0:14:25.640 you know, I was just excited to go play basketball. Like, 0:14:26.080 --> 0:14:28.720 if I'm being completely honest, school has never been a 0:14:28.800 --> 0:14:32.600 very high priority for me, whether I was going to 0:14:32.600 --> 0:14:35.160 be a professional athlete or not. My sisters still make 0:14:35.200 --> 0:14:36.440 fun of me to this day because I was the 0:14:36.520 --> 0:14:38.960 kid in high school like didn't put stuff in binder 0:14:38.960 --> 0:14:41.080 and folders. I just like put loose papers in my 0:14:41.160 --> 0:14:46.240 backpack just enough to get by and like made it 0:14:46.320 --> 0:14:49.760 work and kind of just freeballed it. But once I 0:14:49.760 --> 0:14:52.160 got to college, man, I was just I was like 0:14:52.160 --> 0:14:54.120 I knew, I knew my dad did the whole sports thing, 0:14:54.160 --> 0:14:56.880 and sports management kind of fell into that same realm. 0:14:57.080 --> 0:14:59.880 And I'm just like I said, growing up, I played 0:15:00.080 --> 0:15:02.560 many different sports and saw so many different sports being 0:15:02.600 --> 0:15:05.600 played that I was always just I was always kind 0:15:05.640 --> 0:15:07.320 of pulled towards it, so I kind of thought I 0:15:07.360 --> 0:15:10.400 would start there and from there I just kept doing 0:15:10.400 --> 0:15:12.160 it because it was something that got me by and 0:15:12.160 --> 0:15:15.000 something I was somewhat interested in. But throughout the course 0:15:15.040 --> 0:15:17.160 of my college career, it just I kept getting better 0:15:17.160 --> 0:15:19.560 and kept getting better. And then one of my assistants, 0:15:19.680 --> 0:15:23.880 Kyle Keller, who was head coach at SFA, he was 0:15:23.920 --> 0:15:25.160 the one who recruited me to A and M, and 0:15:25.160 --> 0:15:28.800 he sat me down one day he like, did this 0:15:28.880 --> 0:15:31.560 really cheesy kind of mock up on a on a 0:15:31.600 --> 0:15:33.640 piece of printer paper, and like half of it was 0:15:33.680 --> 0:15:36.840 like video games and like hanging out with my friends 0:15:36.880 --> 0:15:40.160 and you know, stuff that was distracting from basketball. And 0:15:40.200 --> 0:15:43.400 then one side was like you know, a private plane 0:15:43.720 --> 0:15:47.840 and a big house and like other stuff that was 0:15:47.840 --> 0:15:49.840 like basically like if you take this seriously, like you 0:15:49.880 --> 0:15:51.480 can make a living off of it, and you can, 0:15:51.600 --> 0:15:53.640 you can have a really good career. And he asked me, 0:15:53.680 --> 0:15:56.120 it's like, what do you want to do with basketball? 0:15:56.160 --> 0:15:57.880 It's like I'm a play in the NBA. And he's like, no, 0:15:57.920 --> 0:15:59.920 it's like you have to be more concrete about it. 0:16:00.200 --> 0:16:01.320 And I told him I was like I want to 0:16:01.320 --> 0:16:03.280 play ten years in the NBA, and I want to 0:16:03.280 --> 0:16:04.920 have a decade long career, Like I feel like that'd 0:16:04.960 --> 0:16:07.920 be a really good goal to strive for. And looking 0:16:07.960 --> 0:16:10.040 back on it now, about to go into year seven, 0:16:10.520 --> 0:16:12.960 and you know, knock on wood, you know, stay healthy 0:16:13.000 --> 0:16:14.720 for as many years as I can and play like 0:16:14.720 --> 0:16:16.080 it looks like an attainable goal. 0:16:16.680 --> 0:16:20.240 Just a really really kind of cool, full full circle moment. 0:16:21.280 --> 0:16:23.000 But yeah, towards the end of my career, I mean 0:16:23.000 --> 0:16:24.600 they were starting. It was kind of like high school. 0:16:24.600 --> 0:16:26.600 It was crazy how it the two kind of parallel, 0:16:26.720 --> 0:16:29.760 where I just kept getting better and kept getting you know, 0:16:29.800 --> 0:16:34.080 being competitive with myself. And then into my junior year, 0:16:34.120 --> 0:16:36.040 I have a really good game in the SEC tournament 0:16:36.120 --> 0:16:38.960 where we played Missouri, and I had like a career game, 0:16:39.000 --> 0:16:42.000 like I was like twenty eight points, seven rebound, seven assists, 0:16:42.080 --> 0:16:42.800 like five steals. 0:16:42.840 --> 0:16:45.080 It was nuts, played like the whole game. 0:16:45.440 --> 0:16:48.000 Then some discussions started happening from pro scouts the same 0:16:48.040 --> 0:16:50.400 way it happened with the high school scene, and kind 0:16:50.440 --> 0:16:53.000 of turned the same thing. I went through my senior 0:16:53.080 --> 0:16:56.440 year and now it was you know a real possibility 0:16:56.480 --> 0:16:58.160 to where I was going to be able to play professionally. 0:16:58.320 --> 0:17:00.960 Maybe not the NBA, but at some level, right there 0:17:01.040 --> 0:17:03.960 is interest. And for me that was music to my ears. 0:17:03.960 --> 0:17:05.680 Like you tell me I can I can just play 0:17:05.720 --> 0:17:08.240 basketball and I don't have to like actually, you know, 0:17:08.520 --> 0:17:10.400 work work, like I don't have to do a real job. 0:17:10.760 --> 0:17:12.760 That sounds sounds pretty good to me. 0:17:13.600 --> 0:17:17.000 I know your senior year, you guys were pretty darn good. 0:17:17.040 --> 0:17:20.600 You end up getting a three seed in the NCAA tournament. 0:17:20.760 --> 0:17:25.440 What game do you remember the most from that senior year? 0:17:26.320 --> 0:17:28.800 I think it's a two part answer, because there's one 0:17:28.840 --> 0:17:32.840 answer that is the two Kentucky games. Honestly, we played 0:17:32.880 --> 0:17:35.920 Kentucky at home and we won on a tip in 0:17:36.520 --> 0:17:40.720 and I think it was an overtime, and that basically 0:17:40.720 --> 0:17:43.119 that win like got us a share of the regular 0:17:43.160 --> 0:17:45.359 season SEC title, so we all got a ring and 0:17:45.400 --> 0:17:47.160 got to cut down the nets on senior night. 0:17:47.400 --> 0:17:48.080 That was really cool. 0:17:48.080 --> 0:17:49.639 And then we played them again in the tournament and 0:17:49.680 --> 0:17:52.760 it was like a redemption game. We're playing in Nashville, 0:17:52.800 --> 0:17:55.560 I believe, you know, Kentucky's got like eleven thousand, five 0:17:55.680 --> 0:17:58.359 hundred of the twelve thousand seats and we got like 0:17:58.400 --> 0:18:01.159 two hundred. And then there's like a mix of random people. 0:18:01.920 --> 0:18:03.439 And it was another one. I think we went to 0:18:03.480 --> 0:18:05.600 overtime or double overtime, and it was just there're such 0:18:05.640 --> 0:18:08.360 good games that I'll always like, I still have photographic 0:18:08.400 --> 0:18:11.160 memory of certain plays and certain events just because those 0:18:11.160 --> 0:18:14.280 games are so cool. And then, you know, first NCAA 0:18:14.359 --> 0:18:17.560 tournament game, we had the comeback against Northern Iowa that 0:18:18.119 --> 0:18:20.680 to this day, you know, is one of the most 0:18:20.760 --> 0:18:23.240 asked questions people asked me about. It's like, dude, you 0:18:23.240 --> 0:18:24.959 remember that game you had. It's like, yeah, no, I 0:18:25.000 --> 0:18:30.680 remember we had Remember that time, remember that thing you did. 0:18:30.760 --> 0:18:33.480 I was like, yeah, that was my life I lived. 0:18:34.359 --> 0:18:36.680 But yeah, that comeback game to get us into the 0:18:36.680 --> 0:18:39.720 sweet sixteen. It was probably probably those two events. 0:18:39.600 --> 0:18:42.680 For those of you listening who don't remember or remember 0:18:42.680 --> 0:18:47.240 the specifics. Forty four seconds left, they're down twelve points 0:18:47.359 --> 0:18:49.919 and end up coming back with a layup and a 0:18:49.920 --> 0:18:52.320 free throw at the buzzer. 0:18:52.400 --> 0:18:56.280 Basically people forget to just interject we went to double 0:18:56.320 --> 0:18:59.359 overtime after that? Yeah, no, I know, yeah, we didn't 0:18:59.359 --> 0:19:01.639 win the game, Like, we just got to overtime and 0:19:01.680 --> 0:19:02.520 then they kept throwing. 0:19:02.720 --> 0:19:05.080 It was just the Haymakers Haymakers. 0:19:04.520 --> 0:19:08.040 Haymakers, and then finally they missed a couple of shots late. 0:19:08.080 --> 0:19:10.640 But yeah, it was just nuts. 0:19:11.000 --> 0:19:14.840 The NCAA tournament is it gets so much attention, it's highlighted, 0:19:14.960 --> 0:19:18.560 and that game, for you, I still remember what an 0:19:18.600 --> 0:19:22.560 amazing game it was, what a just an improbable comeback, 0:19:22.640 --> 0:19:26.560 and you're you're obviously your play in that game. Do 0:19:26.600 --> 0:19:30.000 you think that game got people's attention? 0:19:30.600 --> 0:19:33.160