Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
To determine the marketability of students. And boy, I'll tell
you what, I wouldn't want to be that person on
campus that has to determine the marketability of each individual
student athlete.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Yeah, no question.
Speaker 3 (00:10):
You You are definitely correct when you say I'm glad
I'm watching from the sidelines because it is Yeah, you know,
another thing, obviously, the news go ahead, no, go ahead,
the the wee can over the news over the weekend.
The big news ideas leaving after new nine years. Your
thoughts on her leaving and her legacy here, Well.
Speaker 4 (00:30):
She left a great legacy, didn't she. And you know
I'm biased. I knew her as a student athlete.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
I consider one of my own, consider one of my girls.
So uh, you know, I'm grateful, right Idea says I'm
one of her mentors, and that is one of the
greatest you know feelings you can have, is to hear that.
So so she's very special. Her family obviously is She's
very special to.
Speaker 4 (00:56):
Do you obey, And she put us on the on
the mark again by taking us to the championship game,
you know, And.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
So I wish her all the best.
Speaker 4 (01:05):
I also know there's a time and place for everything,
and you know.
Speaker 5 (01:09):
They are both the university and.
Speaker 4 (01:11):
Do you have to do what's best for them.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
So I'm happy for and I'll be rooting her from Afar,
and I'll be rooting for the new basketball.
Speaker 4 (01:19):
Coach that comes in. And and you know, it's inevitable.
Change is inevitable.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
And with this crazy, crazy stuff going on in analytics
with the ni L and paying athletes and oh my goodness,
I think we're going to see many changes down the road.
Speaker 6 (01:35):
I don't even know what to say about that too,
because as far as you know, how do you where
do you begin? I mean, there's we were joking, we
were joking, is there anybody even in the office that
could even get things rolling? There's no I assume the
coaches are going to go with.
Speaker 7 (01:45):
Her or what?
Speaker 6 (01:47):
Yeah, you know, well, how do they even begin this
process of putting together a roster?
Speaker 1 (01:51):
And you know, well, again, athletic directors have lists, they
know who they're.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
They're interested in. If not, they're not doing their job right.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
And so I would imagine something's going to happen really
really quick. You know, I know they're on it already.
I got to speak with Desiree just a little bit
a couple of days ago, and I know they're already
on it, so I wouldn't be.
Speaker 4 (02:14):
Surprised, you know, to hear a quick decision on something.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
You have to do that right, because you're right, kids
are leaving, they're entering the portal with everybody else is recruiting,
and yeah, I mean it'll it'll get done.
Speaker 5 (02:26):
It'll get done.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
Yeah, they just the fans just need to know. And
you know, how does one second later, who's next?
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Let's go.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
We've got to make sure our tickets are sold. You know,
he's just like, who's next? Blah blah blah. You want
to keep the momentum going.
Speaker 6 (02:39):
I mean, she's you know, she built, like you said,
she's still something, putting uve on the map for women's hoops.
You know, you're averaging what five six thousand fans a game.
You want to keep that rolling. You maybe find a
coach who's going to have similar charisma and ability to
you know, motivate fans to come out and watch, right, And.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
I know it's hard on the fans because they're hearing
absolutely nothing, so they think nothing's going on, you know,
and I remember being in that position, as we would
you know, do coaching searches, and but you just can't
say anything because you know there's the coach that you
may want to be bringing in has a life at
that school too, and that they don't want their their
athletes and stuff to know all your negotiating stuff. So
(03:17):
it's just a process and it's unfortunate it has to
be so secretive, but it's in the best interest that's
everybody involved.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
So maybe maybe the last question Rocky talking about Cedric.
So we talked about Lowton that was kind of like
the lynchpin to start things here, and was there another
thing or two that you said, how did he pull
this off?
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Uh? Well, I don't I can't think of anything specifically.
I just I just loved his philosophy again, and I
think if I said how did he pull this off?
It would be the NCAA A job because he wanted it.
But you know, there was a lot of talk back then,
(04:03):
you know, already going non traditional, right, and so it
was such a great relief to everybody that that that
he was the.
Speaker 4 (04:11):
One that got the job.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
So I think watching him build up to that was
was something special because he is he was so close
with the NCAA. Again, like I said, and legislation really
mattered to him. It used to drive us crazy because
he would want to know exactly how it was going
to affect us in the department, how we would it
would affect the.
Speaker 4 (04:31):
Conference, and how it would affect nationally. And so we were.
We did a lot of behind the scenes work.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
On that that led to his reputation that ultimately gave
him the job at the NCAA office.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
So I think so eighty two eighty three, you were
just out of college, is that right?
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Well? No, I actually started, as you have made, nineteen
seventy nine as a softball coach. Yeah, and then I
became Mary Roby's assistant in nineteen eighty so I had
been there already four years when Cedric came on.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
So that was going to be my question in terms
of I'm sure Mary was a huge influence on you.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
So and Saidriac number two.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
Absolutely, Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Both of them, I feel are completely responsible for bringing us.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
You know, we always said back then the.
Speaker 5 (05:16):
Modern era, and now we got a.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
New modern error, right, But there is no doubt that
Mary Roby.
Speaker 4 (05:21):
And said Dempsey are the two that laid the foundation.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
For the modern era of athletics and got us in
the position to grow and be as excellent as we
were throughout the nineties.
Speaker 4 (05:30):
I mean, you know, uh, you know it's.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
A combination effort when you're hiring coaches. But you know,
Mary Roby found coach Kendrea, you know, and then Cedric
Dempsey approves it, so you know it's a combined effort.
But you know, same with Frank Bush.
Speaker 5 (05:48):
You know, same. You know, we're all all in it
together with the searches.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
So those two, wow, I mean, we are really grateful
that we had them here at the University bar zone.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
And let me tell a big reason why people know
that block A.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
That's right, that's right. Yeah, absolutely, thank you, Rocky.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Thank you Rocky as always, thanks for your patience.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Thank you, thank you, well, thanks, thank you.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
We're not gonna go to a break.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
We're gonna stay on until the next break, and then
we're gonna listen to Ryan Hansen, who knew Cedric as well.
But we're going to talk a lot about college basketball itself.
In my mind, Dave in the in the games that
I covered, and I covered a few this year and
know Jwan did too. Houston to me was the best
team that I saw in person. Uh, And it's just
because of how they play. You mentioned bullyball. I mentioned
(06:38):
that over the weekend, and it's a good bullyball, not
a bad bullyball. It's like, don't be safe. You have
a TEENPOI leave, don't be safe. And that's just because
what happened on Saturday. I mean they did it a lot.
In fact, Jay, because we joked on Friday and Ray
was with us, right and we made a bet he
took Duke and I took Florida, whoever wins, And I said,
(06:59):
I texted him there down by ten or whatever was
at half, and I said, it's exactly where you that's
what exactly where they want Duke to be feel a
little comfortable. And then they just poured on in the
second half. They're like a racehorse that likes to come
from behind.
Speaker 7 (07:11):
Yeah, I mean that's what they did.
Speaker 6 (07:12):
They you know, they basically waited to the last two
minutes of the game to overtake the leader, to see
the stretch. Yeah, I mean it was incredible. The defense
that they play. We've known about that, you know, all season,
We've watched them do this, and they just did it
on the highest level.
Speaker 7 (07:25):
Possible. Yeah, the best time.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
I was listening to some other sports talk shows coming
in and it's like they just realized realized about Houston.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Like, oh, they're they're good. Yeah, they're good. I said,
where you been?
Speaker 6 (07:37):
They've been good, especially the last couple of years, you know,
and as Arizona's jumped into the Big twelve, they got
a closer look. And you know, that was like the
game at McHale this year, at least at the league
game and a Kale that people were worried about and
excited about.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
Yeah, it's funny. Did you hear his post game interview
with whoever?
Speaker 5 (07:54):
Whoever?
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Did the interview was just on the court.
Speaker 7 (07:56):
Yeah, I'm not sure I did.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
He said, we're seventeen and one, so whatever it was
in the conference is it's not like we played in
the toy pool.
Speaker 7 (08:04):
Ooh yes, I did?
Speaker 5 (08:05):
You know?
Speaker 3 (08:06):
And it's right because we talked about Arizona getting confidence
from the league. Yeah, they owned the league and played
against all these teams.
Speaker 6 (08:13):
I could tell you a little we have time. Yeah,
I got a little personal story that I had with
him one time years ago. I was really good friends
with this guy named Bud Namik who had been the
voice of Washington State Radio for years and years, and
Bud and I went to high school together. So every
year basically he would come to Tucson and we would
get together either at the game or after the game.
So you know, this has got to be again in
(08:34):
the early nineties, I guess, or somewhere around there, and
they come down and you know, Kelvin's the coach, and
Bud and I get together at one of the restaurants
after the game. And this is like ten thirty eleven
thirty at night, and he says, oh, Kevin will be
down in a minute. So Kelvin just came down from
the hotel and joined us for a couple after game drinks.
Speaker 7 (08:54):
Was really fun.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Thirty five thirty two years ago, at least thirty years
or so. He's sixty nine now is thirty seven thirty.
Speaker 7 (09:01):
It was great.
Speaker 6 (09:01):
He was hilarious. I mean, how many coaches would do
that even now? For sure, maybe back then they did
a little bit more.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
This is funny because I love the way he walks.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
I don't know if you noticed the way he walks
kind of like, hey, my stuff, my stuff is good stuff,
you know, like my I think I've just said about
this with my interaction with him. So when he was
at Washington State, and if you remember, the citizen had
this plus and minus boxes defense offense blah blah, So I,
you know, check this checked out and in tangibles in
Washington State was in town and I said, Washington State
(09:30):
has no intangibles.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
They're going to get beat pretty badly. Blah blah blah.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
And everyone at that time had one of thirty five straight,
thirty seven straight, whatever it was. So after that, after
the game, he says, who's ribera, We haven't tangibles. We
have intangled. We didn't win the game, but we haven't
tangible sired.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
So you saw my story.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
So this last time when he was here, I hadn't
seen her talk to him at the final four. We
would talk to a couple of times. But he came
in and I waited till the end, and I followed
him in the hallway after the after the pressure conference,
Kelvin had if your memory Steve River, oh, yeah, the
good old days through thirty some years ago. He says, yeah,
I'm very proud of what you guys have done. I
(10:09):
thought you would win it last year. And he says, well,
we'll see, we'll see. But you know, he had his
grandkids on him, chasing him and whatever.
Speaker 6 (10:14):
Apparently he's got his son lined up to be his successors,
is what they're saying. And you can tell which he
was just like him Kelvin like doesn't sit down, but
then his son is like kneeling down, not in a chair,
you know, kind of you can tell it's him.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
Yeah, he's always wearing the same outfit. Really, I always
wearing this. He's gonna have his taller shirt with his
sweats or whatever. Yeah, and that's good, you know.
Speaker 6 (10:36):
Like again, it's it's kind of fun to see him
get to this point after all these years, and we
had a chance to watch Arizona beat up on them
so many years in a row. He couldn't get past him.
And he goes to where did he go to Oklahoma next?
And then Indiana or plus the NBA he was he
was also a mixture with some NBA teams. So's he's
he's hung on still at the age of sixty nine,
still coaching right.
Speaker 7 (10:57):
At this level.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
He's kind of here's a question this he wins it.
Let's say he wins it, do you go.
Speaker 7 (11:02):
Out on right off?
Speaker 3 (11:03):
In the sunset you or do you kind of maybe
win a second win and go off and I don't know,
Or when you're seventy three and say, okay, I've happened.
Arielma's going to go through the same thing. True, he's
seventy one, I think he is, and he's won twelve. Now,
at what point do you say, Okay, I've had enough
and twelve is enough.
Speaker 6 (11:18):
I didn't realize have been so long since Theayed one one?
Ten years, nine, nine years?
Speaker 7 (11:22):
Okay, but still yeah, how many what more do you
need to do.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
To prove yourself?
Speaker 7 (11:28):
Yeah?
Speaker 6 (11:28):
You know, I guess he's you know, he's got that program.
It's his thing, and he just don't want to give.
Speaker 7 (11:32):
It up just yet.
Speaker 5 (11:33):
Right.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
It's funny because Luke would say, Remember, Luke got criticized
a lot for the first round losses. He hadn't got
to the funal four in a while, he hadn't won
a championship, blah blah blah, says Steve, how many big
games do you have to win to win the big game?
But how many times you have to prove yourself that
you're a good coach before you've actually become a big
good coach and and then he wons the title and
all the pressure was off, right because he finally did it.
Speaker 6 (11:55):
Yeah yeah, but these coaches like you know Ariamo, I mean,
how many you know what twelve titles?
Speaker 2 (12:04):
The rings on his fingers ped the ball? Did he doubled? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (12:08):
So Rocky just texted me, jeez, I forgot and didn't
say that. Seid promoted me over football and basketball. So
she was in charge of football and basketball, and she
he promoted Meg Richie and Sue Hillman, so the women
were in charge of the weight room in the training
training room.
Speaker 6 (12:26):
So Sue, they were both there when my brief time
when we did you if a football game is on
Channel nine in the mid eighties, she was there and
Meg were there, So they were they were there, and
you're right at that time there probably weren't too many
women in those positions for sure, especially a strength coach.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
You know, Meg was, she was great at that, right,
and Sue was the trainer, the trainer. Yeah, yeah, no, good, Okay,
So let's do this. We're going to take a break,
hope we come back. If we come back, and we're
going to talk to Rhino about tonight's game, about you
a basketball, the state's in and more.
Speaker 5 (12:58):
Breaking down all the knows. This is High on the
Ball with Steve Rivera on Box Sports fourteen fifty eight.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
Hey, welcome back to wy in the Ball Here on
Fox Sports fourteen fifty I'm Steve Rivera in today, Dave Silver.
We've got raided control with one. Now we have rhino,
Ryan Hanson from U of a longtime, You've a rhino.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
How are you.
Speaker 5 (13:20):
Good? How are you guys?
Speaker 2 (13:22):
Fine?
Speaker 3 (13:22):
Thank you? You just went through. We had Jeffreys on
last weekend. You've been with the team for a long time,
a little less than Jeffries. But I said it this way.
They struggle a little early, found their footing midway, and
then kind of stepped a little. None of it surprising,
and then they finished strong. I think the people that
(13:43):
were dissuaded fell in love with this team again.
Speaker 5 (13:47):
Oh no doubt. It was a journey this year, Steve.
And you've seen these years and they go in different ways.
And many times Arizona has come out on fire in
November and December, playing as if they're the best team
in the country, and then do they really ever get better?
Over time? They almost fade in some cases if you
look back at some of the years, this was clearly
(14:08):
a year that was a journey, and it allowed and
maybe showcased I think Tommy Lloyd's flexibility of changing the
roster over to a certain degree in December because he
had to with Mokrebus's injury. He was faced with some
changes that he had to make, but he did, and
he put the team together in such a way that
they got better under an extremely challenging schedule and were
(14:31):
truly playing their best basketball at the end of the year.
Like you said, and I mean, if you would have
told me after the UCLA loss, I was in the dumps.
That was a pretty difficult loss back in December. Thirteen
point lead with ten minutes to go, and you give
it away. You go four and five at that point.
And if somebody would have slipped me a piece of
paper that said Arizona is going to be down five
(14:54):
with a minute and a half left in the Sweet
sixteen against Duke, all they need is a stop and
a score one possession game, we all would have taken
it in a heartbeat. And they had exactly that. They
just didn't get it done.
Speaker 6 (15:08):
A lot of good elements too, as you said, a
lot of changing parts and stuff like that. Do you
usually don't see that, are you really in college basketball?
Or players like a like a kJ Lewis or Henry
you know, all of a sudden they're coming off the bench,
And I mean things really did kind of get disrupted.
Speaker 7 (15:24):
There around New Year's but it's still managed to work out.
Speaker 5 (15:27):
Yeah, There's been a number of players that we point
to in regards to they developed or they in their
senior year they finally had the opportunity, like a Jason
Terry or even a Channing Fry watching him over four years. Well,
we don't get to see that in this era of
college basketball as much anymore. So you look at the
(15:47):
in season development of players and Henry Vasar, Wow, what
an incredible growth from his freshman year to this past year.
What a I got to say, kind of a dis
appointment that we're not going to see him develop more
next year. That's the one I don't want to say
regret of this era of college basketball, because God bless him.
(16:09):
If he took advantage of a better situation, all within
the rules and the way college basketball is to better himself,
good for him. It's just disappointing for us to not
be able to see him even develop more. But watching
him this year, what a player he became. He put
himself in position to become an NBA draft pick before
his college career is over. And the other player that
(16:31):
we all had high hopes for that didn't really come
out of the gates as strong as you would have
hoped it was Carter Bryant. Everybody put him McDonald's all American.
He's going to come in, he's going to be a
lottery pick potentially, and he probably still is on the
fringe of lottery. But boy, watching his journey from where
he had to start in the battle for Atlantis, and
(16:52):
to be frankly honest, didn't belong on the court at points,
and he turned himself into a viable threat, a guy
that on opposing teams scouting reports you had to scout
for Carter Bryant. And that's a guy that we don't
know what his off season decision is, at least as
of earlier today when I was on Twitter. A heck,
(17:13):
he may have made a decision in the last couple
of hours for all we know, in this ever changing
landscape of player mobility and moving around. But Carter Bryant.
What a great evolution in his freshman year. He was
exceptional to watch as well.
Speaker 7 (17:27):
Dave yep And to.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Go back to my point of struggling early, finding the
footing refining his career was mister Love and people falling
in love with him again in the tournament.
Speaker 5 (17:42):
He definitely left an indelible mark on Arizona basketball. And
you're right he was polarizing for many fans during his
two years, but you look at where he came from.
This year started off, everyone expected first team All American
type numbers and efficiency and production and wins, and you
didn't see it. But the journey that he went on
(18:04):
to be able to put himself in a position to
be one of the most loved Arizona basketball players of
this year's team. And Steve, you and I have talked
about this. He is a very well liked player amongst
his teammates. He is a players player, and a lot
of fans didn't get to see that. But I'm so happy.
(18:24):
If Arizona were to lose in the Sweet sixteen, and
we knew it was coming, I didn't want it to
be on the shoulders of Caleb Love. You didn't want
him to go out in one of those zero for
eleven three point shooting performances. He did everything humanly possible
to put Arizona on his back and just about did.
(18:45):
If Arizona had beaten Duke, that would have been one
of the greatest individual game performances we would have ever seen.
Speaker 7 (18:54):
Yeah, yep, yeah four. So what's next?
Speaker 6 (18:57):
I mean, this is kind of like we're I guess
we're all kind of in a way period wondering what's
going to happen with with Carter and transfers. I mean,
I guess we have to trust Tommy to go to
maybe go to Europe again and bring a few more
players in. It seems like maybe we shouldn't be panicking
at this point. There's still a lot of time, don't
you think.
Speaker 5 (19:13):
Well, for guys like us right that are our age,
Dave and Steve, we're used to having a settled roster
in the days of yr that April you can point
to and say, this player, player X is coming back.
Can you imagine how good he's going to be. The
class of four freshmen is already done, sign sealed, you
(19:35):
know who they are, and there might be a JC
transfer like a Bennet Davison. There might be even a TJ.
McConnell that's redshirted that you can point to and say, wow,
look at what he could be in the next year.
College basketball is just different the off season, a fluidity
of rosters. Every single school for the most part is
feeling it. How about Baylor right now, they look to
(19:58):
be like okay for a while in the portal over
the last week. They just lost their freshman stud point
guard Robert Wright potentially to the transfer portal today. And
so seeing the fluidity and the changes, you just have
to get used to this way of college basketball changing
by the minute. And like you said, Dave, I think
(20:19):
you have to trust the head coach, who, by the way,
has done a pretty good job in his first four
years at Arizona.
Speaker 4 (20:25):
Maybe a fan would have expected.
Speaker 5 (20:28):
Or wanted and we all wanted a Final four and
you miss out on that in his first four years.
I wouldn't trade Tommy for the world, and you just
have to trust that he's going to be putting together
with every possible resource. There is discussion if you follow
the message boards of a potential high level recruit that
might be making his college decision coming up in the
(20:51):
next week or so. That could change Arizona's you know,
fall expectations. So you got to look at freshman You
got to look at the transfer portalential international opportunities, and
there's players that could come back to Arizona that maybe
have yet to determine what their future. Carter has yet
to make a decision. If Carter says I'm coming back, wow,
(21:12):
now we need to have a conversation Steve. In a
month or so, when the portal closes and NBA Draft
deadlines hit, that's when you can start to settle in
and really start making predictions for next year. At this point,
way too premature, which I hate, but it is what
it is.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
Yeah, well everybody talks about oh, let's read the tea leaves.
This guy left, so this guy must be coming. This
guy left, this guy must be coming or returning. You
know what I'm saying because I'm playing time, YadA YadA.
Well no, when we know, I think too many people
try to figure things out before they actually happen or
you know, and that rarely ever works out with their predictions,
then we're going to go free wheeling with just a
few questions. So you been around since nine the early nineties.
(21:52):
I think there, mister.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
Rhino YEP ninety three was my first So you.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
And I have experienced a lot of the guys out here.
How about you getting a head coaching job? And what
about Josh Passner ending up at UNLB pretty crazy?
Speaker 5 (22:06):
I heard that you had thrown out a Wildcat former
Wildcat Wildcat Invitational. If you throw in a name in
stdom Are in Georgia Tech, that'd be a pretty incredible
four team round robin event UNLV, Sack State, Georgia Tech,
and Arizona. That'd be pretty fun. I think of Let's
start with maybe the surprise to a certain degree for
(22:27):
some and that would be Mike Bibbie landing a head
coaching job. If you follow his career arc he was
a coach on the floor. You really think about what
he did as a player. He orchestrated so much of
what Arizona did in his two years offensively. He was
a maestro with the basketball. So if he had any
(22:47):
potential to transitioning what he knew how to do to
explaining to other kids and youth to do it on
the floor, he was He's going to be a great
head coach. And he demonstrated at the high school level,
and I think it was just a matter of time
for him to get an opportunity to showcase his skills.
(23:08):
And what a great landing spot for him in a
place that loves Mike Biddy, who gave SAT the city
of Sacramento a lot of wonderful basketball memories. To have
the support of the local community there for Mike is
very exciting and I'm happy for him, and I'm happy
that Josh Pasner is back on the sideline. He was actually,
I thought, a very good ESPN broadcaster and a very
(23:30):
good ESPN table guy as he would be at the
broadcast center talking about all the games, very articulate, very passionate.
As you know, no one is going to outwork Josh Passner,
and he is in a position nothing that you guys
don't already know, but he's going to be in a
place where hopefully the resources can be there. Historically the
(23:51):
resources have been at UNLV. Recently, we've all read of
the challenges financially that a lot of institutions are having,
and UNLV is not not one that is flush with cash,
at least publicly. But there is an opportunity there if
you have the right coach to kind of rustle the
(24:12):
bushes and really get the locals supporting the run in revs.
And I think Josh is going to really get it
going there. I think he's going to be an exceptional
coach at un LB. Yeah.
Speaker 7 (24:21):
IM sure he's got to be excited about that.
Speaker 6 (24:23):
I mean just just we all know the history of
that program, and you know where they've been and what
they can do and what they used to call it,
like Gucci Row whatever whatever the row was where all
the high roller fans were. I mean it was crazy
back in the around nineteen ninety late eighties and stuff
like that.
Speaker 5 (24:38):
Yeah, illegal days.
Speaker 6 (24:42):
Well they don't even have to do that kind of
stuff anymore. But I mean Vegas has become even a
different sports city. You got Major League Baseball on the way,
you got the NFL. There's a lot more going on
now than what's going on in those years too.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
They were pre NIL, before they had their own NIL program.
Speaker 5 (24:58):
Yeah, they I would probably tell you that they were
the originators of it. And that's where when I say
there are resources locally that he can tap into, they've
just been sleeping for the last couple of decades.
Speaker 6 (25:11):
Is there a Tarcanian sighting somebody grandson his son.
Speaker 7 (25:17):
For a while he was a politician.
Speaker 4 (25:19):
True.
Speaker 3 (25:19):
Yeah, So if you were there in ninety three, I
think you may have cut the end of Cedric, but
you around all the time, your thoughts on Cedric passing.
Speaker 5 (25:30):
I was there was very very early on. But as Steve,
that's when I started with the basketball team was ninety three.
But I've been a season ticket holder for football and
basketball since nineteen seventy six. I call Tucson my home.
So I know the history and I definitely know the impact.
And we've seen it in social media circles the commentary
(25:52):
about could there possibly be a more impactful person to
the era the modern era of Arizona Athletics and Cedric
Dempsey and I just loot, maybe because Luke really put
us on the national map. But who hired lut Federick Dempsey,
who hired the greatest softball coach to ever you know,
step in in the diamond. You know, Mike Candrea, Cedric Dempsey.
Speaker 4 (26:16):
So you look at just.
Speaker 5 (26:17):
Those two alone, and then you start factoring in some
other hires that were breaking glass ceilings. For Meg Ritchie,
who hired the first female athletic trainer for a foot
college football program. Cedric Dempsey was at the heart of that.
So he did so many things in regards to knowing
(26:38):
great people putting them in a position to be successful.
I just to me, he's up there in the pantheon
of Arizona athletics with a Pop McHale type imprint on
what he did for Arizona. And he did it in
such a classy, professional way that, as I'm sure Rocky
touched on, you know, the NCAA recognized and said, you
(27:00):
know what, you're doing such a good job with one institution,
how about you come and run everybody the representative for
the nca IF he is the executive director of all
the institutions because of what you did at Arizona. He
is a man of high integrity and great character. But boy,
his fingerprint will will be on Arizona athletics forever. To
(27:22):
be fau not to try to get too lofty, but
let's be frank said, Dempsey is a classy, incredible person
who did it wonderful things for the Wildcats.
Speaker 6 (27:33):
Yeah, I mean he was here at such an important
time too, in just athletics in general. I mean, like
you said when he took that NCAA job, he took
that to a whole different level in terms of TV
money and exposure and things like that. It's things we
kind of take for granted now, but he was really
the instigator of so much that is part of athletics today.
Speaker 5 (27:52):
Yeah, he was at the forefront. He saw, he saw
things into the future, and that I guess the vision
of you know, great leaders may be are marked by
not only how they lead their troops, but recognizing where
to go and the vision of who to hire, what
the direction of college athletics was going. And he did
it at Arizona in such a way, and I think
(28:13):
it's very relevant guys, to touch on this. He did
it at Arizona at a time where the Wildcats were
kind of fresh in the Pac Ten at the time,
were coming on, there was issues with NCAA, challenges for
the football program. The financials here on campus were not
exactly I said this phrase earlier, flush with cash. But
(28:37):
he was able to raise the bar of excellence at
Arizona and do it with fiscal responsibility in a time
where Arizona Athletics right now is trying to get back
to the fiscal responsibility of the standards that Cedric set
and those that came before him.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
Maybe lastly, and maybe you want to talk about it,
maybe don't. Probably a good friend of yours ideas now
at SMU, she's gone set this program on fire when
she got here, and it was beyond what I thought
possible when I was watching a full stadium or arena
watching the n I Championships. And then she gets them
(29:18):
a shot away to the title. Just your thoughts on
her and what she means or meant to hear.
Speaker 5 (29:24):
You bet, I was the director of operations for LOOT
when she played at Arizona, so when Adella was in
the building, is an incredible one of the greatest, maybe
top three players of all time in Arizona women's basketball history.
And then to be able to return to her alma
mater and take Arizona to heights that Let's be frank,
did you really think Arizona women's basketball in such a
(29:45):
short time frame could be playing for the national title.
It's not that long ago that she did that and
putting fans in the seats at a consistent level that
to rival anybody on the West Coast, and used are
putting the support level with the greats that are out there,
the Yukon's, the Tennessee, the South Carolinas. Arizona is not
(30:07):
that further back on the list from an attendance standpoint.
So Adea is do all the credit in the world
for raising Arizona women's basketball to a national level. The challenge,
as you and I both know, is once you get there,
sustaining it might be harder than the actual climb. You
(30:27):
don't want to believe that to be true, but sustaining
it and what Loot did to be able to sustain
it and pass it on over time for it to
stay at that level, that's the tribute to Loot. It
was just a challenging time for Idea and maybe circumstances
outside of her control that were swirling and had the
NIL and the transfer portal and all of those things hitting.
(30:50):
At the same time, you have to respect the job
that she did for Arizona, unparalleled success relatively speaking, Probably
the right time to transition to a new opportunity for
both her in the department, and that's not a knock
on her or the program or the new administration for Arizona.
(31:11):
I think it's in the best interest of both parties
to move on, as hard as it is, because Adea.
Speaker 4 (31:17):
Is very well loved in the community because.
Speaker 5 (31:19):
Of the job she did and the community outreach that
she took on as part of her job, and give
her credit for that. So I would say the new
coach needs to have that as a part of their DNA.
This is a community who's thirsty for a connection with
the basketball coach, be it men's or women's, or the
football coach. So I hope that the new coach recognizes that,
(31:40):
whomever they may be, that that's a big part of this.
The reason that this community can have a successful women's
basketball program is you have to have somebody who cares
about the community. That's maybe just as important as winning.
But we all know, guys, winning it starts really with winning.
The connection of the community is a byproduct of that.
Speaker 3 (32:00):
So, you know, sometimes marriages need to end, whether they're
good or bad, it just sometimes they need to end.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
And this one ended.
Speaker 3 (32:06):
Let me throw this down you this last question, and
this has nothing to do with anything involving the idea,
but kind of kind of so back maybe fifteen years ago,
Sean was the maybe you no, actually maybe ten years ago,
Sean was the head coach. Obviously, Stanley Johnson comes in
and I think he had been struggling early. He was
this number one recruit. Blah blah blah. Who's gonna, you know,
(32:28):
be that guy? I think one of the reporters in
the in the pressroom headed Sean, So, you know, coach,
you have a pretty good roster. How are you going
to keep Stanley happy? If he's not coming, if he's
not starting, if he's coming off the bench. And Sean,
in his way that he does things, he looked at
the guy and says, I.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
Don't need to keep anybody happy. I'm the head coach.
Speaker 3 (32:48):
Do you think do you think times have changed so
much now that if you're playing X guy whatever you're
paying eight hundred million five or whatever, that you have
to keep them happy?
Speaker 2 (32:59):
Now?
Speaker 5 (33:02):
It's a great question, Steve, because the landscape has been
turned on his head, right, and so keeping guys happy
now that you're paying them. I mean, I heard Rick
Barnes make a comment the head coach at the University
of Tennessee when a reporter asked about keeping a player accountable,
and he actually uttered the silent words, well, we're paying
(33:25):
him to do that, and now that it's going to
be transparent with most likely the judge's decision coming down here.
So the revenue and how players are paid is going
to be fair game. People are going to know it.
The word is out, but people are going to know
it first and foremost. I think that may actually empower
some coaches to be able to demand and keep players
(33:47):
accountable for that one year. The challenge is is as
long as the transfer portal has what no ramifications for
the number of restrictions, number of times you can transfer,
as long as you can pop and come and go,
it's going to be a roster turnover potential opportunity every year.
(34:09):
And as a coach, if you're going to hold guys'
speek to the fire and quote unquote not keep them happy,
treat them more like an employee that's getting paid to produce,
and if they don't produce, then both parties may have
to be happy with parting ways. If that single year
contract terms were not fulfilled to the goals and the
metrics that each of them decided to do right, it's
(34:32):
a really interesting is maybe not even the right word.
It's an unknown, uncharted territory for an entity that you
could say all along, Oh, the head coach is the
head coach. He decides. Well, the power is not necessarily
in the head coach's a corner as much anymore. But
maybe it's going back because they will have the power
(34:54):
of the purse strings to determine who gets paid and
who doesn't moving forward. So maybe some of that shift
will go back to the coaches side of things. I
don't know, that's a great question, Steve.
Speaker 6 (35:04):
Plus a lot of these programs that have like general
managers now who are handling that part of the job too.
So maybe the coaches, you know, who knows how they're
going to be working with their players and treating them
and keeping them happy. But they got the you know,
Arizona's got a GM for basketball, right, so they do.
Speaker 5 (35:20):
Yeah, And I think that was an incredible hire, a
very important hire for Arizona because you think of the
skill sets that many of the coaches have. You have
to really be a fundraiser now, you have to be
a manager of salary cap because there may not be
one institutionally or so it may not be one at
(35:40):
the NSA level, but at the institution, you know what
you have and what you don't have. So you have
to manage your quote unquote salaries, So you now have
to be a financial guy. It's not just the old
ball coach days where if you knew how to draw
up a great play and you knew how to motivate
young men, you could be a great coach. There's so
(36:00):
much more to it. So are you going to hire
guys to help you with that or are you going
to take that on? At some level, the head coach
is still somewhat the CEO of their of their department,
their division. So even if there's a GM or a
President of Basketball Operations I think is the exact title
for for Matt King at Arizona, head coach has still
got to be heavily involved in that. So the number
(36:22):
of skills, the skill set of men's basketball women's basketball
of a head coach at a revenue generating sport is
now far more diversified than it ever has been.
Speaker 2 (36:34):
Right those always thanks a bunch man, You're the best.
Speaker 5 (36:37):
Love jumping on, Dave, Take care, buddy, Steve. Who you
got tonight, Steve? Defense or offense?
Speaker 2 (36:42):
Florida, Florida?
Speaker 7 (36:43):
All right, I got Houston, I got Houston.
Speaker 5 (36:47):
I don't know I picked Florida in my bracket. I
think Houston is a bunch of Junkyard dogs and I
love it. And I'll be frankly honest, I want I
want Kelvin Samson to get one. And I'm actually here's
my line of the of the day, and I'll part
you with this one. I have yet to develop the
hatred for the Big twelve teams like I did the
(37:08):
Pac twelve and Pac ten teams, so I'm actually wanting
and rooting for the Big twelve to win national title
tonight with Houston. So that may change in the next
five years when my hatred level of the rivals gets
to the level of UCLA and Oregon. But for now,
I'm rooting for the Cougars.
Speaker 3 (37:24):
Okay, thanks man, It's not a toy poodle lee See,
thank you man than much.
Speaker 5 (37:28):
That's right. Oh, I love that.
Speaker 2 (37:31):
We've got to take a break. We're way over
To determine the marketability of students. And boy, I'll tell
you what, I wouldn't want to be that person on
campus that has to determine the marketability of each individual
student athlete.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Yeah, no question.
Speaker 3 (00:10):
You You are definitely correct when you say I'm glad
I'm watching from the sidelines because it is Yeah, you know,
another thing, obviously, the news go ahead, no, go ahead,
the the wee can over the news over the weekend.
The big news ideas leaving after new nine years. Your
thoughts on her leaving and her legacy here, Well.
Speaker 4 (00:30):
She left a great legacy, didn't she. And you know
I'm biased. I knew her as a student athlete.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
I consider one of my own, consider one of my girls.
So uh, you know, I'm grateful, right Idea says I'm
one of her mentors, and that is one of the
greatest you know feelings you can have, is to hear that.
So so she's very special. Her family obviously is She's
very special to.
Speaker 4 (00:56):
Do you obey, And she put us on the on
the mark again by taking us to the championship game,
you know, And.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
So I wish her all the best.
Speaker 4 (01:05):
I also know there's a time and place for everything,
and you know.
Speaker 5 (01:09):
They are both the university and.
Speaker 4 (01:11):
Do you have to do what's best for them.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
So I'm happy for and I'll be rooting her from Afar,
and I'll be rooting for the new basketball.
Speaker 4 (01:19):
Coach that comes in. And and you know, it's inevitable.
Change is inevitable.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
And with this crazy, crazy stuff going on in analytics
with the ni L and paying athletes and oh my goodness,
I think we're going to see many changes down the road.
Speaker 6 (01:35):
I don't even know what to say about that too,
because as far as you know, how do you where
do you begin? I mean, there's we were joking, we
were joking, is there anybody even in the office that
could even get things rolling? There's no I assume the
coaches are going to go with.
Speaker 7 (01:45):
Her or what?
Speaker 6 (01:47):
Yeah, you know, well, how do they even begin this
process of putting together a roster?
Speaker 1 (01:51):
And you know, well, again, athletic directors have lists, they
know who they're.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
They're interested in. If not, they're not doing their job right.
Speaker 1 (02:01):
And so I would imagine something's going to happen really
really quick. You know, I know they're on it already.
I got to speak with Desiree just a little bit
a couple of days ago, and I know they're already
on it, so I wouldn't be.
Speaker 4 (02:14):
Surprised, you know, to hear a quick decision on something.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
You have to do that right, because you're right, kids
are leaving, they're entering the portal with everybody else is recruiting,
and yeah, I mean it'll it'll get done.
Speaker 5 (02:26):
It'll get done.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
Yeah, they just the fans just need to know. And
you know, how does one second later, who's next?
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Let's go.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
We've got to make sure our tickets are sold. You know,
he's just like, who's next? Blah blah blah. You want
to keep the momentum going.
Speaker 6 (02:39):
I mean, she's you know, she built, like you said,
she's still something, putting uve on the map for women's hoops.
You know, you're averaging what five six thousand fans a game.
You want to keep that rolling. You maybe find a
coach who's going to have similar charisma and ability to
you know, motivate fans to come out and watch, right, And.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
I know it's hard on the fans because they're hearing
absolutely nothing, so they think nothing's going on, you know,
and I remember being in that position, as we would
you know, do coaching searches, and but you just can't
say anything because you know there's the coach that you
may want to be bringing in has a life at
that school too, and that they don't want their their
athletes and stuff to know all your negotiating stuff. So
(03:17):
it's just a process and it's unfortunate it has to
be so secretive, but it's in the best interest that's
everybody involved.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
So maybe maybe the last question Rocky talking about Cedric.
So we talked about Lowton that was kind of like
the lynchpin to start things here, and was there another
thing or two that you said, how did he pull
this off?
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Uh? Well, I don't I can't think of anything specifically.
I just I just loved his philosophy again, and I
think if I said how did he pull this off?
It would be the NCAA A job because he wanted it.
But you know, there was a lot of talk back then,
(04:03):
you know, already going non traditional, right, and so it
was such a great relief to everybody that that that
he was the.
Speaker 4 (04:11):
One that got the job.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
So I think watching him build up to that was
was something special because he is he was so close
with the NCAA. Again, like I said, and legislation really
mattered to him. It used to drive us crazy because
he would want to know exactly how it was going
to affect us in the department, how we would it
would affect the.
Speaker 4 (04:31):
Conference, and how it would affect nationally. And so we were.
We did a lot of behind the scenes work.
Speaker 1 (04:36):
On that that led to his reputation that ultimately gave
him the job at the NCAA office.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
So I think so eighty two eighty three, you were
just out of college, is that right?
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Well? No, I actually started, as you have made, nineteen
seventy nine as a softball coach. Yeah, and then I
became Mary Roby's assistant in nineteen eighty so I had
been there already four years when Cedric came on.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
So that was going to be my question in terms
of I'm sure Mary was a huge influence on you.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
So and Saidriac number two.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
Absolutely, Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Both of them, I feel are completely responsible for bringing us.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
You know, we always said back then the.
Speaker 5 (05:16):
Modern era, and now we got a.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
New modern error, right, But there is no doubt that
Mary Roby.
Speaker 4 (05:21):
And said Dempsey are the two that laid the foundation.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
For the modern era of athletics and got us in
the position to grow and be as excellent as we
were throughout the nineties.
Speaker 4 (05:30):
I mean, you know, uh, you know it's.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
A combination effort when you're hiring coaches. But you know,
Mary Roby found coach Kendrea, you know, and then Cedric
Dempsey approves it, so you know it's a combined effort.
But you know, same with Frank Bush.
Speaker 5 (05:48):
You know, same. You know, we're all all in it
together with the searches.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
So those two, wow, I mean, we are really grateful
that we had them here at the University bar zone.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
And let me tell a big reason why people know
that block A.
Speaker 4 (06:03):
That's right, that's right. Yeah, absolutely, thank you, Rocky.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
Thank you Rocky as always, thanks for your patience.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Thank you, thank you, well, thanks, thank you.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
We're not gonna go to a break.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
We're gonna stay on until the next break, and then
we're gonna listen to Ryan Hansen, who knew Cedric as well.
But we're going to talk a lot about college basketball itself.
In my mind, Dave in the in the games that
I covered, and I covered a few this year and
know Jwan did too. Houston to me was the best
team that I saw in person. Uh, And it's just
because of how they play. You mentioned bullyball. I mentioned
(06:38):
that over the weekend, and it's a good bullyball, not
a bad bullyball. It's like, don't be safe. You have
a TEENPOI leave, don't be safe. And that's just because
what happened on Saturday. I mean they did it a lot.
In fact, Jay, because we joked on Friday and Ray
was with us, right and we made a bet he
took Duke and I took Florida, whoever wins, And I said,
(06:59):
I texted him there down by ten or whatever was
at half, and I said, it's exactly where you that's
what exactly where they want Duke to be feel a
little comfortable. And then they just poured on in the
second half. They're like a racehorse that likes to come
from behind.
Speaker 7 (07:11):
Yeah, I mean that's what they did.
Speaker 6 (07:12):
They you know, they basically waited to the last two
minutes of the game to overtake the leader, to see
the stretch. Yeah, I mean it was incredible. The defense
that they play. We've known about that, you know, all season,
We've watched them do this, and they just did it
on the highest level.
Speaker 7 (07:25):
Possible. Yeah, the best time.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
I was listening to some other sports talk shows coming
in and it's like they just realized realized about Houston.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Like, oh, they're they're good. Yeah, they're good. I said,
where you been?
Speaker 6 (07:37):
They've been good, especially the last couple of years, you know,
and as Arizona's jumped into the Big twelve, they got
a closer look. And you know, that was like the
game at McHale this year, at least at the league
game and a Kale that people were worried about and
excited about.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
Yeah, it's funny. Did you hear his post game interview
with whoever?
Speaker 5 (07:54):
Whoever?
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Did the interview was just on the court.
Speaker 7 (07:56):
Yeah, I'm not sure I did.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
He said, we're seventeen and one, so whatever it was
in the conference is it's not like we played in
the toy pool.
Speaker 7 (08:04):
Ooh yes, I did?
Speaker 5 (08:05):
You know?
Speaker 3 (08:06):
And it's right because we talked about Arizona getting confidence
from the league. Yeah, they owned the league and played
against all these teams.
Speaker 6 (08:13):
I could tell you a little we have time. Yeah,
I got a little personal story that I had with
him one time years ago. I was really good friends
with this guy named Bud Namik who had been the
voice of Washington State Radio for years and years, and
Bud and I went to high school together. So every
year basically he would come to Tucson and we would
get together either at the game or after the game.
So you know, this has got to be again in
(08:34):
the early nineties, I guess, or somewhere around there, and
they come down and you know, Kelvin's the coach, and
Bud and I get together at one of the restaurants
after the game. And this is like ten thirty eleven
thirty at night, and he says, oh, Kevin will be
down in a minute. So Kelvin just came down from
the hotel and joined us for a couple after game drinks.
Speaker 7 (08:54):
Was really fun.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Thirty five thirty two years ago, at least thirty years
or so. He's sixty nine now is thirty seven thirty.
Speaker 7 (09:01):
It was great.
Speaker 6 (09:01):
He was hilarious. I mean, how many coaches would do
that even now? For sure, maybe back then they did
a little bit more.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
This is funny because I love the way he walks.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
I don't know if you noticed the way he walks
kind of like, hey, my stuff, my stuff is good stuff,
you know, like my I think I've just said about
this with my interaction with him. So when he was
at Washington State, and if you remember, the citizen had
this plus and minus boxes defense offense blah blah, So I,
you know, check this checked out and in tangibles in
Washington State was in town and I said, Washington State
(09:30):
has no intangibles.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
They're going to get beat pretty badly. Blah blah blah.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
And everyone at that time had one of thirty five straight,
thirty seven straight, whatever it was. So after that, after
the game, he says, who's ribera, We haven't tangibles. We
have intangled. We didn't win the game, but we haven't
tangible sired.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
So you saw my story.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
So this last time when he was here, I hadn't
seen her talk to him at the final four. We
would talk to a couple of times. But he came
in and I waited till the end, and I followed
him in the hallway after the after the pressure conference,
Kelvin had if your memory Steve River, oh, yeah, the
good old days through thirty some years ago. He says, yeah,
I'm very proud of what you guys have done. I
(10:09):
thought you would win it last year. And he says, well,
we'll see, we'll see. But you know, he had his
grandkids on him, chasing him and whatever.
Speaker 6 (10:14):
Apparently he's got his son lined up to be his successors,
is what they're saying. And you can tell which he
was just like him Kelvin like doesn't sit down, but
then his son is like kneeling down, not in a chair,
you know, kind of you can tell it's him.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
Yeah, he's always wearing the same outfit. Really, I always
wearing this. He's gonna have his taller shirt with his
sweats or whatever. Yeah, and that's good, you know.
Speaker 6 (10:36):
Like again, it's it's kind of fun to see him
get to this point after all these years, and we
had a chance to watch Arizona beat up on them
so many years in a row. He couldn't get past him.
And he goes to where did he go to Oklahoma next?
And then Indiana or plus the NBA he was he
was also a mixture with some NBA teams. So's he's
he's hung on still at the age of sixty nine,
still coaching right.
Speaker 7 (10:57):
At this level.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
He's kind of here's a question this he wins it.
Let's say he wins it, do you go.
Speaker 7 (11:02):
Out on right off?
Speaker 3 (11:03):
In the sunset you or do you kind of maybe
win a second win and go off and I don't know,
Or when you're seventy three and say, okay, I've happened.
Arielma's going to go through the same thing. True, he's
seventy one, I think he is, and he's won twelve. Now,
at what point do you say, Okay, I've had enough
and twelve is enough.
Speaker 6 (11:18):
I didn't realize have been so long since Theayed one one?
Ten years, nine, nine years?
Speaker 7 (11:22):
Okay, but still yeah, how many what more do you
need to do.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
To prove yourself?
Speaker 7 (11:28):
Yeah?
Speaker 6 (11:28):
You know, I guess he's you know, he's got that program.
It's his thing, and he just don't want to give.
Speaker 7 (11:32):
It up just yet.
Speaker 5 (11:33):
Right.
Speaker 3 (11:33):
It's funny because Luke would say, Remember, Luke got criticized
a lot for the first round losses. He hadn't got
to the funal four in a while, he hadn't won
a championship, blah blah blah, says Steve, how many big
games do you have to win to win the big game?
But how many times you have to prove yourself that
you're a good coach before you've actually become a big
good coach and and then he wons the title and
all the pressure was off, right because he finally did it.
Speaker 6 (11:55):
Yeah yeah, but these coaches like you know Ariamo, I mean,
how many you know what twelve titles?
Speaker 2 (12:04):
The rings on his fingers ped the ball? Did he doubled? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (12:08):
So Rocky just texted me, jeez, I forgot and didn't
say that. Seid promoted me over football and basketball. So
she was in charge of football and basketball, and she
he promoted Meg Richie and Sue Hillman, so the women
were in charge of the weight room in the training
training room.
Speaker 6 (12:26):
So Sue, they were both there when my brief time
when we did you if a football game is on
Channel nine in the mid eighties, she was there and
Meg were there, So they were they were there, and
you're right at that time there probably weren't too many
women in those positions for sure, especially a strength coach.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
You know, Meg was, she was great at that, right,
and Sue was the trainer, the trainer. Yeah, yeah, no, good, Okay,
So let's do this. We're going to take a break,
hope we come back. If we come back, and we're
going to talk to Rhino about tonight's game, about you
a basketball, the state's in and more.
Speaker 5 (12:58):
Breaking down all the knows. This is High on the
Ball with Steve Rivera on Box Sports fourteen fifty eight.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
Hey, welcome back to wy in the Ball Here on
Fox Sports fourteen fifty I'm Steve Rivera in today, Dave Silver.
We've got raided control with one. Now we have rhino,
Ryan Hanson from U of a longtime, You've a rhino.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
How are you.
Speaker 5 (13:20):
Good? How are you guys?
Speaker 2 (13:22):
Fine?
Speaker 3 (13:22):
Thank you? You just went through. We had Jeffreys on
last weekend. You've been with the team for a long time,
a little less than Jeffries. But I said it this way.
They struggle a little early, found their footing midway, and
then kind of stepped a little. None of it surprising,
and then they finished strong. I think the people that
(13:43):
were dissuaded fell in love with this team again.
Speaker 5 (13:47):
Oh no doubt. It was a journey this year, Steve.
And you've seen these years and they go in different ways.
And many times Arizona has come out on fire in
November and December, playing as if they're the best team
in the country, and then do they really ever get better?
Over time? They almost fade in some cases if you
look back at some of the years, this was clearly
(14:08):
a year that was a journey, and it allowed and
maybe showcased I think Tommy Lloyd's flexibility of changing the
roster over to a certain degree in December because he
had to with Mokrebus's injury. He was faced with some
changes that he had to make, but he did, and
he put the team together in such a way that
they got better under an extremely challenging schedule and were
(14:31):
truly playing their best basketball at the end of the year.
Like you said, and I mean, if you would have
told me after the UCLA loss, I was in the dumps.
That was a pretty difficult loss back in December. Thirteen
point lead with ten minutes to go, and you give
it away. You go four and five at that point.
And if somebody would have slipped me a piece of
paper that said Arizona is going to be down five
(14:54):
with a minute and a half left in the Sweet
sixteen against Duke, all they need is a stop and
a score one possession game, we all would have taken
it in a heartbeat. And they had exactly that. They
just didn't get it done.
Speaker 6 (15:08):
A lot of good elements too, as you said, a
lot of changing parts and stuff like that. Do you
usually don't see that, are you really in college basketball?
Or players like a like a kJ Lewis or Henry
you know, all of a sudden they're coming off the bench,
And I mean things really did kind of get disrupted.
Speaker 7 (15:24):
There around New Year's but it's still managed to work out.
Speaker 5 (15:27):
Yeah, There's been a number of players that we point
to in regards to they developed or they in their
senior year they finally had the opportunity, like a Jason
Terry or even a Channing Fry watching him over four years. Well,
we don't get to see that in this era of
college basketball as much anymore. So you look at the
(15:47):
in season development of players and Henry Vasar, Wow, what
an incredible growth from his freshman year to this past year.
What a I got to say, kind of a dis
appointment that we're not going to see him develop more
next year. That's the one I don't want to say
regret of this era of college basketball, because God bless him.
(16:09):
If he took advantage of a better situation, all within
the rules and the way college basketball is to better himself,
good for him. It's just disappointing for us to not
be able to see him even develop more. But watching
him this year, what a player he became. He put
himself in position to become an NBA draft pick before
his college career is over. And the other player that
(16:31):
we all had high hopes for that didn't really come
out of the gates as strong as you would have
hoped it was Carter Bryant. Everybody put him McDonald's all American.
He's going to come in, he's going to be a
lottery pick potentially, and he probably still is on the
fringe of lottery. But boy, watching his journey from where
he had to start in the battle for Atlantis, and
(16:52):
to be frankly honest, didn't belong on the court at points,
and he turned himself into a viable threat, a guy
that on opposing teams scouting reports you had to scout
for Carter Bryant. And that's a guy that we don't
know what his off season decision is, at least as
of earlier today when I was on Twitter. A heck,
(17:13):
he may have made a decision in the last couple
of hours for all we know, in this ever changing
landscape of player mobility and moving around. But Carter Bryant.
What a great evolution in his freshman year. He was
exceptional to watch as well.
Speaker 7 (17:27):
Dave yep And to.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Go back to my point of struggling early, finding the
footing refining his career was mister Love and people falling
in love with him again in the tournament.
Speaker 5 (17:42):
He definitely left an indelible mark on Arizona basketball. And
you're right he was polarizing for many fans during his
two years, but you look at where he came from.
This year started off, everyone expected first team All American
type numbers and efficiency and production and wins, and you
didn't see it. But the journey that he went on
(18:04):
to be able to put himself in a position to
be one of the most loved Arizona basketball players of
this year's team. And Steve, you and I have talked
about this. He is a very well liked player amongst
his teammates. He is a players player, and a lot
of fans didn't get to see that. But I'm so happy.
(18:24):
If Arizona were to lose in the Sweet sixteen, and
we knew it was coming, I didn't want it to
be on the shoulders of Caleb Love. You didn't want
him to go out in one of those zero for
eleven three point shooting performances. He did everything humanly possible
to put Arizona on his back and just about did.
(18:45):
If Arizona had beaten Duke, that would have been one
of the greatest individual game performances we would have ever seen.
Speaker 7 (18:54):
Yeah, yep, yeah four. So what's next?
Speaker 6 (18:57):
I mean, this is kind of like we're I guess
we're all kind of in a way period wondering what's
going to happen with with Carter and transfers. I mean,
I guess we have to trust Tommy to go to
maybe go to Europe again and bring a few more
players in. It seems like maybe we shouldn't be panicking
at this point. There's still a lot of time, don't
you think.
Speaker 5 (19:13):
Well, for guys like us right that are our age,
Dave and Steve, we're used to having a settled roster
in the days of yr that April you can point
to and say, this player, player X is coming back.
Can you imagine how good he's going to be. The
class of four freshmen is already done, sign sealed, you
(19:35):
know who they are, and there might be a JC
transfer like a Bennet Davison. There might be even a TJ.
McConnell that's redshirted that you can point to and say, wow,
look at what he could be in the next year.
College basketball is just different the off season, a fluidity
of rosters. Every single school for the most part is
feeling it. How about Baylor right now, they look to
(19:58):
be like okay for a while in the portal over
the last week. They just lost their freshman stud point
guard Robert Wright potentially to the transfer portal today. And
so seeing the fluidity and the changes, you just have
to get used to this way of college basketball changing
by the minute. And like you said, Dave, I think
(20:19):
you have to trust the head coach, who, by the way,
has done a pretty good job in his first four
years at Arizona.
Speaker 4 (20:25):
Maybe a fan would have expected.
Speaker 5 (20:28):
Or wanted and we all wanted a Final four and
you miss out on that in his first four years.
I wouldn't trade Tommy for the world, and you just
have to trust that he's going to be putting together
with every possible resource. There is discussion if you follow
the message boards of a potential high level recruit that
might be making his college decision coming up in the
(20:51):
next week or so. That could change Arizona's you know,
fall expectations. So you got to look at freshman You
got to look at the transfer portalential international opportunities, and
there's players that could come back to Arizona that maybe
have yet to determine what their future. Carter has yet
to make a decision. If Carter says I'm coming back, wow,
(21:12):
now we need to have a conversation Steve. In a
month or so, when the portal closes and NBA Draft
deadlines hit, that's when you can start to settle in
and really start making predictions for next year. At this point,
way too premature, which I hate, but it is what
it is.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
Yeah, well everybody talks about oh, let's read the tea leaves.
This guy left, so this guy must be coming. This
guy left, this guy must be coming or returning. You
know what I'm saying because I'm playing time, YadA YadA.
Well no, when we know, I think too many people
try to figure things out before they actually happen or
you know, and that rarely ever works out with their predictions,
then we're going to go free wheeling with just a
few questions. So you been around since nine the early nineties.
(21:52):
I think there, mister.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
Rhino YEP ninety three was my first So you.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
And I have experienced a lot of the guys out here.
How about you getting a head coaching job? And what
about Josh Passner ending up at UNLB pretty crazy?
Speaker 5 (22:06):
I heard that you had thrown out a Wildcat former
Wildcat Wildcat Invitational. If you throw in a name in
stdom Are in Georgia Tech, that'd be a pretty incredible
four team round robin event UNLV, Sack State, Georgia Tech,
and Arizona. That'd be pretty fun. I think of Let's
start with maybe the surprise to a certain degree for
(22:27):
some and that would be Mike Bibbie landing a head
coaching job. If you follow his career arc he was
a coach on the floor. You really think about what
he did as a player. He orchestrated so much of
what Arizona did in his two years offensively. He was
a maestro with the basketball. So if he had any
(22:47):
potential to transitioning what he knew how to do to
explaining to other kids and youth to do it on
the floor, he was He's going to be a great
head coach. And he demonstrated at the high school level,
and I think it was just a matter of time
for him to get an opportunity to showcase his skills.
(23:08):
And what a great landing spot for him in a
place that loves Mike Biddy, who gave SAT the city
of Sacramento a lot of wonderful basketball memories. To have
the support of the local community there for Mike is
very exciting and I'm happy for him, and I'm happy
that Josh Pasner is back on the sideline. He was actually,
I thought, a very good ESPN broadcaster and a very
(23:30):
good ESPN table guy as he would be at the
broadcast center talking about all the games, very articulate, very passionate.
As you know, no one is going to outwork Josh Passner,
and he is in a position nothing that you guys
don't already know, but he's going to be in a
place where hopefully the resources can be there. Historically the
(23:51):
resources have been at UNLV. Recently, we've all read of
the challenges financially that a lot of institutions are having,
and UNLV is not not one that is flush with cash,
at least publicly. But there is an opportunity there if
you have the right coach to kind of rustle the
(24:12):
bushes and really get the locals supporting the run in revs.
And I think Josh is going to really get it
going there. I think he's going to be an exceptional
coach at un LB. Yeah.
Speaker 7 (24:21):
IM sure he's got to be excited about that.
Speaker 6 (24:23):
I mean just just we all know the history of
that program, and you know where they've been and what
they can do and what they used to call it,
like Gucci Row whatever whatever the row was where all
the high roller fans were. I mean it was crazy
back in the around nineteen ninety late eighties and stuff
like that.
Speaker 5 (24:38):
Yeah, illegal days.
Speaker 6 (24:42):
Well they don't even have to do that kind of
stuff anymore. But I mean Vegas has become even a
different sports city. You got Major League Baseball on the way,
you got the NFL. There's a lot more going on
now than what's going on in those years too.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
They were pre NIL, before they had their own NIL program.
Speaker 5 (24:58):
Yeah, they I would probably tell you that they were
the originators of it. And that's where when I say
there are resources locally that he can tap into, they've
just been sleeping for the last couple of decades.
Speaker 6 (25:11):
Is there a Tarcanian sighting somebody grandson his son.
Speaker 7 (25:17):
For a while he was a politician.
Speaker 4 (25:19):
True.
Speaker 3 (25:19):
Yeah, So if you were there in ninety three, I
think you may have cut the end of Cedric, but
you around all the time, your thoughts on Cedric passing.
Speaker 5 (25:30):
I was there was very very early on. But as Steve,
that's when I started with the basketball team was ninety three.
But I've been a season ticket holder for football and
basketball since nineteen seventy six. I call Tucson my home.
So I know the history and I definitely know the impact.
And we've seen it in social media circles the commentary
(25:52):
about could there possibly be a more impactful person to
the era the modern era of Arizona Athletics and Cedric
Dempsey and I just loot, maybe because Luke really put
us on the national map. But who hired lut Federick Dempsey,
who hired the greatest softball coach to ever you know,
step in in the diamond. You know, Mike Candrea, Cedric Dempsey.
Speaker 4 (26:16):
So you look at just.
Speaker 5 (26:17):
Those two alone, and then you start factoring in some
other hires that were breaking glass ceilings. For Meg Ritchie,
who hired the first female athletic trainer for a foot
college football program. Cedric Dempsey was at the heart of that.
So he did so many things in regards to knowing
(26:38):
great people putting them in a position to be successful.
I just to me, he's up there in the pantheon
of Arizona athletics with a Pop McHale type imprint on
what he did for Arizona. And he did it in
such a classy, professional way that, as I'm sure Rocky
touched on, you know, the NCAA recognized and said, you
(27:00):
know what, you're doing such a good job with one institution,
how about you come and run everybody the representative for
the nca IF he is the executive director of all
the institutions because of what you did at Arizona. He
is a man of high integrity and great character. But boy,
his fingerprint will will be on Arizona athletics forever. To
(27:22):
be fau not to try to get too lofty, but
let's be frank said, Dempsey is a classy, incredible person
who did it wonderful things for the Wildcats.
Speaker 6 (27:33):
Yeah, I mean he was here at such an important
time too, in just athletics in general. I mean, like
you said when he took that NCAA job, he took
that to a whole different level in terms of TV
money and exposure and things like that. It's things we
kind of take for granted now, but he was really
the instigator of so much that is part of athletics today.
Speaker 5 (27:52):
Yeah, he was at the forefront. He saw, he saw
things into the future, and that I guess the vision
of you know, great leaders may be are marked by
not only how they lead their troops, but recognizing where
to go and the vision of who to hire, what
the direction of college athletics was going. And he did
it at Arizona in such a way, and I think
(28:13):
it's very relevant guys, to touch on this. He did
it at Arizona at a time where the Wildcats were
kind of fresh in the Pac Ten at the time,
were coming on, there was issues with NCAA, challenges for
the football program. The financials here on campus were not
exactly I said this phrase earlier, flush with cash. But
(28:37):
he was able to raise the bar of excellence at
Arizona and do it with fiscal responsibility in a time
where Arizona Athletics right now is trying to get back
to the fiscal responsibility of the standards that Cedric set
and those that came before him.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
Maybe lastly, and maybe you want to talk about it,
maybe don't. Probably a good friend of yours ideas now
at SMU, she's gone set this program on fire when
she got here, and it was beyond what I thought
possible when I was watching a full stadium or arena
watching the n I Championships. And then she gets them
(29:18):
a shot away to the title. Just your thoughts on
her and what she means or meant to hear.
Speaker 5 (29:24):
You bet, I was the director of operations for LOOT
when she played at Arizona, so when Adella was in
the building, is an incredible one of the greatest, maybe
top three players of all time in Arizona women's basketball history.
And then to be able to return to her alma
mater and take Arizona to heights that Let's be frank,
did you really think Arizona women's basketball in such a
(29:45):
short time frame could be playing for the national title.
It's not that long ago that she did that and
putting fans in the seats at a consistent level that
to rival anybody on the West Coast, and used are
putting the support level with the greats that are out there,
the Yukon's, the Tennessee, the South Carolinas. Arizona is not
(30:07):
that further back on the list from an attendance standpoint.
So Adea is do all the credit in the world
for raising Arizona women's basketball to a national level. The challenge,
as you and I both know, is once you get there,
sustaining it might be harder than the actual climb. You
(30:27):
don't want to believe that to be true, but sustaining
it and what Loot did to be able to sustain
it and pass it on over time for it to
stay at that level, that's the tribute to Loot. It
was just a challenging time for Idea and maybe circumstances
outside of her control that were swirling and had the
NIL and the transfer portal and all of those things hitting.
(30:50):
At the same time, you have to respect the job
that she did for Arizona, unparalleled success relatively speaking, Probably
the right time to transition to a new opportunity for
both her in the department, and that's not a knock
on her or the program or the new administration for Arizona.
(31:11):
I think it's in the best interest of both parties
to move on, as hard as it is, because Adea.
Speaker 4 (31:17):
Is very well loved in the community because.
Speaker 5 (31:19):
Of the job she did and the community outreach that
she took on as part of her job, and give
her credit for that. So I would say the new
coach needs to have that as a part of their DNA.
This is a community who's thirsty for a connection with
the basketball coach, be it men's or women's, or the
football coach. So I hope that the new coach recognizes that,
(31:40):
whomever they may be, that that's a big part of this.
The reason that this community can have a successful women's
basketball program is you have to have somebody who cares
about the community. That's maybe just as important as winning.
But we all know, guys, winning it starts really with winning.
The connection of the community is a byproduct of that.
Speaker 3 (32:00):
So, you know, sometimes marriages need to end, whether they're
good or bad, it just sometimes they need to end.
Speaker 2 (32:05):
And this one ended.
Speaker 3 (32:06):
Let me throw this down you this last question, and
this has nothing to do with anything involving the idea,
but kind of kind of so back maybe fifteen years ago,
Sean was the maybe you no, actually maybe ten years ago,
Sean was the head coach. Obviously, Stanley Johnson comes in
and I think he had been struggling early. He was
this number one recruit. Blah blah blah. Who's gonna, you know,
(32:28):
be that guy? I think one of the reporters in
the in the pressroom headed Sean, So, you know, coach,
you have a pretty good roster. How are you going
to keep Stanley happy? If he's not coming, if he's
not starting, if he's coming off the bench. And Sean,
in his way that he does things, he looked at
the guy and says, I.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
Don't need to keep anybody happy. I'm the head coach.
Speaker 3 (32:48):
Do you think do you think times have changed so
much now that if you're playing X guy whatever you're
paying eight hundred million five or whatever, that you have
to keep them happy?
Speaker 2 (32:59):
Now?
Speaker 5 (33:02):
It's a great question, Steve, because the landscape has been
turned on his head, right, and so keeping guys happy
now that you're paying them. I mean, I heard Rick
Barnes make a comment the head coach at the University
of Tennessee when a reporter asked about keeping a player accountable,
and he actually uttered the silent words, well, we're paying
(33:25):
him to do that, and now that it's going to
be transparent with most likely the judge's decision coming down here.
So the revenue and how players are paid is going
to be fair game. People are going to know it.
The word is out, but people are going to know
it first and foremost. I think that may actually empower
some coaches to be able to demand and keep players
(33:47):
accountable for that one year. The challenge is is as
long as the transfer portal has what no ramifications for
the number of restrictions, number of times you can transfer,
as long as you can pop and come and go,
it's going to be a roster turnover potential opportunity every year.
(34:09):
And as a coach, if you're going to hold guys'
speek to the fire and quote unquote not keep them happy,
treat them more like an employee that's getting paid to produce,
and if they don't produce, then both parties may have
to be happy with parting ways. If that single year
contract terms were not fulfilled to the goals and the
metrics that each of them decided to do right, it's
(34:32):
a really interesting is maybe not even the right word.
It's an unknown, uncharted territory for an entity that you
could say all along, Oh, the head coach is the
head coach. He decides. Well, the power is not necessarily
in the head coach's a corner as much anymore. But
maybe it's going back because they will have the power
(34:54):
of the purse strings to determine who gets paid and
who doesn't moving forward. So maybe some of that shift
will go back to the coaches side of things. I
don't know, that's a great question, Steve.
Speaker 6 (35:04):
Plus a lot of these programs that have like general
managers now who are handling that part of the job too.
So maybe the coaches, you know, who knows how they're
going to be working with their players and treating them
and keeping them happy. But they got the you know,
Arizona's got a GM for basketball, right, so they do.
Speaker 5 (35:20):
Yeah, And I think that was an incredible hire, a
very important hire for Arizona because you think of the
skill sets that many of the coaches have. You have
to really be a fundraiser now, you have to be
a manager of salary cap because there may not be
one institutionally or so it may not be one at
(35:40):
the NSA level, but at the institution, you know what
you have and what you don't have. So you have
to manage your quote unquote salaries, So you now have
to be a financial guy. It's not just the old
ball coach days where if you knew how to draw
up a great play and you knew how to motivate
young men, you could be a great coach. There's so
(36:00):
much more to it. So are you going to hire
guys to help you with that or are you going
to take that on? At some level, the head coach
is still somewhat the CEO of their of their department,
their division. So even if there's a GM or a
President of Basketball Operations I think is the exact title
for for Matt King at Arizona, head coach has still
got to be heavily involved in that. So the number
(36:22):
of skills, the skill set of men's basketball women's basketball
of a head coach at a revenue generating sport is
now far more diversified than it ever has been.
Speaker 2 (36:34):
Right those always thanks a bunch man, You're the best.
Speaker 5 (36:37):
Love jumping on, Dave, Take care, buddy, Steve. Who you
got tonight, Steve? Defense or offense?
Speaker 2 (36:42):
Florida, Florida?
Speaker 7 (36:43):
All right, I got Houston, I got Houston.
Speaker 5 (36:47):
I don't know I picked Florida in my bracket. I
think Houston is a bunch of Junkyard dogs and I
love it. And I'll be frankly honest, I want I
want Kelvin Samson to get one. And I'm actually here's
my line of the of the day, and I'll part
you with this one. I have yet to develop the
hatred for the Big twelve teams like I did the
(37:08):
Pac twelve and Pac ten teams, so I'm actually wanting
and rooting for the Big twelve to win national title
tonight with Houston. So that may change in the next
five years when my hatred level of the rivals gets
to the level of UCLA and Oregon. But for now,
I'm rooting for the Cougars.
Speaker 3 (37:24):
Okay, thanks man, It's not a toy poodle lee See,
thank you man than much.
Speaker 5 (37:28):
That's right. Oh, I love that.
Speaker 2 (37:31):
We've got to take a break. We're way over
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