1-on-1 with DP – 93.7 The Ticket KNTK - Dave Turcotte - Greatness Comes from Community - June 6th, 2024

Episode Date: June 7, 2024

Dave Turcotte - Greatness Comes from Community - June 6th, 2024Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It's time to go one-on-one with D.P. Coming at you live from the couple Chevrolet GMC Studios. Here is your host, Derek Pearson. Brought you by Mary Ellen's Food for the Soul on 93-7 The Ticket and the Ticketfm.com. It is a fantastic Thursday night in Lincoln, Nebraska, and we're going to go all the way across the country, over the mountains. Over the mountains. And let's get us, let's get us an Olympian.

Let's get us a hoop or a baller. DP 402, 464, 56685. If you want to be a part of the conversation on the start of the Heyman text line, you can follow on the video streams. Get face to voice on X YouTube, Facebook, and Allo Channel 961. If you want to see what's going on and identify this fine young man that we are bringing in tonight, it's good. always good to bring in Turk David Turk got Turk how you doing today brother I'm doing great man

great to be here well you know we have to get more regular and now that in my schedule I'm off the road a little bit so we can get regular with this and there's so much that are going to carry us through these conversations first of all congratulations on the featured on the featured article we can add writer to Baller Olympian attorney Super Dad. Like the names keep rolling. Job well done, brother. You know, that was a lot of fun.

And it's a project that's continuing. And, you know, I think a lot of times, you know, it's, well, it's easy to write the story when you're coming from your own space, right, and your own experience. And this last art, the story that I wrote was more about honoring a lot of people that, were sort of helped me along the way, got me through it, taught me, mentored me, older players,

people, you know, coaches that a lot of people forget, you know. And when you're out there thinking for, like for right now, you know, the Mavs and the Celtics are playing right now, there isn't one player on that floor right now that didn't have high school, young people, coaches, parents, other players, people that you'll never hear of that if, in that, and it might be like someone that intersected in their life for one year or six months, or one basketball camp or one moment. And all those people are out there that sort of help kind of nudge you down the path to do something greater to achieve an Olympic or a professional dream. And I just, this last one was a really, you know, just an opportunity for me to kind of honor some of those folks that helped me to get along my modest career path.

And it was a great thing. And it was really well received in my home community, which was awesome. So, so that was great. A lot of this starts from home and family. like to say that great communities make great people and great people make great communities, and they're necessary. Yours starts at home with mom and dad and great siblings who are all exceptional people. Let's flash back a little bit to the parents before we get into the other surrounding heroes.

But the parents and family, Turk, for those that don't know your story, you come from exceptional, exceptional DNA. Well, first of all, shout out to my dad, turned 87 yesterday. still going strong. Mom is 90, and so we're really lucky to have both mom and dad here, you know, that are just, you know, great human beings. And you're right. You know, there is no aspect. So my brother, of course, the award-winning trumpet player, my sister, you know, college athlete, Southern Idaho played at Jackson State.

You know, golf, music, and basketball scholarship at Jackson State University. Okay. And so you've got this great, I think, foundational work ethic, sense of sort of adventure. Like what I call in my family, you know, the whole choice to quote unquote live remarkably, which is make the remarkable choice. I mean, it's sort of a play on the road less traveled kind of a vibe. But, you know, that comes from mom and dad, like to be able to create that safety net and that sense of wellness and safety that I can go out and try something crazy cool. you know, adventurousome. And you know what? If it doesn't work out, it's going to be okay.

It's not going to be the end of the world. And that foundational thing where it starts with work ethic, going to class, doing well in school, doing what you've got to do to make sure you've got, you know, you've got a support system, doing the right things, working every day, focusing on your mission. That all comes from home, you know, and, you know, or other great mentors in your life. But in my case, I had the two best mentors on earth living under the same roof as me and my brother and sister. And so it's obviously a huge part of where we come from and who we've all become as kids now adults with our own kids. Turk, how much of that rolls over, right? That now you with the super athlete young lady that you're leading, listen, seeds planted often bear fruit.

That's happened. And I know that you parent in the voices of those two great parents you had. For sure, for sure. But you know what the biggest thing that my parents gave me was, though, accountability and work ethic. That's it. You win, you lose, succeed, you fail. That's on you. That's about your work. This whole sense, and this is what always, and again, I think we talked about this before, when I hear people talk about, oh, Michael Jordan was so talented or he was given so much. BS. BS. The people that thrive and succeed come from that world of you absolutely have to work

and claw and scratch. And I always listen to people talk about professional athletes, the greatest of the great. Like you take something like Kobe Bryant. It's another great example in the sports world, right? His dad was playing overseas. He had money. He wasn't poor. He didn't come from some terrible circumstance.

But boy, oh boy, did he work hard? Like they talk about Mamba mentality now and what that is. But no one was really talking about that when Kobe was coming up and playing and they were, you know, and that respect for accountability and work ethic. And, you know, there is no entitlement to greatness. No one's born into greatness. greatness is created, forged in that crucible of adversity and fight and struggle. And that's where, you know, in our family, it was, you know, it was always known from the get-go that if you're going to

go to college and play sports and be successful, that's on you. If you're going to go, you know, go forward in academics and have another different professional life, that's on you. And my dad always had this great saying, I'll give you all the rope in the world. I'm going to support you. I'm going to help you in any way you want. You're either going to use it to climb to the top of the mountain or you're going to hang yourself, but that's on you, you know, meaning that like it really is. And I took that to heart early on and said, well, then the only thing my parents made sure of was if I made it in basketball or didn't make it in basketball, it wasn't going to be because somebody outworked me. That was for sure. And if you bring that mindset into everything,

you're going to do, you're going to wind up great no matter where it ends up. Turk, but that's a big part of the piece that that you shared was buried. and talent and all the other things is that work ethic, but you took work ethic to an extreme. And it's only extreme because not everybody's willing to do it. But to put in eight hours practice a day is a commitment and it builds a fortitude that allows you to have success.

As you said, it's earned, nothing given everything earned. Where does that come from? Because that's beyond even the push for, for for for for basic level greatness this is eight hours you know what let me I'll do everything that I can to get whatever success I can get so let me let me just say this as a as a starting off point the Olympics coming up in July which I don't know how gasped you are but dude I'm so psyched to see the Paris Olympics there are so many first of all my favorite city on earth okay one number two there are so many great Canadian

American, European athletes that the world is following right now that are going into this wonderful collision course. So let me ask, and so I'll start with the question and then I'll answer the answer your question. You tell me which one of the athletes going to Paris in 2026 didn't do the exact same thing I did or more. Yeah. Yeah. There is one. Yeah. Like, like, okay, Katie Ledecki, U.S. Swimmer. You mean, you know, Michael Phelps story that's been coming out in social media. In seven years, I went seven days a week for six hours a day. Ungodly. Like people, like people, there are no exceptions to the rule.

Like, if you're watching the NBA game right now, you tell me which is the guy that, you know, did an hour, hour and a half a day and kind of mailed it in and walked himself into the NBA finals, not one. So I think that's the thing. So the understanding of that, that nugget of knowing that there is no other path than all in. And this is where some parents get mad at me like, no, if you have a plan B, you don't believe in plan A.

And if you're doing time on plan B, guess what? Plan A is sort of having the foundation like the sands of the hourglass running out beneath you as you're trying to do your thing. You know, you take your own time away to be great at that other thing, right? So I would say that, so I appreciate the kind words and I do, but I will tell you that I don't think there was anything. if you go to an elite level of anything, I was not the exception. I was the norm, right? And then once you get up to, like in the NBA right now, like there's 30 new players a year that come into a league where there's 3,000 players a year that want to get in there.

So yes, does whether you're 7-4 or 6-2 matter, sure. But there are things that you can't control. But of all the things you can control, I think every single person are wanting that opportunity that's really in it to win it. They are all identical in the work ethic in the commitment. Now, some people are more efficient. Some people are smarter. Some people play the different way, right? But all of that, I think they're, and that's what's so exciting. Like, there's going to be a convergence of greatness in the next eight weeks that we're going to see that is, I think this Olympics is going to be one of the most special for that very reason. And by the way, D.P. Like,

seriously, tell the truth. You're going to see, you're going to find out going to like, I'm watching synchronized swimming. 100%. You know, I'm watching sports. I would never watch. Because you know, when I'm watching badminton, you're going to be like, and then you realize, holy crap, these guys are amazing. These women are amazing.

Like, you're going to see greatness and all this stuff that you don't normally see. And even in like badminton synchronized swimming sports that aren't big power sports out there, like whatever's going to happen. They're all elite with the same commitment. Like there's nobody in there. there that just free-road themselves in there to that kind of opportunity. So, you know, again, that's what I love about it. And I love seeing everyone out, hearts on their sleeve, it's all out there.

This is what I want. This is what I live for. And you put all that together from 300 countries, and it's the coolest thing on earth, you know? Turk, through all of it, right, that a big part of this are the stories, which make the games matter, because the results only matter because of the people and the stories that are connected to them, right? the journey to whatever the result is. And Olympics does a better job than most sports in getting to those stories. And that, you know what, it's not always a balance playing field.

It's not always from the same resource pool. You know, if you're Jamaican Bob's letter, it's a little bit different. Then it's Canada. And then the stories of how they manage to find success. I think a big part of it is community. that sometimes community can build a bridge between access and success. In your case, that was absolutely true, that there's a community of folks who rallied around and supported. One, they see you, your talent, and then they see your work.

And then, oh, you know what, I will do whatever I can to help this young man achieve at the highest level. Is that a statement of truth or no? Oh, 100%. And I'll tell you, the community is tiny at first. right and like for example in my case in the article that i just wrote it was like you know i'm an eighth grader that had this there was a very tight knit group of ball players and coaches that all knew each other and they were all running camps and this one hero of mine like you know steve nash and i have the same hero and this eli fosquale that was kind of like the the very first great point

guard that came out of Canada ever you know and and you know he was running camps and you get to know him and he kind of like he kind of says two words to you that inspires and then his coaches and the players he played with. I played with his younger brother, Vito, and we were all very close together. And there literally was a community of 35 or 40 people. And that's it. I came from a town. And that's what the point in my article, right? When I wrote the article, it was like, my little town has 120,000 people in it. But in the last 40 years, there were a total of 36 Olympic basketball players. in 40 years. And three of those 36 came from Sudbury, my little town in a country of, you know, 40 million, like the size of the state of California.

The mathematical odds of that, like here we are accounting for 30% or whatever or 10% of all the basketball Olympians and we're 0.000, 1 of the size of the whole country, right? And that's all because of that little community. But this is what I love, though. So you're familiar with like Benedict Mithoran, right?

And like Shia Gilgis and all these guys. And then by the way, his cousin that's playing for Dallas, I was interviewing these guys and talking. And like Benedict Mithurin, by the way, who's one of the most remarkable human beings on the planet, you know, and himself, but talks about making the switch from I was in my neighborhood playing hockey and playing all these other sports. And then I just got in with a group of friends and coaches and that community support.

The gym's always open. someone's there to mentor me and help me. It's so local. You know, it is so local with, you know, getting that kind of support system to give you confidence. But really, you've got to get that person early that says, this is your path forward. If you do one plus two plus three, and you do these things, you could go here. And I think that's where most people, if you think of any young person right now, if you can tell them, I know the path you want to go. on, I know where you want to end up. I have been there or been close to there. I can tell you how to get there. And if you look in this direction and stay focused here and do this work,

this is a path forward. That is the most powerful thing in the world for a young person. Because someone that just says to you and cheers you on and says, you can do it and go for it. And you're the best. Wow, you're amazing. And you do all that stuff. But you don't say, all right, kid, come here. Let's be serious. This is your. path forward. This is what you have to do. Here's the milestones you've got to achieve. But give them the direction. It's over. And that's what Eli did for me. That's what Eli did for Steve Nash. He did ultimately the same thing to both. We said, look, if you're serious about this game, this is what you've got to do. You've got to stop doing all this other stuff. And this is what you got to do. And that's how it

happened. And it's like, and that local community, close, everyday presence. And a lot of times that's your high school coach, a teacher, you know, sometimes a parent, but mostly it's this other person because parents tell you they love you and they want you to win no matter what, but it's this other person, right, in your community that has no vested interest in your outcome. And it's because they're not having an interest in your outcome and they're just saying it to say it to help you, it just rings truer. It's this external validation of I can get there and I can see the path forward. That's the most powerful thing you can give a young person on earth. The late great John Thompson would always say that the big thing in that is often that third voice.

He said often it is the thing that moves people from their comfortable situation to the uncomfortable is an unfamiliar voice, a third voice. That's not themselves. It's not parental. It is that third voice that moves talent towards a thing. And I can literally think of that collection of third voices in my life who, told the poor kid, you know, yeah, baseball's away, sports away, the books are away, work harder, play harder, all of those things that my parents and family had told me all along.

But I couldn't hear them. I needed the third voice. And it's always important. And Turk, you're becoming that third voice for a lot of people. Like, I think that's one of the best parts of your story is that you're not just. writing the victories, you're actually sharing the lessons with young people so that they can have same levels of success. And you're giving them permission to do so, which is so, it gets lost way too many times, is just the power of having somebody give you permission to be great.

You know what it is, though? And honestly, and I appreciate you saying that. Thank you for that. But I will say that most young people don't have to learn to like winning. Young people need to learn that failure is the biggest part of winning. And they always have this illusion like, oh, you were always good at this. Or you were all, no, no. Like I wrote in my article, I was a big, no, I was always a good athlete, but I was a hockey player athlete. Right. So it was like, I didn't have the basketball skills.

I didn't have the finesse. I'd be like playing pickup basketball with a wrestler. You're just this big physical specimen banging into people with not an ounce of skill, can't play a lick, right? It was terrible. But the reality is that telling a young person like, you're going to fail a lot. The path to greatness and success is looking at failure as a learning experience. So it's not failure in the sense that I've lost.

It's just failure is looking at it like, okay, I just learned about a gap in my game or a skill set or something I need to work on. I'm going to take this moment where I didn't get the outcome I wanted. But now I know what I got to work on. And I'm going to go solve that problem. Then I go to the next level. And I'm going to have to solve more problems. And then realizing that being successful is like getting knocked down.

You know, you always hear the truisms, right? But to a kid that's a teenager or a young person playing, you're going to lose a lot more before you start winning. And now you see a lot of guys that, and you see a lot of great players that won a lot early. and then those are the guys you see in the league and you go, wow, they're so talented, and they're not living up to their talent and they don't have the work ethic.

And you get a lot of players that as great as they were, you go, yeah, but you only got to about 70% of the tank. You know what I mean? And it swings the other way. So I think that's where getting people and young people comfortable with, it's not about always winning. It's realizing that the path that success is breaking through

a lot of barriers that other people call failure and not giving a damn about failure. Just knowing that that's just something that's part of the journey, you know. And then once you get comfortable with that's the proof of how you're working and what your path is, then the sky's the limit. Because then what's, if you're comfortable with failing and dealing with adversity and being challenged and powering through, well, what the hell is there in life that you've got to

be afraid of, anything, right? What's left? Right? We're moving, removing those boundaries, those mental boundaries. through accepting that lessons are a vital part of it. I think the big part for me, Turk, is trying to identify young people what their greatest friction is going to be

and then planning purposefully how to attack it. For sure. You know, honestly, the tough challenge there, DP is always, with a young person in particular, it's if you tell them, this is what your weakness is and this is what you have to do, then that's like talking to your teenage child, right?

It just bounces off them or whatever. The tough part in where wisdom of experience comes in is having the conversation where it's a lot of listening and it's a lot of letting them do their thing and then leading them to their own conclusion, letting them work through their process and just nudging a little bit along the way to let them see it and go,

oh, hey, maybe if I do this, this and this, what do you think of that? Wow, that's a great idea. you, kid. Yes, I support you, right? So the Kung Fu Ninja side of that is, there's a lot of coaches right now, they can say, I can tell you exactly what that kid's to do. But how do you get that kid to see it, believe it, own it intrinsically, right? Like, it's their own thing. It's their own process that they own and they become accountable for. Because if it's my plan, like if it's my plan for you, DP, and you don't make my plan, guess what? You will feel like you let me down,

which is maybe, maybe not a big thing. Who knows, right? But if you make it the kid's intrinsic plan, he owns it. He's part of creating it, right? He or she. And then they're not executing for anybody else other than themselves. And then they're looking internally. That's that whole thing. They talk about intrinsic motivators versus, oh, I'm going to, I'm going to get all this money and get the car, the house, the big contract. You know, that all, that. That's, that, all stuff fades away, but that intrinsic, that intrinsic thing, guiding a young person to the moment where they take the lesson and they make it their own and they make it their own thing inside them that they hold themselves accounted to, that's the magic. That's the kid. You just leave

the gym open and leave and that kid. You'll have to go back and get that kid and pull them out of the gym and say, hey, you're going too far. You need to rest. Here, eat some food. Get some sleep. Yeah. Like, that's the beautiful thing of what I, what I try to do is find that place in a young person where they've got that love, they've got that hunger, they've got that need to be great. But giving them a path,

but helping them ferret through choices and life and different things so that they make it their own. And they forge their own with a little bit of guidance, right? Yep. Yep. Turk, here's what we're going to take a break. We'll come back. I want to veer a little bit because in the conversations with you, it makes me want to dive into the hot,

hot button topic when it comes to student athletes and NIL, because there's some conversations. Your sister, you being of the persuasion, and your sister choosing to go to historically black college and university for part of her career, but a big part of the missed message is what, NIL could do for student athletes, what it should do, and I want to pick your brain a little bit, on the things that student athletes need, the things that adults can do so that we make this

experience better for all of them. Dave Turcott, D.P., one-on-one. We'll be right back. You're listening to One-on-One with DP, sponsored by Mary Ellen's Food for the Soul on 937 the ticket and the ticket FM.com. Welcome back to one-on-one, 93-7 the ticket again. Greatly appreciate Dave Turcott from hanging out with us and dropping the knowledge. Greatly appreciated Turk. So a big part of this, a lot of what happens now, especially in MySpace, in my circle,

we're having NIL conversations. And a lot of the conversation is about 1% or point. 0.1% of the student bodies who are in this pool. That most people in the NIL game aren't getting rich. That's not why they're doing it. There's a whole sea, ocean of young people who actually need financial help. And that NIL could be the difference between them having, you know, having the right books, having gas in their car, you know, there's a whole lot to this.

Turk, what are we missing in this thing about the student athlete experience and how we should be trying to help make it better than it is? So I think there's a conflation of a couple of issues there. So if you think about education generally in colleges, and if we're talking just exclusively colleges and universities throughout the country, whether it's junior regional colleges through elite colleges, academic, athletic, however you want to do it. There is over, and speaking as a Canadian, I will tell you, that one of the things that breaks my heart the most about the education in the United States is despite all the lip service, education is not funded equally. Even at a high school level, right?

When you fund education through property taxes, for example, in high school, what does that mean? rich neighborhoods with lots of money have awesome college campuses for high schools people with low property taxes in other areas that are not have less than schools so the the fundamentals the business fundamentals of how education is funded is flawed um you know it's absolutely regional it's absolutely you know there's so many flaws about that that are the that are that is the real disease in education, because I will tell you this, I think first and foremost, when it comes to what matters most to a young person that I care about, the fundamentals of what happens in the rest of your life is largely funded from middle through high school. For the vast

majority of athletes, you're right. Like, you know, high school athletes that even play Division I college. Well, now you're already talking about the top three percent of high school athletes, right? So for the other 97%, and when it comes to society and opportunities to participate in the economy, in business, in sports, in whatever field you want to, that all comes at the middle and high school level, which it is absolutely shameful that it's funded by property taxes, because in the end, what you have is a lot of rich folks that say, well, I don't want to pay for that other kid's school. You know, I want all my money to stay with me and my kids. Now, in Canada, now, it may be different, but typically speaking the way I think it should work.

Because education, and this is one of the things that, you know, the private economy, the private market can't solve everything. And there are certain things that profit does not solve, right? Health care and education are two of those, right? Investing in education for young people is something that won't bear fruit for 20 years, right? No one, you know, it's not a, you know, the private market can't solve that. Same thing with health care, right?

It's like, you know, in treating the elderly and the sick, that's not a profit opportunity. You're going to lose money on those things, which is why government gets more heavily involved. So I think the very first thing that has to occur to equalize educational opportunities is to make sure that whatever resources are used to fund public education are dispersed equally amongst high schools so that at least at that point, the playing field is even. at a high school, middle school education level, right? So that's where you start with. And if you're talking about getting to 90% of the kids, you've got to make sure their educational opportunities, which will include access to sports,

access to music, access to the arts, access to everything other than sports. That's a big problem there. But the same thing sort of happens when you get into college, right? Where, you know, people, the rich has been getting richer in the world of college sports. Guys, there's been NIL for since the beginning of sports. Say that again for the people in the back.

Man. I mean, come on, really? Alabama, Georgia. Like, you want to play football? You got to go to these four schools. And, you know, gee, you know, and even looking at, like, the great teams in the 80s of UCLA and John Wooden, you know, and the, you know, hey, his royal, whatever. Really, you got all these great, you know, you got 50% of the greatest players in the country all on one team. Yeah, they all went there for free.

Right? you know, Lou El Sinder, no, there's no reason for him to stay in New York where he's already a high school God. No, let's go all the way across the country. You know, so, so there has always been at an elite level for the 0.01% of the college athletes, there has always been NIL. You mean to tell me, everyone's all up in arms. I think the most lucrative deal is the Texas quarterback. I think it's Peyton Manning's nephew or the guy that's the University of Tech. Same thing. It's like, you mean to tell me? You mean to tell me? You mean it? tell me those Texas quarterbacks and Johnny Mansell, Texas Tech, and all these guys weren't

being paid and weren't making money and weren't doing other things. Of course they were. They always have. That's why very powerful teams like Kentucky, North Carolina, you know, coaches, you know, pretend not to know. So that was the cheating that kept the rich schools, Rickers, because there's just too much TV money in it, right? So the money in sports through TV, TV revenue is everything. And now it's TV plus betting. And the betting, and the betting, has brought a whole other economic level to it, which is bringing in a completely different animal. I'm not saying it's all evil,

but I'm just saying you have to be truthful and transparent about it. And being fake about, wow, I sure remember yesteryear when things were so great and everyone just played for the love of the game, BS, elite schools were always paying players, right? And it's just like, and I had this discussion with someone on the women's side, right? Yeah.

This whole debate of, well, if you're going to be the greatest player in the history of college, you have to have a national championship. Well, really? Because in women's basketball, there are only four teams that won championships in the last 40 years. So unless you played for Tennessee, Notre Dame, Stanford, or Connecticut, there's no mathematical way you could be the greatest player of all time. You know, but all these super teams. So that's what happened back in the men's game, too, right?

So all of that is funded by the economics of TV. the economic opportunity. Every kid is right to do it. It's just that I think DP what's happening now is people are uncomfortable with the recognizing that, yes, there is a 19-year-old kid that's going to play basketball, football, baseball, hockey something that's worth economically a heck of a lot more than all of the other kids on his team, all of the other kids in his conference, and he's going to bring millions of dollar star school. And the patent unfairness of that, and this is where Jay Bill,

Billis and I agree, and though Jay Billis has no idea who I am, but I agree that it's, it's, it's, it is appropriate to recognize the economic value of elite athletes because the difference between an elite athlete and an elite mathematician or an elite musician, no one said, wow, that, you know, that trombone player in the orchestra is the best in the world. And, you know, he brought in 42 million dollars into our school last year has never happened, right? So it's a very special thing. So I think, yes are there problems yes is it important to to be transparent and recognized but it is also important to recognize that the you know in a in a private capitalist economy these people that create economic opportunity and economic value that's unlike anyone else should be paid

unlike anyone else right but so i don't think elite athletes and nil and kids getting access to books and school resources are the same thing i because because because all Ultimately, like my sister going to Jackson State, the state of Mississippi, does not prioritize education in some communities. Okay. And that's true of every state. You know, the fact that, you know, when you have the whole like historically black colleges and universities, for example, that is all about a lack of funding, you know, and that is done at a government level. And that has nothing to do with sports. That has to do with a whole other discussion we can have some other day about the legacy of those types of things. So I think ultimately it's a failure to invest in education, middle school, high school, college. Whether you're an elite athlete or not, you know what, whether I'm from the Northeast, I'm from California, I'm from Washington, or I'm from Mississippi.

I should have the same access to learn to become a great doctor, a great biologist, a great technician, a great technology person. Those types of things, I think, is the real crying shame that is a different problem than NIL in sports. Because whether we win the national champion football or not doesn't mean that all of the kids coming out of, you know, a gambling university are getting top-notch preparation to go into PhD programs, medical programs, and other things that uplift communities, right? I think it's a larger, more political, socio and economic issue than just what's happening in sports.

Turk, we're going to go to break again. I'm just going to let you know that you've been hired for this other project I have. We're going to help some of those universities and some of those student athletes and you're a perfect ally in this thing. He's Dave Turcott. I'm DP. We'll be back to finish out one-on-one here on the ticket.

You're listening to One-on-One-One with DP on 93-7 The Ticket and the Ticket FM. dot com final segment once again and i have to lock him in for next week uh turk yeah we these are conversations that uh they like to tell us that in this business we're either uh informing or performing um and an hour with turk out as always even with the performing there's the informing uh is 100 percent and it's just nice to have a brain that will function and provide information. So, Turk, thank you for having these conversations with us.

Harrison knows the deal. We're helping some HBCUs with their NIL. And it's great that you said what you said without provocation. It's just the right thing and the truth. So greatly appreciate you, kind, sir. Yeah, no, I will tell you, it's something that I think needs to be addressed. But I really am. I mean, you know, one of the people that really has that has a significant voice and has expressed this opinion, and this is not an opinion that I've come to independent.

Like you think of someone like Charles Barkley, right, who has said repeatedly over the years. Not everybody is going to be NBA, NFL, Tiger Woods, Wayne Gretzky, name an elite of the greatest of all time. So I'm worried about the 97 percent. When you talk about building a community, and that's, to me, it's just. middle school, high school, college is that foundational pillar that communities are built on. Because you build that community and we went right back to the beginning of our conversation, D.P. You build that community where you've got people, teachers, professionals, medicals, technology. These communities can grow in themselves.

And then they build other support systems for other kids to go be great, do other great things. right and so there are just there's so much interplay with you know if your education if your health care and or if your educational foundation is great high school middle school college that community is going to grow that community is going to thrive that community is going to build businesses that's that you're going to be building confident good people that learn to work with other people and collaborate to build great teams all outside of sports and you know both my if you talk about my parents where they come from they were both teachers that was their profession. They were teachers, all of their lives, over 40 years, both of them,

and their careers were spent working with young people. And I will tell you that you know this deep people like some. Yeah, is it true that like the genius concert penis comes out of nowhere, you know, out of the backwater in Texas or someplace and this math genius? Yes, those people are out there and they are out there. But for most people, you've got to have that educational foundation to discover a lot of greatness. And I just, I always worry about of the 97% that we're talking about that aren't necessarily elite, how many of those 97% if they just had a little bit more? And in our communities, right, how many kids don't have families where they're as stable or as lucky as I was, right? I still have both my parents. I'm turning 59. That's a rare thing,

you know, to have both your parents at my age, right? But think about those. families where, okay, mom or dad's not around for whatever reason, but then you meet that coach or that teacher or a librarian or someone that comes in to speak about business or entrepreneurship, right? Education and teaching opportunities create that for those young people. And I think that's the, there's been this enormous loss of talent and ability and leadership that just falls through the cracks when you don't invest in that part of your economy, that part of your culture, that part of your society. And that is a larger discussion that I'm really passionate about because I'm not worried about the elite athlete. They're always going to be okay one way or the other,

right? It's the other 97% where how much talent have we lost when you talk about our GDP, our economy, or whatever value we build, how much of that have we lost because we don't invest in young people, you know, and don't create a foundation upon which they can grab onto something and then discover themselves and their own greatness in whatever direction they want to go, you know? It is vital to have the conversations and to be consistent in it. And again, for smaller schools and smaller programs

that don't have the resources of the powerhouse collection, that it makes it difficult for them to see beyond their constant, their current struggle, whatever's consistently in their face of, my goodness, You know, I'm at college. I'm getting three meals a day, but my mom's, you know, gas bill might not be getting paid. I'm not sure whether my little brother's eating at home. You know, I'd like these things.

And N.I.O. has the opportunity. And I hope it realized that it has the responsibility to change those situations as much as they do, putting players in cars and getting them free restaurant stuff. But that's, Turk, that's part of the journey and part of why we're having this discussion. And it is great to hear a voice outside of my own that speaks to the masses that aren't heard and aren't considered. Well, I'll tell you, just like even mid-like, look, I went to Colorado State. That's not exactly a powerhouse anything, right? But even now, a mid-major every year these coaches, and I think it will level out, D.P.

Like it's just like, yes, the elite goes first. This guy, all the news is about the guy with the big contracts and the big money and, you know, the LSU gymnast that makes a million a year. And then, of course, you know, Caitlin Clark is a whole other phen on. But there are athletes in every sport in college that are making a ton of money. And that's the attention now. But I think that's going to level out because like in my school, we're having, like the way one of the assistant coach described it, we're having to re-recruit our own kids every year. So, hey, your kid did great. he's going to go from here to Ohio State or he'll go from here to LSU and whichever.

And that's going to happen, which I don't mind, by the way, because, you know, in my day, it was like, I had a coach flat out tell me after my junior year and I was an off-conference player, like, yeah, you do that and I'll let them, you know, you can get blacklisted and you would lose your career or, you know, eligibility rules of change. Transfer portal as a player seems great. But I would just say we should all kind of reserve judgment on NIL. Players getting that kind of money, there's too few of them. And I think businesses that are sponsoring are focusing too much.

But I think what you're going to see now in a college athletic department, your assistant athletic director in charge of basketball or football is going to be less an athletic director and more like a GM for a pro team, right? You're going to have to think about, hey, we have $10 million or we have $2 million in NIL money. Is it better to go give a million to that one guy or give $300,000 to, these seven players that are all phenomenal. So I think you're going to see a morph of college, the administration of college sports to go more like great sports franchises.

And I still think the elite teams will always be the elite teams, but I think very, very good teams are going to figure out a way to do it. Like, you know, classic example two years ago, national championship game. Who the heck is FAU? Excuse me? How did they get to the final four? Right? well, the first year of NIL all of a sudden they've got five, you know, top, you know, so you're going to see a lot of that.

I don't mind that. But I do hope, D.P., and you're right, like, it's way too at the top, like a star-driven thing. But I think as NIL expands and businesses and mids level programs realize, hey, maybe it's better to get seven great players rather than pay one coach eight million dollars a year. Does Nick Sabin need seven million dollars a year to coach? Like it's like like the guy that says to me I love this game. I love coaching, but I can't do it unless I'm making $7 million a year as a college. How about this? How about you boosters go get three and a half million for the players and three and a half million for the coach?

And if the coach won't coach for three and a half million, guess what? He doesn't love the game that much. You know, you know, you know, you know. Turk, that's the beauty. Like, listen, it's so funny. It's beyond the logic. And it's the silliness that we talk about on a daily basis here on the ticket. Because it just, I ask the question, how many of those $9 million seasons do you need?

You could do a whole lot more for a whole lot of people, but they're not interested. Hey, Turk, let's pick another day next week. Let's have it again, brother. I mean, appreciate you, man. Always great to talk with you. I love that you have, you know, have me here happy to have these conversations. It's always great to connect. We will talk.

We will talk this weekend. My friend, we'll book next week. And then I need to get you on board with raising money for some of these smaller programs. That's Dave Turk got. Canadian Olympic, Hooper, Baller. Let's go. Great doing. United, July 10th.

Watch for it. Canada wins. We're all set, bro. We ain't done with it. That's Turk. More ticket weeknights. Coming up. 937, the ticket.