Blue Raider Podcast | 06/12/2026

[00:00:00] This is the Blue Raider Podcast on WG&S. Presented by Gold's Gym of Tennessee. It's your all-access pass to everything Middle Tennessee sports. Game recaps, player spotlights, and the latest from the heart of Blue Raider Nation. Now, here's your host, Jake Bolden.

[00:00:22] The Blue Raider Podcast presented by Gold's Gym of Tennessee. Today's episode, we are joined by a special guest, Kirsten Verholz, women's basketball point guard. We're going to be catching up with her and all of women's basketball offseason. And then we also still have a Blue Raider athlete who's competing in Eugene, Oregon at the NCAA National Championships tonight. So we'll be catching up there in our last segment. But before we get into today's episode, I've got to thank our presenting sponsor, Gold's Gym of Tennessee.

[00:00:52] Right now, they've got a new month-to-month pricing that's available online with no additional fees. Their Gold membership is just $25 biweekly with a $40 enrollment. Or you can upgrade to the family plan for you and your significant other at just $45 biweekly, and there's only a $20 enrollment. That membership is going to give you access to all 16 Gold's Gym locations across Tennessee, along with group exercise classes and childcare, again, all included at no hidden cost.

[00:01:16] So visit Gold's Gym of Tennessee online at goldsgym.com to learn more and find a location near you. And if you're not already following the Blue Raider podcast on our social media outlets, make sure you do so on X, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok at Blue Raider Pod. And, of course, today's live stream is up on YouTube. And I always forget to shout out that we do have our replays from the previous week anywhere you listen to your podcasts, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, through and through. So thanks for tuning in to today's episode.

[00:01:46] Like I prefaced, we have a special guest, the women's basketball starting point guard, Kirsten Verholtz. Kirsten, thanks so much for joining us today. Yeah, thank you for having me. So much, really, to go over. I'm thankful that you're willing to stick around for us today to talk about it. You're an incoming sophomore this year, but you really don't need much of an introduction because you made a name for yourself this last year. Let's dive into that storyline, if you will.

[00:02:11] Going into the year, coming off the bench a little bit, but I think it was Providence was probably your first start down. What were you on? Destin? PCB? You got the start there, and then you were the starter for the rest of the way. Tell me, you know, what was your journey like this last season? Yeah, I think coming in as a freshman, obviously, you know, everyone's kind of just told, like, trust the process. I mean, that was a completely new system for me.

[00:02:37] So I think coming in and, like, learning how they wanted me to play, how they wanted me to run the team at the start was definitely a struggle. But I think kind of towards the middle and obviously end of the year, I think they saw me putting in the work. And kind of taking the time to learn how to run things. And, yeah, I think the Providence game definitely started it.

[00:03:00] But then, like, I think there were a few times even probably before that the coaches would say that I kind of showed them that they could trust me as a point guard. So, yeah, I think the whole thing was just honestly trusting the process and then kind of myself learning how to run the system for them. My recollection before you guys went down to play Providence-Mississippi State was the Tennessee game prior. And you actually had a good game. I think you had ten points in that game, three three-pointers, if I recollect correctly.

[00:03:29] But, I mean, showing in games like that obviously paid dividends, like you said, for yourself. But really, really, truly impressive. Now I guess your gears are going to change a little bit because, like you said, you're trying to prove yourself last year and you've earned that spot. And I'm sure Matt would say the same if he was sitting here right beside us, that you've got to retain it now. So, how does your focus change, if at all, or maybe where does that focus turn to now that you're trying to retain those starter minutes you've got?

[00:03:58] Yeah, I think last year was kind of building the trust. And then this year it's building on top of that. Like, in what other aspects of, like, my game can I grow? And I talked a lot about it with Coach Matt. And, you know, one of it was kind of making plays, like, within our offense. Obviously, last year it was initially learning our offense. And now it's like, okay, what reads can I make within this, you know, play? Or, you know, seeing the court better.

[00:04:25] Being a better leader, obviously, is one thing because, you know, I'm not a freshman now. I'm a sophomore. And we still have a pretty young team. So, yeah, definitely taking that leadership rollover is something that's important. When you got here on campus, you're the new face. But there's so many of you that are new faces to campus, not necessarily as new this year. And you've still got new faces this year as well that are coming in that aren't all freshmen, much like you guys were last year. When you were here, who did you turn to?

[00:04:55] Who was kind of your person that you always turn to for maybe advice or your practice partner? Who was that person for you? I would definitely say Elena Contreras last year. I think because she was really experienced. She didn't play at MTSU before that, but she had played at UMKC. And I think just like she was a very good leader. And she put a lot of work in to, you know, how good she was on the court.

[00:05:24] So I think, you know, she's somebody I trusted. And she seemed, you know, confident in herself most of the time. And even when she didn't, she put on a face for us. So, yeah, I think I definitely leaned on her a lot. And, yeah, she was very good to me. Some of those qualities you talk about, Elena. I mean, she was just kind of a natural leader given her age, obviously, and the amount of playing experience she had. I mean, what kind of qualities from her can you learn, you know, on the court as well as off the court?

[00:05:52] Yeah, I mean, obviously experience is one of them, which I did play a lot as a freshman. But I think, you know, I have even more years to come. And I think, you know, that'll come with, you know, the minutes I get. But I think from her, honestly, it was like composure. Like no matter, you know, how like rapid our games got or how fast they got, she was always like the one kind of like keeping us composed, keeping us kind of like down to earth.

[00:06:21] Like, you know, we still got a half to go, three quarters to go, you know, like we have to find a way to win this game. And she was always the one that hit big shots for us. And, you know, even if that's not me this year, you know, like I'll try to do that. But even if it's not me, it's, you know, like finding the player that will, you know, as a point guard. It's like I have to find the people who are hitting and find people who can win the game for us. So who do you still stay in contact with AC? Yes, I do. I just texted her the other day. So she's not in town, I take it.

[00:06:49] No, I think she's either back home or trying to do overseas. I'm pretty sure. Okay. So she's still trying to figure out basketball after college. Okay. Interesting. Because I know much like last couple of years has always been this up in the air. Will the players get another year? They said the same thing with Jalen when she when she graduated. Is she going to get another year? And then Elena was like, well, maybe she can come back this next year. But I guess unfortunately for them, you know, they just kind of you're run out nowadays.

[00:07:17] So we were talking about this before we came on air about the new five for five, which it isn't set in stone yet. But it sounds like internally you guys are kind of already preparing or at least your school schedules or class schedules are preparing for that. Yeah, the coaches have talked about it a lot. But obviously, my parents are keeping in touch with that shoot just because, you know, they're involved in the basketball world and everything.

[00:07:41] But yeah, I think that could could kind of settle a lot of the, you know, like super senior, super, super seniors. You know, I think that's kind of the goal of it. And yeah, I think that would be really exciting for especially all like my grade because, you know, we're all sophomores. And I think there's like five of us now or six. I can't remember. But yeah, I think that would be really cool. And yeah, we'll see where that goes. Yeah, no, that would be a lot for a lot of reasons.

[00:08:09] But obviously, for planning sake, like you said, like we're talking about AC coming back. And now, you know, she's not going to be able to. But knowing now that you have three, four more years left. But someone like your sister, Peyton, who was at Oklahoma this last year, who got her extra year. I'm sure like she made the most of it. I mean, we talk about how good of a year she has. I mean, talk about how much of an influence she has been to you as someone as you both are in college at the same time. Yeah, I think that's definitely something I'm going to miss this year.

[00:08:39] You know, in times when I was like struggling with confidence or, you know, just the schedule of being like a college athlete. She was always somebody I like texted and I turned to and I'd call her. She probably got really overwhelmed by the amount of times I was calling her about things. But I yeah, I don't know what I would have done without her, especially as a freshman. You know, it kind of can be overwhelming. And, you know, she was a freshman at Louisville. So that, you know, she kind of was letting me know how like that was there.

[00:09:09] Like, you know, you got to trust the process like and like this is four years, you know, obviously maybe five now, you know, out of your life that you just got to take advantage of it and be grateful. It's you know, you get to play college basketball and you get college paid for. So it's, you know, just got to make the best of it. And she was definitely somebody who helped me a lot throughout it. Well, college basketball is no stranger to the Verhulst family, which I want to get more into that in our next segment.

[00:09:37] But going back to you this year and you talked a little bit about changing your game or maybe things about your game that you're wanting to change. Who is the biggest critic to Kirsten Verhulst? Because I think it's funny. There was a moment in this last year where Coach Insull, Rick, I should say Coach Rick Insull said in a postgame presser, you made a turnover at a silly point. And he said it was a silly turnover. Whatever. You knew that. That's what he said. He said she knows that and her dad knows that. So it was kind of it was it was out of the blue comment. But it sounds like obviously you stay in touch with your dad.

[00:10:07] I mean, obviously, we know how much basketball runs in your family. But back to my original question, who is the biggest critic of your game? I mean, honestly, at this point, I guess I'd say in like my basketball career, I would say I'm probably the big like the biggest critic. You know, my parents used to kind of, you know, be in that role of like kind of like coaches slash parent. You know, my mom used to coach me like at one point in my basketball career.

[00:10:33] But, you know, I think now they give me advice on things. But, you know, they're also there to be my parents and then they know it can be hard. So I think they're stepping into that role. But honestly, I mean, Coach Matt has been a critic for me now. But I think in like the best way possible, I need to be pushed and he knows I can be better. And I think he knows that I know I need to be better. And I think he probably appreciates that from like a point guard is, you know, I'm hard on myself.

[00:11:00] But yeah, I think I appreciate all the people who are my critics, I guess. You know, I can I can be better every day. When you're you say you're your biggest critic. Are you one that I mean, I know you guys watch a lot of film, obviously. I mean, how much are you going back and I guess watching your own game? Obviously, reads is a big part of point guards. You want to miss a player here, miss a miss a shot there, an opportunity there. You could have moved somewhere else. You should have been. How often are you going back? Are you one of those that will watch it often?

[00:11:30] Or is it a one time? I've learned my lesson. We're going to make those adjustments next practice, next game, whatever it is. Yeah. Coach Matt is really big on film. Um, and Jalen has honestly been really great with that part, I think just because she's a player and she kind of, you know, she had to play the point guard at some points, I'm sure in her career. So she's been very helpful. Like, I'll go watch film with her like once, maybe twice a week on practice.

[00:11:59] And, you know, she's always like telling me like, you can make this read. I would say most of the time I can tell you exactly what plays from practice she's about to pull up on the screen before we go in there. And, um, I'm sure she knows that too, but obviously like, I know what I did wrong, but they're there to tell me, you know, what reads to make based off of that. So yeah, I think, uh, I, I'm, I'm big on film and they're big on film. So I think that's all helpful.

[00:12:26] Well, Jalen's the newest assistant coach on staff has much really changed for, I know how involved she was last year, but as in these first couple of practices has much changed. Um, I think a little bit, definitely she's stepping into like more of a, like a coach role. And I think probably she's building confidence in that way, you know, being able to like, uh, give us like more like tips, obviously. Um, but I, I mean, I've had the relation, kind of the same relationship with her, uh, both years.

[00:12:54] Um, but yeah, I think that that role is definitely going to change for her this year and, uh, just kind of, uh, giving us more coaching advice, you know, and maybe a little less like, oh, you know, like you got it advice. Like she's, you know, she's going to be a coach now and all that. Less a friend player now, more, more of coach Greg. Do you have to call her coach Gregory? Honestly, we haven't really decided on that. She hasn't formally said, well, I guess you have some sort of, there's some sort of relationship

[00:13:23] here because of the wearing the number 10. Uh, was that ever a conversation you had with her at any point? We were just talking the other day because she was like, it seems to be like the same people who really love watching me play, love watching you play. And I was like, yeah, it must be the number 10. Like, I don't know. All the, um, all the fans are always like, oh, like, you know, we love number 10, like your favorite. And it's funny cause I originally chose it because it was my mom's number. Okay.

[00:13:52] Um, and yeah, I've, I've just kept it now. And I obviously knew that it was Jalen's too, but yeah, it's funny. It's most of the same people who, who liked watching her play are the same ones like watching me. So, so 10 is your first choice when you showed up in Murfreesboro, that was your first choice. Yeah. Yeah. I would say. Has anyone, has anyone shooed you off? Like I said, I know we had some incoming freshmen or incoming transfers that are older, but no one's tried to show you off of it yet. No, not yet. Okay. Well, yeah, I mean, after two years now, I think you're going to stake claim on it. Yeah.

[00:14:20] Well, I mean the number 10, as I told you this last year, big shoes to fill a great shooter that Jalen is. You, is she much of a shooting instructor? I know like I come from a baseball world, not always the best pitchers are the best pitching coaches and vice versa with batting. But is, is Jalen considered a shooting technician coach? I would say so. Definitely. Um, she probably works more with like the shooters than like probably like the point guards like me. But, um, I mean, she gives like great advice on both ends, like shooting.

[00:14:50] Um, obviously she's going to be like, yeah, on that one you're off balance or, you know, you had the wrong footwork on that. Um, and then like from a point guard perspective, she's also like, that was the wrong read or, um, you should have seen that, you know, she gives advice like all, all around the court. So, well, we're having a great conversation here with sophomore point guard, Kirsten Verhulst. When we come back, we're going to get more into that Verhulst family lineage of basketball players, as well as the upcoming season ahead. You are listening to the Blue Raider podcast presented by Gold's Gym of Tennessee.

[00:15:21] This is the Blue Raider podcast presented by Gold's Gym of Tennessee on FM 101.9 and AM 1450 Murfreesboro, 100.5 Smyrna, WGNSradio.com and the Blue Raider podcast YouTube channel. Now back to your host, Jake Bolden. Welcome back to the Blue Raider podcast presented by Gold's Gym of Tennessee.

[00:15:45] Today we are joined by sophomore point guard, Kirsten Verhulst talking all things lady Raiders as well as Verhulst and her off season. What are you doing these days? I know you're not in school. We talked about that before we came on the air. What is the day in the life for Kirsten Verhulst right now? Yeah, these last two weeks we had high school team camps.

[00:16:08] So we were going practice three times a week for like hour 20 and then we'd work the team camps pretty much all day. We'd have a lift in there a few times a week and then after that's pretty much going home and getting as much sleep as possible. So is that what you're doing? You're a sleeper when you're done? Yeah, either hanging out with my roommates or probably sleeping right now. Who are your roommates? Carson and Blair. Okay, so were you guys roommates last year as well?

[00:16:38] No, I was at a different apartment and then I moved over this year. Okay, so did they invite you over or? Yeah. Okay. Pretty much. You were missing out and they brought you back over. Yes, exactly. Well, that's good company. Everyone there starting. Blair and Carson getting plenty of playing time. So obviously you guys are making yourselves at home. So what else are you doing? I mean, I know a lot of basketball this time of year and like you said, you got camp going on. It's just nothing but basketball through the month of June.

[00:17:05] But when you're not doing basketball, where do you find yourself spending your free time? Usually it's hanging out with my teammates if it's like finding a food place. Right now it's probably tanning outside. And then if I get a visitor to come, like one of my family members or even I'm trying to convince Carson to go sometime soon, but I like hiking because in Kansas we don't have these mountains. You're missing out. Yeah, exactly.

[00:17:32] Hiking or going to see a waterfall, you know, something like that. So a lot of players in the summer like to travel back home. You're from DeSoto, Kansas, which my understanding kind of central, like little east, it's close to Kansas City and whatever the other major city is in Kansas. But I always think of Kansas City. But what keeps you from going home? Why are you in Murph? Like why I guess you're here for basketball. But what's kept you here as opposed to traveling back when you could?

[00:17:59] Yeah, right now it's the plane flight expense right now. But yeah, honestly, I like having my weekends here. Some of my teammates that live closer will drive home. But I think like, you know, I kind of traveled away from home. I'm going to take advantage of the time I have here. So yeah, trying to see the teammates that like do stay here on the weekends. And then on the holidays, you know, July 4th, get to go home.

[00:18:28] So I'm excited for that. But so what do you do when you go home? Um, I have a lot of siblings. So usually it's, you know, either going to someone's like sporting event right now, like my little sister is probably gonna have bowling. So I'm going to watching that. We'll have like all my family members over to our house and have a bonfire eat outside. And that's pretty much like my favorite thing in the world is just hanging out with my family. How many siblings do you have? I have five.

[00:18:58] Five siblings. And where do you fall in the in the six of you? Second to youngest. Second to young. I was because I didn't know you just mentioned a little sister. I had no idea you had a little sister. But when you look in your bio at go blue Raiders dot com, it's we all everyone in your family plays basketball has played basketball at the next level. That's got to be I would say intimidating for most. But I guess for you, it's an expectation. Yeah, definitely. I think growing up, you know, my parents, my like parents weren't obviously like forcing us in any way.

[00:19:28] Like we were free to choose whatever sport we wanted. But the sport that was always going to be played at our house is basketball. So I think. Yeah, I think that was kind of just like in your blood growing up. But yeah, all of them played in college. And it's safe to say that that it was pretty intense backyard games. Well, your mom played at Duke. Is that right? So I would say the highest pedigree of all the schools your family has played. Well, I guess your sister at Oklahoma. That's not that's no slouch either. Yeah.

[00:19:54] But I mean, I would have to assume the driveway games being played have to be insane. Yeah, no, they actually I think before they even actually built the house because we built our house where we live. But they they put a concrete like court in the backyard. That was the first thing that was built. Of course. That tells you anything. Of course. That's I would expect. I mean, I dreamed of a house where I just had a court dedicated to basketball. I can only imagine.

[00:20:22] Well, the family talk about those expectations. Last segment, we talked about how, you know, you are the biggest critic. I can only imagine, too, where that comes from when the family said when you're communicating with your family. How open is that line of communication during the season? Again, talking to Coach Rick last year, how your dad is someone who's could can be critical of you. Is it a nightly phone call with the parents after games? How does that work? Yeah, I was actually pretty fortunate that my parents either traveled to some of my games

[00:20:51] or made it to most that were, you know, in Murfreesboro. But yeah, one thing about my parents is they're always going to be honest with me. Yeah. Obviously, like they're going to care for me when I need it, when I'm upset. But they're never going to lie to me and be like, yeah, you played amazing, a perfect game like you did. You know, they're never going to say that they're going to be like, yeah, like you did great. But, you know, you could have you could have done this. And that's something I've always appreciated. Like I never lived in a world of fantasy where, you know, they were praising me for being the best.

[00:21:21] Like my parents, my parents were honest. And yeah, that's that's something I've always kind of looked up to them and always appreciated out of them. Well, well, back to the athleticism that the Verhulz family gene continues to flourish. I didn't know that you played volleyball prior to coming to MTSU and you weren't a slouch at volleyball either. You have some accolades there as well. How did you land? My first question is, how'd you land at volleyball? Yeah, I don't want to say this, but Peyton also played volleyball.

[00:21:51] So I think that maybe originally I started playing it because of her. I'm not going to say it was, you know, exactly that. But yeah, I started playing club volleyball, I think in like fifth grade maybe. And I played for like two or three years and then came to high school and it was about the only sport I played long enough to be able to play it in high school. So, you know, then I played that and it was pretty much just like a once a year thing.

[00:22:20] I didn't really do it outside of that. But yeah, I really enjoyed playing that sport. You know, it kind of gave me something like away from basketball, you know, and I really do think like playing other sports makes you a better athlete. You know, you're using muscles you wouldn't usually, you know, use in your sport. And I think, yeah, I really do miss playing that sport. You do? Okay. Well, have you heard the story of Courtney Woodson when she was here her senior year?

[00:22:45] She was in like a intramural, maybe not intramural, but she was in a class, like a PE class. And she was playing volleyball and she rolled her ankles. So I would think I would speak for Coach Insul that you are not allowed to play volleyball as long as you're on roster for the women's basketball team. That's probably safe to say. Was there anything else you were drawn to growing up? Because I know a lot of athletes just kind of like, like you said, in your household, you could kind of find out what sport you were good at and just happened to be basketball and volleyball. Was there anything else you ever experimented with?

[00:23:13] I mean, I think growing up, we all played every sport probably. Like I played soccer and softball at one point. I played softball for a while, but I think once the girls started pitching really fast, I was like, yeah, I'm out of here. I'm kind of scared. So, yeah, honestly, I don't think there is any other sport other than basketball and volleyball in our house, I would say. I can only imagine why. The basketball was the priority. Well, let's switch gears here.

[00:23:43] Going back to the Lady Raiders program this year, you've got a lot of new faces that are joining the team this year. You have kind of been, last year you were greeted. Now you're the liaison for all these new players. How do you feel in the early going, this team has meshed so far? Yeah. It's been really weird for me being the person now that's like, oh yeah, this is how you do this or, you know, because it seems like just yesterday that somebody was telling me how to do everything.

[00:24:11] But honestly, I think as a player and as a coach, it's kind of always a little bit scary having a new team and having a bunch of new girls. Like, how are they going to buy into everything? Like, are they going to work hard? Because last year, you know, everyone bought in. Like, that was one thing, like, I loved. And I don't think I've ever played on a team where every single person was like fully bought in and fully worked hard every single day. And it's safe to say that it's the exact same way this year.

[00:24:39] Like, you know, everyone came in with like an attitude of like wanting to be the best and wanting our team to be the best. And I think, you know, that was kind of the greatest thing this year is art. Like, these girls are already buying in. And I think Coach Matt would say the same. Like, our practices have already been so intense, but like in the best way possible. I want to be super complimentary because my introduction to you was your interview with Emmy last year preseason. And one of the comments you'd made about yourself was that you were something that we could expect

[00:25:08] from you as fans is that you would be one of the hardest working individuals on the team. And I think I can attest to that, that I think no matter the situation, you were always the hardest worker on the floor. There was never a moment where I felt like Kirsten had just given up. She'd shipped in and she was done for the game. So that was very complimentary of that. But to shift it back to the conversation of these new players that are coming in and where you felt this team was maybe this time last year, I know because you were a freshman and still trying to fill it out yourself.

[00:25:37] Do you feel like this group, there is an expectation that this group, you're going to see a step ahead next year? I mean, we all know where you guys were last year, but now that you've grown up all together, is there an expectation that this team feels better moving into this next year? Yeah, I would definitely say so. I think this time last year it was kind of, you know, everyone's learning like everything possible. Like, you know, what stretches we do, like all of that stuff.

[00:26:04] And even like so far this year, it's like that was the first practice maybe. And like the day after that, it was like, okay, everyone, everyone has it down. Like, you know, I feel like we're moving at a much like faster pace with everything. And like I said, like practices have already been really intense and getting a lot of work in. And yeah, I'm really excited to see like where this team ends up, you know, in like October,

[00:26:33] November, and then even in March when that comes. I think it's going to be a really talented group. And yeah, I'm excited. I used to get kind of a verbal lashing from Coach Rick and postgame pressers. Anytime I said the word young, I was not allowed to say this team is young because you're not young anymore. Was that ever a conversation you guys had in the locker room? It's like, we're not young anymore. Many times. It was, we'd kind of joke about it because somebody would be like, oh, we're so like, no, you can't say it.

[00:27:02] Like, we're so what? Like, but yeah, definitely. I think I said something like that in an interview and I was like, oh, hopefully they don't see this because we're not young. We're just learning and unexperienced right now. But yeah, I think this year it's going to be different. So well, things started to click there late. You guys went on a really good stretch at the end of the year, had a heartbreaker against FIU and then a heartbreaker in the tournament against Missouri State.

[00:27:30] And for both of those games, it's like you're one play away. And we all know what Missouri State did upsetting Louisiana Tech in the championships. And you know, you're one play away there as well. I guess, you know, not to put the pressure on you because this is more of a question for the team as a whole, but how now that you've played in these moments, do you feel yourself in that a lot of these players that are returning are prepared for those moments again? Yeah, definitely. I think I was talking to Coach Kim about this the other day. I can't really remember. Maybe it was Jalen.

[00:27:58] But it was like, I felt like I didn't really have anything against anyone last year. You know, I'd never played these teams before. I didn't really know much, like any of their players or anything. And I think like this year, I mean, I think I speak for all the sophomores when we say that definitely some of the teams were kind of out for them. We're excited to play them again and get that matchup.

[00:28:25] And I think when it comes that time that we have to make those big plays or hit the big shots, like I think we'll be ready this year. I know we'll be ready. Well, I'm super excited about what you bring to the table and what this team brings to the table. I have a lightning round question. We got two minutes where we have to go to break. So you're going to have to do your best to be quick with all these. All right. You're new to Murfreesboro. Favorite restaurant to eat? Puckets. Puckets. Wow. That's a curveball.

[00:28:54] Favorite moment from last season? Uh, probably the, I liked the Missouri State game at home. Okay. The, if you were the team captain of a family basketball game, three on three, you only get to draft two people from your family. Who was on your team? Uh, my sister Peyton and my brother Dalton. Okay. Well, we're putting the rest of the family on blast. That's going out there to them. Um, I think I already know the answer. Favorite sport outside of basketball? Volleyball. Favorite genre of music? Country. Country music.

[00:29:24] Was that, was that always a fit before you came to Nashville? Yes. Always a fit. Favorite, favorite artist? Um, Merle Haggard. Okay. Mm-hmm. Uh, could you be trusted with the team Oxcord? I would say so, but I don't know if the rest of the team would say so. Well, to carry off the country comment, is DeSoto, Kansas considered the country? Uh, not completely, but partially, I would say. Uh, can you get sweet tea in DeSoto, Kansas? Somewhere, yes. Okay. Then, all right. You do, you do qualify, I would think. Yeah.

[00:29:53] You get one superpower, what would it be? Uh, flying. Flying. Easy. Uh, team superlatives. Talking about your teammates, who's the most talkative? Uh, Jenna. Jenna. Best dressed? Oh, probably Blair. Okay. Uh, trash talker. Oh, I don't even know if we have a trash talker. I would say, honestly, no one, probably. We don't have any trash talkers. I don't know if Blair's a trash talker, but Blair has a look that, like, will put fear. No, Blair has a look for sure.

[00:30:23] Yeah. Um, who's the biggest hype man on the team? Uh, probably Jenna or Nicole's are pretty good hype man. Okay. All right. Well, that was our two-minute lightning round with Kirsten Verhoels. I appreciate you taking the time on this Friday evening to join us. Um, wish you and the team all the best of luck this year. Yeah, thank you for having me. And we will be back for our final segment after this break. You're listening to the Blue Raider Podcast presented by Gold's Gym in Tennessee.

[00:30:50] Next on All Sports Talk, it's the Blue Raider Insider Report with Chip Walters of Exit Realty, Bob Lamb and Associates. Well, good afternoon, everybody. It is a big, big night for Mustafa Bakpin of Middle Tennessee Track and Field. He will run in the finals of the 100-meter and 200-meter tonight in the NCAA Outdoor Championships out in Oregon.

[00:31:16] He will run the 100 at 7.52 p.m. Central Time, and the 200-meter will go off at 8.37 p.m. Central Time. You can find it on ESPN and ESPN Plus this evening if you'd like to watch it during the NCAA Outdoor Meet. Well, he got to the finals because of outstanding performances in the semifinals.

[00:31:42] The Blue Raiders' first event two nights ago was in the 100, a race that he won in the Conference USA Outdoor Championships a month ago. In the second heat, he found a kick in the final 50 meters of the competition, crossing the finish line second of the eight runners at 10.09 seconds to automatically qualify for the finals.

[00:32:06] The mark was the same exact time that pushed him to the quarterfinals in the first round last week up in Lexington. A little more than an hour later, the Ghana native put up a blistering time of 20.19 in the 200-meter dash, leading his heat from the get-go. His second quickest time of the season saw him finish almost a full tenth of a second quicker than the second-place runner in the first heat.

[00:32:33] Bobkin is the first male Blue Raider since Keegan Chamadi in 2019 to advance to the national finals in two events with his qualifications in the 100 and 200. Chamadi ran in the finals of the 3,000-meter steeplechase and the 5,000-meter run during the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships.

[00:32:53] Again, tonight, the 100-meter will go off at 7.52 p.m., and the 200-meter will go off at 8.37 p.m. Middle Tennessee football coach Derek Mason addressed a United States Senate roundtable on Capitol Hill regarding the future of collegiate athletics.

[00:33:13] He urged Congress to pass federal legislation to establish strong governance and uniform rules for college sports to prevent ongoing chaos and litigation. He was there along with Memphis head coach Charles Huff. Coach Mason was representing Conference USA's football coaches, and it was a roundtable hosted by Senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Maria Cantwell of Washington to discuss the Protect College Sports Act.

[00:33:43] Mason stressed that governance is the most critical issue facing college athletics. He emphasized that current college programs need federal help to rein in out-of-control rules and allow the NCAA to appropriately be able to enforce its violations. Why did he speak? Regulatory chaos. Coaches and athletic directors testified that without a federal framework, college sports are at the risk of being dismantled by state-specific laws.

[00:34:11] Lack of uniformity. Mason and other practitioners argued that Congress is the only body capable of standardizing name, image, and likeness regulations, gambling rules, and athlete compensation across the board. And the final reason? Support from higher authorities. The proposed Senate legislation received a high-profile boost following the social media support

[00:34:34] from the president through major conferences like the Big Ten and SEC have raised concerns. All right, and congratulations this week. We gave you this news earlier, but baseball senior catcher Tyler Minnick was named the winner of Conference USA's Spirit of Service Award that came from the league office earlier in the week. That's it for today, folks. Have a great weekend. Have a safe weekend.

[00:35:00] We'll be back and talk to you on Monday right here on the Big G, WG&S. This is the Blue Raider Podcast presented by Gold's Gym of Tennessee on FM 101.9 and AM 1450 Murfreesboro, 100.5 Smyrna, WG&Sradio.com, and the Blue Raider Podcast YouTube channel. Now, back to your host, Jake Bolden.

[00:35:26] Welcome back into the final segment of the Blue Raider Podcast presented by Gold's Gym of Tennessee. If you missed our first two segments, we were joined by sophomore point guard Kirsten Verhulst talking all things her life as well as the Lady Raiders as they move into their off-season programming. If you missed any of it, we will have a re-uploaded version of today's episode on all of our streaming services that's Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, wherever you listen and consume your podcasts.

[00:35:55] It will be available there tomorrow by at least noon lunchtime. And, of course, if you're listening to our live stream on YouTube, it'll be uploaded there as well. But if you're not already subscribed to us on YouTube, do so at Blue Raider Podcast so you don't miss another one of our weekly Friday uploads. And, of course, I've got to shout out our social media outlets, at Blue Raider Pod on X, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. We are going into our final segment.

[00:36:20] If you want to join into today's episode, feel free to call the studio 615-893-1450 and our producer here will be happy to take your call. We just heard from Chip in his Blue Raider Minute talking about the track and field NCAA championship. Mustafa Bakpin is competing there. I just want to give him a big shout out as he has qualified for the finals in the 100-meter and 200-meter. They are tonight, local time, 7.52 p.m. for the 100-meter and 8.37 p.m. for the 200-meter.

[00:36:50] That is viewable on ESPN+. Also, in the news of Blue Raiders sports, the portal opened last week. We already know some baseball players that have entered the portal. No new names, at least to my knowledge, have entered since the last time we spoke. Some new landing zones for those that did enter the portal. Abel Albaran made the announcement this week that he's going to UNC Greensboro.

[00:37:18] Cooper Clapp, the junior second baseman, he announced pretty quickly that he's going to Central Florida. I believe he's a Florida guy, or at least I know he played junior college down in Florida. So he's moving back down to Florida to play for Central Florida. But on the other side, the Blue Raiders got some transfers coming in. And really, talking about losing the middle infield in Cooper Clapp, they bring in two middle infielders from Merrimack up north.

[00:37:46] Brooks Craig is, I believe how you say it, he's going to be a graduate infielder. Batted .303 with five home runs, 19 extra base hits, and 36 RBIs. And then Matt DeShiro is going to be a senior infielder from Merrimack. Batted .313, nine home runs, 26 extra base hits, and 49 RBIs. So two very productive bats this last year for Merrimack.

[00:38:11] But more importantly, these two are very, very solid middle infielders on the defensive side of the ball. Which isn't always, Cooper was fine, I would say, above average for a second baseman. Where we struggled, Clay Badalak played shortstop a lot this year. And the reason that he played shortstop over Matt Wolfe was because of his glove. So now that you have technically fresh blood to play third base,

[00:38:37] having guys like Craig and DeShiro coming in who have tons of experience playing at the Division I level, have plus batting averages, have the extra base hits you're looking for, and the RBIs to go along with it. And on top of already having a really plus glove in the field, I think it's great additions. And it's a great start to the offseason class. They also picked up Sam Winsett, who's going to be a sophomore infielder from Delaware, in-conference transfer.

[00:39:06] He batted .296 with two home runs, eight extra base hits, and 22 RBIs in just 40 games played for the Blue Hens this last year. Now, Delaware was bottom half of Conference USA, but Winsett, I think, is an integral addition to this team because he's a sophomore, incoming sophomore. He's played in college for two years. This will be his third year, but he redshirted his first. So he's coming in as a sophomore.

[00:39:30] But more importantly, Winsett has the skills to be a valuable addition to this team this coming year. Coming out of high school, he's a top 500 recruit in the nation. So not a guy that is just happenstance, be where he is. I think this guy has a lot of skill sets that will translate to the next level. I don't know where Winsett necessarily fits into the puzzle this next year because you're still looking for, I guess, a surefire first baseman right now.

[00:39:59] I'm not sure, and I'm not privy to what Winsett played a lot of at Delaware, but I know that you feel good about Von Dolan being at third. I believe Winsett is a corner infielder, so he might be one of the guys that are in that spot to push Vondo for playing time or even be the potential starter at first base. But you know he has the bat. I guess the bigger question is, does it rival Von Dolan? We know what kind of season that he can have like he had two years ago.

[00:40:27] And even this last year was good, moving down the lineup into that eighth spot for him. But that's still, I think, of good addition in Sam Winsett. And that puts their total, as far as incoming freshmen so far, to eight incoming freshmen. And then guys that are out are seven on top of the plethora of seniors. So I know that there's going to be more incoming transfers to be announced in the coming weeks. I always say if you want to keep in tune with that, follow us on our social media at Blue Raider Pod.

[00:40:57] But also another good resource for that type of information is Connor Smith over on Twitter and X. And then his Twitter handle is at CSmithMedia. And then on Instagram, for those that like to use Instagram over Twitter slash X, he moderates the Go Middle Blue Raiders page. So anything you want to find out there for the over summer transfer portal news for baseball,

[00:41:21] he is one of the best guys to keep in contact with, as well as some football content that he put out this week as well. So I want to switch gears back over to women's basketball. I know we had Kirsten on earlier. There was just a few missing pieces of conversation that we didn't talk about this last year or this last few months as the season has come to a close about some of the additions. One of the additions that we haven't talked about was Junior Elisa Mayer. She's a 6'5 center coming to the Blue Raiders from Oregon State.

[00:41:50] She spent two seasons up there where she played in 20 games. I guess more to her pedigree and her accolades, she is from Denmark, kind of feeding into that European pipeline that the Blue Raiders and Matt Insul have created. But she was a part of the U18 national team back in 2022. And I think more impressively for her was her rebounding. So not necessarily it hasn't been the score, but even in the U18 national team,

[00:42:17] when she got plenty of minutes for that Denmark team, nearly seven rebounds per game and when they played on the national stage. So I think there's a lot of potential for someone like Elisa on this team. It's where we feel confident with Blair on the frontcourt. You do have new additions like Maya Kone. You have Stacey Kabernick that's coming back. You also have Nicole Dominguez and Jenna McClendon who saw limited playing time last year.

[00:42:45] So there's still a fight, I think, in the forwards, in the frontcourt for that playing time. And someone like her, who obviously is a really good rebounder, could compliment someone like Blair really well who's a very talented scorer. We know she's a talented rebounder as well, but someone that can compliment a scorer like Blair, I think that was a big add for this group and this staff in particular. So where does that put the roster today? Like we talked about, all the new faces. Mayer joins.

[00:43:14] Zay Whitfield, the transfer from Tennessee State up the road. Maya Kone, the transfer from Miami, Florida. Then you have incoming freshman McClain Bobo from Tullahoma. Freshman Aaliyah Blanchard from Hoover. And then you have the incoming Israeli Mayan Cohen. And then also another transfer coming in from D2 Lynn University is Kennedy Neal, who played in 16 games this last year for the Division II school. And going back to her high school roots, scored over 1,300 points up in Strongsville, Ohio.

[00:43:43] So really that fills out the roster. They're now at 15, to my understanding, 15 scholarship players. Equal on the front and backcourt players. The starting lineup, I think, could be shaken up a lot. I know when we talked about the women's basketball program a couple weeks ago, a little over a month and a half ago, you had Verhulz back at the 1, Swaney probably sliding into the 3, Bogg is sticking to the 5. Those would be your returners. But what do you do from there?

[00:44:13] Well, I know Matt's put a lot of stuff out on his social media practice. A lot of girls are getting a lot of reps in a lot of places. So I think there's a healthy amount of competition in this roster that we could see a lot of combinations. And I know that maybe that was always something that people talked about or a storyline that people follow with Coach Rick Ensel. And Matt being the head coach now, maybe things will change. And I look forward to a conversation with Matt in the coming months about this team as they get closer to their season starting.

[00:44:41] But this team is talented. And I know I'm not allowed to use the word young, as I said, but this team has a lot of inexperience within themselves. But there's a lot of talent there. I think that this is one of the more impressive, if not the most impressive, class in the Conference USA women's basketball group. The only team that I think would rival them is going to be Missouri State. And I wouldn't even say that their transfer class was nearly as impressive.

[00:45:08] I think what I was more impressed by Missouri State is their ability to retain everyone from that championship team this last year. Well, a majority of their key contributors, that is. So I think they're off to a great start as far as the talent that is filled in this roster. And as Kirsten said, she feels like this team is a few steps ahead of maybe where they were last year. And that helps retaining some of these faces that played a lot of minutes like Verhoels, Sweeney, and Boggess as well. So I'm excited.

[00:45:37] And what more is to come from them? That's going to do it for our episode today. Thanks again to you, The Viewer, for tuning in. If you're not already following us on our social media, make sure you're doing so. That's at Blue Raider Pod on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. And if you're tuned into our live stream on YouTube, subscribe so you don't miss another one of our weekly episodes. Thanks again to Kirsten Verhoels for joining us today. And thanks to my producer, Jackson Smith. You're listening to The Blue Raider Podcast, presented by Gold's Gym in Tennessee.