Season 2, Episode 8 feat. Rick Insell, Nick McDevitt, and Nathan Ruppel (GTPDD)

[00:00:07] [SPEAKER_02]: Thanks for tuning in to another episode of the Blue Raider Podcast hosted by Jake Bolden and presented by the Canseco Group General Contracting and Mighty Dog Roofing.

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[00:00:40] [SPEAKER_02]: Welcome back into another episode of the Blue Raider Podcast. I'm your host, Jake Bolden. Today's episode, I've got basketball talk for you.

[00:00:48] [SPEAKER_02]: The long-awaited season is ahead with two and a half weeks until the tip-off on October the 25th for the Lady Raiders in their very first exhibition match.

[00:00:56] [SPEAKER_02]: The men are shortly after an early November when the season actually truly begins in that first full week of November.

[00:01:02] [SPEAKER_02]: I've got so much to talk about with our head coaches, Rick Insell and Nick McDevitt, so make sure you stick around for both those interviews to get you the breakdown.

[00:01:09] [SPEAKER_02]: On all things hoops. But before we do so, I want to take just a second to thank our sponsors of today's episode, beginning with Mighty Dog Roofing.

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[00:02:34] [SPEAKER_02]: Thanks again to Mighty Dog Roofing and the Canseco Group Commercial Contracting for sponsoring today's episode.

[00:02:42] [SPEAKER_02]: Now, quick recap for you again. I've got head coach, head ladies coach Rick Ensel on first to talk about his newest additions, his expectations for another strong start for the Lady Raiders.

[00:02:53] [SPEAKER_02]: And also, of course, to talk about their non-conference schedule, which we always look forward to.

[00:02:57] [SPEAKER_02]: And then I've got head men's coach Nick McDevon on afterwards to talk about all of his new additions.

[00:03:02] [SPEAKER_02]: A lot of excitement and buzz around his team this year in the hopes that they can turn things around and become another contender atop a very competitive Conference USA.

[00:03:12] [SPEAKER_02]: Afterwards, I've got behind enemy lines, as always, with one of our friends over at the Conference USA Roundtable this week.

[00:03:18] [SPEAKER_02]: It's Nathan Ruppel of the Go Tech Please Don't Die podcast.

[00:03:23] [SPEAKER_02]: Great stuff from him to preview the Blue Raiders football matchup coming up this Thursday.

[00:03:27] [SPEAKER_02]: And then stick around to the very end where we have the Raider wrap-up portion of our episode where we will go over all things MTSU athletics this past week,

[00:03:35] [SPEAKER_02]: as well as a look ahead into what's coming this next week.

[00:03:38] [SPEAKER_02]: So much stuff. Thanks again for tuning in this week.

[00:03:40] [SPEAKER_02]: And without further ado, let's get into the Rick Ensel interview.

[00:03:44] [SPEAKER_02]: We are joined now by the head women's basketball coach.

[00:03:48] [SPEAKER_02]: Not really much need for an introduction.

[00:03:50] [SPEAKER_02]: You've been around long enough.

[00:03:51] [SPEAKER_02]: We're going on your 20th season now.

[00:03:53] [SPEAKER_02]: Joining us is head coach Rick Ensel.

[00:03:55] [SPEAKER_02]: Rick, how are you doing?

[00:03:56] [SPEAKER_02]: Great. Doing great.

[00:03:57] [SPEAKER_02]: Tell me a little bit about this team, really.

[00:04:01] [SPEAKER_02]: The goal of today's episode is to learn about this previous season.

[00:04:05] [SPEAKER_02]: I think a lot of people, as we talked about last week with Sam Doughton, is this team may take a step back.

[00:04:11] [SPEAKER_02]: And me and him both emphatically said that that's just not likely, given the additions you have,

[00:04:16] [SPEAKER_02]: given even the freshmen you've got coming in.

[00:04:18] [SPEAKER_02]: Tell us a little bit about this team and where your expectations are entering this year.

[00:04:21] [SPEAKER_01]: The practice is pretty exciting right now.

[00:04:27] [SPEAKER_01]: Now, I feel like our first five players are probably as good as we've had in a long time, to be honest with you.

[00:04:35] [SPEAKER_01]: We haven't got a Savannah Wheeler, but we've got a Courtney Blakely.

[00:04:39] [SPEAKER_01]: Courtney brings a little bit more to the table.

[00:04:42] [SPEAKER_01]: She's maybe not as a scorer like Samantha was, but she's so quick.

[00:04:49] [SPEAKER_01]: She's quick on the defensive end.

[00:04:51] [SPEAKER_01]: She's quick in transition.

[00:04:53] [SPEAKER_01]: So that gives us a little bit of something that we really didn't have.

[00:04:59] [SPEAKER_01]: Then you look at you've got Nasia inside.

[00:05:01] [SPEAKER_01]: I think she's got stronger, more experience.

[00:05:05] [SPEAKER_01]: You've got Tamia Scott, which I think possibly is the best player in college basketball in the state of Tennessee.

[00:05:14] [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm not sure that before it's all said and done, we'll be drafted.

[00:05:18] [SPEAKER_01]: Of course, she's a junior this year.

[00:05:20] [SPEAKER_01]: Then you've got Jalen Gregory, which is just a cornerstone, been a cornerstone of our program for the last three years.

[00:05:29] [SPEAKER_01]: She'll be a senior this year, and she looks stronger.

[00:05:33] [SPEAKER_01]: She's got a lot of experience, and she shoots the ball extremely well.

[00:05:37] [SPEAKER_01]: And then we picked up Lena Arrique, which we tried to get her last year.

[00:05:43] [SPEAKER_01]: She went into the portal, and she went to Texas Tech, played 18 minutes a night there.

[00:05:49] [SPEAKER_01]: Before that, she played at UTEP, and she was all-conference at UTEP.

[00:05:54] [SPEAKER_01]: And that's one of the reasons when she went into the portal last year that we went after her,

[00:05:58] [SPEAKER_01]: because she was one of the toughest people that Courtney had to defend.

[00:06:04] [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm talking about Courtney Whitson.

[00:06:08] [SPEAKER_01]: And we felt like if we could have got her last year, that would have really given us another great player.

[00:06:18] [SPEAKER_01]: She went back in the portal after she went to Texas Tech, and I don't really know what went on there.

[00:06:23] [SPEAKER_01]: I didn't ask.

[00:06:24] [SPEAKER_01]: Don't care.

[00:06:26] [SPEAKER_01]: But this time she called us.

[00:06:28] [SPEAKER_01]: After we beat Louisville, she was in the portal, and she called and said,

[00:06:31] [SPEAKER_01]: Hey, I'd like to come to Middle Tennessee.

[00:06:33] [SPEAKER_01]: And so we began recruiting her, and we were able to get her here.

[00:06:36] [SPEAKER_01]: And she's been a blessing.

[00:06:38] [SPEAKER_01]: She's just an outstanding young lady.

[00:06:41] [SPEAKER_01]: So when you look at those five, it's really exciting.

[00:06:46] [SPEAKER_01]: Now, you've come to the next five.

[00:06:49] [SPEAKER_01]: We've got some good young players.

[00:06:53] [SPEAKER_01]: And you hear coaches say this all the time.

[00:06:55] [SPEAKER_01]: Usually they talk about their starting five.

[00:06:58] [SPEAKER_01]: In our situation, we've got some players that we – those five that I just went over,

[00:07:03] [SPEAKER_01]: they're probably going to start first game.

[00:07:05] [SPEAKER_01]: No offense much about it.

[00:07:07] [SPEAKER_01]: They're head and shoulders in practice above everybody.

[00:07:10] [SPEAKER_01]: But we've got some young kids – really not kids, young ladies – that are coming on.

[00:07:17] [SPEAKER_01]: Yesterday, that Jada Harrison had her best practice since she's been here,

[00:07:22] [SPEAKER_01]: and this is her second year.

[00:07:24] [SPEAKER_01]: She didn't play any last year.

[00:07:26] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, had the foot injury, got that before she got here.

[00:07:30] [SPEAKER_01]: But I thought yesterday we saw some signs of what we recruited back two or three years ago.

[00:07:36] [SPEAKER_01]: So I think the – Savannah Davis, every day is just getting tougher and tougher.

[00:07:43] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, when you're the best player on your high school team – and I know this,

[00:07:47] [SPEAKER_01]: I can speak this language because I've been a high school coach for 28 years.

[00:07:51] [SPEAKER_01]: You don't have your best player guarding the other team's best player.

[00:07:56] [SPEAKER_01]: So, because you've got to protect your best player so that you can score points

[00:08:01] [SPEAKER_01]: and maybe handle the ball, whatever.

[00:08:04] [SPEAKER_01]: And so that's kind of what you're looking at when you look at Savannah Davis.

[00:08:08] [SPEAKER_01]: They didn't want her to get in foul trouble.

[00:08:09] [SPEAKER_01]: She got in foul trouble.

[00:08:10] [SPEAKER_01]: Their chances of winning was probably cutting hands.

[00:08:13] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, coming in to play Division I basketball, now you've got to be able to play defense.

[00:08:18] [SPEAKER_01]: So she's had to learn that part of the game.

[00:08:21] [SPEAKER_01]: She's had to pick up the toughness part of the game.

[00:08:24] [SPEAKER_01]: And I've been really pleased with what I'm saying because I see her getting better every day.

[00:08:30] [SPEAKER_01]: And she's going to have to play some this year.

[00:08:32] [SPEAKER_01]: So her or Harrison Warren, they're going to be the backup for Blakely.

[00:08:37] [SPEAKER_01]: But also, you know, those two are going to be able to play some of the two

[00:08:41] [SPEAKER_01]: and three position behind Jalen Gregory.

[00:08:45] [SPEAKER_01]: We got in Emily Mux from Purdue.

[00:08:48] [SPEAKER_01]: She transferred in here.

[00:08:50] [SPEAKER_01]: She played at Blackman.

[00:08:51] [SPEAKER_01]: We recruited her a little at Blackman, started on her late and didn't get her.

[00:08:57] [SPEAKER_01]: She went to Purdue.

[00:08:59] [SPEAKER_01]: But played quite a few minutes up there for them and did a good job for them.

[00:09:03] [SPEAKER_01]: But just, you know, coming back home, she just kept looking at what I guess we were doing.

[00:09:10] [SPEAKER_01]: And it was close to home.

[00:09:11] [SPEAKER_01]: And, you know, we really sell the fact that we're a family here.

[00:09:15] [SPEAKER_01]: And so she transferred back into Middle Tennessee.

[00:09:18] [SPEAKER_01]: She's very talented also.

[00:09:20] [SPEAKER_01]: She's about 6'1".

[00:09:21] [SPEAKER_01]: Shoots the ball extremely well.

[00:09:23] [SPEAKER_01]: And she's having to work on that part of the game too, the defensive part,

[00:09:27] [SPEAKER_01]: the toughness part, playing hard every position.

[00:09:31] [SPEAKER_01]: And that's what our program is, kind of our culture of our program.

[00:09:35] [SPEAKER_01]: You go down to the post.

[00:09:37] [SPEAKER_01]: We lost to Julia last year.

[00:09:38] [SPEAKER_01]: She went to Michigan.

[00:09:42] [SPEAKER_01]: And why, I don't know.

[00:09:44] [SPEAKER_01]: I think she thought maybe she was a little better than Nassia.

[00:09:48] [SPEAKER_01]: And they were two different type players, you know.

[00:09:50] [SPEAKER_01]: I would have probably played both of them this year, which would have given us a 6'5 and a 6'7 on the post.

[00:09:57] [SPEAKER_01]: But she left us.

[00:09:59] [SPEAKER_01]: But in doing that, it kind of opened the door up for Jada Graham.

[00:10:02] [SPEAKER_01]: Jada Graham, this will be her fifth year here.

[00:10:07] [SPEAKER_01]: She's very aggressive.

[00:10:09] [SPEAKER_01]: She's some rebounds of all pretty good.

[00:10:12] [SPEAKER_01]: She does a lot of things that we hadn't had that takes charges.

[00:10:18] [SPEAKER_01]: Very smart.

[00:10:20] [SPEAKER_01]: Very smart.

[00:10:20] [SPEAKER_01]: Has great basketball IQ.

[00:10:22] [SPEAKER_01]: So, you know, she's going to have to fill into that spot just a little bit.

[00:10:26] [SPEAKER_01]: And then you, Stacey, which we've got the other young lady from Russia.

[00:10:33] [SPEAKER_01]: She's getting better every day also.

[00:10:35] [SPEAKER_01]: So, we're pretty excited about Stacey.

[00:10:38] [SPEAKER_01]: And we're pretty excited about what Jada Graham's done.

[00:10:40] [SPEAKER_01]: But the other kids, other players that we've got, you've got Gracie Hamby that is working hard.

[00:10:49] [SPEAKER_01]: And we're probably going to play her at the four.

[00:10:51] [SPEAKER_01]: We don't really need another three this year.

[00:10:53] [SPEAKER_01]: But play her at the four.

[00:10:55] [SPEAKER_01]: She's got great vertical, tough, hard nose, knows how to win.

[00:11:02] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, those are kind of the things that you look for.

[00:11:05] [SPEAKER_01]: And it's kind of what, you know, it adds to our culture a little bit here.

[00:11:08] [SPEAKER_01]: So, you know, we've got her.

[00:11:10] [SPEAKER_01]: And then we've got another young lady, Hannah.

[00:11:12] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't really know how to pronounce her last name.

[00:11:15] [SPEAKER_01]: You can go into that.

[00:11:16] [SPEAKER_01]: But she's getting better.

[00:11:19] [SPEAKER_01]: Mush, which is Miosha Mason from Lebanon.

[00:11:22] [SPEAKER_01]: We thought it would be a couple of years.

[00:11:25] [SPEAKER_01]: And yesterday, she had one of her better practices.

[00:11:28] [SPEAKER_01]: So, you know, she's going to be playing a little bit.

[00:11:31] [SPEAKER_01]: And Gracie Dodgen, don't forget about Gracie Dodgen.

[00:11:35] [SPEAKER_01]: She comes from Sparta, White County her dad.

[00:11:37] [SPEAKER_01]: Michael Dodgen's a coach up there, White County.

[00:11:41] [SPEAKER_01]: Extremely great shooter.

[00:11:43] [SPEAKER_01]: She's been down with a knee injury like with Hamby's been down with a knee injury.

[00:11:47] [SPEAKER_01]: And they're just now getting back.

[00:11:48] [SPEAKER_01]: So, we've got a lot of role players who's got a chance to step up this year.

[00:11:55] [SPEAKER_01]: And not only help us this year, but kind of set the foundation for the next year or two.

[00:12:02] [SPEAKER_02]: I love the deep dive and the fact that you're mentioning all the players you can.

[00:12:07] [SPEAKER_02]: And something that I think gets talked about a lot about your team, especially in the media,

[00:12:11] [SPEAKER_02]: is the lack of minutes from the bench.

[00:12:14] [SPEAKER_02]: And I have a two-part question for you here.

[00:12:16] [SPEAKER_02]: One, you've been doing this for a long time.

[00:12:18] [SPEAKER_02]: Is this the most talented team you've had top to bottom?

[00:12:21] [SPEAKER_02]: And secondly, will there be more than eight players that play consistently on a nightly basis because of that talent?

[00:12:28] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, you know, I think what we do is when I get into a game,

[00:12:33] [SPEAKER_01]: and right now I'm pretty lenient in practice about who goes in.

[00:12:39] [SPEAKER_01]: They check themselves in and out constantly.

[00:12:42] [SPEAKER_01]: And after about two weeks, it'll be me and Matt and Tom and Kim and Nina

[00:12:48] [SPEAKER_01]: that'll be checking them in and out.

[00:12:50] [SPEAKER_01]: But we've got a free substitution rule right now where they can suck themselves in at any time

[00:12:58] [SPEAKER_01]: and try to get as many reps as they can get.

[00:13:02] [SPEAKER_01]: That's kind of where I do my evaluations.

[00:13:04] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not going to evaluate how good we are during the game.

[00:13:07] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not going to give somebody a chance to, you know,

[00:13:11] [SPEAKER_01]: I've had a daddy or two over the years,

[00:13:13] [SPEAKER_01]: and I'm talking about at Shelbyville, 28 years there and here.

[00:13:18] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, you need to give my daughter a chance to play in the game.

[00:13:23] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, I give them a chance every day in practice.

[00:13:27] [SPEAKER_01]: And that's where I do my evaluation.

[00:13:29] [SPEAKER_01]: I've got to learn to trust those players in practice.

[00:13:32] [SPEAKER_01]: And if I can, then they'll get an opportunity to play the game.

[00:13:37] [SPEAKER_01]: But if they don't prove themselves in the practices,

[00:13:40] [SPEAKER_01]: which started back in April all the way through when we start November,

[00:13:46] [SPEAKER_01]: you know, I'm not going to, and especially not right now,

[00:13:49] [SPEAKER_01]: because with the net ranking like it is,

[00:13:54] [SPEAKER_01]: because you've got the, if you, the 19 is the key, is the key point.

[00:14:00] [SPEAKER_01]: When you can, if you're going to win a game with 19 plus,

[00:14:04] [SPEAKER_01]: because a lot of times in our conference, in our conference,

[00:14:06] [SPEAKER_01]: when we win games, we lose points in the net ranking.

[00:14:10] [SPEAKER_01]: And the net ranking is where it's at.

[00:14:13] [SPEAKER_01]: When the committee sits down, the selection committee sits down

[00:14:16] [SPEAKER_01]: to decide who's going to go into the NCAA tournament

[00:14:20] [SPEAKER_01]: and what seed you're going to get,

[00:14:22] [SPEAKER_01]: they're looking first at that net ranking.

[00:14:25] [SPEAKER_01]: And then second, they're looking, who did you beat?

[00:14:28] [SPEAKER_01]: Who was on your schedule?

[00:14:29] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, if you look at our schedule, when we start out,

[00:14:35] [SPEAKER_01]: every team on our schedule has got a chance to beat us.

[00:14:39] [SPEAKER_01]: Every team.

[00:14:41] [SPEAKER_01]: And, you know, we, a lot of coaches don't do that.

[00:14:46] [SPEAKER_01]: They're going to put four or five gimmies on that.

[00:14:49] [SPEAKER_01]: They're going to make sure that they, again, I told you this earlier,

[00:14:54] [SPEAKER_01]: they're more concerned about keeping their jobs

[00:14:57] [SPEAKER_01]: and they're about building a program.

[00:14:59] [SPEAKER_01]: From day one here in Middle Tennessee,

[00:15:02] [SPEAKER_01]: from the very first year I got here,

[00:15:04] [SPEAKER_01]: the schedule was made the first year.

[00:15:06] [SPEAKER_01]: I had nothing to do with that first year.

[00:15:09] [SPEAKER_01]: The second year, we opened up with Maryland,

[00:15:13] [SPEAKER_01]: which had just won the national championship.

[00:15:15] [SPEAKER_01]: And we've kind of stayed, we've kind of stayed the course

[00:15:19] [SPEAKER_01]: all the way through.

[00:15:21] [SPEAKER_01]: Now, we do have some teams that will call us and say,

[00:15:23] [SPEAKER_01]: hey, will you play us?

[00:15:24] [SPEAKER_01]: And we will play them.

[00:15:25] [SPEAKER_01]: And maybe they're not as good in the net rankings as some teams.

[00:15:28] [SPEAKER_01]: But you'll look at our schedule year in and year out.

[00:15:31] [SPEAKER_01]: We've got four or five or six teams on there

[00:15:34] [SPEAKER_01]: that's not going to do anything but help us.

[00:15:37] [SPEAKER_01]: If we can get a win, you know, why do you play Georgia?

[00:15:42] [SPEAKER_01]: We can't get Kentucky to come to Middle Tennessee.

[00:15:45] [SPEAKER_01]: Yes, you can.

[00:15:46] [SPEAKER_01]: All you got to do is go.

[00:15:47] [SPEAKER_01]: My thing with anybody in this country, we'll play you.

[00:15:51] [SPEAKER_01]: We'll play Connecticut.

[00:15:52] [SPEAKER_01]: We'll play South Carolina.

[00:15:53] [SPEAKER_01]: But we want you to come back here in front of our fan base.

[00:15:58] [SPEAKER_01]: Our fan base is very knowledgeable.

[00:16:03] [SPEAKER_01]: They're very invested in women's basketball.

[00:16:06] [SPEAKER_01]: And I want to make sure that I bring in some of the best women's teams

[00:16:09] [SPEAKER_01]: that I can get in here for our fan base.

[00:16:12] [SPEAKER_01]: Now, do we win them all?

[00:16:13] [SPEAKER_01]: No.

[00:16:13] [SPEAKER_01]: No, we don't.

[00:16:14] [SPEAKER_01]: But we win enough of them that gives us a chance to get in that large bid

[00:16:18] [SPEAKER_01]: in the NCAA tournament.

[00:16:21] [SPEAKER_02]: And you've still got a few opportunities on that schedule

[00:16:24] [SPEAKER_02]: to get good wins this year.

[00:16:25] [SPEAKER_02]: Iowa State, Kansas State, the first one that comes to mind.

[00:16:27] [SPEAKER_02]: I know you've got some with Purdue.

[00:16:29] [SPEAKER_02]: You know, as you said, the challenging thing with this is one.

[00:16:33] [SPEAKER_02]: We've got Tennessee also.

[00:16:34] [SPEAKER_02]: And Tennessee, yeah, they're returning for their four-game set.

[00:16:36] [SPEAKER_02]: So, with that schedule, you talk about, one, the tradeoff of challenging

[00:16:41] [SPEAKER_02]: your girls, understanding that level of competition.

[00:16:43] [SPEAKER_02]: But, two, the wins necessary to get that at-large bid in the event

[00:16:47] [SPEAKER_02]: that you don't win a conference tournament.

[00:16:49] [SPEAKER_02]: As far as the weight of those games, is that a discussion you have with the girls?

[00:16:52] [SPEAKER_02]: Or is that something that's just kind of understood when you play at MTSU?

[00:16:55] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, I think they understand that.

[00:16:57] [SPEAKER_01]: We recruit to that.

[00:16:58] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, when we sit down with a prospect,

[00:17:01] [SPEAKER_01]: we've got our schedule there in front of us.

[00:17:03] [SPEAKER_01]: And we show them what we've done, the consistency of our schedule.

[00:17:09] [SPEAKER_01]: We explain the net ranking system to the parents.

[00:17:14] [SPEAKER_01]: And we never ask who's recruiting anybody.

[00:17:17] [SPEAKER_01]: We don't care.

[00:17:18] [SPEAKER_01]: When we sit down with a prospect, Matt, Kim, Tom, Nina, and myself,

[00:17:25] [SPEAKER_01]: we don't care who's recruiting them.

[00:17:27] [SPEAKER_01]: We don't care if it's Tennessee or if it's Georgia or if it's Alabama

[00:17:30] [SPEAKER_01]: or if it's South Carolina, this is what we're going to offer you at Middle Tennessee.

[00:17:36] [SPEAKER_01]: And when you start talking about your schedule,

[00:17:40] [SPEAKER_01]: you start talking about your fan base.

[00:17:42] [SPEAKER_01]: And then you get into the academic part.

[00:17:45] [SPEAKER_01]: I think this is where a lot of people miss on this.

[00:17:48] [SPEAKER_01]: And I say a lot of – even some of our coaches here.

[00:17:52] [SPEAKER_01]: We have so much to offer academic-wise at Middle Tennessee State University.

[00:17:57] [SPEAKER_01]: It blows people's minds when you see what we've got,

[00:18:02] [SPEAKER_01]: our concrete management, our aerospace program, our business department.

[00:18:07] [SPEAKER_01]: We were established as a teacher's school.

[00:18:10] [SPEAKER_01]: I can just go on and on and on.

[00:18:12] [SPEAKER_01]: Our honors college, our nursing school.

[00:18:16] [SPEAKER_01]: And you sit down and you start telling these parents,

[00:18:20] [SPEAKER_01]: this is what we can offer academic-wise.

[00:18:23] [SPEAKER_01]: It's one of the – Ebony Rowe was offered by every Ivy League school in the country.

[00:18:29] [SPEAKER_01]: And when I went in and sat down with Nick and Tyra Rowe,

[00:18:33] [SPEAKER_01]: with our staff at their house,

[00:18:36] [SPEAKER_01]: and we showed them what was going on academic-wise,

[00:18:39] [SPEAKER_01]: that they could get a quality education right here at Middle Tennessee State University.

[00:18:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Nick and Tyra got in their car,

[00:18:46] [SPEAKER_01]: and they drove to this university, this campus,

[00:18:49] [SPEAKER_01]: and sat down with all of our professors in the biology department,

[00:18:54] [SPEAKER_01]: the chemistry, the science department,

[00:18:56] [SPEAKER_01]: and they walked into my office and said,

[00:18:59] [SPEAKER_01]: you have what we need academic-wise.

[00:19:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, that told me that we could compete against those schools,

[00:19:05] [SPEAKER_01]: those Ivy League schools.

[00:19:08] [SPEAKER_01]: And it was up to me then to convince Ebony to come here,

[00:19:11] [SPEAKER_01]: which wasn't a big deal for us because she wanted to come and play and win,

[00:19:16] [SPEAKER_01]: and that's what she did.

[00:19:17] [SPEAKER_01]: But look at where she's at now.

[00:19:19] [SPEAKER_01]: She's an engineer.

[00:19:20] [SPEAKER_01]: She met her husband at the school, an engineer's school in Georgia Tech.

[00:19:23] [SPEAKER_01]: She got what she needed here plus a scholarship.

[00:19:25] [SPEAKER_01]: I think it was a $100,000 scholarship to go down and finish her education at Georgia Tech

[00:19:32] [SPEAKER_01]: and then got a job right out of that.

[00:19:34] [SPEAKER_01]: And now look at the success she's had.

[00:19:36] [SPEAKER_01]: She's in her Hall of Fame, and she talked about what she got at Middle Tennessee,

[00:19:42] [SPEAKER_01]: got her ready academic-wise,

[00:19:45] [SPEAKER_01]: and what she got on the athletic floor to compete in the real world,

[00:19:48] [SPEAKER_01]: the everyday world.

[00:19:50] [SPEAKER_01]: And who knows what she's making right now?

[00:19:52] [SPEAKER_01]: Probably a lot more than me and you.

[00:19:54] [SPEAKER_02]: It's a testament to what you've built here at MTSU.

[00:19:58] [SPEAKER_02]: And also, too, one of the more impressive statistics is the amount of turnover

[00:20:02] [SPEAKER_02]: that you don't really see year to year.

[00:20:04] [SPEAKER_02]: Coming into this year, it's a graduation that you lose, besides you, Leah.

[00:20:08] [SPEAKER_02]: But I want to talk about some of those players you are missing.

[00:20:11] [SPEAKER_02]: Savannah Wheeler, we already know about the 20-plus points a game you're missing.

[00:20:14] [SPEAKER_02]: Before you get on to that, let's go back.

[00:20:16] [SPEAKER_01]: I really didn't build this.

[00:20:18] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I just maintained it.

[00:20:20] [SPEAKER_01]: You had Larry Joe Wendman.

[00:20:22] [SPEAKER_01]: You had Louis Bibbis.

[00:20:25] [SPEAKER_01]: You had Stephanie Smith.

[00:20:26] [SPEAKER_01]: They did a tremendous job setting the table.

[00:20:29] [SPEAKER_01]: And then I got to come in and have a seat at that table.

[00:20:33] [SPEAKER_01]: So you got to go all the way back to in the 80s

[00:20:37] [SPEAKER_01]: and through that period of time, the 90s.

[00:20:40] [SPEAKER_01]: And then, you know, and I'm really fortunate that I'm able to sit at that table.

[00:20:46] [SPEAKER_01]: But those guys are the ones that kind of set the table.

[00:20:49] [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm sorry I interrupted you.

[00:20:51] [SPEAKER_01]: But, you know.

[00:20:52] [SPEAKER_02]: No, yeah, that's an excellent point to make, yeah,

[00:20:54] [SPEAKER_02]: about the history that is MTSU's women's basketball.

[00:20:57] [SPEAKER_02]: But to go back to those additions, you're losing Savannah Wheeler,

[00:21:03] [SPEAKER_02]: the 20-plus points a game.

[00:21:04] [SPEAKER_02]: You're losing Courtney Whitson, who is going to be Miss Blue Raider

[00:21:07] [SPEAKER_02]: when it's all said and done.

[00:21:08] [SPEAKER_02]: I'm sure we're years away from putting a jersey up for her.

[00:21:10] [SPEAKER_02]: But when you talk about the players that you've brought in to fill the gaps,

[00:21:14] [SPEAKER_02]: and I kind of use that word loosely because you already touched on it,

[00:21:17] [SPEAKER_02]: Courtney Blakely, you're not bringing her back to be Savannah Wheeler.

[00:21:21] [SPEAKER_02]: You're not bringing Alina Arrique to be Courtney Whitson.

[00:21:24] [SPEAKER_02]: They both provide something different.

[00:21:25] [SPEAKER_02]: But as far as what you're losing from production from Whitson and Wheeler

[00:21:30] [SPEAKER_02]: and now you're turning your attention to Blakely and Arrique,

[00:21:33] [SPEAKER_02]: I want to hear from you the case that, like, this team may be different,

[00:21:37] [SPEAKER_02]: but you're still going to get the same hard-nosed defensive tough team

[00:21:40] [SPEAKER_02]: that you're going to get on a nightly basis even without Wheeler and Whitson.

[00:21:43] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, I think that's what we're working very hard in practice right now

[00:21:47] [SPEAKER_01]: on the defensive end.

[00:21:49] [SPEAKER_01]: Really, if you want to – realistically speaking,

[00:21:51] [SPEAKER_01]: you could have – Nassia could have averaged 30 points a game last year.

[00:21:56] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, easily.

[00:21:57] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, we took the ball out of Savannah's hands.

[00:22:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Savannah could have averaged 10 or 12.

[00:22:03] [SPEAKER_01]: Nassia could have averaged 30.

[00:22:05] [SPEAKER_01]: Courtney could have averaged 10 or 12.

[00:22:07] [SPEAKER_01]: But, you know, the way we spread it out, the way –

[00:22:10] [SPEAKER_01]: I think at one time we had every one of our players last year that started

[00:22:15] [SPEAKER_01]: ended up being a leading scorer somewhere during the season.

[00:22:19] [SPEAKER_01]: And that's pretty good.

[00:22:21] [SPEAKER_01]: Now, can we do that again this year?

[00:22:23] [SPEAKER_01]: That's kind of what you're saying.

[00:22:25] [SPEAKER_01]: Blakely can't beat Savannah.

[00:22:27] [SPEAKER_01]: But Savannah can't beat Blakely either.

[00:22:32] [SPEAKER_01]: Savannah now is playing pro over in Europe.

[00:22:36] [SPEAKER_01]: And I think Blakely's going to have a chance to play pro.

[00:22:40] [SPEAKER_01]: Alina can't beat Courtney.

[00:22:43] [SPEAKER_01]: But Courtney can't be Alina either.

[00:22:46] [SPEAKER_01]: So, you know, we – this is where your coaching staff comes in.

[00:22:52] [SPEAKER_01]: And you've heard me say this over and over and over, and I'll say it again.

[00:22:57] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know that anybody's got a coaching staff that I've got, to be honest with you.

[00:23:04] [SPEAKER_01]: Matt, my son, is the associate head coach.

[00:23:09] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know that anybody in the country has the contacts that Matt Ansel's got.

[00:23:14] [SPEAKER_01]: That's an assistant coach, our associate head coach, whatever you want to say.

[00:23:18] [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know that he's got that, not only inside our country, but the contacts that he's got in Europe.

[00:23:26] [SPEAKER_01]: And you see now that we've got a lot of armed players, it's because of him.

[00:23:32] [SPEAKER_01]: Kim Brooke has been with me 16 years.

[00:23:36] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, if she didn't like it, she wasn't being treated right.

[00:23:40] [SPEAKER_01]: And she – and, you know, if she was not part of the process, she probably left.

[00:23:45] [SPEAKER_01]: But she's as important.

[00:23:48] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, she gets it done.

[00:23:50] [SPEAKER_01]: And her and Matt have got a great relationship with the parents, the players, in the recruiting process.

[00:23:58] [SPEAKER_01]: And then you go to Tom Hodges.

[00:24:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Tom Hodges has been a head coach at North End State.

[00:24:04] [SPEAKER_01]: We were able to bring him back on board.

[00:24:10] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, I've got two young men on our staff that's been head coaches.

[00:24:15] [SPEAKER_01]: Before.

[00:24:16] [SPEAKER_01]: Not very few programs have that.

[00:24:18] [SPEAKER_01]: And the contacts that Tom has developed in the last 20 years has done – not done anything, but him, which he's brought to this program.

[00:24:29] [SPEAKER_01]: And then you bring Nina in, which her jersey retired, one of them at Baylor, one of the most successful players in her history.

[00:24:37] [SPEAKER_01]: She's gone through that process there of winning and playing under – what's the coaches?

[00:24:45] [SPEAKER_00]: Kim Mulkey.

[00:24:46] [SPEAKER_01]: Kim Mulkey, which is at LSU now.

[00:24:50] [SPEAKER_01]: And you bring that on board where she can get that across to our players and our recruits.

[00:24:57] [SPEAKER_01]: And then you go – you have Courtney Blankley, which you – I mean, Courtney Whitson.

[00:25:02] [SPEAKER_01]: Which, I mean, any program in the country would have loved to have Courtney Whitson.

[00:25:08] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to just tell you.

[00:25:09] [SPEAKER_01]: She's a winner.

[00:25:10] [SPEAKER_01]: And you bring her on board in the operations position.

[00:25:14] [SPEAKER_01]: And that's where she needs to be because she needs to learn how the – all the insights of a Division I program.

[00:25:20] [SPEAKER_01]: Because she's going to be the head coach one day.

[00:25:22] [SPEAKER_01]: Could be the head coach here one day.

[00:25:23] [SPEAKER_01]: Who knows?

[00:25:25] [SPEAKER_01]: And she'll know how to run a program.

[00:25:27] [SPEAKER_01]: And this is one of the reasons when we sat down at the end of the year and she came in and said, hey, you've got an opening.

[00:25:32] [SPEAKER_01]: Do I need to apply for it?

[00:25:33] [SPEAKER_01]: And I said, absolutely, because you need to know there's more than just Thursdays and Saturday nights.

[00:25:40] [SPEAKER_01]: There's all kinds of things that takes place behind the scene.

[00:25:43] [SPEAKER_01]: How to raise money.

[00:25:44] [SPEAKER_01]: How to recruit.

[00:25:45] [SPEAKER_01]: How to schedule the hotels.

[00:25:46] [SPEAKER_01]: Make sure the meals are there.

[00:25:48] [SPEAKER_01]: Make sure your transportation is there.

[00:25:50] [SPEAKER_01]: There's so much going on there that she needed to know all that.

[00:25:54] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, she's just been a player.

[00:25:56] [SPEAKER_01]: She's been given a pair of tennis shoes.

[00:25:58] [SPEAKER_01]: And she's been given a pair of sweatsuits.

[00:26:00] [SPEAKER_01]: Now, where does all that come from?

[00:26:02] [SPEAKER_01]: How does it materialize?

[00:26:04] [SPEAKER_01]: And so I don't think anybody's got a better staff than I've got.

[00:26:09] [SPEAKER_01]: And I don't say that.

[00:26:10] [SPEAKER_01]: I say that and truly, truly mean that because I know these other staffs around the country.

[00:26:15] [SPEAKER_01]: I've no nearly every head coach and every pro.

[00:26:17] [SPEAKER_01]: And I know their staffs.

[00:26:20] [SPEAKER_01]: And I wouldn't want some of them around me, to be honest with you.

[00:26:24] [SPEAKER_02]: And they probably wouldn't want me around them.

[00:26:27] [SPEAKER_02]: Well, that staff is instrumental to the success you had last year.

[00:26:31] [SPEAKER_02]: They're 18-0, the second time ever in Conference USA for a team to go through undefeated and win the conference tournament championship.

[00:26:37] [SPEAKER_02]: I want to preview, you know, from your eyes a little bit of what Conference USA has to offer.

[00:26:41] [SPEAKER_02]: I know a lot of eyes are looking at Liberty.

[00:26:44] [SPEAKER_02]: They've returned four of their starting five.

[00:26:48] [SPEAKER_02]: But truthfully, this is my opinion.

[00:26:50] [SPEAKER_02]: I don't know that you'll share the same opinion, but past that, you know, it really is a two-headed race.

[00:26:54] [SPEAKER_02]: But even the success you had against Liberty, you know, last year would show that it really is your conference to lose once again.

[00:27:02] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, Liberty's got some great players.

[00:27:04] [SPEAKER_01]: We played three games against them last year, and all three games were pretty good.

[00:27:09] [SPEAKER_01]: Pretty competitive games.

[00:27:11] [SPEAKER_01]: Could have went either way.

[00:27:14] [SPEAKER_01]: But they've got some great players that are well coached, and they're going to be pretty good.

[00:27:20] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, every year you have some program that surprises you.

[00:27:26] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, last year FIU surprised everybody.

[00:27:29] [SPEAKER_01]: And I think they have maybe three starters back, maybe four.

[00:27:33] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not sure, but I think three.

[00:27:35] [SPEAKER_01]: We haven't really got into all that yet.

[00:27:38] [SPEAKER_01]: We're more or less into our non-conference stuff right now.

[00:27:42] [SPEAKER_01]: But, you know, they played hard.

[00:27:45] [SPEAKER_01]: I thought Jack State played pretty hard, too.

[00:27:49] [SPEAKER_01]: I thought New Mexico State played hard.

[00:27:51] [SPEAKER_01]: They've got a lot of young ladies back.

[00:27:55] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, La Tech gave us a few go-back.

[00:27:58] [SPEAKER_01]: First game of the year, we had to go into overtime to win that game.

[00:28:02] [SPEAKER_01]: And then we kind of, you know, when they came, the next time we played them,

[00:28:05] [SPEAKER_01]: I think we played them a couple of times.

[00:28:07] [SPEAKER_01]: Didn't we play them for the conference tournament?

[00:28:09] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, three times.

[00:28:11] [SPEAKER_01]: They're always well coached.

[00:28:12] [SPEAKER_01]: They're very competitive.

[00:28:14] [SPEAKER_01]: Year in and year out, they bring in some new players, and they lose some players.

[00:28:19] [SPEAKER_01]: But, you know, they've got their coaches there that do a great job.

[00:28:23] [SPEAKER_01]: And then, you know, you're always going to have – you've got Western Kentucky.

[00:28:27] [SPEAKER_01]: I think they got their maybe four main starters back.

[00:28:31] [SPEAKER_01]: So they – or maybe even five.

[00:28:33] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not sure on that, but I know they got four starters back.

[00:28:37] [SPEAKER_01]: And, you know, they were – I think they got their seven a hole last year

[00:28:41] [SPEAKER_01]: with their non-conference schedule.

[00:28:43] [SPEAKER_01]: I think they lost a lot.

[00:28:44] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, a lot of it's a lot is mental.

[00:28:47] [SPEAKER_01]: When you lose and you lose and you lose and you get to thinking, well, can I win?

[00:28:52] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, should we win or should we – you know, whatever.

[00:28:55] [SPEAKER_01]: And I think that's kind of what they got into.

[00:28:57] [SPEAKER_01]: So they're probably a little better than their record showed last year.

[00:29:02] [SPEAKER_01]: So I think, again, you're going to have a good – I think a lot of it's going to come down

[00:29:06] [SPEAKER_01]: to everybody stays healthy.

[00:29:08] [SPEAKER_01]: If we stay healthy, we're going to be all right.

[00:29:11] [SPEAKER_01]: Probably everybody else if they stay healthy.

[00:29:13] [SPEAKER_01]: But, you know, if you have one or two – in our conference, with the way it's kind of set up,

[00:29:19] [SPEAKER_01]: you know, we're not like a South Carolina where we can lose two kids

[00:29:22] [SPEAKER_01]: and we can bring two more up that were in the top 20 in the country in a given year

[00:29:30] [SPEAKER_01]: to take those positions.

[00:29:32] [SPEAKER_01]: We're not in a situation like that.

[00:29:35] [SPEAKER_01]: We're not like a Connecticut, you know, that he lost three or four kids last year

[00:29:38] [SPEAKER_01]: and he was still in the, what, the Sweet 16.

[00:29:41] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:29:41] [SPEAKER_01]: And we're not like that.

[00:29:44] [SPEAKER_01]: And so – and I don't think any of our programs in our conference is like that.

[00:29:48] [SPEAKER_01]: If we lose one or two good kids or good players, it hurts us.

[00:29:53] [SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely.

[00:29:53] [SPEAKER_02]: Well, that is women's head coach Rick Ansel.

[00:29:56] [SPEAKER_02]: Coach, I appreciate you taking the time to talk with us today.

[00:29:59] [SPEAKER_02]: Well, thank you very much.

[00:30:00] [SPEAKER_02]: Thank you for having me on.

[00:30:01] [SPEAKER_00]: Did you know the Blue Raider Podcast has an online store?

[00:30:07] [SPEAKER_00]: You can now support your favorite podcast by checking out our selection at our website,

[00:30:11] [SPEAKER_00]: BlueRaiderPodcast.com.

[00:30:13] [SPEAKER_00]: And stay tuned for new merchandise releases as we collaborate with athletes in NIL partnerships.

[00:30:20] [SPEAKER_02]: And joining us now on the Blue Raider Podcast is head men's basketball coach Nick McDevitt.

[00:30:25] [SPEAKER_02]: Coach, how's it going?

[00:30:26] [SPEAKER_02]: Doing well.

[00:30:27] [SPEAKER_04]: Hope you are.

[00:30:27] [SPEAKER_02]: I am doing well.

[00:30:28] [SPEAKER_02]: I just had the opportunity to sit through practice, see a lot of these new faces,

[00:30:33] [SPEAKER_02]: still obviously learning a little bit of the names.

[00:30:35] [SPEAKER_02]: Now I'm trying to see a little bit what these guys bring to the table for your team.

[00:30:39] [SPEAKER_02]: That's a big question that a lot of Raiders fans have for you this year is it's an entire transformation for you.

[00:30:45] [SPEAKER_02]: What are you seeing so far through your first couple weeks of practice?

[00:30:48] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, I like the way that this group has come together, really meshed well.

[00:30:53] [SPEAKER_04]: I think our newcomers have brought depth to our team, some size to our team, as well as some athleticism.

[00:31:01] [SPEAKER_04]: So you think about the additions of Cam Weston and Torrey Austin from last year's team, two guys that didn't play for us.

[00:31:10] [SPEAKER_04]: In addition to the newcomers, it gives us, to your point, a lot of new guys, a lot of new faces.

[00:31:16] [SPEAKER_04]: But I like the way that they're playing together right now.

[00:31:18] [SPEAKER_02]: One of the things that stood out to me watching practice, and I know this is kind of a staple of a Nick McDevitt team, is the pace of play.

[00:31:27] [SPEAKER_02]: And I think you would agree with me that when Cam goes out last year, it seems the pace fell off because you have a new guy at the point.

[00:31:34] [SPEAKER_02]: You get Cam back.

[00:31:35] [SPEAKER_02]: I know you were rolling through some reps today.

[00:31:38] [SPEAKER_02]: I didn't get to see a full action of him today.

[00:31:40] [SPEAKER_02]: But the pace seemed to be there again.

[00:31:43] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, you really want to try to – we try to dictate pace, particularly when we feel like we've got a deep group and work in our bench.

[00:31:52] [SPEAKER_04]: Last year when Cam went down and then a couple weeks later Josh Gundule went down, we had a couple –

[00:31:58] [SPEAKER_04]: there's two guys that we felt were in our top seven or eight guys, and now without them, our rotation shrinks.

[00:32:04] [SPEAKER_04]: And so if your rotation shrinks but you're still forcing pace of play, you're going to wear out your own team.

[00:32:11] [SPEAKER_04]: And so all of a sudden, our fans that have seen us play over the last couple of years and a lot of pressing and a lot of up-tempo in the offensive end,

[00:32:20] [SPEAKER_04]: we just couldn't do that last year because we just weren't as deep.

[00:32:24] [SPEAKER_04]: And then with Torrey Alston redshirting, it just didn't allow us to get up and down and force that pace of play.

[00:32:30] [SPEAKER_04]: Right now we feel like we've got a deeper group that will allow us to play more aggressively on the defensive end.

[00:32:37] [SPEAKER_04]: Obviously you can sub freer.

[00:32:40] [SPEAKER_04]: You can soak up fouls.

[00:32:42] [SPEAKER_04]: You don't want to foul all the time, but you can soak that up a little easier when you've got a deeper group.

[00:32:47] [SPEAKER_04]: And then on the offensive end, you're able to dictate the pace of play on that end as well.

[00:32:53] [SPEAKER_04]: So we do want to play up-tempo and it allows us to play 9 or 10 deep and hopefully force our opponents to try to play 9 or 10 deep.

[00:33:02] [SPEAKER_04]: And hopefully we can kind of get into team's legs later in the game.

[00:33:07] [SPEAKER_02]: You're going into year number seven.

[00:33:09] [SPEAKER_02]: And I want to know, talk a little ball with me here about yourself because there is kind of a Nick McDevitt type of style that you play with.

[00:33:18] [SPEAKER_02]: You've been seven years now in Conference USA.

[00:33:20] [SPEAKER_02]: Have you kind of found that maybe not personnel, maybe it is philosophy or maybe it's a mixture of the two,

[00:33:25] [SPEAKER_02]: that your game and the way you coach it is kind of conforming to the way Conference USA is?

[00:33:29] [SPEAKER_02]: Because at times the defense is kind of something that is real heavy in this conference per se than what you were at Asheville.

[00:33:36] [SPEAKER_02]: Do you kind of find that your game changing or the personnel changing with that?

[00:33:40] [SPEAKER_04]: Well, I think just overall college basketball changing.

[00:33:43] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, these days you've got to be able to score the ball.

[00:33:46] [SPEAKER_04]: I mean, there's so many guys out there that can that when they're not on your team, it's hard.

[00:33:53] [SPEAKER_04]: I mean, you can have some really good defensive possessions,

[00:33:55] [SPEAKER_04]: but when you're going against talented offensive players, all of a sudden they score anyway.

[00:34:00] [SPEAKER_04]: And so you've got to be able to put points on the board for one.

[00:34:03] [SPEAKER_04]: But also I think Conference USA is a league where you can't afford to be, in our opinion, too small or too young.

[00:34:11] [SPEAKER_04]: And sometimes you can be both and you're in trouble.

[00:34:15] [SPEAKER_04]: But when you're old and you're pretty big, usually those are the teams that have had success in this league.

[00:34:20] [SPEAKER_04]: I think you could be young in some leagues around the country.

[00:34:24] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, sometimes you're in a so-called low major league.

[00:34:28] [SPEAKER_04]: And sometimes that freshman that you got, he's just better than some of the juniors that are on some of the other teams,

[00:34:33] [SPEAKER_04]: some of the juniors and seniors.

[00:34:34] [SPEAKER_04]: So you can afford to be young and still have maybe one of the best players in that league and still win.

[00:34:42] [SPEAKER_04]: You think about what is now the power four level, you can afford to be young sometimes.

[00:34:46] [SPEAKER_04]: Well, that young player, he's still one of the top five or ten players in the country.

[00:34:50] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, you think about the young man that was just up the road a couple of years ago in Brandon Miller that went to Alabama.

[00:34:56] [SPEAKER_04]: Well, he's still one of the best players in the SEC, even as a freshman.

[00:35:00] [SPEAKER_04]: So you want to try to have a good mix of young players that are talented.

[00:35:07] [SPEAKER_04]: But you can also afford to be really young at this level.

[00:35:11] [SPEAKER_04]: And getting those young guys that are one of the top five to ten players in Conference USA,

[00:35:17] [SPEAKER_04]: well, usually those guys are being recruited by a level above, you know, against some, you know,

[00:35:24] [SPEAKER_04]: really tough competition to get those guys.

[00:35:26] [SPEAKER_04]: It's hard to get them.

[00:35:27] [SPEAKER_04]: So, you know, usually if you've got older guys and some size in this league, you got a chance to have success.

[00:35:35] [SPEAKER_02]: It's just kind of the nature of the way the game is.

[00:35:38] [SPEAKER_02]: We talk about the recruiting aspect of it, especially with the transfer portal.

[00:35:41] [SPEAKER_02]: And this year is you got six new guys.

[00:35:44] [SPEAKER_02]: And I'm going to do my best here.

[00:35:45] [SPEAKER_02]: I don't want to miss anybody.

[00:35:46] [SPEAKER_02]: Jared Hall, Tulsa.

[00:35:48] [SPEAKER_02]: You got Isan Mustafa from TCU slash Coastal Carolina, where most people probably recognize the name.

[00:35:52] [SPEAKER_02]: Jalen Counter, IUPUI, Alec Oglesby, Stetson, Christian Fuss, someone that we all know very well.

[00:35:59] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, that's right.

[00:36:00] [SPEAKER_02]: And then Lance from Arizona State.

[00:36:01] [SPEAKER_02]: So I know that so many guys to really talk about how they're going to impact this team in their own ways.

[00:36:07] [SPEAKER_02]: And, you know, maybe I can kind of lead you into this question from what I saw.

[00:36:11] [SPEAKER_02]: Lance, real deal.

[00:36:12] [SPEAKER_02]: I think Counter is a lot better than the tape would even imply, because I think we've talked about this off record before.

[00:36:19] [SPEAKER_02]: Just I don't think he got a fair shot at where he's coming from.

[00:36:21] [SPEAKER_02]: And in my opinion, he's probably the biggest steal out of this group.

[00:36:24] [SPEAKER_02]: But you could definitely make the case for Mustafa, who's a physical presence, something that if you're concerned about losing JCJ, he kind of fills that gap.

[00:36:33] [SPEAKER_02]: But he's just a different type of ball player.

[00:36:35] [SPEAKER_02]: And then Alec Oglesby.

[00:36:37] [SPEAKER_02]: I like the tape, but we haven't seen that quite yet.

[00:36:40] [SPEAKER_02]: So kind of lead me into that, Coach.

[00:36:43] [SPEAKER_02]: Where do these guys contribute?

[00:36:44] [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, when we go into game one, you know, are these guys we're going to see on a regular basis now?

[00:36:48] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, yeah, they really are.

[00:36:50] [SPEAKER_04]: I mean, that's why we recruited them.

[00:36:51] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, you're recruiting older guys because you hope and they should be able to contribute right away.

[00:36:58] [SPEAKER_04]: It's really hard to think that you're going to have a true freshman come in and be one of your top five, six players.

[00:37:03] [SPEAKER_04]: When you get an older guy, whether it be a grad transfer or a third or fourth year college player, those guys are the guys you're counting on to come in and help you immediately.

[00:37:10] [SPEAKER_04]: You mentioned several.

[00:37:11] [SPEAKER_04]: You mentioned all of them, but Kamari Lanz is, you said, the real deal.

[00:37:15] [SPEAKER_04]: He is a talented offensive player.

[00:37:17] [SPEAKER_04]: He's got great size.

[00:37:18] [SPEAKER_04]: Right now he's about 6'7", 6'8", 230 to 235 pounds.

[00:37:23] [SPEAKER_04]: And with his, that kind of size and his ball skill, he's an offensive weapon for us out there.

[00:37:29] [SPEAKER_04]: Issam Mustafa averaged a double-double two years ago at Coastal Carolina out of the Sun Belt.

[00:37:35] [SPEAKER_04]: So he brings that tough, rugged inside presence.

[00:37:38] [SPEAKER_04]: Jalen Counter, you did say, may be the steal of the group.

[00:37:42] [SPEAKER_04]: And you think, you know, looking at his numbers at IUPUI, he led their team in almost every statistical category.

[00:37:49] [SPEAKER_04]: And he's a little better than we thought.

[00:37:51] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, I think he's, we thought he was good or else we wouldn't have recruited him.

[00:37:55] [SPEAKER_04]: But at the same time, you watch him with some of those other guys around him and he's just not asked to do everything.

[00:38:02] [SPEAKER_04]: And that's no knock on IUPUI.

[00:38:04] [SPEAKER_04]: It's just with, you know, all of a sudden JP's to your left and Kamari's to your right.

[00:38:08] [SPEAKER_04]: Nissan Mustafa's down on the block.

[00:38:10] [SPEAKER_04]: You can't load up on Jalen all the time.

[00:38:14] [SPEAKER_04]: So he plays well, really well with other good players.

[00:38:17] [SPEAKER_04]: And then having Christian Fussell back gives us depth, but not just experience, but experience here in our own program.

[00:38:24] [SPEAKER_04]: So having him back has been great.

[00:38:26] [SPEAKER_04]: Alec Oglesby is arguably the best shooter in our program.

[00:38:29] [SPEAKER_04]: I had a shoulder issue earlier in the summer and had to have that repaired and fixed.

[00:38:36] [SPEAKER_04]: But he should be back, obviously, well before conference play.

[00:38:40] [SPEAKER_04]: But we think just maybe a week or so into the regular season.

[00:38:44] [SPEAKER_04]: And so hopefully here in about four to five weeks, we'll have him back.

[00:38:48] [SPEAKER_04]: And, you know, Jacob Johnson is just now kind of starting to get the rust off of himself as well.

[00:38:54] [SPEAKER_04]: He had just a knee procedure over the summer.

[00:38:58] [SPEAKER_04]: Nothing serious.

[00:38:59] [SPEAKER_04]: Just want to make sure that he's feeling really good before the season starts.

[00:39:03] [SPEAKER_04]: So we're not whole yet.

[00:39:04] [SPEAKER_04]: We're not complete yet.

[00:39:06] [SPEAKER_04]: But we're getting there.

[00:39:07] [SPEAKER_04]: And then obviously having Jared Hall back, you know, played his high school ball up at Lebanon High School.

[00:39:13] [SPEAKER_04]: And having him back just brings another 6'8 guy with strength and athleticism that allows us to play with some depth.

[00:39:20] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, you think about Jared and Kamari and JB and Shake and Torrey Alston.

[00:39:27] [SPEAKER_04]: Now all of a sudden you've got a good group of long athletic forwards that can make plays out there.

[00:39:33] [SPEAKER_02]: And I'll say, too, to build off of the Jared Hall comment, I mean, the guy also kind of stretches the floor for you.

[00:39:38] [SPEAKER_02]: And that's something that, too, has kind of taken form with this team is that four has the ability to shoot at all three levels.

[00:39:43] [SPEAKER_02]: And that's kind of, again, that's vital to the space that you want on your offense.

[00:39:47] [SPEAKER_04]: No question.

[00:39:47] [SPEAKER_04]: We said it earlier here, you've just got to be able to score the ball these days.

[00:39:52] [SPEAKER_04]: And having another guy that can stretch the floor at that position is important.

[00:39:56] [SPEAKER_04]: When you've got that threat with guys like himself and Kamari, Alec Oglesby, it just spreads the floor for playmakers like Justin Porter and Cam Weston and Jalen Counter.

[00:40:07] [SPEAKER_04]: And so when those guys can't shoot and you can really load up the lane, it's hard even for really, really good playmakers.

[00:40:15] [SPEAKER_04]: There's nowhere to go if they don't respect your ability to make outside shots.

[00:40:19] [SPEAKER_04]: It doesn't mean you have to be a 40 percent three-point shooter.

[00:40:22] [SPEAKER_04]: You just got to be good enough to where the defense feels like they got to be out there to guard you.

[00:40:26] [SPEAKER_04]: And I think that's the thing that several of these guys will allow some of our downhill guys, our paint getters, to be able to make plays.

[00:40:37] [SPEAKER_02]: I promise this will be the last time I bring this topic up.

[00:40:40] [SPEAKER_02]: But the Cam Weston injury, okay, he's back at practice today.

[00:40:44] [SPEAKER_02]: Again, I like what I see.

[00:40:46] [SPEAKER_02]: It really, truthfully, from my eyes, this is just my opinion, I don't think he's missed a beat.

[00:40:50] [SPEAKER_02]: Like, he looks like the same Cam that I saw, you know, a year ago at this point.

[00:40:55] [SPEAKER_02]: Still quick.

[00:40:56] [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, has amazing eyes.

[00:40:57] [SPEAKER_02]: Obviously, we know what he can do with the ball in his hands.

[00:41:00] [SPEAKER_02]: Are you kind of seeing that now?

[00:41:02] [SPEAKER_02]: Logan was telling me that he's back in full swing this week, right?

[00:41:05] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, he's pretty much back to form.

[00:41:07] [SPEAKER_04]: He got cleared several weeks ago as far as medically cleared.

[00:41:12] [SPEAKER_04]: You could see that, you know, he's not at 100 percent.

[00:41:15] [SPEAKER_04]: He's just allowed to do things.

[00:41:17] [SPEAKER_04]: But he's, you know, still getting his legs back under him, his wind back under him.

[00:41:23] [SPEAKER_04]: But he's looking awfully good.

[00:41:26] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, he was, I thought, playing at a first-team all-league, if not a conference player of the year caliber,

[00:41:31] [SPEAKER_04]: before he went down.

[00:41:32] [SPEAKER_04]: I mean, last summer, his fall, he was really, really good.

[00:41:36] [SPEAKER_04]: And he's worked really hard to get back to that level.

[00:41:38] [SPEAKER_04]: He puts in a lot of work with our strength coach as well as our trainer to get himself back out there.

[00:41:45] [SPEAKER_04]: And for some guys, because he sees things that others don't, it's important, particularly for our new players,

[00:41:52] [SPEAKER_04]: to get minutes with Cam to start here in the preseason to play with him.

[00:41:56] [SPEAKER_04]: Because now all of a sudden you get used to, you know, in a pick and roll,

[00:41:59] [SPEAKER_04]: and that guy just doesn't see me when I do this.

[00:42:01] [SPEAKER_04]: And this guy doesn't see me when I do this.

[00:42:03] [SPEAKER_04]: And all of a sudden, Cam Weston can hit you in the nose with one.

[00:42:06] [SPEAKER_04]: And so it's important for our other players to see that you better be looking.

[00:42:12] [SPEAKER_04]: And so with both Cam and Jalen Counter, it gives us two guys with this team that can make plays in those kind of situations.

[00:42:21] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.

[00:42:21] [SPEAKER_02]: And back to our conversation about pace, when you have quarterbacks like that at the point guard position,

[00:42:26] [SPEAKER_02]: as you said, you really can't take a rep off.

[00:42:28] [SPEAKER_02]: You have to consistently find yourself opening to play without the basketball, as the saying would go.

[00:42:32] [SPEAKER_02]: So I'm extremely impressed with Cam and Jalen in both in that PG1 and 2.

[00:42:38] [SPEAKER_02]: You might even 1A, 1B kind of situation.

[00:42:41] [SPEAKER_02]: But in the early going, as we are going to preview a little bit of the season here coming in a second,

[00:42:46] [SPEAKER_02]: are there any minutes that are going to be withheld from Cam early on?

[00:42:49] [SPEAKER_02]: Is that kind of like, you know, what can we expect with that roster shakeup?

[00:42:52] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, I think early, you know, we'll have him on a pitch count, so to say.

[00:42:57] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, I don't really want to the first week just go from 0 to 100, and all of a sudden he's just full bore.

[00:43:05] [SPEAKER_04]: So we'll kind of monitor that.

[00:43:08] [SPEAKER_04]: We do right now, even with practice load, watch what he's doing.

[00:43:14] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, so he won't be playing 38 minutes in the first game.

[00:43:19] [SPEAKER_04]: But at the same time, he will be out there.

[00:43:22] [SPEAKER_04]: And so, you know, we'll just have to pick and choose based on what the game situation presents.

[00:43:28] [SPEAKER_04]: But, yeah, the good thing is you've got other guys now, particularly with counter,

[00:43:34] [SPEAKER_04]: but also with Justin Porter's experience last year having to run the point by himself.

[00:43:39] [SPEAKER_04]: Now you've got some other guys that can kind of burden some of that load when Cam's not out there.

[00:43:48] [SPEAKER_02]: So let's move into the other acquisition on the portal.

[00:43:53] [SPEAKER_02]: Not necessarily an acquisition, just a reacquisition, if you will, with Justin Porter.

[00:43:59] [SPEAKER_02]: Interesting situation.

[00:44:00] [SPEAKER_02]: He has a heck of a year last year, kind of taking on a new role.

[00:44:02] [SPEAKER_02]: I know we've talked about this ad nauseum in our summer recording.

[00:44:06] [SPEAKER_02]: But JP just, it doesn't seem like he, again, talk about missing a beat.

[00:44:10] [SPEAKER_02]: It seems like he's one with the group, as always.

[00:44:12] [SPEAKER_02]: There's obviously no hard feelings if he felt comfortable enough to come back.

[00:44:15] [SPEAKER_02]: But talk to the point of him kind of sliding back into the shooting guard.

[00:44:20] [SPEAKER_02]: Or maybe, I know you might have hinted that he could be comfortable in the point guard position

[00:44:24] [SPEAKER_02]: in the event that you might need him there.

[00:44:25] [SPEAKER_02]: So the versatility that he brings to the team, as well as his scoring abilities.

[00:44:29] [SPEAKER_02]: Gosh, I mean, again, talk about steals of the transfer portal season.

[00:44:32] [SPEAKER_02]: Getting him back was probably another huge acquisition.

[00:44:35] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, getting, you know, having JP back is, was really big for our team

[00:44:40] [SPEAKER_04]: and the success of this year's season.

[00:44:43] [SPEAKER_04]: And he's a great young man.

[00:44:45] [SPEAKER_04]: And at the end of last year, just came in the office and expressed that he might want to look around

[00:44:50] [SPEAKER_04]: and kind of see what other opportunities might be there.

[00:44:54] [SPEAKER_04]: He did and knew that Murfreesboro in Middle Tennessee was where he wanted to be.

[00:44:59] [SPEAKER_04]: And so when he decided to come back, our players welcomed him with open arms.

[00:45:04] [SPEAKER_04]: So did we as a staff.

[00:45:05] [SPEAKER_04]: And we need him.

[00:45:08] [SPEAKER_04]: I mean, he could score that ball.

[00:45:09] [SPEAKER_04]: Obviously, he'll be asked to do other things.

[00:45:11] [SPEAKER_04]: But he's a guy that can score it multiple ways because he had to run the point position last year

[00:45:17] [SPEAKER_04]: pretty much by himself the whole year.

[00:45:20] [SPEAKER_04]: It does allow us kind of that third PG, if you will, you know, between Cam and J-Rock.

[00:45:26] [SPEAKER_04]: And now having him back, it's been good for JP.

[00:45:31] [SPEAKER_04]: Last year was good for JP.

[00:45:32] [SPEAKER_04]: Obviously, it was hard for a lot of people, you know, it was a hard season.

[00:45:37] [SPEAKER_04]: But what it did allow and force JP to do was start seeing things and playing the game in a different manner.

[00:45:45] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, when you've got that kind of speed that he does and that kind of quickness,

[00:45:50] [SPEAKER_04]: you know, you think about a young man like that in high school.

[00:45:53] [SPEAKER_04]: He's by far the fastest guy in the building.

[00:45:55] [SPEAKER_04]: So he's just going by people and getting in the lane shooting layups.

[00:45:58] [SPEAKER_04]: And now all of a sudden, you're in junior college and typically a lot of games are up and down

[00:46:03] [SPEAKER_04]: and using that same speed the same way.

[00:46:06] [SPEAKER_04]: And now you're asked to be able to use your speed, but is in a playmaking role for others as a point guard.

[00:46:13] [SPEAKER_04]: And, you know, there's times you can get in the lane in Conference USA and there's seven foot shot blockers in there.

[00:46:18] [SPEAKER_04]: And so having to make the right reads as a PG was something he was forced to have to do and not just make reads as a score.

[00:46:27] [SPEAKER_04]: And so what it did is it has grown his game.

[00:46:31] [SPEAKER_04]: And now all of a sudden you've got these two guys in Cam and Jalen out there with you.

[00:46:36] [SPEAKER_04]: You've got multiple guys that can make plays off the bounce for themselves and others.

[00:46:41] [SPEAKER_02]: I want to talk about Conference USA now and in the coming weeks to kind of tease the Blue Raider podcast.

[00:46:46] [SPEAKER_02]: We will be doing a Conference USA preview for both men's and women's.

[00:46:50] [SPEAKER_02]: But I ran into you at media days at football practice.

[00:46:53] [SPEAKER_02]: And that was kind of one of the topics that me and you had discussed was how you think.

[00:46:58] [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, I don't think I don't want to put too much pressure on you, but I think your home run, you had a home run with the portal.

[00:47:03] [SPEAKER_02]: I think you did well.

[00:47:04] [SPEAKER_02]: And relative to the rest of the conference, you did well.

[00:47:06] [SPEAKER_02]: But it just this conference just doesn't ever seem to let up.

[00:47:09] [SPEAKER_02]: The rest of the conference, you know.

[00:47:11] [SPEAKER_02]: They did well, too.

[00:47:12] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, they all they all do.

[00:47:14] [SPEAKER_02]: And you talk about Western Kentucky, who for the most part returns, I think, four of their five starters.

[00:47:19] [SPEAKER_02]: They just have a head coaching change.

[00:47:20] [SPEAKER_02]: Louisiana Tech is going to lose their big contributor.

[00:47:23] [SPEAKER_02]: But they got a big portal pickup.

[00:47:25] [SPEAKER_02]: And then Liberty.

[00:47:26] [SPEAKER_02]: Liberty is another group that really did a good job in the portal.

[00:47:29] [SPEAKER_02]: So it's just like it doesn't let up.

[00:47:30] [SPEAKER_02]: But I want to hear from you, someone that has a little bit more insight to those teams in the conference.

[00:47:35] [SPEAKER_02]: What's the outlook on Conference USA this year?

[00:47:37] [SPEAKER_04]: Well, I think you kind of nailed it there.

[00:47:39] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, there are a lot of teams that, you know, ourselves included, that if you asked them, you know, what's the ceiling of this team?

[00:47:45] [SPEAKER_04]: How good do you think you can be?

[00:47:47] [SPEAKER_04]: I think we can win it.

[00:47:48] [SPEAKER_04]: But I would say that half the coaches in this league would give you the same answer.

[00:47:54] [SPEAKER_04]: And not just making stuff up.

[00:47:57] [SPEAKER_04]: It's not hyperbole.

[00:47:58] [SPEAKER_04]: It's they, too, can win the league.

[00:48:02] [SPEAKER_04]: You think about Western.

[00:48:03] [SPEAKER_04]: They won our tournament last year.

[00:48:05] [SPEAKER_04]: Had four of their five starters back off of that team.

[00:48:09] [SPEAKER_04]: La Tech will have Daniel Baccio, that will probably be the preseason player of the year in the league at 6'11".

[00:48:15] [SPEAKER_04]: Sam Houston, similar to Justin Porter, had their best player, Lamar Wilkerson, enters the portal, decides to go back to Sam Houston.

[00:48:24] [SPEAKER_04]: So that was big for them.

[00:48:25] [SPEAKER_04]: And Liberty was a team that, even if you asked Rich McKay this, like, I think we've got a good group and a good team.

[00:48:33] [SPEAKER_04]: Talking about Liberty.

[00:48:34] [SPEAKER_04]: But we're just too small for this league.

[00:48:36] [SPEAKER_04]: We weren't for the A-Sun.

[00:48:39] [SPEAKER_04]: But Conference USA is a little bit bigger in terms of the size of all the players.

[00:48:45] [SPEAKER_04]: And they addressed that.

[00:48:47] [SPEAKER_04]: They've got a lot of new additions.

[00:48:48] [SPEAKER_04]: And you can see what they went out and tried to get.

[00:48:51] [SPEAKER_04]: So you think about those teams, obviously, that's not even mentioned in UTEP and New Mexico State,

[00:48:57] [SPEAKER_04]: and how hard those teams play and how hard they are to prepare for defensively.

[00:49:01] [SPEAKER_04]: So it's going to be a tough league.

[00:49:04] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, it's going to be a tough road to hoe, but, you know, we won't be a slouch either.

[00:49:09] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, I think there are a lot of good teams that can win it.

[00:49:12] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, and to throw one out at UTEP there, I mean, they've got a bunch – I mean, talk about a transformed team.

[00:49:17] [SPEAKER_02]: They've got a bunch of transfers there.

[00:49:19] [SPEAKER_02]: And Coach Golding typically does a pretty good job with those types of situations.

[00:49:22] [SPEAKER_02]: And then New Mexico State gets the main transfer, big center guy that, again,

[00:49:26] [SPEAKER_02]: is kind of picking up where they left off as far as their physical presence down low.

[00:49:30] [SPEAKER_02]: So, again, I would encourage listeners to stay tuned for that preview.

[00:49:34] [SPEAKER_02]: But, Nick, I want to turn it over to you.

[00:49:36] [SPEAKER_02]: Another question here just as we wrap this thing up.

[00:49:38] [SPEAKER_02]: One of the bigger concerns across the fandom is the – you talk about the ceiling, the floor.

[00:49:44] [SPEAKER_02]: We have those games, like especially where the season ended against Western Kentucky last year,

[00:49:48] [SPEAKER_02]: where you have these larger deficits where it just seems the game gets a little out of control.

[00:49:52] [SPEAKER_02]: And I'll even make this a two-parter.

[00:49:53] [SPEAKER_02]: The road woes is something that I know that you're a lot more forthcoming than most fans would think you would be

[00:49:58] [SPEAKER_02]: because I know that it's an area that you want to address.

[00:50:00] [SPEAKER_02]: That's an area that's got to get better.

[00:50:02] [SPEAKER_02]: But how have you kind of approached those things as far as keeping those games tight

[00:50:07] [SPEAKER_02]: and as well as performing better on the road?

[00:50:09] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, I think both are answered with just having toughness, you know, really mental toughness.

[00:50:16] [SPEAKER_04]: And can you fight through adversity?

[00:50:19] [SPEAKER_04]: Can you fight through hard times?

[00:50:20] [SPEAKER_04]: It's hard to win college basketball games.

[00:50:23] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, when you're on the road, everything's against you.

[00:50:26] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, you don't practice there.

[00:50:28] [SPEAKER_04]: You don't play there.

[00:50:29] [SPEAKER_04]: The fans aren't cheering for you.

[00:50:30] [SPEAKER_04]: You didn't sleep in your own bed.

[00:50:32] [SPEAKER_04]: You didn't eat food that you're used to.

[00:50:34] [SPEAKER_04]: It's just – it's different.

[00:50:35] [SPEAKER_04]: So, you've got to be able to raise your game a whole new level.

[00:50:39] [SPEAKER_04]: And I think no matter what league you're in around the country, if you want to be the top dog in the league,

[00:50:44] [SPEAKER_04]: you have to win road games.

[00:50:45] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, good leagues, the home team wins most of those games.

[00:50:49] [SPEAKER_04]: The teams that win the league win road games too.

[00:50:52] [SPEAKER_04]: And if you look at our success here when, you know, a couple years ago we win 26 games,

[00:50:58] [SPEAKER_04]: win 19 games, so over a two-year span we win 45 games.

[00:51:04] [SPEAKER_04]: You've got to go win against good teams on the road.

[00:51:06] [SPEAKER_04]: And so that's one of the things that we talk to about this team is always having next play mentality.

[00:51:11] [SPEAKER_04]: That's something that's really hard when you don't have experienced guys in the right spots

[00:51:18] [SPEAKER_04]: is to have a next play mentality.

[00:51:20] [SPEAKER_04]: They've never done it.

[00:51:21] [SPEAKER_04]: So, you've got to have a group that's together, that's mentally tough, that's well-led, player-led.

[00:51:28] [SPEAKER_04]: They band together and can find ways to win games in tough situations.

[00:51:33] [SPEAKER_04]: And that'll be this team's challenge.

[00:51:35] [SPEAKER_04]: That'll be the challenge for whoever's going to win it is can you win when, you know,

[00:51:40] [SPEAKER_04]: you're on the road and things aren't going your way.

[00:51:42] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, our guys love playing here.

[00:51:44] [SPEAKER_04]: I mean, we won – I don't know how many it was in a row.

[00:51:47] [SPEAKER_04]: And you lose one and start another streak.

[00:51:49] [SPEAKER_04]: So, our guys love playing here.

[00:51:50] [SPEAKER_04]: But I'm sure everybody else loves playing on their home court too.

[00:51:54] [SPEAKER_04]: So, again, that'll be our challenge is can we face adversity well enough together to beat good teams.

[00:52:02] [SPEAKER_02]: And I think that does speak to the challenge.

[00:52:05] [SPEAKER_02]: And back to the conference conversation, how even this conference is across the board.

[00:52:08] [SPEAKER_02]: You're not going to UTEP thinking, well, this should be an automatic win.

[00:52:12] [SPEAKER_02]: And really, that's the case for all road games, non-conference included.

[00:52:16] [SPEAKER_02]: And you've got a relatively, I would say, tough non-conference schedule.

[00:52:21] [SPEAKER_02]: You've got a lot of teams that I would say that are on that level with you that allows you to play competitive basketball.

[00:52:26] [SPEAKER_02]: And I would say very like-minded to the conference, like UAB, Murray State, Belmont.

[00:52:31] [SPEAKER_02]: These are teams that are, again, in the eyes of everyone that's viewing this.

[00:52:36] [SPEAKER_02]: That's MTSU's level.

[00:52:37] [SPEAKER_02]: We should be competitive in these games.

[00:52:38] [SPEAKER_02]: And I think you've set a schedule to challenge us, guys, before the games really start to matter.

[00:52:42] [SPEAKER_04]: That's right.

[00:52:43] [SPEAKER_04]: You're going to find out what you've got real early.

[00:52:45] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, whether it's going to play in the teams that you just mentioned or our first game in Myrtle Beach.

[00:52:51] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, we're playing Ohio.

[00:52:53] [SPEAKER_04]: Most publications are picking Ohio to win the MAAC this year.

[00:52:57] [SPEAKER_04]: So, you just keep rattling them off.

[00:52:59] [SPEAKER_04]: And it's a good game, good team after another.

[00:53:02] [SPEAKER_04]: Right before the Christmas break, we're at Tennessee.

[00:53:06] [SPEAKER_04]: Tennessee, you know, you want to see those are the kind of teams, talking about Tennessee, you know, the preseason top 15, top 20 in the country.

[00:53:13] [SPEAKER_04]: Well, that's the kind of team that when you win Conference USA, you're going to play in the first round NCAA tournament.

[00:53:20] [SPEAKER_04]: And you've got to find, you'll find out real quick, like, all right, how well, how good do we have to play to win that game?

[00:53:26] [SPEAKER_04]: Because you don't want to just get to the NCAA tournament and go to the house.

[00:53:29] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, you're trying to advance no matter who you're playing.

[00:53:32] [SPEAKER_04]: And when you're playing a top 15, top 20 team in the country on the road, you know, at their place, that's tough.

[00:53:39] [SPEAKER_04]: And so is advancing in the NCAA tournament.

[00:53:42] [SPEAKER_04]: So, whether it's neutral site games against Ohio or South Florida or whether it's on the road at UAB or Tennessee or home games that we've got this year,

[00:53:51] [SPEAKER_04]: they'll all be a challenge in their own right.

[00:53:54] [SPEAKER_02]: Well, great stuff from you, as always.

[00:53:57] [SPEAKER_02]: Again, I can't encourage people enough to look forward to this upcoming season for so many reasons.

[00:54:02] [SPEAKER_02]: These kids in general, one, that's a great group of kids.

[00:54:04] [SPEAKER_02]: Two, they play with a lot of energy.

[00:54:05] [SPEAKER_02]: I think the game is going to get a lot more exciting here in Murphy Center.

[00:54:08] [SPEAKER_02]: I encourage the fans to continue bringing it, showing out, much like you do for the Lady Raiders.

[00:54:13] [SPEAKER_02]: The Blue Raiders this year, I think, are, again, the real deal.

[00:54:15] [SPEAKER_02]: That's my shot, not to put too much pressure on your coach.

[00:54:17] [SPEAKER_02]: But that's my college shot.

[00:54:18] [SPEAKER_02]: But I appreciate you taking the time to speak with us and we look forward to this year.

[00:54:25] [SPEAKER_02]: The BRP is proudly partnered with Rivals Network affiliate GoMiddle.com.

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[00:54:39] [SPEAKER_02]: The BRP is also partnered with The College Huddle, a nationwide collaborative effort with over 80 Division I programs represented.

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[00:54:57] [SPEAKER_02]: And closing up our episode, as always, we like to go behind enemies' lines.

[00:55:01] [SPEAKER_02]: And we are kicking off the Conference USA midweek games, always fun and exciting.

[00:55:06] [SPEAKER_02]: Joining us now is Louisiana Tech representative from GoTech Please Don't Die, as well as Bleed Tech Blue,

[00:55:12] [SPEAKER_02]: the Rivals affiliate for Louisiana Tech.

[00:55:14] [SPEAKER_02]: It is Nathan Ruppel.

[00:55:15] [SPEAKER_02]: Nathan, how's it going, man?

[00:55:17] [SPEAKER_03]: It's going all right.

[00:55:19] [SPEAKER_03]: About as well as you could expect with a 1-3 record.

[00:55:21] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm wearing funeral black because that's what it feels like this program is at this point.

[00:55:26] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I know it's tough.

[00:55:27] [SPEAKER_02]: I've had the opportunity to speak with Evan Spencer, also with you at GoTech.

[00:55:32] [SPEAKER_02]: In the preseason, he's very down on Sonny Cumbie.

[00:55:36] [SPEAKER_02]: I'm sure after, as you already said, those first four weeks, collectively, it seems like Rustin is pretty down on Coach Cumbie right now.

[00:55:44] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, especially if you consider who he replaced.

[00:55:47] [SPEAKER_03]: Skip Holtz, while he had his faults and Tech never won a conference championship under his tenure,

[00:55:52] [SPEAKER_03]: he was kind of the definition of fine, good enough, not the most exciting person in the world to have as your head coach,

[00:55:59] [SPEAKER_03]: but he had a successful program, and it kind of felt like Tech was in a rut, though.

[00:56:04] [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, he had a couple bad years.

[00:56:06] [SPEAKER_03]: COVID didn't help with that, and so we brought in an offensive mind, someone like Sonny Cumbie,

[00:56:10] [SPEAKER_03]: who worked under Mike Leach, Tommy Tuberville, Cliff Kingsbury, the kind of names you want to be associated with.

[00:56:16] [SPEAKER_03]: Kind of low expectations in year one in 2022.

[00:56:20] [SPEAKER_03]: In 2020, yeah, 2022.

[00:56:23] [SPEAKER_03]: 2023, the team looked worse, and then this year, the team looks even worse than that.

[00:56:27] [SPEAKER_03]: We kind of expected some sort of progress from year one to two.

[00:56:32] [SPEAKER_03]: Skip Holtz went from four and eight to eight and four from his first year to his second year.

[00:56:36] [SPEAKER_03]: Cumbie went three and nine to three and nine, and now three and nine almost looks like the ceiling on this season.

[00:56:42] [SPEAKER_03]: So things are not so great with what we're seeing out of Sonny Cumbie.

[00:56:47] [SPEAKER_02]: I can't help but draw the comparison to what MTSU has dealt with the last 18 years.

[00:56:54] [SPEAKER_02]: Now, understandably, it's only Cumbie's third season.

[00:56:56] [SPEAKER_02]: The biggest difference, obviously, without the year discrepancy, when Coach Stock still got to Murfreesboro 18 years ago,

[00:57:03] [SPEAKER_02]: what would be 19 years ago now, he was a co-conference champion his first year.

[00:57:07] [SPEAKER_02]: And then it only took him three years to go two and ten.

[00:57:10] [SPEAKER_02]: And no one was really calling for his head because they saw what he was very capable of.

[00:57:13] [SPEAKER_02]: Whereas the exact opposite is happening now for Sonny Cumbie, where, like as you said, it seems like three wins is the ceiling for that guy.

[00:57:21] [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, is there really an opportunity where another three and nine season and he's out the door?

[00:57:26] [SPEAKER_02]: Is the buyout kind of a situation?

[00:57:28] [SPEAKER_02]: Because that was the reason a lot of us hesitated here to let go of Stock still late in his senior, was the buyout just seemed insurmountable.

[00:57:35] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, the buyout is an issue, right?

[00:57:37] [SPEAKER_03]: A team like Louisiana Tech that I think has the second lowest athletic budget out of any other team in FBS,

[00:57:43] [SPEAKER_03]: the other being 30 minutes down the road in Monroe at ULM, the buyout is going to be an issue.

[00:57:48] [SPEAKER_03]: Sonny Cumbie makes $1.1 million a year and there are three or four years left on his contract.

[00:57:53] [SPEAKER_03]: There are people that are probably willing to pay that bill.

[00:57:55] [SPEAKER_03]: We have a couple high dollar amount donors that if you're a Tech fan, you recognize the names of.

[00:57:59] [SPEAKER_03]: And I think that they would pay the bill, get him out the door, especially because the biggest difference between now and when he was hired is that we have a new athletic director.

[00:58:10] [SPEAKER_03]: We have a new university president.

[00:58:13] [SPEAKER_03]: So the university president came in, brought in a new athletic director.

[00:58:17] [SPEAKER_03]: The athletic director now has a chance to go get his guy.

[00:58:19] [SPEAKER_03]: And I think that that is what will be the difference here.

[00:58:22] [SPEAKER_03]: Sonny Cumbie isn't an established name.

[00:58:24] [SPEAKER_03]: He's a head football coach, but he's not been making the kind of progress we want to see.

[00:58:29] [SPEAKER_03]: You have those two new positions that really want to have their guy in place for the thing that promotes the brand of Louisiana Tech as much as anything else.

[00:58:38] [SPEAKER_03]: And so I really think that if Sonny Cumbie doesn't even, I want to say if he doesn't make a bowl game,

[00:58:44] [SPEAKER_03]: which sounds kind of weird to say that we would only lose three more games all year.

[00:58:48] [SPEAKER_03]: But I really don't see a way that Sonny Cumbie saves his job after this year.

[00:58:53] [SPEAKER_03]: Maybe he gets one more year, so that buyout figure gets reduced a little bit more.

[00:58:57] [SPEAKER_03]: But I don't think he's staying long term unless something drastically changes.

[00:59:01] [SPEAKER_02]: 1.1 million.

[00:59:02] [SPEAKER_02]: That's got to be upper echelon of Conference USA.

[00:59:06] [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, Derek Mason, new head coach at MTSU, is only just south of a million.

[00:59:10] [SPEAKER_02]: So that's quite a figure to wrap my head around.

[00:59:12] [SPEAKER_02]: But then throw another wrench into it, kind of some topical stuff for Louisiana Tech.

[00:59:16] [SPEAKER_02]: Like, apologies if this news has already come out when this episode releases.

[00:59:20] [SPEAKER_02]: But it sounds like there are some talkings about Louisiana Tech maybe moving into the Sunbelt Conference.

[00:59:26] [SPEAKER_02]: What are you hearing on your end from that?

[00:59:29] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, I hope that news has come out by now because that would mean it's true.

[00:59:33] [SPEAKER_03]: There is, within the fan base, a lot of we liked the old Conference USA.

[00:59:37] [SPEAKER_03]: It's nothing against the middle.

[00:59:38] [SPEAKER_03]: It's nothing against Western.

[00:59:39] [SPEAKER_03]: It's really not even against UTEP, who has since bolted for the Mountain West.

[00:59:45] [SPEAKER_03]: The old Conference, I think, was fine.

[00:59:47] [SPEAKER_03]: People hoped for better.

[00:59:48] [SPEAKER_03]: When we joined Conference USA, Tulane, another Louisiana school, was in the group.

[00:59:52] [SPEAKER_03]: Southern Miss was here.

[00:59:52] [SPEAKER_03]: That was another regional rival.

[00:59:55] [SPEAKER_03]: This current version of Conference USA, especially with a team like New Mexico State in it,

[00:59:59] [SPEAKER_03]: without a team like UTEP in it, just looks like a conference of a bunch of spread-out small schools.

[01:00:05] [SPEAKER_03]: And if we're going to play a bunch of small schools, we might as well play the ones that are closer.

[01:00:09] [SPEAKER_03]: And I think that there's a lot of desire to be in the Sunbelt that wasn't there three or four years ago.

[01:00:16] [SPEAKER_03]: There are still going to be Tech fans that see themselves as better than ULL.

[01:00:20] [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, after all, our winning streak against them dates back, I think, to the 90s in football.

[01:00:24] [SPEAKER_03]: And I won't bring up our series history against Southern Miss because that one doesn't look as favorably on us.

[01:00:32] [SPEAKER_03]: But these are teams that we have a history with.

[01:00:35] [SPEAKER_03]: These are teams that whenever we play them at home, we have fans in the door.

[01:00:40] [SPEAKER_03]: And when we are playing teams like Liberty or teams like New Mexico State, it's hard to get people into the stadium or people to care about what we have in Ruston.

[01:00:51] [SPEAKER_03]: So there is desire, I think, from a lot of our fan base of just playing teams that we care about again.

[01:00:58] [SPEAKER_03]: And that's kind of changed, especially now that Sunbelt has lapped Conference USA a bit in terms of, you know, ranking and talent and things like that.

[01:01:08] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it definitely looked like the upgrade back 10 years ago for MTSU.

[01:01:11] [SPEAKER_02]: And now, especially as football has leveled itself out, that's an area that you would like to catch back up with the Sunbelt.

[01:01:18] [SPEAKER_02]: And now the news of UTEP, as you already mentioned, going to the Mountain West.

[01:01:22] [SPEAKER_02]: And then you've got New Mexico State potentially another domino that could fall.

[01:01:26] [SPEAKER_02]: Well, geographically, I like where the conference could be.

[01:01:28] [SPEAKER_02]: But the one thing I always really hang my hat on Louisiana Tech being a part of this conference is how good their baseball program is.

[01:01:34] [SPEAKER_02]: I know we're talking football, but that's kind of an area that, you know, you hate to lose Louisiana Tech from that regard.

[01:01:40] [SPEAKER_02]: And even as of recently, the basketball program, too.

[01:01:43] [SPEAKER_02]: So I don't want to get too deep in the weeds on that.

[01:01:46] [SPEAKER_02]: We're talking about our game that's coming up this Thursday.

[01:01:50] [SPEAKER_02]: Let's dig in a little bit here.

[01:01:51] [SPEAKER_02]: One of the biggest topics for you guys outside of the Sonny Cumbie situation is the quarterback.

[01:01:56] [SPEAKER_02]: Jack Turner went in week one as the starter.

[01:01:59] [SPEAKER_02]: You had a switch up there.

[01:02:00] [SPEAKER_02]: Now you've had an injury.

[01:02:02] [SPEAKER_02]: Evan Bullock, the redshirt freshman, has taken over.

[01:02:04] [SPEAKER_02]: And he kind of looks like he's the one that is probably going to start this Thursday.

[01:02:08] [SPEAKER_02]: You know, tell us a little bit about that quarterback situation.

[01:02:11] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[01:02:12] [SPEAKER_03]: So like you mentioned, Blake Baker, who was the second string entering the season,

[01:02:15] [SPEAKER_03]: he took over for Jack Turner when Jack Turner went down with an injury in the opener against

[01:02:20] [SPEAKER_03]: Nichols State, an in-state school.

[01:02:23] [SPEAKER_03]: And Blake Baker looked actually pretty good.

[01:02:26] [SPEAKER_03]: Jack Turner was fine, but he was kind of had a nagging injury.

[01:02:29] [SPEAKER_03]: I got the impression that he was able to play, but it was an FCS school.

[01:02:32] [SPEAKER_03]: And so you didn't want to risk a long-term injury because of that.

[01:02:36] [SPEAKER_03]: Then you have Jack Turner playing against NC State, not looking so great.

[01:02:41] [SPEAKER_03]: Blake Baker comes in, looks, I guess, a little bit better.

[01:02:44] [SPEAKER_03]: And then gets hurt.

[01:02:46] [SPEAKER_03]: And you kind of had this situation of Jack Turner and Blake Baker kind of seem to be at

[01:02:51] [SPEAKER_03]: the same level where Sonny Cumbie, I think what he was trying to do is interject some energy

[01:02:57] [SPEAKER_03]: into the offense and saying, we look bad.

[01:02:59] [SPEAKER_03]: Let's put a new quarterback out there.

[01:03:00] [SPEAKER_03]: Think about, I think it was the 2018 National Championship with Tua coming in for Jalen Hurts.

[01:03:06] [SPEAKER_03]: And you end up in a situation where, okay, well, that new energy sparks the offense and gets

[01:03:11] [SPEAKER_03]: things going.

[01:03:13] [SPEAKER_03]: I think he's played that card now, I think three times this year, trying to get something

[01:03:16] [SPEAKER_03]: going by putting in a new quarterback.

[01:03:18] [SPEAKER_03]: And it's really not working.

[01:03:20] [SPEAKER_03]: It doesn't really matter to me who the quarterback is that much.

[01:03:24] [SPEAKER_03]: There's a little bit of a difference in terms of the way that they're able to use their talents.

[01:03:27] [SPEAKER_03]: Jack Turner is able to run a bit, not so much of a Lamar Jackson style, but he is able

[01:03:34] [SPEAKER_03]: to take a hit, kind of runoff tackle.

[01:03:37] [SPEAKER_03]: Those kinds of things that you would really want out of your quarterback.

[01:03:40] [SPEAKER_03]: In this past game, we had four plays, I think, from the one yard line and couldn't punch it

[01:03:44] [SPEAKER_03]: in.

[01:03:44] [SPEAKER_03]: I think Jack Turner would have been nice to have at quarterback for a situation like

[01:03:47] [SPEAKER_03]: that for a QB sneak.

[01:03:50] [SPEAKER_03]: But Bullock has yet to throw an interception.

[01:03:52] [SPEAKER_03]: Evan Bullock, the redshirt freshman, actually looks like the most senior of this roster in

[01:03:57] [SPEAKER_03]: terms of the quarterback room.

[01:03:58] [SPEAKER_03]: He handles the pressure better.

[01:04:00] [SPEAKER_03]: Turner has thrown some awful passes when he's been blitzed.

[01:04:03] [SPEAKER_03]: And a couple of those have actually been returned for touchdowns by the defense.

[01:04:07] [SPEAKER_03]: So Bullock has had the pocket presence.

[01:04:09] [SPEAKER_03]: He looks older than he is.

[01:04:11] [SPEAKER_03]: He's the kind of guy I really want to keep in town for as long as we can keep him.

[01:04:14] [SPEAKER_03]: I think we can get a transfer quarterback probably that's better than him talent wise.

[01:04:18] [SPEAKER_03]: But he's the kind of guy that, you know, I'm not going to be ashamed about.

[01:04:22] [SPEAKER_03]: Will he win us games?

[01:04:23] [SPEAKER_03]: No, but he won't lose us games.

[01:04:25] [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, we haven't hit on the defense yet, but I don't think we need a quarterback that

[01:04:29] [SPEAKER_03]: wins us games.

[01:04:29] [SPEAKER_03]: I think we just need a quarterback that doesn't lose us games like throwing pick sixes does.

[01:04:34] [SPEAKER_03]: Throwing pick sixes do.

[01:04:36] [SPEAKER_03]: And that's what Jack Turner has really struggled with.

[01:04:38] [SPEAKER_03]: And so that's why I like Bullock as our quarterback.

[01:04:42] [SPEAKER_02]: Tell us a little bit about the playing style between the two.

[01:04:45] [SPEAKER_02]: I know going into the season, we kind of thought you'd be a run heavy team with the two headed

[01:04:51] [SPEAKER_02]: monster you had in the backfield, but the yards aren't there.

[01:04:54] [SPEAKER_02]: Is the offensive line what's causing that hindrance on the running game?

[01:04:57] [SPEAKER_02]: Tell us a little bit about the schematics offensively.

[01:05:00] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.

[01:05:00] [SPEAKER_03]: So the first thing is play calling here, both passing and I think it affects rushing here

[01:05:05] [SPEAKER_03]: as well.

[01:05:06] [SPEAKER_03]: The Sonny Cumbie passing attack works by short passes to the flat and is getting receivers

[01:05:11] [SPEAKER_03]: in space to allow them to make plays on their own.

[01:05:14] [SPEAKER_03]: Tech has some pretty good receivers.

[01:05:16] [SPEAKER_03]: And True Edwards had a couple of really nice plays against NC State.

[01:05:20] [SPEAKER_03]: The son of Troy Edwards, a tech grade and the current NCAA record holder for most receiving

[01:05:27] [SPEAKER_03]: yards in a game.

[01:05:28] [SPEAKER_03]: The kind of guy that you want to get in space.

[01:05:31] [SPEAKER_03]: The issue is that defenses know what we're trying to do.

[01:05:35] [SPEAKER_03]: When we throw to the flat.

[01:05:38] [SPEAKER_03]: Every play either.

[01:05:40] [SPEAKER_03]: A lot of times Jack Turner was missing his throws there.

[01:05:42] [SPEAKER_03]: Evan Bullock was able to make them a little more accurately, but if you're just thrown to

[01:05:46] [SPEAKER_03]: the line of scrimmage, there's no difference between that and a run game.

[01:05:49] [SPEAKER_03]: And so if you're going to.

[01:05:50] [SPEAKER_03]: Do that, then the defense is stacked the box and you're not able to run the ball either.

[01:05:54] [SPEAKER_03]: So that style of passing offense hurts the running offense as well.

[01:06:00] [SPEAKER_03]: And.

[01:06:02] [SPEAKER_03]: It mentioned in the notes here and something that every time I'm on a show, I have to remind

[01:06:07] [SPEAKER_03]: myself that this is true.

[01:06:09] [SPEAKER_03]: Tech is third in conference passing right now, and that's just something I don't believe

[01:06:13] [SPEAKER_03]: that doesn't feel right.

[01:06:15] [SPEAKER_03]: I haven't watched a lot of other coups of play outside of the opponents that we play

[01:06:19] [SPEAKER_03]: the week before we play them.

[01:06:20] [SPEAKER_03]: And this is our second conference game, but this passing game has just been been bad.

[01:06:26] [SPEAKER_03]: And when your passing game is bad, it doesn't allow for the defense not to sell out on the

[01:06:30] [SPEAKER_03]: run game.

[01:06:31] [SPEAKER_03]: And so we have a couple guys.

[01:06:33] [SPEAKER_03]: We have Denario Davenport, the transfer from Texas state.

[01:06:37] [SPEAKER_03]: We hope for good things from him.

[01:06:39] [SPEAKER_03]: Marquise Crosby.

[01:06:39] [SPEAKER_03]: He was injured last year, but he's looked pretty good this year, but he's also been hurt a little

[01:06:43] [SPEAKER_03]: bit and that hasn't helped him either.

[01:06:46] [SPEAKER_03]: But the offensive line, I think has really been the struggle here.

[01:06:49] [SPEAKER_03]: I mentioned Jack Turner under pressure in terms of pass blocking.

[01:06:52] [SPEAKER_03]: The run blocking seems to be worse than that.

[01:06:56] [SPEAKER_03]: There's an advanced stat called line yards, which I have a blog post up on the go tech.

[01:07:00] [SPEAKER_03]: Please don't die blog.

[01:07:01] [SPEAKER_03]: That kind of digs into this a little bit more, but our offensive line currently ranks, I think

[01:07:05] [SPEAKER_03]: third worst, at least the last time I checked in terms of creating holes for the running back

[01:07:10] [SPEAKER_03]: to run through and that's not going to help anybody.

[01:07:13] [SPEAKER_03]: It doesn't really matter who's behind the line of scrimmage, accepting the handoff from

[01:07:16] [SPEAKER_03]: the quarterback.

[01:07:17] [SPEAKER_03]: If it's Crosby Davenport or any of the other running backs we have the room have in the

[01:07:21] [SPEAKER_03]: room, that will be a struggle.

[01:07:23] [SPEAKER_03]: It doesn't also help that Crosby and Davenport have fumbled on what would I think be their

[01:07:27] [SPEAKER_03]: second and third longest runs on the season.

[01:07:31] [SPEAKER_03]: That doesn't do them any favors either.

[01:07:32] [SPEAKER_03]: So this is an issue and an issue that is not helping Cumbie if he wants to keep his job.

[01:07:41] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, the third in conference USA passing was a surprising stat because of the one you talk

[01:07:46] [SPEAKER_02]: about already rotating through quarterbacks as you're trying to spark an offense.

[01:07:49] [SPEAKER_02]: So that was a stat.

[01:07:50] [SPEAKER_02]: But I think that the offsetting thing is the running yards, the two Davenport and Crosby,

[01:07:56] [SPEAKER_02]: as you touched on two guys, a lot of people had their eyes on again, kind of being a two headed

[01:08:00] [SPEAKER_02]: monster for the Bulldogs backfield right now collectively have 180 yards through four games.

[01:08:05] [SPEAKER_02]: So it's certainly a disappointment for those two.

[01:08:07] [SPEAKER_02]: But an area that has been bright for the Bulldogs is their defense.

[01:08:11] [SPEAKER_02]: They're number one in total yards allowed in conference USA, 300 per game, under 300 per

[01:08:17] [SPEAKER_02]: game, second in scoring at just 21.8 points per game.

[01:08:21] [SPEAKER_02]: You know, what about this defense is so difficult because they even showed out against an NC State

[01:08:25] [SPEAKER_02]: team that has a relatively good offense when you talk about top 25 teams at that time.

[01:08:30] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[01:08:31] [SPEAKER_03]: And my answer to that almost makes me feel bad because the issue with our teams the last

[01:08:37] [SPEAKER_03]: couple of years and the thing that we thought we would turn around this year is that our defensive

[01:08:40] [SPEAKER_03]: coordinator for those first two years was a guy by the name of Scott Power.

[01:08:45] [SPEAKER_03]: There's another member of this Go Tech Please Don't Die group that has been on a vendetta

[01:08:49] [SPEAKER_03]: to get him fired for the longest time.

[01:08:51] [SPEAKER_03]: And either that worked or probably he just was shown the door outside of our efforts.

[01:08:56] [SPEAKER_03]: But the hope was with a new defensive coordinator, our defense would go from one of the worst

[01:09:01] [SPEAKER_03]: in FBS to five.

[01:09:03] [SPEAKER_03]: I think even we are surprised by how quickly this defense has turned around.

[01:09:07] [SPEAKER_03]: Sadly, the offense has regressed while the defense has progressed and we end up at the

[01:09:11] [SPEAKER_03]: same position of hoping to get to three and nine as we have the past couple years.

[01:09:16] [SPEAKER_03]: But this roster turnover hasn't had much turnover, right?

[01:09:22] [SPEAKER_03]: Zach Zymos led us in tackles, I believe, last year.

[01:09:24] [SPEAKER_03]: He's still around.

[01:09:25] [SPEAKER_03]: He's our leading tackler most games.

[01:09:27] [SPEAKER_03]: He makes those kind of small, imperceptible tackles that you're not really thinking about,

[01:09:32] [SPEAKER_03]: like a running back up the gut.

[01:09:34] [SPEAKER_03]: And he makes one or two yards and he's tackled.

[01:09:37] [SPEAKER_03]: You don't really pay attention to who makes that tackle.

[01:09:38] [SPEAKER_03]: But a lot of times it's our interior linebacker, Zach Zymos.

[01:09:42] [SPEAKER_03]: Colby Fields is a newcomer from LSU.

[01:09:45] [SPEAKER_03]: He's the difference maker kind of player.

[01:09:47] [SPEAKER_03]: He's the kind of guy that makes a play and you remember his name because of how cool the

[01:09:50] [SPEAKER_03]: play was that he made.

[01:09:52] [SPEAKER_03]: But outside of that, our defensive line is mostly the same as it was last year.

[01:09:57] [SPEAKER_03]: And a lot of our defense is the same as it was a year ago, minus some people lost the

[01:10:01] [SPEAKER_03]: graduation and some new faces from incoming freshmen for the most part.

[01:10:06] [SPEAKER_03]: This is not a team that turned over a lot.

[01:10:09] [SPEAKER_03]: It's a coaching thing.

[01:10:11] [SPEAKER_03]: And I think that's what has gotten a lot of people upset with the offense is if the defense

[01:10:15] [SPEAKER_03]: is able to go from one of the worst to one of the best with a new coach with the same

[01:10:20] [SPEAKER_03]: players, then the offense needs that as well.

[01:10:23] [SPEAKER_03]: I realize I'm kind of transitioning your question back into the offense, but I think that's where

[01:10:27] [SPEAKER_03]: a lot of the frustration has been is we see what we can do when we have a good person

[01:10:32] [SPEAKER_03]: in charge and it makes it all the more painful when our offense only plays.

[01:10:36] [SPEAKER_03]: It puts up 10 against a team like FIU.

[01:10:39] [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it's a really rare thing to keep the whole for the most part, whole roster intact

[01:10:44] [SPEAKER_02]: on the defensive side.

[01:10:45] [SPEAKER_02]: And then you get a whole new coaching change.

[01:10:46] [SPEAKER_02]: And then you're like, well, see, obviously, like, yeah, like you said, it's a coaching

[01:10:50] [SPEAKER_02]: philosophy thing.

[01:10:52] [SPEAKER_03]: It's very rare that you get that immediate feedback of, yeah, that was the right call

[01:10:56] [SPEAKER_03]: to fire that coach.

[01:10:57] [SPEAKER_02]: Right, right.

[01:10:58] [SPEAKER_02]: Well, as we close up shop here, Louisiana Tech wins this Thursday because Nathan.

[01:11:06] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, I think the way that we win this game, the only way that we win this game is the

[01:11:11] [SPEAKER_03]: offensive play calling changes.

[01:11:13] [SPEAKER_03]: There have been some rumors that Cumbie and a desperate bid to keep his job and may relinquish

[01:11:17] [SPEAKER_03]: the play calling to another coach.

[01:11:21] [SPEAKER_03]: Who that is, I'm not sure.

[01:11:24] [SPEAKER_03]: But even if this happens, I'm not sure.

[01:11:26] [SPEAKER_03]: But I think that Cumbie's offensive style is very specific in a way that is easily scouted.

[01:11:31] [SPEAKER_03]: The short passes to the flat, not a lot of over-the-top stuff.

[01:11:35] [SPEAKER_03]: I think that if our play calling changes, especially in a way that MTSU has not scouted for, that

[01:11:42] [SPEAKER_03]: is somewhere where we have a chance.

[01:11:43] [SPEAKER_03]: Our defense will keep us in this game.

[01:11:45] [SPEAKER_03]: It may or may not be low scoring, but it definitely won't be where we allow 63 points or something

[01:11:50] [SPEAKER_03]: like that.

[01:11:50] [SPEAKER_03]: We don't need our offense to be amazing.

[01:11:52] [SPEAKER_03]: We just need them to be good enough.

[01:11:54] [SPEAKER_03]: And if we win, we win because our offense has changed in a way that allows our players

[01:12:00] [SPEAKER_03]: to make plays that they've been held back from in previous games this year.

[01:12:05] [SPEAKER_02]: Is home field advantage, would you say that is an advantage for Rustin?

[01:12:09] [SPEAKER_02]: Is there an atmosphere down there?

[01:12:12] [SPEAKER_03]: It's kind of interesting because for the longest time, I started at Louisiana Tech in 2012.

[01:12:19] [SPEAKER_03]: That was the year we went 9-3.

[01:12:21] [SPEAKER_03]: We were 9-1 when we had Orange Bowl reps come to one of our games to see if we would make

[01:12:26] [SPEAKER_03]: the Orange Bowl that year.

[01:12:27] [SPEAKER_03]: There was a whole thing involved.

[01:12:29] [SPEAKER_03]: And since 2012, our stadium has not been as packed.

[01:12:33] [SPEAKER_03]: The Joe has not had as many people in it.

[01:12:36] [SPEAKER_03]: But this year, with the new athletic director, the new university president, that started

[01:12:42] [SPEAKER_03]: to change.

[01:12:43] [SPEAKER_03]: This team is not good, but a lot of students stayed for the entirety of the game against

[01:12:50] [SPEAKER_03]: Nichols, for the entirety of the game against Tulsa.

[01:12:55] [SPEAKER_03]: And so it's becoming a bigger deal.

[01:12:59] [SPEAKER_03]: We're not selling out 30,000 people to come to these games.

[01:13:03] [SPEAKER_03]: But there's a bit more of a home field advantage than I would have expected going into the season

[01:13:09] [SPEAKER_03]: in terms of fan support and fans being rowdy and stuff like that.

[01:13:14] [SPEAKER_02]: Two one-win teams face off this Thursday down in Ruston.

[01:13:19] [SPEAKER_02]: I know that all eyes will be on CBS Sports Network between the two programs.

[01:13:23] [SPEAKER_02]: Nathan Ruppel from Go Tech Please Don't Die and Bleed Tech Blue, the rival's partner.

[01:13:27] [SPEAKER_02]: Nathan, I appreciate you coming on and telling us a little bit about your Bulldogs.

[01:13:34] [SPEAKER_02]: Thanks for tuning in to the Raider wrap-up portion of the episode, where we will recap all things

[01:13:39] [SPEAKER_02]: this last week in the Blue Raiders athletic fall sports, as well as a look ahead to what's

[01:13:43] [SPEAKER_02]: to come on the schedule for those teams.

[01:13:46] [SPEAKER_02]: We will start things off, as always, with soccer.

[01:13:48] [SPEAKER_02]: We've got six points in the Conference USA standings this week with wins over Jacksonville

[01:13:53] [SPEAKER_02]: State 3-0 and a Sunday win over the Kennesaw State Owls 4-2.

[01:13:58] [SPEAKER_02]: Our Player of the Week will go to Manon Labargi, who seems to get it just about every week as

[01:14:02] [SPEAKER_02]: she has scored two goals, getting her to nine on the season, which is good enough to tie

[01:14:07] [SPEAKER_02]: her for second place in Conference USA in total goals scored.

[01:14:11] [SPEAKER_02]: She also picked up an assist in the Kennesaw State 4-2 Sunday victory.

[01:14:15] [SPEAKER_02]: So as the Lady Raiders continue momentum in the Conference USA standings and to clinch a

[01:14:19] [SPEAKER_02]: spot into the postseason tournament, they will be hosting the 100 Miles of Hate this Sunday

[01:14:24] [SPEAKER_02]: at 5 p.m. against Western Kentucky.

[01:14:26] [SPEAKER_02]: So I hope to see a lot of Blue Raider fans supporting Lady Raiders as they continue that

[01:14:31] [SPEAKER_02]: push for the postseason.

[01:14:33] [SPEAKER_02]: Volleyball also winner of two matches this week against FIU Golden Panthers.

[01:14:37] [SPEAKER_02]: They won the first match 3-1 and won the second match 3-0.

[01:14:41] [SPEAKER_02]: It is Andy Spies who continues her hot freshman season, getting her third Conference USA of

[01:14:48] [SPEAKER_02]: the Week, freshman of the week honors with 79 assists in the two matches, which is just

[01:14:52] [SPEAKER_02]: over 11 assists per set.

[01:14:54] [SPEAKER_02]: An exceptional start to her season as a setter.

[01:14:57] [SPEAKER_02]: Exciting, as I've been saying all year for her and what's to come.

[01:15:00] [SPEAKER_02]: The Lady Raiders continue to climb in those standings as well as they look to continue that

[01:15:04] [SPEAKER_02]: success going to the always daunting task of Bowling Green Kentucky to face Western Kentucky.

[01:15:09] [SPEAKER_02]: They will begin tonight at 6 p.m.

[01:15:11] [SPEAKER_02]: And then their second match will be tomorrow at 6 p.m.

[01:15:14] [SPEAKER_02]: Also, then they will return back to the Alumni Memorial Gym on Saturday to face off against

[01:15:18] [SPEAKER_02]: Jacksonville State.

[01:15:20] [SPEAKER_02]: First match is on Saturday at 6 p.m.

[01:15:22] [SPEAKER_02]: And second match will be Sunday, the 13th at 2 p.m.

[01:15:28] [SPEAKER_02]: Lady Raiders Tennis is back home as they will be at the ITA Regionals as we previewed last

[01:15:34] [SPEAKER_02]: week with head coach Tao Bailey Duvall beginning this Thursday here at the Outdoor Complex on campus.

[01:15:39] [SPEAKER_02]: They will kick off the Ohio Valley Regional as teams from all across Tennessee, Kentucky,

[01:15:46] [SPEAKER_02]: Southern Ohio, and Indiana.

[01:15:49] [SPEAKER_02]: And they will start things Thursday that will go all the way to Tuesday as they will begin

[01:15:53] [SPEAKER_02]: to compete for a national individual national championship.

[01:15:56] [SPEAKER_02]: So all eyes there.

[01:15:57] [SPEAKER_02]: The men will be taking part in the same tournament.

[01:16:00] [SPEAKER_02]: However, it will be in West Lafayette hosted by Purdue University beginning this Thursday

[01:16:04] [SPEAKER_02]: also on the 10th.

[01:16:05] [SPEAKER_02]: So stay tuned on social media for all things updated there as well as next week's episode

[01:16:10] [SPEAKER_02]: where we will hopefully have a nice little recap for the successes of both of those teams

[01:16:14] [SPEAKER_02]: this coming weekend.

[01:16:16] [SPEAKER_02]: Lady Raiders Golf got back from Denver, Colorado over the weekend at the Ron Moore Intercollegiate.

[01:16:22] [SPEAKER_02]: They finished 12th of 15 teams.

[01:16:24] [SPEAKER_02]: Abby Lee and Nicole Johnson both tied for 22nd place at one stroke over for the entire weekend.

[01:16:30] [SPEAKER_02]: Kendall Maynard was tied for 54th at 9 over.

[01:16:33] [SPEAKER_02]: Laney Campbell tied for 59th at 10 over.

[01:16:36] [SPEAKER_02]: And Ella Manley tied at 72nd place with 15 strokes over par.

[01:16:41] [SPEAKER_02]: Lady Raiders will conclude their fall season at the Mercedes-Benz Intercollegiate this Sunday,

[01:16:46] [SPEAKER_02]: or excuse me, in two Sundays from now on the 20th.

[01:16:48] [SPEAKER_02]: And that will be concluded on a Tuesday.

[01:16:51] [SPEAKER_02]: So we will do our best to have you wrapped up and concluded as best we can at the end of

[01:16:55] [SPEAKER_02]: their fall season.

[01:16:57] [SPEAKER_02]: Lastly, men's golf had their tournament this last weekend that would be concluding today

[01:17:02] [SPEAKER_02]: canceled the Island at West Bay Invitational down at the Florida Gulf Coast University with

[01:17:07] [SPEAKER_02]: the hurricane coming through now that has been called off.

[01:17:10] [SPEAKER_02]: So they will pick up their next tournament at the Quail Valley Collegiate Invitational in

[01:17:16] [SPEAKER_02]: East Lansing, Michigan.

[01:17:17] [SPEAKER_02]: And that will begin next Monday, the 14th, and will conclude on the Tuesday of our next

[01:17:22] [SPEAKER_02]: episode release.

[01:17:23] [SPEAKER_02]: So stay tuned as we will do our best to be as up to date for that tournament as well.

[01:17:27] [SPEAKER_02]: And then lastly, you've got football that has taken place this Thursday night against

[01:17:33] [SPEAKER_02]: Louisiana Tech down in Ruston.

[01:17:35] [SPEAKER_02]: Of course, that will be on CBS Sports Network.

[01:17:37] [SPEAKER_02]: Exciting to get on the midweek games with Conference USA, as I'm sure you are excited to

[01:17:42] [SPEAKER_02]: see those.

[01:17:42] [SPEAKER_02]: And then the next Tuesday, the release of that episode, there actually will be a home game

[01:17:46] [SPEAKER_02]: going on that night against Kennesaw State as also a part of the Conference USA midweek

[01:17:51] [SPEAKER_02]: schedule.

[01:17:52] [SPEAKER_02]: So a lot of football in the next week with two games going on.

[01:17:56] [SPEAKER_02]: So we'll do our best to keep you up to date.

[01:17:58] [SPEAKER_02]: I look forward to next week's episode where we will actually recap the Louisiana Tech game

[01:18:02] [SPEAKER_02]: this Thursday with Isaiah Davis of the Champ Pod.

[01:18:05] [SPEAKER_02]: I've been looking to get him on the episode, so excited to be able to break down the game

[01:18:09] [SPEAKER_02]: this Thursday with him as well as a look ahead to the Kennesaw State game.

[01:18:12] [SPEAKER_02]: We'll do a Behind Enemy Lines with Owls chat podcast, another friend of the Conference USA

[01:18:18] [SPEAKER_02]: roundtable and College Huddle family.

[01:18:20] [SPEAKER_02]: And then, of course, we're looking to have a soccer player on.

[01:18:23] [SPEAKER_02]: So stay tuned for who that athlete will be in next week's episode.

[01:18:27] [SPEAKER_02]: I appreciate everyone sticking around to the end.

[01:18:29] [SPEAKER_02]: I want to thank our sponsors once again, Mighty Dog Roofing and the Canseco Group.

[01:18:34] [SPEAKER_02]: If you haven't already, make sure you've signed up with rivals, our GoMiddle.com partners to

[01:18:38] [SPEAKER_02]: talk about today's episode as well as all things.

[01:18:42] [SPEAKER_02]: We've got tons of recruiting stuff.

[01:18:43] [SPEAKER_02]: We're obviously football season's in full swing.

[01:18:46] [SPEAKER_02]: A lot of topic of discussion there.

[01:18:47] [SPEAKER_02]: And then in today's episode, two and a half weeks out from basketball, a lot of topics

[01:18:51] [SPEAKER_02]: we'll be picking up there on the forums about basketball season ahead.

[01:18:54] [SPEAKER_02]: So head on over there if you haven't already subscribed for the premium membership.

[01:18:58] [SPEAKER_02]: It's just $10 a month.

[01:18:59] [SPEAKER_02]: Make sure you do that as well as check out CollegeHuddle.com where we've got all the articles,

[01:19:04] [SPEAKER_02]: not just from TSU Athletics, but all things college football written by fan hosted podcast.

[01:19:09] [SPEAKER_02]: So a lot of great information there.

[01:19:11] [SPEAKER_02]: And of course, check out our website if you haven't already at BlueRaiderPodcast.com.

[01:19:15] [SPEAKER_02]: I've got my own blogs written on over there as well as a store.

[01:19:19] [SPEAKER_02]: And if you want to head over there now, if you've stuck around this long, I'll give you

[01:19:22] [SPEAKER_02]: the sneak peek of our new NIL partner.

[01:19:26] [SPEAKER_02]: So I challenge you to go over there, check out who that is, check out a lot of his stuff

[01:19:29] [SPEAKER_02]: that we're putting out for him to support him and his upcoming baseball season.

[01:19:34] [SPEAKER_02]: But nonetheless, I appreciate everyone tuning in to today's episode.

[01:19:38] [SPEAKER_02]: I look forward to basketball season and we will have lots more football to talk about

[01:19:43] [SPEAKER_02]: next week.

[01:19:44] [SPEAKER_02]: And until next time, Go Blue!