Episode 22 feat. Sam Doughton

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[00:00:52] Welcome in to the Blue Raider Podcast, I'm your host Jake Bolden and today is Tuesday,

[00:00:56] May 7th and in happy opening to May to all Blue Raider faithful out there and today joining me

[00:01:01] is a continued guest and friend of the show is the NTSU Communications staff writer Sam Dalton.

[00:01:08] Sam, how's it going? Jake, thanks for having me back really excited to chat about all that's

[00:01:12] going on in Blue Raider athletics today as we're getting into the spring and starting

[00:01:17] to wrap things up and head from 2023-24 to 2024-25 here in Murfreesboro. Absolutely and

[00:01:24] wrapping up indeed this last weekend we saw some programs kind of wrap up as far as our

[00:01:28] team sports go. We know we saw tennis their season end there in Starkville and then we saw

[00:01:33] softball conclude their season regular season that is with the home series of New Mexico State

[00:01:37] but I guess the one that's kind of a hot topic is the men's tennis. I think there's nothing to

[00:01:43] really hang your head about you go down to Mississippi State undoubtedly you beat them

[00:01:47] here at your home place and you're kind of upset about those kind of things because you

[00:01:50] think well this is a team you know you can beat but much like other sports you see in

[00:01:53] basketball and football home court advantage is still has an effect in tennis.

[00:01:59] Absolutely and I think it's very clear that Mississippi State team also improved substantially

[00:02:04] as the season went on as the Blue Raiders really did as well but they might have had just a

[00:02:09] little bit of a higher ceiling in general just because of you know the talent that SEC teams

[00:02:14] can bring in from time to time but you know I mean this is really you know I think we

[00:02:19] when you're in the season and in particular when you have a program like the Men's Tennis

[00:02:22] program under Jimmy Borndane that she's had such a consistent level of success

[00:02:27] you know it's almost like you don't really pay too much attention to until they make

[00:02:30] postseason play and can they surpass it but this is a really like kind of like a tricky

[00:02:35] needle to thread for coach Jimmy and coach Andrea Calleghiana, coach Calli as we call them

[00:02:41] this year to sort of rebuild a roster that lost sort of that core three that was on all

[00:02:45] four of those previous CSA title teams and Stein Slom, Francisco Rocha and Pavel Modal.

[00:02:50] They had to replace that core and you know they had some good talent returning Andre Horak

[00:02:55] and Marcel Kimbrowsi in particular along with Shumat Zizaka but you know getting a guy like

[00:03:00] Leo Ranklin, getting a guy like Javier Cortero Ramos and Demis all to come in.

[00:03:07] Really strong recruiting job in the portal by then and really strong coaching job throughout

[00:03:12] the year to continue to get those guys to develop and improve and have a good team

[00:03:16] culture and get back to the second round again for the third year in a row.

[00:03:19] Not something you can say a lot at this level in men's tennis and you know if you watch that

[00:03:25] one over Georgia Tech on Friday it was some extremely impressive tennis particularly in

[00:03:30] doubles. Doubles was exceptionally dramatic. A middle one and tie break on court two to

[00:03:34] get the doubles point that sort of set them up really well when they got off to a good

[00:03:37] start on court five and court six and had a lot of success against the the yellow jackets

[00:03:44] good yellow jacket team this year came in ranked number 30 actually the higher seeded team in that

[00:03:49] pod compared to middle. So a little bit little baby upset middle was sort of right there with

[00:03:54] them they were number 37 entering the weekend probably going to raise up a little bit after

[00:03:58] that win but exciting weekend still I know Jimmy and the boys are disappointed because

[00:04:03] sweet 16 was the goal this year but I think you know in a couple months you're going to

[00:04:08] look back and continue to be impressed by the coaching job and the development job the

[00:04:12] players did you know credit players as well for buying in and sticking with the program and I

[00:04:17] think you know the leaps you saw players make this year is pretty exceptional. And their season

[00:04:23] as collectively as a team is over but we've talked about how Jimmy was mentioned on our episode a

[00:04:29] few weeks ago how you know this is the first time in a while that the program has had not

[00:04:33] only the team make the tournament but you get your singles and your doubles and Leo being

[00:04:37] as high ranked as he is he'll be able to compete at the singles tournament and then

[00:04:40] Leo and Andre will both as a doubles pairing will also be in the NCAA tournaments and

[00:04:46] I have that starting in the singles event will start on May 20th and you I know you know the

[00:04:50] system a little bit better than I do as far as how that runs because they're going to finish

[00:04:53] up their team play before they head on and then collectively they'll they'll they'll be there

[00:04:57] at the same court same time to do all their singles and doubles collectively at the end of

[00:05:00] May. Yeah that's generally the way it works is you gotta wait for the team tournament to

[00:05:04] wrap up and then everybody that's ranked at that point or made the tournament as an individual

[00:05:09] or as a doubles team all sort of goes to one site works kind of like the way you know the

[00:05:13] major tournaments do for professional tennis you know US Open holds all of its tournaments

[00:05:18] men's women's you know doubles singles juniors all at the same time at the same

[00:05:22] location same event see all by tournament helps when you have guys like Leo that are in both

[00:05:27] draws to play together for sure and you know excited for those guys you know it's a big

[00:05:33] accomplishment I think you know getting ranked in professional tennis is our game ranking

[00:05:38] college tennis might be even harder given the number of people in the field and just having

[00:05:42] a number next to your name on the score sheet is quite an accomplishment and you know getting

[00:05:47] into the field and you know we always got a good shot you know Leo did really well

[00:05:51] in the fall he lost his first round match but did really well sort of in the consolation draw

[00:05:55] made to the finals there after after losing his opener so you know if he gets a good

[00:05:59] draw early I think I like his chances to make some noise particularly in the singles draw.

[00:06:03] Absolutely him and Horak both as a doubles pairing too they kind of got hot there late in the year

[00:06:08] they were never ranked as high as they were as they finished out I'm not sure their streak I

[00:06:11] want to say it was maybe four or five straight match at least they got to finish completed

[00:06:16] finishes that they brought up a win for them minus what happened in Mississippi State so

[00:06:21] a really good pairing there so really excited to keep tabs on those guys as they move

[00:06:25] there into late May. The other sport that wrapped up this week as I spoke about at the

[00:06:28] top was the softball team really I don't want to spend too much time on the topic of softball

[00:06:34] I think it's a disappointing finish and I know that coach Breeden is pretty honest about

[00:06:38] his performance and he would say the same about his squad it's just just I think the way

[00:06:42] I sum it up when I did my midseason update was just they missed the timely hits

[00:06:48] and I know that you've spoken too about how the pitching hasn't quite always been there for

[00:06:51] him I still think at times it was good enough but when you finish your season on such a high

[00:06:57] that is you know one game away from making the super regionals and then you have a Cinderella

[00:07:01] run and then you come back and you're rated in the top three of your conference and then

[00:07:05] you fall all the way down to the bottom three and don't make your conference tournament it's

[00:07:08] kind of disheartening but a lot happened this year they graduate a lot so but I know that

[00:07:13] he's pretty high on what's to come as far as recruiting goes so don't want to spend too

[00:07:19] much but I'm disappointed on the finish but there's still a lot to be said about

[00:07:23] what's to come for the later at your softball.

[00:07:26] Well Jake as you well know you know those diamond sports you know have some luck components to it

[00:07:31] and when you lose as many sort of one run two run games that they have this year you know

[00:07:36] it's really frustrating at the end of the year because you felt like you let a lot of

[00:07:40] opportunities slip away and they'll tell you that in the first place you know they just

[00:07:44] missed too many chances to win games to get that timely hit and you know they're going to

[00:07:49] have to come back with some applause you know some positives for this year they did set a program

[00:07:54] record for home runs for the entire team so that's a gesture Bryce Brents coming out as

[00:07:58] the hidden coach has brought some extra power to the team and like you said I know they're

[00:08:03] excited about what they've got going sort of in the prep and the juco ranks coming in next

[00:08:07] year and so that leaves you some positives to build on but you do lose a lot off of this

[00:08:12] year squad and a lot of that core that was a big part of the NCAA tournament run a season

[00:08:17] ago but you know some stuff to build on still I think Ansley Blevins and Ava Tepe should they

[00:08:22] both be back are going to continue to develop and have better years like they had this year

[00:08:27] a lot of growth for both of them and you know they particularly excited about the pitching

[00:08:33] prospects they have coming in I'm sure which is going to be a huge area to rebuild your

[00:08:36] number one Cameron Karsich you know second in a row your number one's leaving so a lot

[00:08:41] to work on over there Blue Raiders softball field just missed out on the conference

[00:08:44] tournament but hopefully brighter days ahead because I think they feel like they found

[00:08:49] something developmentally that can help them as they get new talent in.

[00:08:54] Absolutely and on the other diamond we got baseball who had actually winning series on the

[00:09:00] road in New York against Binghamton avenge that sweep that they had earlier in the year

[00:09:03] here in Murfreesboro and they seem to be trending upward and that's a very good sign

[00:09:07] and we talk about missing the tournament baseball luckily only the ninth seed the

[00:09:12] last place team will miss the conference tournament but MTSU is on the brink there

[00:09:16] and they have a huge opportunity to kind of secure that eighth seed moving into the

[00:09:20] conference tournament with the series on the road in Jacksonville against Jacksonville

[00:09:24] State as they as they sit right now it's only a one game buffer between them and

[00:09:28] the game cocks so as they need to win at least two there to feel really comfortable

[00:09:32] because they'll have a final series at home against Dallas Baptist and then Jacksonville

[00:09:38] State will go on the road against Sam Houston State so there's a lot that could come down

[00:09:40] to in these last two weekends but I think the Raiders hold their own destiny with a match up

[00:09:44] with the game cocks this upcoming weekend. Absolutely Jake you know they come into the

[00:09:49] series with a one game lead on the game cocks and you know if they get the sweep

[00:09:53] I think it would be close to impossible I think it is impossible for the game cocks

[00:09:57] to catch them in the final weekend so obviously that's gonna be the goal of the win all the

[00:10:00] games when you if you come out with just a winning series at that point two games up

[00:10:04] and you hold the tiebreaker over them so you're still sitting in pretty good shape

[00:10:09] to make conference tournament and obviously we don't want to be a situation where we count

[00:10:12] numbers just to make the conference tournament this time of year but you know given the

[00:10:16] developmental arc of this team that's been pretty young particularly on the pitching staff

[00:10:20] they have started playing better late in the season particularly on the mound and I think

[00:10:24] that that's giving them some positive momentum here you know really good week this past

[00:10:28] week if you conclude the midweek game against North Alabama on Jimmy Buffett night which I

[00:10:32] was excited to attend as a fan. You know there are three in one this week and I've

[00:10:36] continued to show a lot of power it's you know I think 66 home runs so far this year it's

[00:10:40] one of our best seasons in the post BB Corp era for baseball so good job Kevin Nichols on the

[00:10:47] on the power front and hitting has been pretty consistent all year it's just been getting the

[00:10:51] arms to go along with them and some young guys are finally starting to show sort of

[00:10:56] that growth in their last few outings and I think that leaves you they're not only optimistic

[00:11:01] for the end of the season but giving you a chance to build on sort of a core heading next

[00:11:06] year. Yeah and you touched on it the the biggest headache for him thus far was the bullpen really

[00:11:11] your your starting your starters gave you enough to work with but even if they had those early

[00:11:16] um you know early inning blowups you had to fall back on a bullpen that just wasn't

[00:11:21] consistent for you and they're playing their best ball right now so it seems

[00:11:25] and as you said went over North Alabama they avenged that loss in Binghamton and I was

[00:11:29] impressed at the fact because they were run rolled by Binghamton here in Murfreesboro

[00:11:32] so the ability to hold them to single digits I think says something and on the road you know

[00:11:36] going to New York is no easy trip um so you're still on the road they they got a game tonight

[00:11:42] as we released this against Lipscomb and then they got they have that series against checks

[00:11:45] in Phil State they haven't been home in a long while so maybe sometimes staying away from

[00:11:49] home if that's where you find your groove things can turn around for you and if the

[00:11:53] bullpen is doing well in that setting as in being away from home then more power to them

[00:11:58] and like I said no series is bigger than this one upcoming form but I'm curious to know as

[00:12:04] we've talked about what softball was able to do last year in their little situation

[00:12:08] with baseball if they're able to slide into that conference tournament you're

[00:12:11] unfortunately going to be put on the same side of the bracket as the number one seed

[00:12:14] whoever that is that's going to be Dallas Baptist or Louisiana Tech and

[00:12:18] Western Kentucky could potentially slip up in there but I think it goes I think most people

[00:12:22] can speculate what the answer to this question is going to be before you answer but

[00:12:25] what is it going to take for them to make some sort of move in the conference tournament much

[00:12:28] like we saw last year well it went well in the conference room last year they got aggressive with

[00:12:34] their pitching you know it helped when you had two MOB draft picks under staff and Jaden

[00:12:39] Ham who's had an unbelievable start his professional career with the Tigers is here

[00:12:43] I think he's got an eRA under two and high a ball for the Tigers right now his change up

[00:12:48] like you know baseball is my favorite sport so I'm reading it will be prospect stuff you

[00:12:52] know pretty regularly and Jaden Ham's name that is the name that keeps popping up that I'm excited

[00:12:57] to see but when you have Ham and Swann and you had a guy like James Sells that had was hot at

[00:13:02] the end of year last year they sort of just use those three pitchers whenever they needed

[00:13:06] to sort of in that you know regional into super regional type format that they use

[00:13:12] in the conference tournament where you sort of have two 14 brackets that operate like a

[00:13:15] regional does and you sort of go into a winner take all super regional game for the

[00:13:19] championship you know getting aggressive with the pitching you know they've got four to five guys

[00:13:25] that they like if they just use those four to five guys sort of in two to three inning spurts

[00:13:30] across you know games that are competitive that they could get themselves in postseason play if

[00:13:35] they just get a few timely hits I mean the bats are good enough that they can hit anybody

[00:13:40] in the league they've proven that so far and if they you know maybe their shorter verse

[00:13:45] for pitchers you know can lead to more success and you know enroll the dice a little bit sort

[00:13:50] of at the end of the year so you know sort of replicate what they did last year I think you

[00:13:54] know that their pitching talents are not as high in as Ham and Swann was last year but maybe a

[00:13:59] little deeper where they have you know Colin Kerrigan's had a really good end of the year

[00:14:05] sort of as a lefty specialist out of the pen Ali Aikens has come along quite nicely in

[00:14:10] the past few weeks so they've got some guys that they feel some affinity with at this point

[00:14:16] and you know when you have Trace Phillips who can start a game as a dh and then come into pitch

[00:14:20] and then stay in as a dh after he leaves pitching you open up some interesting possibilities

[00:14:26] so just gotta hope the arms are hot and and I think Jerry's got the ability to be aggressive

[00:14:31] in those post-season post-season situations and make best use of his staff that you really

[00:14:36] can't necessarily do in the regular season right you can get a little wacky when it comes

[00:14:40] to the conference tournament and what you do with the bullpen because your season ends there you

[00:14:44] know you're not necessarily sometimes it's it's a feast or famine situation you're trying to

[00:14:48] you're throwing the kitchen sink out there you can go you can go an opener you can do

[00:14:51] all that kind of crazy stuff so um you look forward to that you talk about being

[00:14:56] mlb prospects I'm curious where does Briggs Rudder kind of fall on that scale is he a

[00:15:00] guy that we could see leave this coming up summer oh Briggs will definitely get a get a

[00:15:06] stint somewhere in pro ball my opinion he you know he is the downsize to him is that he he's

[00:15:11] a little old obviously for his position and so where he's drafted which tends to hurt guys

[00:15:16] you know draft ability sometimes tricky get a major um bonus because they obviously the money

[00:15:20] is a way to get a guy out of college that might want to come back and but Briggs has

[00:15:25] graduated and the way he's hitting the ball you know he's gonna get a chance somewhere

[00:15:29] same with Jeremiah Boyd did sort of last year um but you know he'll get a shot I'm just not really

[00:15:34] I'm not really sure what his position is at the next level I'm not sure he's quite as strong

[00:15:39] defensively catcher as he need to be professionally certainly a good college catcher no question

[00:15:44] about it but you you know that it's a different level of what they look for sort

[00:15:48] of in those pro prospects catching positions and so you know sort of where does he fit

[00:15:52] defensively and but you know when you got a bat like that you're gonna get a shot somewhere

[00:15:56] and then you'll figure out the defensive part later um so so I think he's got a good chance I

[00:16:01] just don't know sort of where he fits draft wise it'll definitely get a chance to play somewhere

[00:16:07] I just don't know it's undraft free agent or a late round pick right you put it you put it

[00:16:11] well though if you can swing the bat teams will always find a way to fit you on there

[00:16:15] somewhere somehow he can play first he could play right field so uh exciting prospect and

[00:16:20] he's he's swung it well this year and he's he's hot right now so um but we'll turn our

[00:16:24] attention on to our fall and winter sports right now it's been an exciting spring

[00:16:28] in the recruiting aspect as well as the transfer portal and all that big stuff and you know we'll

[00:16:33] there's so much to talk about but the the one that was fresh um is football we just had

[00:16:38] the spring game a couple weeks ago you were there you know what what did you see from the

[00:16:41] football program there um in their spring game oh you know I hate to just quote Austin

[00:16:47] Lewis from when you had him on right after the spring game but I think he was he was

[00:16:51] entirely correct that the main takeaway is that everything got installed and looks cohesive it

[00:16:56] looks like everyone knew what they were doing and you know that's easier said than done when

[00:17:00] you've got so many new faces both on the coaching staff and then the locker room with

[00:17:04] the players and you're installing a system that stylistically is very different on both sides

[00:17:09] of the ball than what you used to run now I think both coordinators have adjusted to sort

[00:17:15] of the personnel they have to make better use of it I mean I think that bode bode readers

[00:17:19] offense had a lot more sort of spread concepts to it than I was anticipating and same thing

[00:17:26] with uh coach Stewart's defensive unit made better use I think of sort of the edge guys

[00:17:30] that he had on the roster sort of using them in unusual ways you know playing guys that

[00:17:34] were listed at defensive end as an outside linebacker sort of in his you know three

[00:17:39] four hybrid kind of system three four multiple kind of look um but you know that was what

[00:17:45] impressed me is it seemed like the scheme was solid and that the players understood

[00:17:50] they were doing and there were some things to like on both sides of the ball stylistically

[00:17:53] that I think are going to be fun to watch in Floyd stadium and you know really effective

[00:17:58] in conference USA play. The transfer portal is kind of something we a lot of teams will

[00:18:04] eye especially at the mid-major level because you might see some of those top names slip but

[00:18:07] I think you know for the most part well the portal's already closed at this juncture and

[00:18:11] all your ones are still here so you feel really good about that it's about those depth

[00:18:14] pieces um is there any area that you think I know we picked up an offensive tackle in

[00:18:19] Marcus Miller from UNLV this last uh last week which is a good get um I don't know

[00:18:23] that if he's a depth piece or I mean he has playing experience at the division one level

[00:18:28] if he's going to fit in there they just have a lot of size up front so it's all I

[00:18:30] think it's a matter of competition I don't know if Mason is comfortable or Bodie Reader

[00:18:34] is comfortable with where he's out of the tackle position um but that's kind of a topic

[00:18:38] of discussion too is what the offensive line is but is there any other areas that you

[00:18:42] think that they should bolster with the transfer portal over the summer?

[00:18:45] I think the unfortunate part for them is that the areas that they really need to bolster are

[00:18:49] the two hardest areas to bolster which is offensive and defensive line because basically

[00:18:53] anybody that enters the portal that has division one starting level experience a p5 is going to

[00:18:59] give a look at it and see if they can play because those you know getting players that have

[00:19:04] sort of the size to play at the upper levels is so so difficult I mean you saw it you know

[00:19:10] Colorado has been in the news a lot this year sort of with their you know transfer portal cycle and

[00:19:14] everything and you know they learned how difficult it was to sort of rebuild you know

[00:19:18] the trenches from scratch last year and you know on the offensive line we did have some

[00:19:23] good returning pieces and they brought in some good pieces that got here this spring

[00:19:27] but you know they still need more depth and the defensive line in particular needs a lot

[00:19:30] more depth I think and I'm not sure the portal is going to be their best place to

[00:19:35] find it I would anticipate they're going to look heavily at Juco's probably to bring in some more

[00:19:41] depth in the trenches and I've seen several offers out for some junior college guys

[00:19:45] but beyond that I mean I think they're looking to add more tight ends and get that room have a

[00:19:49] little bit more depth so you know that you know TK Suder for Holden Wallace I think we're

[00:19:52] both strong in that position and give you a good base along with Jacob Coleman to start

[00:19:57] with but you know they got some converted linebackers that are you know sitting second on the

[00:20:01] depth chart if they go into 12 personnel so getting some more depth there I think is key

[00:20:06] on the offensive side of the ball and then you know defensively you know I think they feel

[00:20:10] pretty good about their safeties but it wouldn't hurt to get another cornerback or two particularly

[00:20:13] given you know they let a couple cornerbacks or a couple cornerbacks left to the transfer

[00:20:18] portal this offseason so you're down a little depth there and but you know thankfully skill

[00:20:22] guys are a little easier to find in the portal and in the trenches so got some chances

[00:20:28] there probably wouldn't hurt to bring another linebacker too just that's a little bit better

[00:20:31] fit for sort of that three four that Stewart wants but I think you know as you said the

[00:20:36] starters in a lot of spots are pretty settled that we've you know finding the right pieces

[00:20:40] you're probably have better success finding Juco guys than portal guys a lot of times right now.

[00:20:46] And tell me a little bit about the quarterback position and we know Vadiato

[00:20:49] is going to be the one I think what we saw there the spring game was interesting where

[00:20:52] we have Roman and you have Luther kind of taking reps there for the second team

[00:20:56] but we see DJ Riles leave and then we pick up someone in the portal this last week at

[00:21:01] the quarterback position they had some offers out there so I don't think that he's looking

[00:21:04] to find a new starting quarterback and that's not really what I'm speculating at all but

[00:21:08] it's kind of a comfort thing with Mason and as I assume with most coaches to kind

[00:21:12] of have a quarterback at all experience in grade levels or I should say class levels

[00:21:17] and is that kind of what we what we see with these with these quarterback offers going out?

[00:21:21] I mean well last we forget how Nick Vadiato first came on our radar he came on our radar in

[00:21:26] a season where Bailey Hockman you know left the team and then Chase Cunningham tours ACL

[00:21:31] and all of a sudden you had four scholarship quarterbacks and now you're down to two

[00:21:35] and they sort of platoon Nick and Mike D'Alello that 2021 season got him to a

[00:21:40] Bahamas bowl you know won the Bahamas bowl Nick was Bahamas bowl MVP that's how Nick

[00:21:45] Vadiato came on the scene initially with middle Tennessee football and he got the full

[00:21:49] keys you know to himself last year but it wasn't that long ago we needed all four

[00:21:54] scholarship quarterbacks and so when you have guys like Kyle Lowe and DJ Riles leave

[00:21:58] probably looking to get playing time knowing that Nick's the guy is going forward and it

[00:22:02] looks in you know Luther and Roman both had strong springs from the sound of things

[00:22:07] you still need a fourth scholarship guy that you like because in an ideal world Roman's

[00:22:11] probably red shirting this season as a true freshman you're continuing to learn get the

[00:22:14] weight room get stronger and Luther's you know probably coming into camp as the backup

[00:22:20] but you need some competition for Luther and really Luther and whoever they brought in

[00:22:24] it's going to be competition for Nick as well Nick's still got to hold on to that position

[00:22:28] he's definitely in firm control of it but you know Rich Mason is all about competing

[00:22:32] competing every day that sort of blue collar mentality and you know he's not just going to

[00:22:36] give it to even to a quarterback that's that's earned it at this point it's going to have

[00:22:40] to continue to be earned every day but I think it's more they need four guys they trust

[00:22:46] because you never you never know when you're going to need that fourth guy as we did a couple

[00:22:50] years ago well where where do you think they sit right now in conference USA I know the transfer

[00:22:54] portal rankings and they're always so subjective you give guys three stars and then you know

[00:22:59] they'll add a star to them when they get to college and they lose stars and they get to

[00:23:03] juke or whatever it is but I know if using the objectivity that is of 24-7 in rivals they

[00:23:09] put MTSU kind of in the middle pack in regards to just the transfer portal they were

[00:23:13] already in the middle of the pack bottom middle of the pack in conference USA last year all that to

[00:23:18] come together do you kind of see that still being true that they're going to be kind of that

[00:23:23] fourth fifth place team in conference USA this year yeah I mean I still think you know they

[00:23:27] got the six wins this year everyone's going to be really excited about you know the growth

[00:23:32] the teams had and the growth that individual players had and you know there certainly is a

[00:23:37] ceiling above that but I think they have upgraded talent in a lot of places particularly

[00:23:41] skill positions out wide they've gotten some more high-end talent there that's helped them out and

[00:23:48] help the addition the addition of helping the offensive line has helped the running

[00:23:51] game out substantially that we saw in the spring but I don't know for me it's just hard to get

[00:23:56] a read because you know there's a lot of guys that are finishing up you know their degrees

[00:24:00] or their classes in the spring that the transfer is coming in at the summer there's

[00:24:03] still more recruiting to do and so the team's still not fully formed yet and I think it'll

[00:24:09] really be till the end of fall camp that we really get a good barometer of sort of

[00:24:14] where you know certain positions stack up to where they were before but I think middle of

[00:24:18] the pack's a reasonable expectation and like I said you know I think six wins would be

[00:24:24] a really solid start to the Derek Mason era in middle Tennessee and you know I assure you

[00:24:30] the program probably internally feels like they can do better than that but I think you know

[00:24:34] just just being reasonable with where the program was and where they're going getting

[00:24:38] into a ball would be an excellent start for everybody absolutely and it's brutal that

[00:24:43] comp that schedule in general was just absolutely brutal you start you know in the middle of an

[00:24:47] already tough non-conference you got western Kentucky thrown in there I still I still feel

[00:24:52] a level of confidence I think westerns got to beat I think liberty's got to beat

[00:24:56] it's kind of where you fall with the rest of them and I think one thing that not only

[00:25:00] you say six wins and I think that is a good milestone to be I mean I'd be ecstatic if

[00:25:04] they made it to a bowl game this year given the circumstances that they faced having picked

[00:25:07] up a coach probably later than you'd rather would have liked you're going to lose bodies

[00:25:12] naturally through the transfer of world but if you could if you find a way to not

[00:25:15] to be competitive in your liberty in western Kentucky games find a way to be competitive

[00:25:19] in those middling games with with like Louisiana Tech Jacksonville State who seems

[00:25:23] to be set in their ways this year they seem to be recouping a lot of that talent

[00:25:27] but if you're better than the the Kennesaw States the Sam Houston States the Mexico

[00:25:31] State seems to be falling off the map with the changing of coaches and all their players

[00:25:35] going to Vanderbilt so but if you're if you're finding a way to be competitive in those four

[00:25:38] or five games I again I think that would be more promising maybe less I know a lot of people

[00:25:42] want to see the win-loss record but if you're just competitive in your own conference you give

[00:25:46] people a run for their money and don't look as as western rightfully so has called us for

[00:25:50] so long as little middle if you find a way to get to lose that moniker kind of prove

[00:25:54] your worth in the conference and prove that you know you're just one season away from

[00:25:58] from being a contender once again well stylistically the changes they've made to be more

[00:26:03] downhill running is going to lead to them be more competitive because you think it's going

[00:26:06] to be a little bit more time of possession a little bit more control of the clock and so

[00:26:10] I think there'll be in a lot of games late particularly in conference play you know I

[00:26:15] think sort of the wild card is I'm interested how UTEP has changed under Scotty Walden who

[00:26:20] is sort of the you know the other major change coaching lies in Conference USA this year

[00:26:25] you know I feel pretty confident middle is going to be you know competitive against La Tech

[00:26:29] Jacksonville State competitive against FIU and so if you can win all three of those and throw in a

[00:26:35] Kennesaw team that that's going to be transitioning up you know that's sort of a chance for four

[00:26:40] wins right there and then sort of you know assuming you win Tennessee Tech then you got

[00:26:45] to find number six somewhere else and who is that number six is it UTEP is it you know

[00:26:51] do you sneak a rivalry game over western Kentucky it's a lot harder to find you know

[00:26:57] a number six game that you feel confident on paper you know so far hopefully you know

[00:27:01] like I said the ball camp gives us some more confidence heading in and you know I think they've

[00:27:07] had a very successful spring I think you know they've done everything they needed to do

[00:27:11] but it's it's not there's no rip the band-aid off like they're gonna have to build this

[00:27:15] you know from a foundation that was strong but they you know it's like the SAPC you know

[00:27:20] they're building the columns right now and I'm gonna sort of build the rest of it around

[00:27:24] there and it might be next year when that's all done but it's more likely going to be the

[00:27:27] year after that we sort of see the full fruition of sort of what Derek Mason's plan is to get

[00:27:33] the program back where he expects to be beautifully put I love I love throwing in

[00:27:38] the SAPC there to describe what's going on uh there with the roster and the team there but

[00:27:44] other teams that had a really good really good spring is basketball I know again talk

[00:27:49] about disappointing teams we talked about softball but gosh the the basketball team you kind of

[00:27:53] hanging your head low when you see Justin into the portal you hang your head low when you see

[00:27:57] jerek colman jones your two top performers a season ago hit uh hit the road and you're

[00:28:02] kind of like gosh we had a rough year how much worse are we going to be next year and I think

[00:28:07] we got a lot of of added help some of them are question marks some of them are proven

[00:28:12] proven ball players at the mid-major level that you should be really really excited about

[00:28:17] and I know I've spoken on them a ton as those as those commitments have rolled through

[00:28:21] but I think the names that pop out to me and I'm interested to hear your take on

[00:28:25] where these guys fit in the current roster makeup here in the beginning of May because

[00:28:29] you know you're going to go through your summer you're going to and I'm sure they're going to

[00:28:32] have some sort of of end game reps with these guys as we see every summer but with

[00:28:37] the additions of Alec Oglesby uh and Esam Mustafa those are guys that I think are

[00:28:42] instant starters in the starting five for you that are again those are the guys I allude to

[00:28:46] as proven scores from a season ago Mustafa wasn't a double digit score as I said is

[00:28:51] kind of their big issue but we saw what he was capable of doing for three years on a consistent

[00:28:55] basis at Coastal Carolina he's a walking double-double and a leak like the Sun Belt

[00:28:59] I would imagine his his physical style of play is going to translate really really well he's

[00:29:04] going to be a lot like a Jared and the fact that he's going to be slightly undersized but

[00:29:09] gosh he's going to get it and he's going to fight for every single rebound especially

[00:29:12] offensively I mean he was top 20 top 15 in the country his last year Coastal Carolina and

[00:29:17] offensive rebounding um per game so a guy that I'm really excited about Mustafa and his presence

[00:29:23] down low and then Oglesby is his his score in production at Stetson a year ago kind of led the

[00:29:27] the hatters to the NCAA tournament so I'm impressed I thought you know if you would ask

[00:29:31] me about a month ago where we were at I thought this team is going to get even worse

[00:29:34] and that's to say that a lot of people are upset with McDevitt and his production and

[00:29:39] you know Massaro sent that email out then saying hang with us we're going to have a huge

[00:29:43] spring and to be for the most part I know people may not like a lot of people are pessimistic

[00:29:47] about it but to be quite honest and fair with everybody he's had a great spring and we're still

[00:29:52] looking at a few more so Sam what are kind of your thoughts of what you've seen from him in

[00:29:55] this this portal that this portal class that we should be excited about?

[00:30:00] Uh Jake I think you've hit the nail on the head that there's been some impressive work done

[00:30:05] on the transfer portal trail getting the guys that they've brought in so far you know

[00:30:10] on board you know we'll start with Mustafa who I think is the the clear share fire

[00:30:15] winner here not just for you know who he is as you said it's sort of a walking double double

[00:30:19] at our level but but he was not a bad player for TCU last year. He like like his per 40 numbers

[00:30:25] 430 per 32 numbers at TCU are excellent like if he played the full time that he played

[00:30:32] at Coastal Carolina for the Horned Frogs his numbers would be very comparable if you look at

[00:30:36] you know sort of his rate minutes I mean he shot 63 from before last year for the Horned Frogs so

[00:30:42] you know there was there's some reasons perhaps he was limited there maybe there were other guys

[00:30:46] on bigger NIL deals that were of similar talent to him that got a chance to play a little more

[00:30:51] than he did but but he's somebody whose talent hasn't gone anywhere and he's somebody that

[00:30:56] you know we know can produce at our level and is gonna um you know I think be an excellent

[00:31:01] contributor right away and more importantly gives you gives Chris Luke a chance to continue

[00:31:05] to develop off the bench and have a little bit bigger role without him having to sort of take on

[00:31:09] the starting job right away which I think long term is going to be great for Chris and great

[00:31:14] for the team. Al Gogolsby obviously he's a guy you can plug and play right now with the two

[00:31:19] to have great size for this level great shooting ability runs a lot of the same type

[00:31:23] of stuff that like Josh Jefferson ran when he was coming in from Wisconsin Green Bay and so you

[00:31:28] really see how that could easily fit into what um you know the McDevitt era Blue Raiders

[00:31:33] like to do offensively um again somebody you can you plug and play instantly I'm really excited

[00:31:39] sort of about the wings that they brought in Jared Hall and Kamari Lans I think both of them

[00:31:44] are intriguing toolsy guys for different reasons Jared Hall is obviously a local kid that had a

[00:31:49] lot of success locally um at the prep level and and has some some good physical traits

[00:31:55] that you know I think Nick's system when he's got the depth he has where they like to press

[00:31:59] a lot and like to get out and transition more than they did last year um are going to play

[00:32:04] into Jared's strengths right now as a player and as he continues to develop sort of a more

[00:32:07] refined offensive game and then Kamari Lans I mean Kamari Lans is uh you know probably the

[00:32:12] highest touted you know prospect we've had as far as what he was as a prep player um since

[00:32:17] you know the the late Kermit Davis era as far as you know where he was ranked as a prep

[00:32:21] player and sort of in that vein you know one thing I heard you know from the staff sort

[00:32:26] of talking around the offices if you look at what Nick King's numbers were at Arkansas um

[00:32:32] the year before he transferred to Memphis and then later transferred to Middle Tennessee

[00:32:36] look at look at what Jackori Williams numbers were at Arkansas before he transferred

[00:32:39] Milton C they're very similar to what Kamari Lanses were um at Arizona State and at Louisville

[00:32:45] as far as you know points per game rebounds per game shooting percentages um so obviously

[00:32:50] easier said than done to turn into particularly Nick King it was a true all-American here

[00:32:54] but you know that gives you some optimism that his game might be able to translate a little bit

[00:32:59] better to sort of the level that Middles at versus where he was in the P5 um in particular

[00:33:05] so really exciting stuff and you know don't want to leave out Jalen Counter who I think

[00:33:08] is sliding in more of his uh his the first guard off the bench sort of like in Western

[00:33:12] role that he was in in 2022 and when you have a guy that you can score like that coming

[00:33:16] off the bench I think that you make your second unit that much better and it lets the

[00:33:21] Blue Raiders play that blitz and grass style that the hell had success with the two years

[00:33:25] that the Knicks had a good run you know since I've been here right and let me play a little

[00:33:30] bit of general manager there with that because I'm glad you lead with the counter or you

[00:33:33] end there with the counter um subject where we fell this last year and let's not make any

[00:33:38] bones about it was the point guard position cam goes down you have no true point guard on

[00:33:42] your bench with a guy like Jalen Counter now coming off the bench in the event that

[00:33:47] heaven forbid Weston tears another ACL but let's say we're in foul trouble like we would still

[00:33:52] before the counter commitment we would still be in that same boat we wouldn't have a point

[00:33:55] guard off the bench so we'd be we'd be forcing again a shooting guard to play the the one

[00:33:59] position so I think counter not necessarily from a starting perspective but just from

[00:34:04] a depth perspective provides a whole new level of versatility to the lineup and

[00:34:09] you already spoke on his scoring abilities a double digit score so he has great vision to

[00:34:14] high assist numbers his turnover is a little high but I think that was more of a verdict of being in

[00:34:18] a very bad program that was IUPUI but yeah collectively and I said this at the end of

[00:34:23] the episode last week was is the team getting better with every commitment and that's that's

[00:34:28] huge because sometimes you see with mid-major programs they may just be adding bodies um

[00:34:33] and they're just adding bodies again talk about depth but they're just adding bodies

[00:34:37] for the sheer number sake of it but all these guys kind of provide a level uh they

[00:34:42] provide something to the team that you didn't have prior to their being here like oglesby you

[00:34:46] touched on being the score you need there the two we don't know anything about jalen jordan

[00:34:50] um at least you might have some insight of their and if he decides to come back for another year

[00:34:54] I've been told that jalen is not using his last year eligibility okay so that he is done

[00:34:59] with college basketball so okay by my count that leaves men's basketball with two scholarships

[00:35:04] remaining okay as we talk there might be someone commits tonight that I don't know about yet

[00:35:10] well that's yeah so that and that was kind of the number I had I was I was if I was gonna

[00:35:13] just a general manager here that I would have operated that he's gone so you got oglesby who's

[00:35:17] great there the two is kind of a position that you could even see someone like jalen counter

[00:35:21] he's more of a dribble dribble drive he can dribble shoot but I say and we learned this

[00:35:26] last year going from a one to a two is a lot easier than going from a two to a one

[00:35:30] um especially a guy that has scoring ability just much like jalen counter does but jared

[00:35:34] hall is another guy that can shoot the ball well from a shooting guard position kamari lands

[00:35:37] we already know what he's capable of doing just hasn't quite got the rhythm in college that we saw

[00:35:42] in high school and the same goes for both jared hall and for kamari land so there's a lot

[00:35:46] to be excited about them um and mostafa um touched on him a ton there so there's there's

[00:35:52] so much that that can be plugged and played is with and i'm excited to see what the the

[00:35:56] lineup transform the way I have it right now and you can kind of see where where your head's

[00:36:01] at in regards to that lineup though but you got weston at the one oglesby the two do we

[00:36:05] see justin buford um back there at the three and the other kind of question mark for me

[00:36:10] is jacob johnson i think with jacob johnson at the four or the three wherever it's kind of a

[00:36:16] buford and johnson are kind of guys that are movable pieces there at the three four

[00:36:19] but i buford is kind of a guy that's proven himself as a starter he's been a starter with

[00:36:23] nick as long as he's been here but johnson's kind of a guy that like he didn't the scoring

[00:36:27] production isn't there and it hasn't been there and it's not something that mcdevitt's

[00:36:30] kind of pushed the issue with but the thing i always draw back to when i have a scouting

[00:36:34] report and what should be for teams going forward is that west kentucky game there in

[00:36:37] the semi-finals of conference usa tournament plenty of film on guys sagging off johnson on

[00:36:43] the three-point line by 10 15 feet they're doubling down low if if fact tripling if he's

[00:36:48] out on the wing so is johnson kind of a guy that is in danger of losing his his starting

[00:36:52] position now that you've got guys like kamari lands and jared hall no i mean no question

[00:36:57] right i mean i think like it also you know they've got two more slots to fill where you

[00:37:01] could get a bigger guy to be at the four than what's currently constructed i mean i think the

[00:37:06] thing with jacob johnson is that jacob johnson whatever unit he's a part of our next year's team

[00:37:11] whether it's the first unit or the second unit is going to have more shooters around him than

[00:37:15] he did the previous year or the ability to put more shooters around him than he did the

[00:37:19] previous year so maybe he's not starting but he maybe he's still your first guy off the

[00:37:23] bench well maybe he's coming in with another shooter that you can bring with them either

[00:37:26] lands or uh paul as you said and but so you can build around sort of that limitation of his

[00:37:34] skill set with the rest of the lineup around it maybe he plays more with chris louf because

[00:37:38] chris louf's got more of an outside shot than mostafa has you know sort of at the five so

[00:37:43] he becomes a more useful piece when you have more other pieces to put him with

[00:37:48] because he is an excellent defender he's a great rebounder for his size he does a lot

[00:37:52] of other little things well that nick likes in his team particularly in sort of that up tempo

[00:37:58] sort of pressing system that they brine so he's a player that i think will be able to be use

[00:38:03] his abilities better and in particular you know you know he knows what that limitation

[00:38:07] of the game is he's in the gym working on it because he knows that that's something that

[00:38:11] he's gonna have to show to other teams otherwise they're going to do exactly what

[00:38:14] you said and sag off with him so they're well aware of it but he's somebody that

[00:38:19] you know could have a better year next year given the way the roster is constructed now

[00:38:24] compared to what it was a year ago because you know last year you know you sort of had guys

[00:38:27] like ozell and time osley that you know did not have a shooting production in ty's case

[00:38:32] that we expected or in his case that we know he didn't have you couldn't play ozell

[00:38:36] and jacob together so now now you've got more shooting options and that that's going to help

[00:38:41] a player like jacob johnson be more successful because other players can space from where he

[00:38:44] doesn't have to yeah by virtue of competing for playing time he's got to get better i think

[00:38:49] that's obviously and you said i'm sure he knows that's a glaring weak spot for him but he does

[00:38:53] provide that sense of energy he has got he's a guy that's going to battle for the rebounds he

[00:38:57] is he is kind of fearless when it comes to driving the ball he doesn't have great finish

[00:39:00] at the at the rim but he kind of has that that level of his game and i do agree when you

[00:39:04] when you talk about having shooters around him it just that that presence wasn't felt even with

[00:39:08] jesson in the game you just don't have that presence on the floor this last year so

[00:39:12] all that said you got five guys now you still got two scholarship players with jordan

[00:39:16] not now saying he's not coming back what does this team turn back into contenders now that

[00:39:21] you've got weston healthy i mean i think that should be the expectation right i mean i was

[00:39:25] the expectation heading in the last year was that weston's healthy um they were going to

[00:39:29] be contenders and obviously it turned out that some of the depth pieces they had were not

[00:39:33] quite what they needed even if western was going to be healthy last year we can both agree

[00:39:38] on that but i think the death pieces are better this year and if you have sort of that same core

[00:39:43] i mean obviously losing jared hurts a lot but i think most office you know just as good if

[00:39:48] not better than jared is as far as what they ask the five to do sort of in their system

[00:39:53] you get chris lou develop a little bit more i mean there's no reason to not be in that

[00:39:57] conversation particularly given what western and lottec have lost this past year

[00:40:02] um and sam houston's going to bring a lot of talent back but but sam houston i always felt

[00:40:07] was gettable they weren't really a dominant one seed like we've seen in conference usa in years

[00:40:12] past so you know i don't think it's unreasonable for them to be in that top of the conference

[00:40:17] conversation a lot of work ahead to sort of gel that team together and get them to sort of

[00:40:21] work together but i think on paper um a successful spring as they had and you know

[00:40:27] that staff knew that this was a make or break year for them no question and it was putting

[00:40:31] a lot of work and the players you know know that you know everybody's you know sort of on

[00:40:35] the line this year and you've seen that since the urgency on this off season for sure absolutely

[00:40:43] and the conference itself as you spoke on your top two western and louisiana tech

[00:40:47] western losing their coach losing a lot of guys at the portal louisiana tech losing

[00:40:51] the conference usa player of the year and then sam houston there was on the verge of losing

[00:40:55] their top score in lamar wilkerson but he has opted back into sam houston's state so

[00:41:00] they're gonna they're gonna be a force this next season not graduating very many liberties

[00:41:03] another team that could certainly scare you but um i'm interested to see what the take is

[00:41:07] conference wide with the media and the coaches poll that will come out where they see mtsu i

[00:41:11] think right now i think yeah they should be at least a top three team once again um barring

[00:41:16] injury of course is what we saw this last year but i feel significantly better about

[00:41:21] where the men's basketball team is today on may 7th than where i felt um on march 7th so

[00:41:27] um a lot to be excited about there and to move on to the other the other basketball team

[00:41:31] we got the lady raiders and they've had a good productive spring not adding as many bodies

[00:41:37] as the men but they haven't they hasn't been required of them but when they did add pieces

[00:41:41] they've been quality pieces and i say that about alina erike she's a girl that prior to

[00:41:47] um really the season ending that was like that's a player that i would love to add

[00:41:50] to our roster i was i was lobbying for her the year before last despite putting stuff on

[00:41:56] my own personal twitter about how uh malaska had put her in a blender there in the conference

[00:42:00] usa tournament and saying that this is your defensive player of the year but i'm excited

[00:42:04] about her presence at murphy center especially now that gruboff he's gone so um she never

[00:42:09] withdrew i thought maybe she i thought for sure julia would have committed somewhere by now i

[00:42:13] haven't seen anything i know that she doesn't have a huge social media presence but i'm sure

[00:42:17] whatever school she ends up on would be the huge get for them um and my assumption was

[00:42:22] florida atlantic given the coaching staff down there and i know that she's had coaches

[00:42:25] down there in the boca retona area so i thought that was kind of her landing spot but

[00:42:29] we haven't heard anything um but of course it's never too late for her to come back but

[00:42:33] go back to what their additions look like you got alina erike emily monson the blackman high

[00:42:37] school alum that went to purdue a lot to be excited about her presence as a depth piece

[00:42:42] i don't think she's going to be an immediate impact because she is she is a guard she's a

[00:42:45] wing you feel pretty good about gregory and scott where they are so but i say that about

[00:42:50] her being the depth piece is this gonna this is arguably the most talented team you you've

[00:42:55] ever seen the lady raiders have and that's a lot you've had a lot of talented teams

[00:42:59] run through the murphy center coming off a top 25 season you're receiving votes in the final

[00:43:04] ap poll you make it to the round of 32 with an upset of louisville and you play a good

[00:43:08] 25 minutes against lsu so i mean this team are we still going to see them playing six

[00:43:15] seven players like we're accustomed to with rick and so i just have to i have to say

[00:43:18] that this is the most talented team we've ever seen top to bottom he's got to force

[00:43:22] the issue here he i feel like he's got to play more than six seven girls what are your thoughts

[00:43:28] i would like to see him use the depth that he has because i think that that he and his staff

[00:43:33] that have really done a nice job building up depth or maybe there wasn't as much depth

[00:43:38] last year but you know i think really the only position right now that it's not as deep

[00:43:42] as it was a year ago is probably the five and that's just work as kabobski wanted to

[00:43:47] get in the portal to get more playing time i've heard that her commit to somewhere other

[00:43:51] the middle is pretty close to happening so i think we'll hear news on that sooner rather than later

[00:43:57] but you know they've improved all over the place and they have you know a really good prep

[00:44:01] player coming in samanna davis that i know they've been excited about as well so we can't

[00:44:05] forget about her and you you feel like you have 10 strong players going but at the same

[00:44:11] time you know and stage is going to get 30 minutes a night to me is going to get 30

[00:44:15] minutes tonight jowans going to get 30 minutes a night that's you know only 10 minutes of the

[00:44:19] two three and five that you have left potentially and some nights are going to go 35 a lot of times

[00:44:25] and you know it's if they get a veteran point guard which is another position that i've heard

[00:44:30] is very likely to happen sooner rather than later commitment wise for middle tennessee

[00:44:35] matt ansel talked about it monday morning on wgms radio on the sort of the weekly roundup

[00:44:39] that that's coming pretty soon and i can confirm that so expect news on that sooner

[00:44:44] rather than later that's another position where you know you feel confident and you know

[00:44:49] and all you know old dog doesn't like to learn new tricks jake and rick rick

[00:44:53] rick ansel's been in this game a long time and i want a lot more games than you and i have so

[00:44:58] it's hard for me to really question sort of that that small bench that he's always seemed to

[00:45:03] run but if you're ever going to do it i think there's some reasons to do it this year

[00:45:09] jada harrison's coming off a foot injury and so you'd like her to develop and getting that

[00:45:13] veteran point guard in and having jay to play 10 minutes a night off the bench 15 minutes

[00:45:17] night off the bench is going to be good for her developmentally and good for the program long

[00:45:21] term emily monston is a player that can play two through four um she i actually kind of see her

[00:45:27] a little like maybe her best spot on this team is sort of like doing what cordia watson

[00:45:31] did at the four and sort of spreading the floor is more of a shooter at the four but

[00:45:36] being big enough to rebound you know against you know other fours in conference usa's come

[00:45:42] traditionally i have a very big conference outside of the fives in the post usually

[00:45:46] so she'll be able she'll probably have sizing just with every four in our league and she's

[00:45:50] going to have the speed and ability and you know one thing with her being a local kid

[00:45:54] there's not been a day since she's committed i haven't seen her in the gym at the murphy

[00:45:57] center she's already in their shooting um and getting better on her own time sort of in you

[00:46:03] know voluntarily and sort of their off period but you know good on her it's obviously

[00:46:07] you know short drive from her for wherever she's staying with her parents right now in town but

[00:46:12] she's somebody that's committed and wants to get in and get better and compete right away and

[00:46:17] she's got enough of a skill set and where she sort of slots on the roster they're replacing

[00:46:21] you know future hall of famer accordia watson and she has some skill sets it's going to be

[00:46:25] appealing to the type of the way that they like to run and use that position um though when

[00:46:31] you have a rick a and you serve by these two really top post players rick is going to play

[00:46:35] a lot but i think the biggest thing jake is you can let your starting lineup play even more

[00:46:40] aggressive when they play defensively even more intense defensively because if they get in foul

[00:46:45] trouble cool you got these guys you know off the bench that you trust more now that can come

[00:46:50] in and play right away and i think that's that's going to help everybody around their program

[00:46:55] and like you said i think it's going to make them a lot better i'm just curious sort of

[00:46:59] sort of where that line is um sort of aggression wise um and it's probably going to take the

[00:47:04] summer and most of the preseason in the fall for them to sort out what they're comfortable

[00:47:08] with sort of as a staff and as a team right and and i just i always say i ask the question

[00:47:14] really about what they're going to do with that lineup and youth i think you touch on it

[00:47:18] with the ability to have the depth piece when you play aggressive defense and which is scary

[00:47:22] to even think about when you have a team that was holding opponents to around that 50 points

[00:47:27] per game like that's and those people now have the ability to play an even tougher level of

[00:47:32] defense because of those depth pieces behind it makes this team even more scary jada harrison

[00:47:37] is an exciting prospect i think one thing that at least i hear about a lot on the forums is

[00:47:42] where does she stand coming in because she's been in the boot for a long time and that has a

[00:47:46] right for concern i understand that i do think it's a it was a process of she had an injury

[00:47:50] in high school that she was willing to forego that surgery until she got to college

[00:47:54] in lieu of getting a red shirt and so all those things have played out and you'd rather just be

[00:47:58] cautious there's no there's no there's no need to progress that any faster than necessary because

[00:48:03] she just wasn't going to get the playing time this first year so let's let's keep her in a

[00:48:07] boot as long as possible and hope that it heals well and so i think you're worried about

[00:48:10] her conditioning level being out of basketball for so long so that's why the addition of you

[00:48:14] saying about having the addition of a um a veteran point guard would be huge um because

[00:48:19] if there was any area that i thought that they would need to add it would be the point

[00:48:22] guard position that's what i've been loading up there at the forum is these are the player and

[00:48:26] i won't give away all my secrets or anything but you go over on the forums over at go middle

[00:48:30] you'll see my full my full list of players that are potentially there and so those are

[00:48:34] um i just think that's the only area that you you could see some growth you could

[00:48:38] potentially add someone down low but like you said monston's kind of a player that can do

[00:48:41] it all and we saw that what thing that's interesting about monston just by virtue of

[00:48:46] being able to see her play covering middle murphys borough high school sports is she was

[00:48:49] a point guard in high school um she played a little bit of shooting guard as well because

[00:48:52] she played along with iana more who's at vanderbilt but she's very capable of handling the basketball

[00:48:58] so i'm not saying that she's going to play the one that's not what i'm saying but if she's a four

[00:49:02] she's going to be a better ball handler at the four than anyone else in conference usa is

[00:49:06] a more i can say that with a with a pretty high level of confidence she she can i mean

[00:49:10] she was a 16 point uh per game on a perennial powerhouse high school basketball team so

[00:49:15] there's a lot to say about what her abilities are um at anywhere from the two all the way to

[00:49:20] the four so she adds a versatility to your roster and again the lineup is just top to bottom

[00:49:25] you've got davis who is as you talk about she's she could be a question mark being an

[00:49:29] incoming freshman i don't know that um and so it's always very comfortable throwing in

[00:49:34] a freshman in there in her first season and in making her run an offense i i imagine she'll

[00:49:39] get some limited playing time but she has a shooting ability i think a lot of people may

[00:49:42] have forgotten about gracy dodge and another player in high school who could absolutely shoot

[00:49:45] the basketball who had an unfortunate acl injury a season ago who has probably stunted her her

[00:49:50] development that one year but she's another girl that again with the depth in place if she if

[00:49:55] the conditioning is there um she can shoot it she can light it up just as good i mean if you

[00:49:59] forget savannah davis broke gracy dodging's three point record so to have two um three

[00:50:04] point record record holding uh girls on roster again that's just spread space to the floor

[00:50:11] there's a lot there's a lot to play around with i don't again i i think i'm a little bit too

[00:50:15] optimistic that we're going to see more than seven girls play more than 15 minutes a night

[00:50:19] but um but it's a good problem to have and the only thing that always worries you is where

[00:50:23] does that fall in the transfer portal when it rolls around next year are girls upset but

[00:50:27] i think the way the lineup is placed and now if he's going to get a veteran point guard

[00:50:30] you feel really good about where your classes line up because you've got a lot of your young

[00:50:34] depth pieces that we're really excited about but they're also spearheaded by a lot older

[00:50:39] veteran players that they're gone hey you're it's next girl up mentality so you feel really

[00:50:43] good about the continuity of the program you're not putting all your chips all your eggs into one

[00:50:48] basket if you will you're not you don't have a starting lineup of five seniors so you feel

[00:50:53] really good about what what's gonna what's going to come for this next season and and i

[00:50:57] i say all that to say how good this team is and i say it's the most talented team we've ever

[00:51:01] had do you see an opportunity for this team to finally get break this like stigma of they're

[00:51:07] only a receiving votes team they're only a fringe top 25 team do we kind of see them sneak into

[00:51:11] that this is a for real powerhouse much like we've seen with sake and zag on the men's side

[00:51:16] maybe not to the level of making elite eights but to the effect of like these p5s have to

[00:51:20] respect mtsu i think they already respect the team that's why most of them won't schedule them

[00:51:26] if you talk to the coaching staff you know they it's you know it's understandable from their

[00:51:32] perspective their fan base doesn't know what middle tennessee women's basketball is and so

[00:51:37] they see us lose to middle and it's a disaster where in reality you know it's just like losing

[00:51:42] a conference game you know to them really based somewhere where our net and rpi are going to be

[00:51:47] sort of year to year but despite that you know the coaches staff generally does a pretty

[00:51:51] good job of putting together a really tough schedule and so i think a lot of that is

[00:51:55] going to depend on who we play in the sort of the non-conference slate next year and how

[00:52:00] we do in that non-conference slate is how much respect this team is going to get because

[00:52:05] obviously if you get some p5s on there and get some you know get some wins over them in those

[00:52:11] situations in those mte tournaments sort of around thanksgiving in you know occasional

[00:52:16] road games that the the program can get from time to time people are going to pay attention

[00:52:22] particularly depending on what type of power five program it is i understand tennessee is

[00:52:26] is on the schedule for next year as of right now obviously any of that could change again we're

[00:52:32] scheduled to go to you know thompson bowling this year that's what the contract stated but

[00:52:38] with the new coaching staff obviously there's you know always out as we well know so i don't

[00:52:44] know but you know that's a coach that's coming from you know kim colwell is coming from a

[00:52:49] lower level and understands you know what those games mean and understands the quality

[00:52:53] the metal has so would not surprise me that stays for multiple reasons and you know getting

[00:52:59] more games like that on the schedule and as they've you know won ncw tournament games and get

[00:53:04] sort of that you know prestige up for lack of a better term you know sort of the star rating

[00:53:08] and the old ncaa games you know they went from maybe they were there maybe they were a

[00:53:12] four-star program before now they're a five-star program or whatever or three to a four or

[00:53:17] whatever it is that that helps perception wise when you win ncl by tournament game

[00:53:21] it's simply the gonzaga women have died sort of on that side they're getting more games now

[00:53:25] because they've won in the tournament and so bringing that team in is only going to help

[00:53:31] them and i think it's it's it's helpful for those other teams too because they know they're

[00:53:34] going to get a really strong competitive game and you know when you got backstage of world

[00:53:39] rave in the post you can't tell me there's 10 better post players than her in the country

[00:53:43] right now right uh that you can face on a one game basis and get ready for for your

[00:53:48] conference play so i you know having individual players like that that are as strong as she is

[00:53:55] um i think can help matters a lot when it comes to scheduling so it's really good but those

[00:54:00] polling things you've got to get you know a resume built up to get on those polls for a

[00:54:05] lot of times and you know occasionally you come luck into sort of like a fair field

[00:54:09] situation where they're just undefeated for so long and win so many games in a row

[00:54:13] they get in that conversation but it's easier to to get some big teams on the schedule and get

[00:54:18] some wins and this team's shown the ability to do it and then i think they've got a

[00:54:22] good team coming back next year that will have the ability to do it again

[00:54:26] yeah you read my mind with the question on ut if they're going to back out of that

[00:54:29] contract or not because it feels like you have the opportunity if your ut's perspective

[00:54:34] that like if there was a time to get out of it you just lost it probably arguably your

[00:54:38] best chance was the win last year granite rickie a jackson was was non-existent i mean she was hurt

[00:54:43] in that game so you probably feel like you you might have stolen one from him in the in the

[00:54:46] grand series of it all but now you've got a new coach and as you say kim cauldwell would

[00:54:51] hopefully show some respect to the mid major because she understands because her marshal

[00:54:54] team didn't get the level of respect that she probably thought they deserved only losing

[00:54:57] one game in the sunbelt conference regular season so she could have used

[00:55:00] you know a few more non-conference schedules uh schedule ease to to boost her her resume

[00:55:05] as well there's a lot of there's a lot of mid majors out there that if you i know mtsu and

[00:55:10] i'm sure matt and rick will say this they really try hard to get those names to come here as we've

[00:55:14] seen in years past and most of them do and for the most part they always regret it um so

[00:55:19] it's hard to find those things but i would love to see like a matchup with florida

[00:55:22] gulf coast another perennial mid major gonzaga is kind of a far travel but we saw

[00:55:26] them in they were able to get some of them with saint mary so it's not like it's out

[00:55:28] of the question of possibility but gonzaga would be kind of a cool one um and i know

[00:55:32] that matt had reached out over via twitter to to face with fairfield and i don't know

[00:55:36] that fairfield's gonna have the same team with their coach leaving and all that stuff but um

[00:55:41] it's like you said if they can get the resume if they can get i don't i don't know that

[00:55:44] they've made an announcement like much like they did with uh with their trip to um the was

[00:55:49] it the bahama no they were in uh the bahamas this last year where they played michigan is

[00:55:53] that right yes they don't have they haven't made an announcement for a preseason tournament

[00:55:57] like that but that's another one that is a big resume booster for you so it's all about

[00:56:00] what kind of tournament like that you can get yourself into and then once you're there you

[00:56:04] know capitalizing on that opportunity because again if you're able to steal one from michigan

[00:56:09] there you feel really good about being in a top 25 team that's a huge resume booster for you

[00:56:13] and then you took care of business with tennessee so um exciting to see because that's that's

[00:56:18] kind of the other side of it you know you got you got your roster now what kind of respect

[00:56:21] is this team going to get and it all comes down to who they're going to play and i know

[00:56:24] that rick has always had them ready and same goes for matt so that's there's a lot

[00:56:29] to be excited about where they where the chips may fall for the lady raiders is upcoming uh winner

[00:56:35] well you know jake when i first applied to this job you know a little little over three years

[00:56:40] ago now um it seems like which is kind of wild to say you know basketball was a big thing that

[00:56:45] attracted me to this job and uh getting a chance to cover both these programs and sort of

[00:56:51] you know where they've gone where they where they've been going have been fascinating stories

[00:56:55] to follow and i think you know that it's two very different stories on both sides from where

[00:57:00] they're at that's made my job exciting i know it's made your job exciting as well following

[00:57:05] that and uh couldn't put any better myself and i think it's really interesting crossroads sort

[00:57:10] of for both programs in very different ways this offseason and they both put themselves

[00:57:14] in good positions to you know take the road that they need to next year for sure right

[00:57:19] well then um that'll wrap up all of our spring talk there and we hit all the transfer

[00:57:22] portal with our fall and winter sports are major ones there um sam the summer is coming

[00:57:28] on us quickly here well you know what what what what happens to a staff writer on the

[00:57:32] mtc communication side around the summer well i have a mandatory two-week vacation sort of

[00:57:38] the start of june that poor guy a lot of us yeah i mean it's you know it is what it is

[00:57:44] so you probably won't hear from me at all in the early part of june but coming back out

[00:57:48] of that we have some exciting things planned the blue raider blitz is coming up at the end of may

[00:57:53] um so a little bit change in timeline today we just announced that on monday i'm going to

[00:57:57] go into five spots this year with coach derek mays a great chance for fans to come out

[00:58:01] and meet him get to know him a little bit better and um you know get season tickets and

[00:58:06] involved with the br double a that's something y'all would like to do um but since we're

[00:58:09] doing that earlier that gives me more time in the summer to sort of help do some other

[00:58:14] things actually i have my own podcast series planned sort of doing uh similar to what the

[00:58:19] coaches check-in was last summer for those of you that tuned in for that except instead

[00:58:23] of talking with sort of our coaches about what their summer looks like looks like it's

[00:58:26] gonna be talking more with support staff learning more about you know what are what are

[00:58:30] you know staff nutritionists does you know what what do some people in the br double a do

[00:58:34] what do some people on the con staff um and you know trainers and strength coaches and

[00:58:39] everything in between there's a lot of people that make a lot of college athletics possible

[00:58:44] and i think it's important for people to hear those stories and really sort of see how you know

[00:58:50] those people make an impact and then sort of how they can you know help sort of make this

[00:58:54] whole thing run so that's sort of where my summer content planning is i do have a couple

[00:58:58] stories in the work i'm working on a story on uh the sort of student workers that work on our

[00:59:04] tv production broadcasts sort of over in the school of media um and media production which

[00:59:09] is they do a great job and they have worked a ton of events for us this year just finished

[00:59:14] our last one was softball did some injuries with them when they were doing the conference

[00:59:18] tennis tournament sort of about how you know that was a challenge for them to shoot and

[00:59:22] sort of shooting eight matches at once at times and sort of figuring out the storytelling

[00:59:26] aspect to that but that should be out that feature should be out sooner rather than later

[00:59:30] and then uh as ncaa college football 25 video game talk ramps up i am writing about how

[00:59:37] we sort of got the blue raiders into the game and some of the behind the scenes work that

[00:59:41] that went into that on the sort of the licensing and asset size that we had to do talk with the

[00:59:48] in couple people department about what their job is um to make all that possible and i think

[00:59:53] there's some interesting tidbits in there um that that fans will be excited to read about

[00:59:57] so that's just a couple things i got in the bike it's much less game coverage it's very

[01:00:02] different for me day-to-day jake but it is exciting because i get to do some more

[01:00:06] long long form and some more you know evergreen type concepts that i think you know are informative

[01:00:12] to people and are exciting and you know keeps me busy when i don't have a game to go to every

[01:00:16] weekend absolutely and i look forward to seeing some of those pieces come across on go on

[01:00:21] go blue raiders.com as well as your social media sam is is quite too humble he talks about

[01:00:26] all these pieces that make it all possible but you're a big integral part of of what we

[01:00:30] get on a game-to-game basis every week again with your notebook very very insightful for me

[01:00:35] as well as always your post game write-ups is great stuff as always and i appreciate you

[01:00:39] coming on i know we'll look forward to you in the future but before we sign off here

[01:00:44] plug those social medias for those listening well as always friends you can find me on x

[01:00:49] that's at s j doubton d o u g h t o n usually the best place to find me

[01:00:55] but if you go on go blue raiders.com you can reach me at my email there sam dot doubt and that mtsu

[01:01:01] dot edu always welcome to have story ideas from people there you know with 12 teams on campus

[01:01:07] there are stories that i miss all the time that maybe you know about about specific players or

[01:01:12] other things that you think are worth pursuing so please don't hesitate to reach out always

[01:01:17] like hearing ideas from from people who read my stuff and are engaged with the athletic

[01:01:21] department but would love to highlight you know players and coaches that maybe have

[01:01:26] you know gone underappreciated at times you know it's sort of we get caught up in the day to day

[01:01:32] so two best places to reach out for me but most of my stuff if you're looking just to read

[01:01:36] my stuff you know find my twitter or x profile whichever you prefer to call it

[01:01:41] you'll see almost everything that i write goes up there in some form or another

[01:01:46] absolutely he's a go-to source for the podcast and if you listen

[01:01:49] to the podcast you should know where a lot of that stuff comes from and site comes from so

[01:01:54] again appreciate you sam and for those that are listening if you want to follow the show

[01:01:58] on our twitter instagram at blue raider pod we are on tiktok as well blue raider pod and of

[01:02:02] course our visual presentation every week at the same time is on youtube on the youtube channel

[01:02:07] blue raider podcast we have a new and refreshed website blue raider podcast.com i've said that

[01:02:12] enough times already so if you haven't had the opportunity stop on by the the website

[01:02:16] give it a view we do have some a soft opening of our store as well as potential partnerships

[01:02:21] with some nil athletes so a lot of exciting stuff happening for the blue raider podcast as we

[01:02:25] continue to grow get more listeners every week so i appreciate you guys always sharing

[01:02:30] liking subscribing over on youtube as well as your favorite streaming services

[01:02:34] and until next week fans go blue