Transfer portal open for business

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hey, welcome in. [00:00:00] Speaker B: We'll talk Razorback basketball some today. Ethan Westerman here in studio with me. Want to tell you our podcast brought to you by Eglin's Best. When it comes to your game day, you want the best in your lineup. That includes your eggs. Eglin's Best delivers more of the nutrition you need. With six times more vitamin D and 25% less saturated fat than ordinary eggs. You can score now with Eglin's Best. Better taste, better nutrition, better eggs. For more information, visit Eglin's Best. We're also brought to you by Bentonville Glass. They've been serving their community since 1971. Committed, professional and versatile. If you're looking for a quality leader in northwest Arkansas or looking for skilled craftsmanship, look no further than Bentonville Glass. For all your glass market needs with the highest quality products, you come by and see them at 507 South Main in Bentonville or online at bentonvilleglass.com we'll talk basketball here in just a second. Razorback baseball is in action tonight. They're going to be playing Little Rock at baum Walker Stadium. 6 o'. Clock, first pitch, tackle Tate McGuire will take the mound for the Razorbacks. We this is somebody that Bubba and I were just speculating in here yesterday who you might start. Well, it's gonna be Tate McGuire. He's got some midweek starts under his belt. Now, this will be his first this year, but he had four midweek starts last season. Little Rock, they've got some former Razorbacks on the roster who are gonna play in this game. Cade Smith, look for him, he's a left fielder. He's leading the Trojans with a.367 batting average. He's got four home runs, 10 doubles, a triple, I think 27 RBI. And then their closer is Tag Andrews, who was also at Arkansas previously. Both of these players never played in a game for the Razorbacks, but they were here. They were on the roster. They red shirted. Smith spent last year at Harding in Searcy, which is his hometown. And so that'll that adds a little wrinkle here. There's a lot of Razorback connections on the Little Rock team. You got Chris Curry, used to be a volunteer coach for the Razorbacks. He's their head coach. Done a really great job at Little Rock turning that program around. Evan Lee is their pitching coach in his first year in that job. So six o' clock tonight you can read about the Razorback baseball game and about what Dave Van Horn had to say yesterday At Swatters Club. Quite a bit of baseball content@whole hogsports.com Ethan covers softball for us. They swept Auburn with a win last night at Bogle Park. And then this is two times we've seen the golden ticket ceremony at Bogle. This time it was Dakota Kennedy. [00:02:27] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:02:28] Speaker B: And explain what the golden ticket is for people who don't understand that this, [00:02:32] Speaker A: the draft happens in the middle of their season for ausl, which is the pro league that is, you know, in conjunction with MLB that, you know, kind of has that backing from mlb. And because of that, what they like to do is give out these golden tickets. Like sporadic. A lot of teams have already drafted. There's just a draft show basically. And basically these golden tickets, they go to the stadiums of players who have been drafted by a team and they hand them a golden ticket to let them know like, hey, you will be drafted on this show basically. So make plans to basically be a part of it. Yeah, we'll be there, be remote with a watch party or whatever. But it's. Yeah. So not all players who get drafted in this league, like you don't have to have that golden ticket. That's mainly for just like the first round of the. Of ones that go off the board. But some could still be selected and Arkansas has quite a few seniors, so they might have another one picked in that draft. But Dakota Kennedy's is basically. It's almost like WNBA does this thing where they invite all their like the people that are going to be drafted highly to the actual draft in person. And they have a big just kind of so you know who the headliners kind of are in that class. And it's kind of what AUSL does with this golden ticket. So second year no Arkansas has had one in the league. I. It seems like out of all pro softball leagues that have come up, this is the one that is getting the most just traction. It has a lot of games on like ESPN2 which helps and the partnership with MLB. It just. There was a following last year that you haven't seen necessarily from all these pro softball leagues that have come up in the past. [00:04:10] Speaker B: Arkansas softball, 33 and 5 now. SEC record is, you know, 8 and 4. [00:04:16] Speaker A: 8 and 4. Yep. So they're sitting in a really good spot. They saw. I mean their schedule is so brutal. Coming up, they have a series this weekend at number 15 Mississippi State and then they still have road series at OU and at Texas left and then they have one home series remaining. It is against Missouri. They'll play at home again. Most Likely in the NCAA tournament, but they're, they're down to their final last three regular season home games where they've been. They've been so good at home this year. [00:04:46] Speaker B: 22 and 2. Bogle park is Arkansas's home record this season. Yeah, I think it almost feel, I don't ever want to say you feel like you've got anything tied up for the NCAA tournament, but it feels like they'd have to really go on about a four week, you know, plunge in order to lose a regional host spot. I think the bigger question for this team is whether or not they're going to get one of those top eight seeds, which would guarantee that they wouldn't have to leave home before Oklahoma City. Now, I also wonder, and it's unfair in one way to compare this team to past teams, but you do wonder, like, would they maybe just have a little less pressure on them if they went on the road for a super regional somewhere? I mean, they've had a few opportunities to do this at home and haven't kicked that door down. You wonder whether or not that might be something that would be beneficial. [00:05:35] Speaker A: Yeah, and they play really well on the road too, is the thing historically under. I think that you still, I think this group specifically, they've played at home so many times in the postseason that it would maybe feel weird to go on the road, but maybe that weird change would be what you need. But yeah, they're, they're regional. I mean, it would be hard for them to not host a regional at this point. They're number three in rpi. It's kind of fluctuated between the top three. Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, just kind of juggling who's in the, in those spots. Arkansas hasn't reached 1 yet, but has been as high as 2. Um, so if you're sitting at that, that high in the RPI at this point, chances are you'll be hosting for sure regional and then, yeah, you can turn your sights to, to trying to get a top eight, which if you, you look at their schedule, like I said, it's difficult. None of those loss, like any loss they have the remainder of the year is not like one that would hurt your resume a ton. [00:06:31] Speaker B: You talk about going on the road feeling abnormal. That's like what baseball's going to embark on if, if they make the postseason. They still got a lot of work to do in order to get there, but you know, like, they've played at bomb so often over the years in the postseason that to go on the road for a Regional. I mean, they've only done that one time in the last, what, 10, 12 years, something like that, that they've had to go on the road for a regional. And then this year, it feels like if. I mean, if things stay kind of as they are right now, you're talking about them going somewhere far away because they can't go to an NC seaside. And there's not just a ton of options where teams in what I would call the heartland are going to have a home regional that are not in the sec. Nebraska's one to watch. Nebraska, I think, you know, their RPI is coming up. They've got a couple of big series coming up here with Oregon and usc. Like, they're a team that maybe they could sneak in there as, like, you know, 14, 15, 16, and be a regional host. And maybe Arkansas gets to go to Lincoln where it's not that far away. But, boy, it just. It feels like right now that, you know, if Arkansas makes the tournament as a two seed or a three seed, they're going to be sent off somewhere east coast, maybe west coast. There's three or four teams on the west coast that look like they're going to host this year. Maybe two sites in Los Angeles. If Southern Cal can keep it up. It's. It's a little strange. But softball, they're in a lot better position right now with that 33 and 5 record. You can read all of Ethan's softball coverage at our website, wholehogsports.com so we're going to talk basketball mostly today, though. National championship game. Last night, Michigan beat UConn 69 to 63. As I was watching it, I. My son and I were watching it together. And there was kind of just like over the second half, there were a lot of instances where UConn had a good look or where they, you know, they've got a breakaway and then they turn it over and it's like, man, those are going to compound. And I told Jack, I said this, you're going to look back at the end of the game and they're going to lose this by 8 to 12 points. And you're going to be able to point to this and this and this and this and this. If this goes different, boy, what might have been, I end up losing by six, four years in a row that there's a national champion that you look at them and you say, the strength of that team is in their front court. Michigan. I mean, holy cow, how aggressive they are around the basket, blocking shots, defending around the basket. You know, offensive rebounds. And they're not the only team that's like that that had success in the tournament this year. I think you could go so far as to say that all four of the final Four teams kind of had that baked into their DNA. We know Arizona did, UConn did, Illinois did. The other number one seeds, Florida certainly had that with their front court, and they won the championship last year with a lot of those same players. Duke, probably to a lesser extent. I don't think that they were as deep inside as some of those other teams were, but they may have had the best player in Boozer. And so if you're Arkansas, the transfer portal opens today. We know Arkansas's got to get better inside. And that, to me, feels like if Arkansas wants to compete for a national championship next year, that's. Ethan. Where they got to really focus is they got to go out there and they got to get them, not just one guy on the inside. Like, I think you got to have a collection of big men, maybe two, maybe three, who can really get in there and be physical. And I'm sure everybody wants that. I'm sure that's what everybody's going to go for right now. But I do feel like Arkansas, to an extent, has the resources to go make that happen. It's just all about how you allocate your dollars, and I think that that's where the. Where the focus has got to be right now for this team if they want to compete for a national championship. Because I don't think, you know, one year it happens. Okay, two years, whatever, it happens four years in a row now, where the strong front court really is kind of the hallmark of the national champion. That tells me that the game may be changing a little bit and that you've got to be able to, you know, go play the style that's winning the most. [00:10:45] Speaker A: Yeah. And I feel like maybe. I think you see this in football a lot with, like, defensive linemen, you know, that they, like, if you're a really good defensive tackle, there's going to be a high price tag that comes with you in the portal because everybody needs that. I think we're seeing a lot of big men get in the portal right now because of kind of the premium that big men are at, because I think coaches, teams, you know, realize like, hey, this is how these championship teams are winning, is they have really strong front courts, really aggressive, physical, grown guys in there. And you look at the portal right now, and some of these bigs are going in there. I know There's Santo Cereal from Georgia that there's been a lot of talk about him in Arkansas. Aiden Cherelle, who we talked about, who really had his way against Arkansas from Alabama, Flori Badunga. Badunga. I was gonna say Begunda. I was like, that's not right. [00:11:35] Speaker B: Flori Badunga. [00:11:36] Speaker A: Badunga from Kansas. And I know his is kind of different. I think his like the test, the, the draft and trip enter the portal at the same time type of deal, but like. [00:11:44] Speaker B: And raise up his value. [00:11:46] Speaker A: Exactly. But you're. And you're seeing Mustafa Diem, I think is how you say his name, from Cincinnati, the 771 Center. I mean, you're just seeing a lot of big men get in the portal right now. And I think it might be similar to like that comp that I made with football that these guys know, like, hey, you'll be at a premium right now. Every team wants some good big men. I know Arkansas would certainly take a whole batch of them right now. I think, like, I, I look at, you know, what Arkansas should do in the front court, and I'm like, you know, not only get you some really good big men, but get you some depth there too. Because it just seems like these really good teams this season, like, the big men came at you in waves in a way where it was like you just knew you were going to have your hands full trying to get anything around the rim and trying to defend inside. But yeah, it's going to be a busy, busy 15 days for Arkansas. [00:12:38] Speaker B: I'd say I'm looking here at 24, seven sports. They've got their top big men. And kind of the thing is, a lot of these guys have names that I just can't even begin to like. I would embarrass myself if I tried to say some of these names without a pronunciation guide. St. Mary's Polias, Marasakis. [00:12:55] Speaker A: Yeah. Which he might be following his coach. [00:12:57] Speaker B: Okay. [00:12:57] Speaker A: I wouldn't shock me. [00:12:59] Speaker B: We've got Miles Byrd here from San Diego State, K.J. lewis from Georgetown. You mentioned Aiden Cherelle at Alabama, Drew Scharnowski from Belmont, Bryson Tiller from ku. So, I mean, it's. There's some names in here. Carter Knox is on here. He's listed as one of the best. Those are Fords. And then you look at centers. You mentioned some of those. The one who we keep hearing a lot of. How am I trying to say here? There's a lot of buzz around Santo Cereal from Georgia potentially being connected to Arkansas. 6 foot 11, 260 pounds. He was SEC all defensive team this year. I think he led the SEC in block shots. I think that's right. He did. Averaged like over 2 block shots per game. Averaged, I think over 5 rebounds a game, 9 or so points. But he was committed to Calipari at Kentucky, so there is that long term relationship there. We'll see if this works out. But like to me, Santos are real. That is the type of player, if he were to come to Arkansas or somebody, you know like him, like that's what they've got to go after. You can't just have one Santo Sorrel. You need to have a couple, three of those. But that would be a good starting point, I think for the Razorbacks. [00:14:15] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, whenever Arkansas went to Athens, he spotted eight shots. Like, I mean this guy is just. There's something to be said about just a physical, imposing guy. And you look at him and he's 611, 260. I mean he could. He looks like an NFL player and he's out there just swatting things at the rim. I mean that he would be a big one to get. And there is a lot of buzz around it. [00:14:37] Speaker B: Yeah, we'll see what ends up happening there. I think I read today that he's going into the transfer portal with a do not contact tag which typically tells you that they know where they are going. [00:14:48] Speaker A: Yeah. And it seems like to me on men's and women's, we are seeing a whole lot more of that. This like, I would be curious to compare the rates of how many interwe do not contact compared to, you know, last year to this year. Because it feels to me like I'm surprised whenever I'm seeing like a top player who isn't going in with a do not contact. [00:15:06] Speaker B: Hmm, that's interesting. [00:15:07] Speaker A: It's been like crazy. [00:15:08] Speaker B: You would almost think that if you're a top player, you want to be contact. [00:15:11] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:15:12] Speaker B: You want to see. [00:15:14] Speaker A: And there might be layers to this, to where, like who knows what that do not contact really truly means. Like, maybe it's contact the agent, don't contact me, contact my agent and they'll handle all this. I think. I'm not really sure exactly what the do not contact does anymore. I know in the past that was the real like the, the vibe if you had the do not contact was they know where they're going. But I think now it might also just be like kind of a note, steer you to my agent type of deal, find their number and do all that. [00:15:45] Speaker B: Got to See what's going to happen with Malikyu and there's still some uncertainty and I guess intrigue around what might happen with him. Potential, I guess, for him to maybe get another year of eligibility. He's playing well down the stretch. It reminds me of. And I think you and I have talked about this, like Jonas Adu, he was playing so well at the end of the season before this one that just ended. I don't know, can we call this, like, can we call the 20, 25, 26 last season now that it's over? [00:16:14] Speaker A: I've been saying I struggle with this this past season. Anyway, that's what I'll say. [00:16:18] Speaker B: How about we say it? Caliperi's first year. [00:16:20] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:16:20] Speaker B: Jonas Adu, you know, and you wondered about, like, if. And you kind of had this thought, boy, what if they just had him for a little bit longer? Like, what if you could have him for another year and he could develop based on, you know, how he ended that season. Kind of thought the same thing with Trevin Brazil. And he comes back and it's a roller coaster ride again with him. [00:16:41] Speaker A: But he had his best year. [00:16:42] Speaker B: He did have a good year. But I do think that with Brazil, there still was like this yearning for more consistency from him. [00:16:50] Speaker A: It was one of those years where he had his best year that he's had yet in college. But at the same time, you just, like, there are some deficiencies that you just, you, you. You can't look past. But it was like whenever he was effective. My gosh. But I think Malik Ewan is one that could follow that same blueprint where it's like he was playing his best as the year went on and maybe another year in the system, you know, would really benefit him. [00:17:12] Speaker B: So Ewan, we'll see if he gets another year. We know Carter Knox is going to the portal. I don't know if these have been officially announced, but the reports are out [00:17:20] Speaker A: there and they never get players repost them on their social media. I take that as confirmation. And Carter Knox and DJ Wagner both [00:17:26] Speaker B: do you follow players on social media? [00:17:30] Speaker A: Whenever it's helpful. And then I like to, you know, not follow them. [00:17:36] Speaker B: Typically what I do, it's. And it's. It's getting harder to do this. Like, if you need to contact them when they're in high school for, like, recruiting type stories, you know, you got to follow them to direct message them. A lot of times, typically once they get to school, I unfollow them. It's like I just. Yeah, it's. I Don't know. I'm not into following athletes very much. [00:17:58] Speaker A: Yeah, well, it's also just a different age as far as, like where they put information out. [00:18:04] Speaker B: I mean, that's true. [00:18:04] Speaker A: A lot of different. [00:18:05] Speaker B: See, that's why I rely on you guys, because you guys are always there scrolling and I will text it to me within five seconds. So I don't need to be following to see it. [00:18:13] Speaker A: I'll be on Tick tock and the FYP is the for you page. And just all of a sudden it's an athlete laying out there all their dirty laundry. I'm like, well, glad I at least know how you're doing right now. [00:18:23] Speaker B: Better you than me. So. But. But Carter Knox looks like he's in the portal. D.J. wagner looks like he's in the portal. Both of these were kind of interesting because they've got that. They got that family tie to Calipari because, you know, the dad played for Calipari in one case and the brother played for Calipari in another and they were with him or they were committed to him at Kentucky and they came down here. What are your thoughts when you see those two in the portal? Was it a surprise at all with either? [00:18:55] Speaker A: It was kind of like you just didn't know if they were actually gonna do it. I think it made sense for both of them. Like there were paths where it's just like, yeah, that probably makes sense with who all's coming. And I mean, we did a little segment in San Jose of just on the spot, day after the game, predicting who would like what they might do. And both of those where I was probably, yeah, they'll be back. Because I just think that it's hard to break that type of bond you have with a coach. But maybe, you know, but I also saw the path for both of them for why it might make sense to get in the portal. And I think that the way that those two have conducted themselves just with. With fans and with. I think with caliperium stuff, like, I. It just would be hard to imagine there was any like real bad blood there. It probably is more just like a mutual, this is good for your career type thing. Like for a D.J. wagner, I thought it would make sense for him to come back and take on maybe that lead point guard role with this roster. But then again, maybe this, you know, Jordan Smith Jr. Comes in and you need to acuff it again and just put the ball in his hands as much as you can. I just think DJ Wagner could probably, at another school, thrive just Kind of getting to be one of the lead guys. And maybe that's not the case at Arkansas. [00:20:04] Speaker B: The roster construction, I think, is going to feel a lot different this next season than it did this, the season that just ended because you had Brazil coming back, you had Carter Knox coming back, you had Billy Richmond and D.J. wagner, and so there was some familiarity there with those players who were coming back. We'll see what happens with Richmond. I think there's a chance he comes back. Malik Thomas, I don't know what's going to happen there. I mean, certainly he's going to have an NBA draft potential if he wants it. It's just a matter of, do you want to go this year and be taken lower in the draft or. Or do you want to come back and see if you can improve and elevate your draft stock? But it does feel like next year is going to have just a lot different feel because, I don't know, there's going to be a whole lot of familiarity with the players who are, you know, back on campus. I just don't think there's going to be as many. [00:20:50] Speaker A: Yeah, and this past year, that was the big deal, was you had a real core coming back. And it's funny because that core ended up like they played important roles, especially, you know, you think of Billy Richmond, Trevor Brazil kind of as the season progressed. But like D.J. wagner, Carter Knox were part of that core that had just taken you to the sweet 16. And that's whenever, like, Carter Knox is playing his best ball at the end of last year, and it just. You ended up these two new guys, Malik Thomas and Darius Akiv, kind of stole the show. So it's so. I mean, I think it's good to have some familiarity, but it all doesn't always translate to, you're going to be able to carry some magic you had the previous year, and it's just going to automatically work again in another year. I think it's. At this point, it's like, what style and what. Like, style and talent? Like, does it. Do they fit your system and how talented are they? [00:21:36] Speaker B: I don't think that it's as important as it used to be. That core of having players back, it feels like that's a very kind of dated, antiquated way of. Of looking at how a football team, or not just football, but just any team ought to look. I had football on the brain because I was thinking, you know, there were thoughts about, hey, you know, Arkansas after they had gone seven and six in year one with Petrino they got Petrino and Taylor Green back together and you got these offensive linemen who are back and you, you know, this player and that player and whatnot. And I didn't seem to make a difference at all. [00:22:10] Speaker A: Yeah, and that's. It kind of feels like, yeah, that is something that there was a lot of truth to maybe in the not so, you know, distant past, but it just before transferring was so prevalent, it doesn't seem like anymore it's like that, that important. Like I think it still certainly helps in the instances like I mean we talked about softball at the top. Their whole team is made up of like they, they plugged two really good transfers in to come on with the court and I feel like it's working there. It can work, I think in, you know, in basketball, football. Like there's instances where it does work, but I just don't think that that's necessarily like the blueprint now like how it used to be in the past as far as like that retention piece. And I think it still actually can be on like the, the mid major level because I think you see that those teams that really do good and maybe pull off a March Madness upset are a lot of times guys who [00:23:02] Speaker B: been together, have been together. [00:23:03] Speaker A: But I mean even this point this year, high point, they had quite a few just transfers that came in because that's a college that at their level they actually are able to attract with the funding. They have some transfers. So I just think that the portals really changed everything and talent is kind of the chief. [00:23:19] Speaker B: Well, look at national champions. I mean Michigan just won a national championship with five players who were transfers this year starting for them. Indiana, I mean they've totally overhauled their football roster with transfers. They were fortunate to get a bunch that came over with their head coach but, but still it's like it's been a total recycling and pushing out the old and bringing in upgrades. I think about LSU and some of the national championships they've won in baseball. I mean 23, they win it. And Paul Skeens comes in from Air Force for one year. Tommy White comes in from North Carolina State in his first year. They won a title and, and they weren't the only transfers. And I think with LSU baseball there was a good mix of some returning and some new. But you know, Indiana football and Michigan basketball, boy, that's like if there's ever been kind of a poster for do it the new way, that's it right now because those two teams totally changed their identity. You know, I wouldn't say overnight, but in Indiana football they did. But you know, Michigan basketball to a certain extent too. I thought it was kind of. I was thinking of something as you were talking earlier, talking about Michigan or thinking about Michigan winning the championship. And then you were talking about the bigs and the market for bigs right now. You know what the irony of all this is? That kind of the, the market, or at least it feels like to me, the market for bigs, like to really drive up the price of them, began when Hunter Dickinson left Michigan and went to Kuwait. And now you come full circle four or five years later, and here you got Michigan with a team full of bigs winning the national championship. [00:24:53] Speaker A: It's a good point. And it's like, yeah, and it's funny because you look at that roster that they had this year too, and who the headliner was. Yaxel, and that's the name that I remember last year. Everybody's like, everybody wants this big from uab, Yaxel, who's going to be able to do it all for you? And then Michigan gets him and they're, you know, cutting down the nets this year because they, they were able to win in the portal at some of these big names like him. I just think that, yeah, we're in an era where transfer portal, if you don't embrace it, you might get left behind. I think Caliperi, you know, he's, he's always going to do his freshman thing. And I think that you need your blue chip freshman. I mean, you cannot look at Arkansas this past year and say, like, that's not a good recipe to have some success with your really good freshman. But I think that you're seeing that you need to combine that talent with the experience and, you know, veteran, whatever physical specimens that are, you know, your fifth year seniors down low. [00:25:52] Speaker B: There's a report here that James Najee is in the transfer portal too. I don't think that there'll be one that Caliperi goes after after he spent a significant amount of time against that. Against what Alabama was doing during the regular season. [00:26:05] Speaker A: Yeah, I don't think so. I think that and I can. [00:26:08] Speaker B: Betty Ako, can he get in the transfer portal or is he done? [00:26:11] Speaker A: Who knows? Nothing surprises anybody anymore. But I do. I think it's funny because Cal, how they recruit the portal, and I mean high schoolers too, it's very much like I care about who they bring in on visits, which sometimes you hear, sometimes, I mean, it kind of goes under the radar, I think, but it's like they have a, they have a really good batting average on getting people in for a visit and getting them committed. And I'll just be curious who are the ones that they do bring in to come see Fayetteville or do you. Is that even that important anymore? Like do in the portal with the 15 day window that is happening while a lot of players, I don't know if school's still that important. [00:26:48] Speaker B: Here's what you do. Here's what you do. You pass them a yellow piece of paper that has the figure, the financial figure on it and then you give them a pair of virtual reality goggles and say this is what the facilities look like. Okay, I'm sold. [00:27:00] Speaker A: Yeah, it's like I don't even know what this looks like right now. Obviously the high school recruiting with the bringing in on visits is still, I think, massive, but like, I have no clue. With a portal starting on April 7th. I mean I, I'm assuming all these guys still take classes and stuff. Like, I don't know, it's probably all remote. So I guess you could go for visits. But I don't know, it's just got to be a weird recruiting world right now. I like this new on men's and women's 15 day one period portal because it's. I do like that all the talk, I mean, once midnight hit on the east coast, it shifted straight to transfer portal and there was already, you know, some talk all week about guys that are intending to enter. But I do think that it helped out a little bit with making these last games of the tournament more focus on them because I've hated in recent years how a team's getting ready to play in the Final Four and their coaches having to recruit his next roster, you know, which I'm sure there's still a lot of already like planning and doing stuff like that. But it isn't as like just public that that's what they're having to do. [00:28:05] Speaker B: There are reports out there that Michael Malone, who's the new North Carolina coach, the former coach of the Nuggets, what a splash that was for North Carolina to go into left field and hire him, that he's interested in bringing Chuck Martin to North Carolina with him if Arkansas can't hold on to Chuck Martin. What are your thoughts on that? [00:28:28] Speaker A: I mean, I'm sure Calipari would and there's probably no shortage of assistants that. High quality assistants who would want to come coach at Arkansas. [00:28:36] Speaker B: Can I make a quick little interject something here? I think that the same as what we were talking about, you know, like, with, like, the core of players and who you have on your team coming back. I think sometimes we make too much about coaching staff staying intact. I actually think that. And this is nothing against Chuck Martin. I don't. I don't want it to sound like that at all. But whether it be Chuck Martin or Chin Coleman or Kenny Payne or if anybody leaves and goes somewhere else, I don't necessarily think that's a negative thing. I actually think it's a good thing for your program to bring somebody in periodically who's got new ideas and ways to do things. [00:29:15] Speaker A: Yeah, for sure. I think that there's the benefit of having coaches around you that you know what to expect and, you know that you all are on the same page. But there's also, yeah, the benefit of, you know, bringing in somebody who fresh, new ideas and can help transform some things. But, yeah, Chuck Martin, he's a really. He's been really big for Arkansas recruiting. So I think, obviously Caliperi is kind of the. The head of the recruiting snake, but he's kind of built a reputation of being a really good recruiter, too. And he's. It's funny because I was looking at his path and Michael Malone's path, because you're thinking about this, you're like, where does. That's pretty, like, kind of random for a, you know, a guy with this pro experience. But they go all the way back. They were assistant coaches for the Manhattan Jaspers in 1999 and 2000. So that's. I was like. I was like, these paths have to trace somewhere to where they know each other personally. And that's where it goes back to, is the year that I was born. They were assistants for the Jaspers in Manhattan. [00:30:15] Speaker B: They're not always fun to, like, go back and, like, find that connection between two people. And this is certainly not on the same level. And this is totally off topic almost. I do remember. I remember Sam Pittman talking about whenever he was on staff with Rex Ryan in Cincinnati and how Rex Ryan threw a Kentucky Derby party that everybody went to. And it's just like, the randomness of saying, oh, you coached with. With that guy. It's. I don't know. That's always kind of fun for me. [00:30:42] Speaker A: Yeah. And it's funny just because, like, that was Michael Malone's last time being in college, coaching college until just now. Like, he has been NBA since 2001. And it's like, I guess that he knows, like, that was his. He was with Chuck Martin the Last time he was coaching college basketball. He knows that Chuck has been in the college game now for the whole time that he's been in the NBA. So it's like you need, I think, those voices that have been in it still whenever you're making that transition from pro to college. And it's funny because is North Carolina now just the place where coaches that have pro background brings in an Arkansas? Yeah, because you know, Bill Belichick brought in Bobby Petrino. [00:31:21] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, they just resigned their baseball coach, so I don't think Terry Francona is going there anytime soon. But yeah, no, that's not lost on a lot of people that that's happening. [00:31:30] Speaker A: And it's just funny that now Bobby Petrino was pulled there. [00:31:33] Speaker B: Oh yeah, Bobby P. Yeah. Who could forget? [00:31:35] Speaker A: So it's like as are these pro coaches just now, like, oh, who should I get from Arkansas? You know, maybe I don't know real [00:31:44] Speaker B: quick because you did mention the women's portal open and that's a kind of a mass exodus over there in women's basketball. I don't know. Like, I think losing Bonnie D's is a big deal to them because I think that she does have a really high upside. But when you look at how bad they were this year, I mean, it almost felt like there needed to be a pretty significant house cleaning. [00:32:06] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, can't sit there and watch their games and complain about, you know, oh, don't have the athletes to go up against the SEC and then be, you know, too upset whenever they, you know, are getting. Trying to, I think, replace the roster with more maybe SEC level athletes. And that's nothing against. They had a team full of girls who really, I think, really played hard and set a culture there. That's kind of hard because it's like how much year one is like establishing some sort of culture. But then, you know, and they did it. But you're losing all those pieces now too. But it's like you have to. We're talking about talent on the men's side. You have to like put a premium, I think, on just the talent of your roster now. And it seems like that's they're going to try and go out and get more talent on their roster. I've heard, at least from a few people that seems like they're in better shape financially to recruit out of the portal this time around than they've been in a while. [00:33:04] Speaker B: But what does that really mean? [00:33:06] Speaker A: Whether that means you're getting any elite level players or you're just getting really good, like maybe under the radar pieces because I mean, you look at their past few years and it's just like what they've done in the portal hasn't been, it's almost been non existent to be honest. It seems like you'll at least see a lot more coming together this year as far as getting players who also have offers from other power forward conferences. [00:33:30] Speaker B: Yeah, it's just I don't know what that means that Arkansas women's basketball has more resources because I don't think they've had a lot of resources to begin with and I don't think that they're alone in that. I mean, you and I have talked about this. It feels like in women's basketball and really this is any sport, you could make the same. What I'm about to say in any non football, men's basketball sport, it's either you care about it or you don't care about it. And there's a Grand Canyon in between the teams that really care and want to win and the teams that don't, you know, like, I mean, what Arkansas is doing in women's basketball relative to what South Carolina or LSU is doing in women's basketball, like, like they're in the same conference but they're not in the same conversation or say like what Arkansas wants to do in baseball, that's not the same conversation probably that we're having about what Missouri wants to do in baseball. So it's weird the way all of this works out with, you know, football and basketball and all the focus on those two sports because they make the money. You know, you got all these other sports that, you know, there's an expectation at least by some and in some cases by many for them to win. Hey, why is Arkansas not, you know, why haven't they won a track national championship in however long now that's not the case right now because they just won an indoor. But you see what I'm saying? It's like, well, you know, that might be the case because you're putting all of your resources into this basket and this basket and this basket and everybody else is down here kind of, you know, I mean it's, it's a, it's a tough deal because you know, that's where college sports really differ from pros because like the Dallas Mavericks, they don't care what the Cowboys are doing or the Rangers or you know, whoever else is in their market. It's different in college sports because you do have a trickle down effect to your other sports from the two that get the most coverage. [00:35:22] Speaker A: Yeah. And it's like, I really don't know. Like, like you said, whenever I say women's basketball, it's. They're confident, they have, they're better set up for the Portal financially. But like, yeah, what does that mean? Are you going to have to do what we talked about with the football team ahead of the season that did not work where it was like, are they going to play money ball and try and just get these pieces that might have some talent there and you pull it out of them and you, they come together and you're great or you're gonna, Is it gonna bust? Like, I don't know. It's a. But it does seem like they at least have a better starting point maybe for the portal than they've had in recent years. But yeah, I don't, I don't think even if they had a lot of money right now, like, they're like some of these top programs in the, in the nation. Like, is the program, like, what's the allure of the program right now for you to pull in, like these really talented, like the high end transfers, like the ones that you see on the top 10 rankings for transfer portal players? I mean, they would have similar offers from a lot of other programs and like this program just has been in the basement for a few years. So they're going to have to get some players who are, I think, a little under the radar but can play and are athletic enough to play in the sec. [00:36:27] Speaker B: Hey, real quick, while we're talking about national champions, how about the Big Ten football national champion, Indiana women's basketball national champion, UCLA men's basketball national champion in Michigan. And oh, by the way, they got the number one team in college baseball. UCLA has won like 23 games in a row. [00:36:44] Speaker A: If Greg Sankey is listening to this podcast right now, he's turning it off. He's canceling us. [00:36:48] Speaker B: Well, I don't think we're going to have Greg this deep into one of our shows, but that is a good thought. You can read all of Ethan's coverage, all of our coverage. I mean, we're, we're got several sports that even if they're not in season, they're still kind of in [email protected]. hope to see you there or back on our next show. Have a great day.