Games with Names - Cori Close on UCLA Women's First National Championship | UCLA vs. South Carolina

Episode Date: July 14, 2026

Cori Close is in studio!  The legendary Head Coach of UCLA Women's Basketball is with us to go deep on their recent National Championship! We get into their 2026 National Championship win over South Carolina, the current landscape of college basketball, Bill Walton stories, and a whole lot more. (00:00) We kick things off. (02:14) Coach Close joins us on the couch. (35:10) We got back to April 2026. (43:39) We break down each roster. (50:12) We dive into the game. (1:11:54) We score the game. Support the show: http://www.gameswithnames.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

April 5th, 2026, Mortgage Matchup Center, Phoenix, Arizona. Two number one seeds going at it in the final game of the season. And the UCLA Bruins were looking to make some history. This is the 2026 Women's Basketball National Championship. Yeah. Welcome to games with names. I'm Julian. They're Jack and Kyler.

and we're on a mission to find the greatest game of all time. And today we have an unbelievable episode with National Champion and UCLA women's basketball coach, Corey Close. And if you haven't already, drop a like and a subscribe to Games with Names. Let's go. Games with Names is a production of I-Heart Radio.

Welcome to Games with Names. Today we are looking at the 2026 fresh. Yes. National Championship between South Carolina and the UCLA Lady Bruins coach with coach, Corey Close, here in the Nut House coach in one sentence. Why this game? Well, everybody didn't pick us. Every single person, every ESPN, every person on, you know, newspapers.

I didn't see one person pick us. and then to go win it by 28, it's pretty good. Is this the greatest game of all time? I don't, you know, I think for the show I'm supposed to say yes. But, you know, I mean, I think that it was my greatest game of all time. How about that? But, you know, it's just there's so many things about it. For me, it's about the depth about my real passion is to teach, mentor, and equip.

And so to have other people see that you can do it a little bit differently and still compete and have excellence at the highest levels. That's why it's the greatest game of all time is because of our process and what I get to do to pay it forward of what Coach Wooden actually gave me. Wow. That's something, Coach.

I don't mean to swim in the deep end. Get your floaties. Let's go. We're going to swim in the deep in. I need the floaties. Let's go. But how have the last few weeks been? I mean, you guys just win a national championship. You're here in L.A.,

you bring the first women's basketball national championship other than the 78 before. was even a sport. Right. To UCLA, which is the king, queen of championships. How have the last few weeks been? I have no idea. I feel like I'm just keeping my head above water.

I literally have never relied more on our administrative staff. Like, where am I supposed to go next? What am I doing here? You know, there's no way to prepare for this. It's just been an absolute whirlwind. I, unlike you, do not have a lot of practice at this, however many Super Bowls, you had a chance to compete in. But the reality for me is that this has been a dream.

It's been a once in a lifetime. And to watch the joy on our players' faces, to watch them be celebrated has been unmatched. And so, but it has been an absolute whirlwind and it's continuing. I can only imagine. Now, this is UCLA, some of the craziest alumni of all time, unbelievable university. Who's the coolest person that reached out?

Ooh, that's a tough one. I mean, just the call we got to be on Jimmy Kimmel was pretty cool. So, you know, the way he reached out and got a chance to do that. But it has been literally, whether it be government officials, whether it be, you know, celebrities, whether it be whoever else, you know, the fact that we were able to capture the attention of so many sectors, you know, I was really cool. A compliment we got is that, you know, it really crossed the barriers of sport. It really was in the matter of leadership and impacting people. And so we had one of my alum said, yeah, I was talking to one of the moms at my kids' soccer game. And she has no idea about sports and any other facet.

And she said, you guys were all over the place. And she was asking all the questions about leadership and everything else that you all are doing. And I think that's really the cool part. It wasn't just a game. Because in the end, it's just putting an orange thing in an orange thing. If you're not impacting people, if you're not inspiring somebody else, if you're not showing someone that it can be done differently to impact hearts. You know, it was interesting.

When I was spending time with Coach Wooden, he used to say, remember, Corey, you're not coaching people's jump shots, you're coaching people's hearts. But if you coach their hearts really well, usually their jump shots end up pretty good, too. Yeah. And so, honestly, our jump shots were pretty good to win a national championship. And our competitive excellence was amazing and our preparation was unmatched. Of any team in my 33 years of coaching, this team knew how to prepare, then you had to compete. They knew how to be selfless, which, you know, you know, you know,

is really the ingredients. But then to be able to pass that along and inspire others, like I've said before, it really, that's the part that brings it meaning. Man. So, you know, it's truly an inspiration. And it has been really cool to see the state of women's basketball. Yeah.

Now and from, you know, 20, 30 years ago, 15 years ago. Yeah. I'm a girl dad. I have a little girl. It's just been really cool to see. I watch the interviews. I've seen you guys on Kimmore. I've seen all this stuff.

And it's been really cool to see you guys get in the light you guys deserve. Do you agree with that? I totally agree with that. And I think we're just scratching the surface. But, you know, I honestly think your daughter's name is Lily, right? Yeah, yeah. So, you know, I honestly think what are the kind of opportunities that you would want for Lily in two years, five years, 10 years, right? And we're having the opportunity to create those and blaze those trails.

And just like we're walking on the paths that other people blaze for us. us and really sacrificed. I look at the WMBA and the new CBA that they just signed. You know, that's not the group that's experiencing it now. That's the decade and decades before of people that fought and sacrificed. And, you know, now it's culminating from everything from media rights deals to corporate sponsorship,

to attendance, to create opportunities that eventually, hopefully across all sports, Lily's going to benefit from. 1,000 percent, 1,000 percent. Now, you mentioned Coach Wooden. that that you know you you had a relationship with coach wouldn't can you give us share with us some stories what's the best coaching point he gave to you i mean you just you just explained one to

us uh it's it's been um it's so many it's hard for me to narrow it down but i think that um he used to always i think so many times coaches we just like to hear ourselves talk and it's not about really it's about our own ego sometimes it was never ever about him and he was always about creating a transformational experience for somebody else. And he never judged, you know, his success by the wins and losses or even the championships. You know, he would always talk about it must be a 40-year decision, not a four-year decision, that they have to be better husbands and, you know, in their occupations, better citizens because they were involved in your program. If not, what are we really doing? And so I think that's the part that here he was the most successful

from an outsider's perspective, the most successful coach of all time for college basketball. And now, but he really doesn't care about the banners. And I have this unbelievable experience. I get to walk down the men's side because of where our benches in Pauley Bavillion. And on the right side is all of the championship banners on the wall. And I sort of touch each one as I go down the hall to get ready for a game. And it's not about the outcome of the banners. It's about a reminder to my heart about what I'm really doing this for.

and I think he was the ultimate example. It doesn't, some people for a long time, and actually that's what winning the championship is sort of done. It's sort of given some credibility and some, you know, that this could actually make a difference and you could be coach in this way. You know, but I don't think you have to demean people. I don't think you have to, you know, make it about you.

I don't think it doesn't have to be transactional. I really think that it makes you more competitive, not less. People are like, oh, that's soft, you know. you can't win that way. But the reality for me is when you're really committed to somebody's long-term development, it makes you want to compete like crazy. Like I'll dive for every loose ball. I'll go after every rebound.

I'll sit lower in my stance. I'll do anything because of the way I care about the person on my right and on my left. And so I think it actually should make you more of a fierce competitor to be driven by genuine relationships and genuine shared excellence and commitments that you've made. I mean, as you grew up, do your job. Do your job is going to happen a lot more with people that you know are committed, that care, and that have a shared, you know, commitment to excellence. And so that's, I mean, he just, coach wouldn't live that.

He used to say the best lessons are caught, not taught. And he just lived it. He was a role model. And so I just, every single time I would go to his condo, I just would sit there going, oh my gosh, I got to remember every little thing he says because the nuggets of wisdom just were flowing. Jeez. That's such invaluable,

that's such crazy valuable information just to get to sit and talk with John Wooden, the pyramid of success. I mean, it's in every locker room that I've ever been in. Yeah. There's something written, you know, about John Wooden and the success pyramid and this and this, you know, 10 minutes early,

he's on time. And, you know, it's been. Well, Ted Lassow, I don't know if you're a Ted Lassow fan, but I'm a huge Ted Lassow fan. And the very, very first episode, he had me because what he gets there, he goes into his office, and he puts up a pyramid of success signed by John Wooden. And I was like, done. I'm watching every episode from now on. So it is everywhere.

But honestly, the Forbes magazine did a story two years ago that said that still, to this day, it's the most widely used business motivational tool. Forget sports. Just business motivational tool. And it really does transcend so many things in terms of leadership and organizational leadership. And I'm lucky to have just sat and listened. And like you said, because of the merit it has with the success that was proven by this method, it's got the track record. Right.

And that's what I was referring to earlier about our game is that, you know, I think I've heard from so many coaches and teachers and leaders about just that how encouraging it was to see. that now the way that they always hope they could coach or teach or mentor has validity because it actually ended in a championship. 1,000 percent. That's 1,000 percent. It's easier to get in front of the room and talk when you got that banner and have them buy in. You know, because that's what it's ultimately always about. It's, you know, everyone's got to buy in to what the coach is saying and that's how you get the best results.

Now, how you cope with the shortened off season now? you know, that's like the coach's term. It's a shortened off season. We went to the championship. We'd have less time to prepare. How do we cope with the shortened off season? Well, it's worse in college, remember? Because now literally the day after the championship, the transfer portal opened.

And we lost six seniors. So I had, we just today, you know, got our final transfer. And we had to, we had to find five transfers that could come in so that we could reload. It's like free agency, right, for us. And, you know, we don't really have an offseason. I think that's one of the reasons you're losing a lot of college coaches to the NFL, to the WMBA, to the NBA, because we really don't have an offseason. So you recruit high school kids in the summer. You do transfer portal in April and May.

You know, then you come back in August and you have summer access and then you start up in September. It's really difficult. Then you add, I'm also a fundraiser and a CEO because of NIL. It's a, that's one of the things, quite frankly, I've really been wrestling with because, uh, there really is no off season. So whether it was shortened by the final four or not, uh, you know, that combined with the transfer portal. It's just, it's the way of our business. So we pretty much take June off, um, and try to, you know, create as much opportunity for our staff to take a breath. Um, but it's, it's definitely probably my biggest internal wrestle is, uh,

you know, how long I can do this pace. It's incredible. I mean, you're not just recruiting high school kids. You got to recruit your own players. You got to recruit new players, the players that leave. Everyone's got to be happy. Now, do you have a general manager? I do.

I do have a GM. I just hired a GM last year. And that has made a tremendous difference. And then I have a couple of incredible businessmen in the community that, you know, Michael Price has been, he started out as a donor and then became one of my, my best friends, but he's a brilliant strategic thinker, and he's come alongside our general manager, Sam Skinner, and have really run the show in terms of roster construction, you know, really learning how we needed to plan the balance of freshman recruiting and the cost of that

balanced against, you know, transfers and what those are going to cost, and then the fundraising and the corporate sponsorship that has to go along with that, if I didn't have, you know, a brilliant mind like Michael Price and another guy. guy named John Banks, along with our general manager, we would not be able to continue to compete at the highest levels. Oh, my God. I mean, this is, that's a lot. Now, are they going to, is this eventually going to turn into where the college kids unify and there's going to be some kind of collective bargaining agreement because, I mean, it's, because of the, the lack of rules. Right. It's harder for the administration, the coaching staffs, the upper divisions, because we just

explained it. I mean, you're recruiting all year around for five different types of players. And there's no unlike any of the professional sporting organizations, there's no agent certification. There's no expectations for that. So there's this tampering. And not at all. Some agents are doing a great job,

but there just are no boundaries. So, you know, you've got that part on top of that. You've got these young people who there's no transparency. So they're being told, oh, we're going to offer this or we're going to offer that. And then they pass it on to us. Oh, I got offered by such and such a school, but there's no way to check if it's actually true.

So we're making all these massive financial decisions, you know, based on what an agent or a kid says somebody else has promised with nothing in writing and no fact checking available. So it's just like a, it's just a really broken system right now. I'm hopeful that in the next 18 to 24 months, there's going to be some sort of, and I don't know if it's collective bargaining. I think the big fear in that in college sports is that. they're going to become employees. And then there's a whole different set of challenges in the university environment that

comes with that. But I think there has to be some sort of system, whether it's a collective bargaining agreement or anything, but there's got to be a system of transparency. There needs to be a system of where agents can be involved and where they can't. There's got to be a system about, you know, just when you can have certain things. But we can't have, we've got to fix just the transfer rule. There needs to be a one-time transfer. okay, I'll give you that, a freebie, but you can't have free agency all the time and have no boundaries in terms of finances or transparency.

That's just a recipe of disaster. So we've got to get something, something's got to be coming down the pike or we'll be bankrupt and we won't survive all the lawsuits. Yeah, I mean, it's going to be, we'll see. Hopefully, you know, it'll change for the better. There's always crazy, you know, pendulums of this stuff. You know, the NCAA had it for. as long as they had it. Yeah. And so now it's going the other way. And hopefully it sorts itself out, which it probably will. And hopefully it does it sooner. Yeah.

But how is it building your building with all this kind of stuff? Like how do you imp- what's the first thing you tell your players when you have the first team meeting of the year, starting the new season? What's the mantra? Our mantra was, you know, fellas' mental toughness, doing what's best for the team. team when it's not necessarily best for you. That's what we're going to be built on. We want tough, smart football players that perform under pressure. That's like something I heard day one every year. And how did that get reinforced? I got reinforced by your best players showing it.

Yeah, which is what made you great. I'm a huge football person, but, you know, that's what, that's really what, you know, made, separated you was your ability to do that on a consistent basis. your ability to put the team first, your ability to outwork people. You know, and that is what you just said right there in a different way is what we build our program on. We call it with the values for us. Our mission of our program is to create an uncommon transformational experience that teaches mentors and equips young women for life beyond UCLA.

That isn't going to like fire anyone up in the locker room on the very first place, but that's always my foundation as a leader to go back to. and you know we're going to we're going to have a growth mindset. Everything that happens to me is a chance today is a chance to learn and grow. I don't care if it's fair or not. It doesn't matter or not. I have a job to do and I'm going to use it to grow. And secondly, it's going to be a person of gratitude.

I just think if you want to be a high performer, you got to know this is an I get to. This is not that I have to. So it's going to be fueled by gratitude and, you know, from the further relationships for the opportunities. Otherwise, you're going to become an entitled, spoiled. you know, not a very good teammate, you know. And our third thing is that we're going to be a lifestyle giver, not a lifestyle taker. So every day you show up to this building, you have a choice. Are you going to be a giver or a taker?

If you choose being a taker, I'm going to kick you out. You lose the opportunity to get better that day. And that fuels our mental toughness. Our mental toughness is can you do those simple but hard things consistently over time, even when you don't feel like it? And so we're really big at UCLA on mental, conditioning and really training the mind just like you would, you know, if you want to get stronger physically, you go to the weight room, you know, if you want to get stronger or better skills,

you work on your ball handling. And well, if you want to get stronger mentally, we enter the mind gym. And we're very intentional about how we're going about our business, how we get to neutral, how we, you know, get ourselves to do the really hard things that embrace the hard. We say that, you know, it's our edge. The edge is when the really sweet stuff happens, right? The edge is when your talent runs out and you're forced to develop a new level of discipline and skill. And so, you know, I think that I don't, I'm not a huge motivation person. Like, I'm a huge discipline person. Like, can you discipline yourself to do the right thing over and over again for what's best to the team even when you don't feel like it?

And so it really just keeps going back to our values, you know? Are you, are you being a giver or a taker right now? Are you being an intentional person to grow every rep? And if you're not, if something's distracting you from that. You either need to get back to neutral and do the right next, that next right thing, or you got to leave. I get to,

I don't have to. Great line. I like it. And then I also, earlier you said something, squat in your stance, or what is it, would you say?

Sit lower in your stance? I'm trying to get that in Lilly on the defense again. I know. Ain't nothing good happen to a player standing straight up. Low person wins, right? Leverage, low person wins.

Gosh. We'll be right back after this quick break. Hey, I'm Ruby Carr, the host of the podcast, OnCore. Check out our brand new episodes featuring music from the show that everyone is reheating as we speak. Heated rivalry. Join me as I go behind the songs that brought Shane and Elia together. I'll tell you the stories of Fice, My Moon, My Man, Wolf Parades, I'll Believe in Anything, and tattoos all the things she said, and how they all became a part of this global phenomenon.

stream encore on iHeartRadio, crave, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Mungesha Ticgitha, and I'm back with a new season of the podcast, Skyline Drive. This time I'm diving into a rabbit hole of peptides, organoids, blood boys, blue zones, and brain replacement to try to understand what this longevity obsession is all about and what it really means to live forever, for all of us. I learned about some rad science. I can make a brain. you and then we can test what draw is the best for your brain as opposed to his brain. Here's some hard truths.

I would expect Indians to age faster, but I did not expect it to be almost a four to five year acceleration. And get myself into a world of trouble. I'd say probably start bones smashing. That doesn't work. To make it look more defined. They say it works. I don't know. Listen to Skyline Drive, How to Live Forever on the IHH

Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. How did you get into this sports stuff? What sports did you follow as a kid? I saw that you had a father, you have a sister. So there was no boys. Usually back in those days, you was probably a brother. So this is a real sport family. What were the sports we all followed and how did it develop? Well, my dad actually played Division III football at Wheaton College. Let's go. They're only Division III National Championship. Let's go. Let's go. And so, you know, he really was a competitor. I think I've been reflecting actually a little bit this last year, just how deeply my dad's example has affected me as a leader and as a coach is that not only was he fiercely

competitive, but he loved the manager or the facilities person as much as he loved the person who had the most status. And I think that he taught me how to compete fiercely, but with joy in your heart at the same time. And so I'm very, very grateful for that. But we lived in a neighborhood to answer your question where I was the only girl. So I have this distinct memory that every single Sunday after church, we would come back and it would be everybody met right after lunch. Everybody met in the cul-de-sac and we would play whatever sport was cool that time. So whether it be football in the street, whether it be in baseball, whether it be whatever it was, we were going to play something and I was going to be the only girl. And so it just was sort of ingrained that this is just what we did.

And my dad really believed there was no better teaching ground for, you know, teamwork, leadership, self-esteem than team sports. And so it was really, I don't think he would have cared at all about whether we won the national championship or whatever, but he would care that I stayed true to teaching our women about, you know, all the lessons that were going to stay with them. You know, he, he was really, my dad in general, just, he was sort of the leader of the community. And, um, but soccer was what are really my first love. And he coached my soccer team. It was interesting. I had three people from my youth soccer team at the final four. Let's go.

And like, we were the road runners. Don't get it. Go get it. Road runners. Let's go. Road runners or die. Um, but I just think that, uh, you know, all sports, I think a big, if people ask me all the time, How soon should kids specialize as late as possible? I just am such a big believer that I played badminton. I played softball. I played soccer was really my big one. I played basketball. I swam.

And I just think that all the mental side of learning those different sports, but also the training of the different planes of the body, I think that's how you stay healthier longer. I think that's how you don't get burnt out. But, you know, if I wanted any friends in my neighborhood, I played whatever sport we were playing. Yeah, 1,000%. I'm such a huge advocate of playing.

I played three sports all the way. What were your other ones? I was baseball, basketball, football. You know, throughout high school. And then I went to college and played football. But I feel... Where'd you go to college again? I went to Kent State.

Oh, yeah. In Ohio. Absolutely. I went to college at San Mateo for junior college for one year to get re-recruited. And then the rest is history. but team sports, what I just pulled out of that. I mean, it's so great for these kids. There's so many life lessons that I've learned through sport, team sports specifically.

And now I like also individual sport because it's a different pressure for the girls. Totally. But I like her specifically, I'm talking about Lily to be in a team sport. Because look, these little girls, it teaches them how to communicate. It teaches them to be embarrassed in front of people when you don't got your work done. Hey, if you, that you need to feel that. You're going to feel that every day in life. If it, you know, if you're in your regular works.

Absolutely. Setting goals. The accountability, the discipline, the working as a team relying on someone. I just, it's so impactful for kids. I think it's huge. Now, what's the scouting report of you at University, California, Santa Barbara? Well, first of all, I was, I just was driven like crazy. So it really went back.

I would say the scouting report is that I'm a tough, you know, what else, you know, mother something. And then I just was, I refused to be outworked. So that was, I was not, I was the least athletic. I wasn't that quick. Most people told me I was too slow and too short. But I actually went to Stanford basketball camp. First year, Tara Vandevere was the coach there.

She had an assistant at that time named Julie Plank. And everybody had told me that I was. too short and too slow. And Julie Plank pulled me aside after that camp and said, you can do it. You can play Division I one basketball. And Julie is in my life to this day. And I'm 54 years old. And you just need a couple people to say, you know what, I really believe in you. And that is all I needed. And it went from there. And so I just decided I was not going to be outworked or I was not going to be out competed. And hopefully I could make some things work. So I was fortunate to be able to go. I also learned how to build things there. When I went to UC Santa Barbara, they were 0 and 18 in the Big West

conference the year before I had gotten there. And there was a lot of other people that came before me in this. But really learning how to build a principled centered program. I had a phenomenal coach named Mark French. And he was all about habits of excellence. And he would stop practice. And he'd be like, you what are you going to do when you're tired and you're a doctor, a mother, a lawyer? And you got to you just stayed up all night with your kid and they were sick and then you got to have a big deposition and go into the courtroom and you got to learn to be excellent they go how are you going to learn to do that you know you create the habits of excellence now and and i you know we rolled our eyes just like we roll our eyes at our parents at that point um but man that that hit me deep you

know and it really formed everything that i was going to do later on in life as a coach and as a leader so um you know i think i was just uh i love to compete i'd love to uh to just have it be a part of a team I just, it's, it was like a dream. And then I'd like, I would never have been able to afford to go to college if I had not gotten a college scholarship. And so like, I got my education paid for. And then I got per diem on the road for meals. I was like feeling amazing. And so, you know, especially after the stories I'd heard from my dad from playing Division III football that, I mean, they got nothing.

And so I just thought I was in hog heaven. And now we're talking about, oh, that's a bad picture right there. but all that to say is now we're giving kids millions of dollars and my roster is a multi-million dollar roster. Here's one to wrap your mind around about the system. Every top half power four team last year had a bigger payroll than every single WMBA team. That's absurd.

It's absurd. It's absurd. It's out of order. I don't get it. I don't get it. But anyways, that was a long answer to your question of... How'd you go to school?

I mean, that place is so beautiful. I know, seriously. That is an unber, I remember go visit some friends at Santa Barbara on Del Pius Street. I'm like, how do these kids go to school? I know, believe me. We got a lot of wins that way because there's a lot of, you know, teams that would come in and think, oh, this is easy. And then they go to the beach.

Then they do all these things. But I was, I had it. I only took classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So I worked in a lot of beach time. Yeah. It's a big sacrifice in life, you know. Well, take us through that coaching journey. So you have a great career.

You go, I think, to two tournaments that you see San Francisco. Santa Barbara, which they were 0 and 14 before you got there. So you obviously had success. You jump into coaching right away. Yeah. And you stay at UC Santa Barbara. Well, I go UCLA first. UCLA first.

Two years. And then I go back to UC Santa Barbara for nine years as an assistant. And then I went to Florida State and as an associate head coach there. And then someone took a risk on me. Dan Guerrero was AD there. And they really wanted someone at UCLA with some ties. And really my relationship with Coach Wood and got me that job. And so I came back and here we are.

I'm, you know, been doing it. This has just finished my 15th season. So 33 total years. 18 is an assistant and then now 15 as a head coach. Thank you. Let's go, baby. Thank you. Let's go.

You're impacting so many unbelievable women that go into probably the society and do nothing but great things because of the foundation you're putting into them through your work. I hope. I hope, you know, so it's a lot of the sacrifices. is I'm, you know, I thought I'd be married and kids by now. And, but if you're living in your purpose, you're willing to make those sacrifices and I wouldn't have traded any of it. Well, we all appreciate those sacrifices.

Before we move on to our next segment, I always ask anyone associate with UCLA and you've been there since 2011, been there a huge stimp before. Bill Walton. What a cool dude. What a cool dude. There's got to be a, I mean, your UCLA basketball, coach for the ladies.

Yeah. Bill Walton, you had to have some kind of connection with him. Yeah, you know, I didn't know him as well as some others,

but I just, I absolutely loved that he was comfortable in his own skin. He really, you know, lived his life to the beat of his own drum.

And, you know, I think that alone is just such a cool characteristic. I love the famous Bill Walton story with Coach Wooden about how he came to him

after a summer and said, hey, coach, I just have some deep conviction. My political views have become really important to me. And I know you have rules about, you know, your hair has to be cut to a certain length and all that. But this is a part of who I am now in that I am expressing my political views and commitments with my hair being, you know, this big red, long, curly hair that he wanted to keep.

And Coach Wooden just said, you know, I appreciate a man of great conviction. I appreciate that you spent your offseason really developing the young man you wanted to become in terms of your political views and he said, you know, Bill, I just, we're really going to miss you. And then 10 minutes later, he had a haircut. And so I went from there. But, but I still just love that story because, you know, Bill Walton was just willing to stand on his convictions. And even as I listened to him commentate, you know, even, you know, down to the very end, he was talking about, you know, symphonies in the middle or, you know, the Grateful Dead concert that he loved or whatever in the middle of a basketball game and I just I admire someone who can just do what they are passionate

about doing nothing like see back in the day when I was playing you're up a little later than you should you see the West Coast game and you hear Bill Walton talking about a Grateful Dead concert during the Warriors game or whatever whoever in a tie-dye shirt yeah I got a haircut in Westwood over the weekend literally thought of that story that coach close just told us a Bill riding his bike down oh my God feel like Bill oh yeah unbelievable all right Pete, we miss you bill. Well, we usually go back into time. We talk about pop culture.

This wasn't that far back in time. It was only two months ago, April 5th, 2026. I'm like the least cool, least knowledgeable pop cultural person you've probably ever had on this show. You did say you watched, you got to watch some kind of TV shows. So how do you escape from ball coach? Well, I actually am. I like have a TV show that I watch all the time. But what's that show?

Well, it just depends. It depends on what's going on. Our players will give me a. series. Right now I'm watching, this is going to be so cheesy, Virgin River on Netflix. But I have literally watched Ted Lasso all the seasons through three times. I like the Chicago Med, Chicago Fire. Like I just like to escape a little bit. So tracker. I've been into that recently. So I just like, you know, empty entertainment for about an hour before I got a bed. Did you see the project Hell Mary yet? No, is it good? That's with Ryan Gosley and the space flick.

It's very good, actually. Okay. All right. I haven't seen it yet. All right. I'm really open to recommendations. It's hope core, right? It's kind of a new thing where it's like hopeful, optimistic in a time where things maybe aren't as hopeful and optimistic.

It's breaking through. Okay. All right. I'm in. I'll check that out. Positive art. This year, Yukon's been basketball team lost for the first time ever in the national championship. You know, they also have their women's that are very good.

How is it being a part of a program that has such dominance men and women? Yeah, I think it's amazing. Actually, I was almost late coming here because Mick Cronin stopped me and was like, hey, we got to talk about this transfer rule thing and what are you hearing and whatever else. But I just think it's awesome to have the camaraderie. You know, we spend so much time mastering our craft and we share a building together. We're training together. You know, three of the guys drove to Phoenix to be at the Final Four celebrating our women. And I just think it's a really cool camaraderie. that we share. And I just think that, you know, there's just an incredible level of expectation and excellence. And to be able to, we're just scratching the surface, obviously, of what the men have done traditionally at UCLA. But I just think it's, you know, I think that's one of the coolest things to be able to look a parent in the eye that I'm recruiting and say, you know, you're not going to find this level of excellence across, you know, basketball, across academics, across access to the alumni network

internship opportunities is just excellence everywhere you turn. There's got to be some kind of competitiveness though, because I remember I played in Boston. I mean, I went to Celtics championships they won, Red Sox, Bruins. Yeah. And it was almost for us, when we saw them go out

and win it, it was like, hey, we got to bring our shit up. Yeah, exactly. Let's go. The town might get bad. Well, I'll tell you, I remember my interview. I walked into the Hall of Fame. It was on our way to the offices for my first meeting. And I happened to, and this did not exist when I was at UCLA the first time, this massive trophy room with every single national championship trophy.

And I think there was like 98 at the time when I first got this job. But in the bottom right-hand corner, there was an empty space. And I knew that of all those trophies, because they didn't acknowledge women's basketball in 78 when they won it, I knew that there was not a women's basketball one represented there. And that became my mantra was we have got to find uncommon women willing to make uncommon choices yielding an uncommon result which would be filling that empty space. And so like really there is this competitive like, dang, I mean, now there's 126 of them

and you're just going, wow, I mean, to be a part of that level of excellence. So whether it's, you know, the Bruins, the Celtics, the Red Sox, or it's the incredible other sports at UCLA, you got to get your stuff together. And it was about time that we filled that empty space. And you did. We did. And you did.

Before we move into the game, thoughts on the team's TikTok account? It's pretty cool. I hear that it's getting some major traction. Getting traction left and right. That's the word on the street. But I have to give a shout out to Charlize Ledger Walker, her YouTube channel.

it tripled in size over the Yeah let's go let's get this thing going But I mean she had so much She's the one that started the whole dance thing that went viral She's the one that taught one of our other players Gianna Neepkins how to dance And that went viral So I have to give a shout out to

O2 he runs our TikTok account And then Charlie Sledger Walker and her YouTube channel I'm just walking in their coattails Everyone's got to go check it out My whole feed is Gabby Hockes, man. It's crazy. Unbelievable. Bread and the joy is awesome.

How do you do with that as a coach now, though? Because I remember I was in it at the very beginning. Yeah. And, you know, it's changed where coaches were super anti-everything because, hey, we got one thing to do. And now it's kind of changed where it's part of life now. So you got to incorporate it. How do you handle it?

Well, they're all entrepreneurs at this point now. You know, Gabriella Hockes has absolutely built her brand. But, you know, I think it all is about. proportions and order. As long as you have your, you know, things in line and your priorities in order, you can do both. But as soon as they get out of order, then I'm not supporting you the same way. So I think it's just a matter of recruiting people that can keep the main thing, the main thing. We worked really, really hard this year about shutting out outside noise.

And some of our players are better at it than others. They actually had a team meeting right before the NCAA tournament. And they, we had had some really nasty stuff happening over. over X or the old Twitter, whatever it is. And they decided they, everybody needed to get rid of that for the NCAA tournament. So we've been zero dark 30 LeBron style. Exactly. So, but I think you have to know yourself, right?

Can you, you know, be focused and shut those things out? And our team was just like, there's just enough nasty stuff going on that we're going to just absolutely hunker down here. But I think over the course of your whole year, I just, I think instead of complaining about it, you got to equip them to make better decisions. decisions with it because it's here to stay it's here to stay i mean it's it's it's gotta be i'm parent now it's like it's scary and it's hard but it's a part of them because that's how they communicate that's how i communicate with you know what i mean and it's part of it now so what do you let lily do

none of them yet yeah none of me she's nine years old he's nine yeah so and and you know eventually we'll get there yeah we'll see but it's just scary it's a scary world it is a scary world let's jump into this game okay let's do it juffy these guys Gamecocks real quick? Yes. All right. 36 and 4. We're in the 18th year of the Dawn Staley era. Fifth straight is SEC regular season title.

Six straight final four appearance. Joyce Edwards, all American this year. 15 and 1 in the SEC. As usual, this is a juggernaut South Carolina team, number one seed. Needs no introduction. Led by, of course, Joyce Edwards, Medina O'Cott, 6,6 in the middle. Tough. Tanya Latson comes over.

She and Joyce Edwards, we got to look at this stat real quick. Unbelievable. Played high school. No, this is Raven Johnson. Sorry. Her and denial atson, 1.18 and 5 as teammates. Going back to their high school days.

118 and 5. Unbelievable. Coach, what's Scout Report on this team when you're going into this? Well, scouting report, this is actually a really good matchup for us because, you know, we have 6, 7 Lauren Betts in the middle

and they have a matchup that we can always keep her home because their bigs don't really step out and space the floor with their jump shots. And so that allows us to have a built-in help site. defender almost a one person zone in that and so uh you know we really were uh you know tested actually the probably the two hottest players going into our national championship game with tessa johnson was on fire uh you know and then they had a freshman a canadian freshman that was just uh killing it

from the three point line and we just really had to make sure that we didn't get them going because that would have forced us to rotate and step out of our how we wanted to really control the paint um they're an elite defensive team. They're an elite rebounding team. So we really knew that we had to do a great job holding them to one shot and then handling their pressure. What makes Don Staley such a good coach? You know, it happens way before the game, her ability to relate to her players. She gets, I mean, her own career as a player speaks for itself, but then also what she's been able to do as a coach. But she's a relationship builder. And she knows how to connect. and really build relationships without getting it twisted that she holds the standard.

And so she does a brilliant job with that. Now, what do you think about people calling this USC? Oh, I'm like, who's that? I mean, I can't even relate to that.

And then people said, USC, I mean, give me a break. That's not even close. You're South Carolina. That's it. There's a big difference.

Actually, my coaching son is on their staff. So he worked for me for three years, Windale Farrow. And so he, that was actually a, a weird thing to actually coach opposite to him, but he used to be a coach

at USC Southern California and that was a weird thing. But I go, well, at least you didn't have to learn a new mantra, you know, mantra or whatever. Initial. Yeah, exactly. We'll be right back after this quick break.

Hey, I'm Ruby Carr, the host of the podcast, Encore. Check out our brand new episodes featuring music from the show that everyone is reheating as we speak. Heated rivalry. Join me as I go behind the songs that brought Shane and Elia together. I'll tell you the stories of Fice, My Moon, My Man,

wolf parades, I'll believe in anything, and tattoos all the things she said, and how they all became a part of this global phenomenon. Stream encore on IHeart Radio, crave, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Munga Shat Together, and I'm back with a new season of the podcast, Skyline Drive. This time I'm diving into a rabbit hole of peptides,

organoids, blood boys, blue zones, and brain replacement to try to understand what this longevity obsession is all about, and what it really means to live forever, for all of us. I learned about some rad science. I can make a brain for you, and then we can test what draw is the best for your brain, as opposed to his brain.

Here are some hard truths. I would expect Indians to age faster, but I did not expect it to be almost a four-to-five-year acceleration. and get myself into a world of trouble. I'd say probably start bone smashing. That doesn't work. Make it look more defined. They say it works.

I don't know. Listen to Skyline Drive, How to Live Forever on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. All right, let's jump into these Bruins. Let's get into these Bruins. 37 and 1. My gosh, 18 and 0 in the conference, of course,

Big 10 regular season champs. Coming off a final four appearance, You got Lauren Betts, you got Kiki Rice as the All-American's here. Three-pointers here? 264 made this year. Those are Joe Mazula numbers. These are Celtics numbers right there. Can you, Coach, can you explain the importance of the three-point shot right now?

Yeah, well, it was everything to us because especially just the way that spaces the floor, you know, you want to be able to get your highest percentage shots. And those are going to be layups, free throws, threes, and three-pointers allow you to get those other shots. So, you know, we, that's something we really lacked, you know, before. If you would have asked me five years ago what I was looking for in a recruit, it would have been more about athleticism, defensive prowess. And now it's about three-point shooting, basketball IQ, skill, that changes the angles of everything. You know, work ethic, we've got to love in the gym. I just think it, even in the NBA, you know, 20 years ago, it was about ISO ball and athleticism.

Right. And now it's about court spacing, versatility, positions. endless basketball. Well, it's sort of that has trickled down to the college game and in a really good way. And so, you know, it really honors people who add to their toolbox every year. And the three point shot is a big piece of that. Will it ever transition back? I don't think so. I mean, I don't know. One thing that's been interesting is having, you know, a center. A lot of people are playing without a center now. And Lauren Betts is, you know, a versatile center. And she's a unicorn and how she moves and how she can affect the game in many different unpredictable ways as a

six seven center um but you know it's going to be interesting to see how that's integrated because it is rare now um but i i think that i don't know the one thing that is interesting is how people use bigs that's the only thing i could see it transitioning differently um but when you got you know yokic and centers like that you know uh i just think people like the diversity of how they can attack the game and it's less pigeonholed, which means you can make impact in different ways. And so I don't know. I hope it doesn't because if it does, I think it's sort of boring. Yeah. I'm with you. Playing five out, baby, it's fun. I like that. It's like, you know, in football, you know, it used to be ground and pound and then you spread them and shred them. And then

everyone got so fast and athletic. Everyone's starting to ground and pound again. It's like, it's very reciprocal. Yeah. Cimical. So it just, I had, I don't know basketball enough to know. It would be interesting to see. I can totally see what you're saying. You know, it'd be interesting to see if there's an analytics is really driving. I don't know how it drives football,

but it's really big in basketball. And I think just seeing how the numbers sort of shift and play out, maybe it'll create a different shift that we can't even predict at this point. But right now, I think it's a pretty fun way to play. Yeah. Now you guys have one loss this year. You lose to Texas.

Yeah. when was it when was the moment you felt like this team was special and had a shot to do something insane well honestly i think two points one is last summer i just thought this is the hardest working team i have ever been a part of and so that's why how well they you know in the nca rules you're limited to how much you can be with them in the summer and they were just all like hey we need more if this has to be voluntary, I want to come. Like, they just wanted, they could sense that we had the talent, but we always say the talent is our floor,

our character and our discipline will be our ceiling. And so I think the big piece is they understood that. And they're like, we don't want to miss a moment. And they initiated that. So it started then. And their willingness, I remember being on our team retreat. And just also that, you know, everybody was going to have to sacrifice, you know, and that this was going to be about can you sacrifice individual accolades,

even money being in the NIL world, they all could have made more money going somewhere else. But can they, you know, really hunker down and go, we want to do something special. We've got a very singular focus, and I'm willing to sacrifice individually to make that happen. And so that led into the very first game. So we'd been working our butts off,

and I thought if we can maintain this, we're going to be pretty good. And Angela Dugliich, who has started two years before this, never, you know, hadn't not started a game in two, over two seasons, comes into my office and says, I can tell this is going to be a distraction

if we keep changing our starting lineup and I want to come off the bench this year. Two-time Olympian. She's played in two Olympics and she's coming into my office saying, hey, you know, I just, I don't care. I just want to be counted on in big moments. I want to win and I can see that this is something I can do for our team.

That's when I was like, when you got players that are willing to do that, you got a lot to build on. And then my last thing that I knew is that when we lost, we got our butts kicked by Texas, November. And I'm like, now I'm going to learn about my team. You guys taken in the back alley and you got your butt beat and how are you going to respond?

What are you willing to do differently? How are you willing to embrace me coaching you really hard? And they responded extremely well. I remember I had them up into my hotel suite, our leadership group after we lost. And I'm like, okay, right now, what are you willing to do? And what got exposed? And they were willing to own their stuff. And I'm like, okay, we got a chance.

And they lived it out. Oh, wow. Where is that team retreat at? In Santa Barbara. Here we go. I mean, if it ain't broken, don't fix it. Yeah, yeah. No broke, no fix.

No big. Jackie, let's get into this lead up. Can we get in the lead up to this game here real quick? So we're in the tournament, of course. This is the last game of the season looking at their path here. South Carolina's last loss was in the SEC tournament championship to Texas, who we just talked about. UCLA, of course, hadn't lost since November,

beat Iowa in the Big Ten championship to win that as well. Came through Cal Baptist, Oklahoma State, Minnesota, Duke in Texas to get to this game. And coach, I know you've spoken about the Duke game was a real test. Can you explain what that meant to this team? you know, we really had not ever had a meaningful game where we had to come from behind. I think, you know, we were down, I think, nine at the half and ended up winning by 12. But, you know, that was the first time that we had to scratch and claw that way. I mean, we were down against Texas, too.

We were down by 20. And it was a lot more than scratching and claw, and we were just so desperate. We'd played so poorly. But we weren't playing as poorly. I mean, Duke was hitting big shots. So they were having a night. And so it's one of those things that that other team is hot. They're talented too, and you got to make game adjustments.

You got to figure out, you know, what does it look like to get stops and get our rhythm back? And but, you know, our backs were against the wall a little bit. And so, you know, we practice these special situations every day, right? It's sort of, I guess, like your two-minute drill. But it would be like, you know, we were down 10 and this is where we are on the quarter or two-for-one situations. And we really hadn't had a chance to use them. And it was like the first time we'd been, you know, referencing them. but I thought that was really,

when we beat Duke in the elite eight, I thought we're going to win the whole thing because I thought we needed to have that challenge and to see us respond with confidence and toughness. And we did that. And I literally turned to my mom when we were cutting down nets to get ready to go. I'm like, we're going to go win this thing.

And it just was very evident by the way we handled the adversity of that Duke game. Situational basketball. Situational basketball. Now, as a coach, how do you treat the tournament? So you guys are probably in like a regular season mode or a tournament.

You guys have the tournaments throughout the season. Then you go into conference championship mode. Now is there like a different mode you guys go into in a tournament mode? Yeah, you know, it's really interesting, different than the men's side. So our conference tournament is a whole week earlier. So we actually, which I love in college,

is that we get a chance to sort of heal a little bit. We took four days off and just got a chance a regroup. I thought there was a couple of tweaks in our schemes that we were able to put in. So you self-scout throughout that. You have the department self-scouting the whole time. You give the girls, you guys take four days off. Yeah. We're all going to sit here, break down all our tendencies, everything. We'll watch every film. Yep. We're going to see how we can get better in the next practice for this turn.

Exactly. So we've got, I think we had 12 days in between when we won the Big Ten championship and then we started our first, you know, round game. And so that's exactly what we did. We sort of said, hey, these are the tendencies. These are the couple of tweaks that we got to have. And then sort of get after it from there. So you get a chance to sort of go to, you know, go back to basics for just about five or six days and really get things really sharp going into the tournament. But there's definitely, now there's a rhythm to it. I feel pretty confident in our rhythm now.

But it's different than even the men's basketball rhythm because they go from big, you know, Big Ten championship for our men. I think they lost in the semis. And then they went right into three days later they're starting their opening round game. Yeah. It's very different. It's very different. Now, do you have any pregame routines?

How do you prepare as a coach mentally? Yeah. Like when you're, because I know that you guys have your own time right before. Are you going over game plans? Are you going over what you're going to say to the team before the game? What's the pregame for you? Yeah.

You know, it's interesting. I have this incredible staff that I really just really rely on them. who's ever scouted is, they really administer it right before the team, the team goes out. You know, for me, I always am my most relaxed on game day because I feel like I'm totally like anal about all the preparation pieces, how we scout, how we prepare, what our urgency is like. And then once that shoot-around ends, let's go have pre-game meal and trust in our work. And let's go and do that. For me, my faith is really important to me.

And so I have this tradition as the, we talk to the team, we review our game plan. They go out and start to warm up. And I sit in every player's locker and just pray for them by name and try to get my heart and mind right for how I want to go about doing things and go from there. That's amazing. So. Yeah. Everyone's got their pregame routine. Yeah.

We used to have where we have like coaches, they go out and they do their thing for like 10 minutes. And then the whole team comes together after warmups. There'd be like a prayer in the, in the bathroom. You know, you have the team prayer. You know what I mean? But that's like right before. That's where it's all getting. The juices are pumping.

And the coach has to maintain that. Yeah. The coach's got to keep them down. You got, hey, the hay's in the barn. We already prepared for the test. Now let's just go take it. Yeah. Let's just go take it.

I think that there's so much, you know, we talk about like, are we pumped up? Are we ready? I was like, it's too late if you're worrying about that. You're too late about that. So just, I just really tried to build. And it was interesting, as talented as we were, we weren't as confident as you would think,

some of them, not all of them, but about half of our seniors were like, you know what, going into the NCAA tournament, Kiki Rice and Charlize Ledger Walker said, can we meet with you? And this is in that sort of segment we were talking about, the 11 days in between. And they said, you know, we're not as confident as you would think.

and part of it is because we hadn't been tested yet. And so I think that's why that Duke game was so important. And they said, we need you to really blow life into us about what we've already earned. Not blow smoke, not motivation, but remind us of maybe what we forgot. And, you know, and so that was, you know, interesting piece. But I think I just told them, look, guys, it's about your preparation. You have outworked everybody. And so I don't need to pump you up.

I don't need to like have the perfect motivational speech. I need you to remember the discipline you've already created. And they just need to be reminded. I rather have that though. I rather have that insecurity. Some of the best players I ever played with were insecure because they never thought it was almost enough. You know what I mean?

Yeah. So that's what always drove them and never let any complacency kick in because they always respected the opponent. Yeah, absolutely. You know what you mean? So it's not a fear. No. Or insecure.

here, but it is like, hey, well, they're going to be bringing their game. Yeah. You never, you know, there's a lot of stuff that can go on. I agree. Absolutely. I like that. Before we move into the game, how good was it to get that win against Texas? And that was probably another point.

Yeah, that was a huge, that was a huge shift for us just to be able to, we went out ahead a little bit. They made a run at the end, but really stood with our defense. It was an ugly game. You know, I kept apologizing to say, it was like, oh, my gosh, this is rugby, you know. I didn't love how the style of the game, but the fact that we could learn from that game that we lost to them in November,

really win the toughness battle, be who we needed to be down the stretch to get that one. That was definitely a huge piece. Amazing, amazing. Jackie, let's break down this game. Heck yeah. And then in the lead up, we got to be remissive.

I didn't say the elephant in the room here was the Don Staley Gino beef there. We got to see in the Final Four. Coach, I'm a huge fan of the blowby. and I know you're, I mean, you're too nice to do that, but is there an art to the blow by? Have you done it? In 15 years, you've had to do a blow by.

No, I'm like the worst at that kind of stuff. I have no clue about how to do a blow by. Like, well, it's like, you know, it's like trash talking. I like just suck at it, you know? So I just am like, I'm just going to be me and do what I do. But they have way more street cred than me. I actually have a funny Don Staley story. You know, she's like got Louis Vuitton,

sponsorships and she's got Gucci and all these things and I just and I had gotten my big one big sponsorship a couple years ago and I say hey Don you and I are just alike she goes what do you mean I said you know you got you got the sponsorships I got the sponsorship

Gucci Louis Vuitton I got Dr. Sholes Dr. Sholes are mine and that's just like sort of the story of my life right I'm just not cool enough to do all that other stuff that they can do and people need a lot more people walk than people buying Louis Vuitton

I pay that right now. That's right. Come on, coach. Let's go. That's right. People walking into those. I'm proud. But no,

no blow by, but you know, yes, it was the interesting thing that, you know, Don and Gino, it was not their best days.

I know them both. They have both are tremendous people, phenomenal coaches, probably a day they would have taken back. I know, I hear you. It's crazy.

Like, we're watching this national title game. They're still talking about it. Oh, yeah. I was like, wow, man,

that was a, that was quite the, Come on the sidelines. It's the heat of competition, baby. Come on, coaches. That's what I always say. What the coach is going to do? Yeah, I know.

I always had our receiver coach. I almost fought our DB coach. I'm like, what are you guys really going to do out here? Yeah. I'd like to see just because it would be so incompetent that I'm not sure anyone would have been, would have gotten much done there. Oh, man. Should we hop into this game?

It's hopping in the game. I mean, from the rip, 12-4 run right off the bat. Defensive intensity turned up to like a left. 12, whatever the number is. And you guys, coach, you look so poised and so ready for the moment out there. Like, how did it feel going into this thing? What was the message on the sideline? Like, you guys just look so relaxed.

Yeah, I think that, you know, it really does go back to we've out prepared everybody. And the way we did our scout, I got the entire organization together after our walkthrough in the hotel, managers, support staff, coaches, players, everybody. and we always start and end any meeting with connect. And so you're either touching feet or shoulders or hands or whatever. And we did our connection. And I just said, that is going to be not one person that's going to do this.

It's the strength of being woven together. Three strands woven together cannot easily be broken. And it's going to be the connectivity. It's going to be the interdependence on each other. It's going to be the confidence that we've earned by the way that we prepare. And they were just so locked. and I turned to you know, Pam Walker,

my director of basketball operations and I just said, we got this. And so that's where I think that confidence that you saw just to start the game, they knew how we were going to exploit certain mismatches.

They knew how we were going to defend and rotate and we were ready to execute. Man, unbelievable. The three woven? The coachism's coach. Nah,

the coachisms are up. If the coachisms come, I steal them. I steal them from everybody. See, I'm telling you, and you got to be connected before.

I try to give these, guys hugs before the show. They're not having them. I'm telling you guys. I have to hug. Context. I have to limit, Jack, one hug a day. This guy wants to hug all day. Hey, but you've got to know, in the NBA, they traced championship teams over the course of years and the teams that practiced and played had the most high fives and touches in the NBA finals for like five years in a row. That's true. I've got to be a great teammate. Amen. Telling Lily all day, you've got to tap them up.

Let's go. You got two. I think one of the matchups early on coach, it was so fascinating. We talked about a little bit earlier. but the O'Cott and Betts, like, that Twin Towers match up in there. What was the key to winning that thing? Well, I think, you know, when, and we talked about the ability to space the floor, Lauren offensively stepped out. They were also trying to, you know, guard the paint.

They're the best rim protection team in the country. And Lauren steps out and hits the 18 footer. I thought that was sort of just a momentum, you know, shift for us. And they tried to. They missed them both. We controlled rebound. fueled our transition. But, you know, I think that it was going to be the, they're both incredible centers, but who could impact the game in the most ways? It might be,

who's the better screener. It might be, you know, who's hits that 18 footer. But if you could impact it in more diverse ways, that was going to be really impactful. And that's how it, it really played out. I'm with you. Now, what's the relationship with the refs, coach? Oh, I, I, I can be a little spirited with the referees. You know, the refs actually, I thought in the championship game, and actually I think just the style of the game, I think people want to see skill. People want to see that movement we talked about,

that being able to impact the game, whereas I didn't feel like it was called in the semifinals in a way that there was any skill shown or strategy. It was just like who could survive the body blows longest, you know? And I think that in the championship game against South Carolina, there was freedom of movement. I thought it was really well officiated. And I think the skill of both teams was able to shine in that way.

And I think, unfortunately, I think officiating, you know, I don't know how it is in football, how you would feel like it affects the game. I think it is a major play. My agent actually came to a game and said, you know, the skill of the women's game has come so far. The exposure is at an all-time high. And he talked about the biggest difference. I see from going from men's games to women's games

is the consistency of the officiating. That's the key word. It's consistency. I can adjust to anything as long as it's the same. We just got to, that's how, we used to have night before meeting, we'd have a scouting report on the crew that was doing our games.

Absolutely. To let us know, all right, fellas, these guys like to call offensive holding. They call defensive holding. Now we'll see how it plays out for the first quarter. Yeah. And then we do business as business is being done.

And you hope that it's consistent. Right. You hope that it's consistent. Yeah. Somebody's passionate about this. That's right. So that's all we asked for. That's all we asked for.

But yes, I thought this game, this one was called really consistently. Yeah. We'll be right back after this quick break. Hey, I'm Ruby Carr, the host of the podcast, Encore. Check out our brand new episodes featuring music from the show that everyone is reheating as we speak. Heated rivalry. Join me as I go behind the sun. songs that brought Shane and Elia together.

I'll tell you the stories of Fice, My Moon, My Man, wolf parades, I'll believe in anything, and tattoos all the things she said, and how they all became a part of this global phenomenon. Stream encore on IHeart Radio, crave, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Munga Shat Together, and I'm back with a new season of the podcast, Skyline Drive.

This time I'm diving into a rabbit hole of peptides, organoids, blood boys, blue zones, and brain replacement to try to understand what this longevity obsession is all about and what it really means to live forever for all of us. I learned about some rad science. I can make a brain for you, and then we can test what draw is the best for your brain,

as opposed to his brain. Here are some hard truths. I would expect Indians to age faster, but I did not expect it to be almost a four-to-five-year acceleration. and get myself into a world of trouble. I'd say probably start bone smashing. That doesn't work. Make it look more defined.

They say it works. I don't know. Listen to Skyline Drive, How to Live Forever on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Agreed. From the rip. And I think big moments here in this one in the first half,

I thought it was pretty telling when the second unit came in and you guys were still able to stretch that lead. And yeah, Sienna Betts coming in there, setting that nice flare screen. leads to a ledger Walker three, then the things start rolling. Get up 23 to 12. Another great three falls for us.

A few minutes later, we double them up. It's 30 to 15 now rolling. And a lot of that started without rebound in them and winning that second chance points battle that we talked about it. It was eight to two. That was huge. It was really huge. And I thought, you know, you talked about the threes earlier.

I thought, Kiki Rice's three-pointer at the buzzer at the end of the first quarter. That was sort of just a dagger right in front of their bench. And it just was such a bone moment. Momentum is such an interesting thing, right? And how you finish quarters, how you start quarters. I think I really track how you start in quarters and then how you handle blobs and slabs. So baseline out of bounds and sideline out of bounds plays.

Because those are like stoppages, you know, whereas you have a stoppage in football all the time. What is it, every six seconds or something like that on average. In basketball, it doesn't always happen that way. So when it does happen, you got to control those things. and I have to be really good at recognizing mismatches, lineups, those kinds of things. And so I thought we did a great job of creating momentum by how we handled some of those.

And I thought that was a big deal. That's huge yet because I mean, sideline OB, that's special teams. Exactly. Like to put in football terms. And then, Coach, what do you, we were talking about this earlier. You prefer four quarters over two halves?

Yes, absolutely. All day. Why? Because it adds more intrigue and all the things we just talked about. how you, oh, there's a two for one opportunity to finish the quarter out. You know, you have time frames. There are way more situations.

And so how you control in terms of foul counts each quarter that resets. And so you're playing the foul game of when you get to shoot on, you know, on fouls on the floor. So I just think there's way more intrigue. I can't believe this that the men's game in college basketball, number one, they're the only, not FIBA, not the Olympics, not the NBA, that play two halves. and on top of that, they don't allow you to advance the ball in the last minute. It's wild. To me, it's been awesome because it means the women's game just is that much more exciting.

But I'm just, I don't know why they're so stubborn. That's the only, you know, basketball that's being played that doesn't allow that. I'm with you. Guarantee that changes here in the next few years. It's got to. I mean, it's basically pro ball now. I wouldn't be mad at it. And then you listen to the customer more when it's pro ball, the traditions of the college stuff.

You know what I mean? That's how it's going to go. now what is code how do you address the team at halftime with such a big lead in the championship game you know this is still a championship game how do we keep the girls going yeah well i think it goes back to um all year long we've been playing to the standard not to the score and this was just another opportunity i mean like we said we've never been behind except for that dute game at halftime all year long using all these so you know we need to start playing to the standard not to score Well, and that's just been, that's really was no different for us. So it was, but they were, you know, they, when you're in the national championship game, this is your last 20 minutes together. And I do think it goes back to, um, they loved playing the game together. And so they had been talking a lot about our one and no mentality through the tournament about we're just fighting for 40 more minutes together. We, we don't want this, this camaraderie. We don't want these relationships to end and we don't want to stop playing the game we love together. And so I think that, they just, that just carried, it didn't matter if the, we were going to be up 50 or down 50, man, they were going to just squeeze every ounce of everything out of that last, that last game and that last 20 minutes. So it actually wasn't hard at all. Now, operationally, how does it work? How much time do you have in between halftime? Is it longer

for the national championship? No. How do you break down? It's not like the Super Bowl where you got like a whole, you know, you got a lady guy out there. There's no, yeah, there's no, a lady God's performance. What is it like 14, 12 minutes? It's 15 minutes. 15 minutes. And actually it's a little bit longer than that with ESPN because they interview the coach coming off the court and they don't start the 15 minutes until that interview is done. So it's probably a couple more minutes in that. But it's very, it's pretty consistent in that way. You are allowed to look at analytics and film at halftime. I have never done this, but I may start next year.

But you can actually show your team brief clips of like, hey, we're going to change our ball screen coverages this way. We will look at the stats and the staff will look at it. So you come in right away. Does the coaching staff meet with the coaching staff first? Girls go to the locker room. And then when you have, what, five minutes? Five minutes. So I usually spend the first five minutes meeting with our staff about four to five minutes

that I address the team on any adjustments. And then they go out from there. Yeah. I mean, because we used to practice that. Yeah, absolutely. operation of even a, we used to have 12 minute half times in regular season, 15, I think, for playoffs. And it was 26 for the halftime or 28. And like, we would break down like, all right, players, offense, defense, you're going to break down right here. Coaches are going to meet for

five minutes. You're going to have the head, you're going to break up O&D, special teams, we'll have two minutes. And then we'll come together for the last three minutes. It's just so crazy. It's fun to hear that. You can't, you can't miss a minute, right? I mean, that's another thing that coach wouldn't. He was meticulous. He always told him. He always tell him. me, Corey, make sure that you spend as much time planning a practice as it is the actual practice. So if we have a two hour practice, I'm spending at least two hours planning it, that every manager knows where they're supposed to be. No wasted time.

There's no wasted time. So I love that that you practice the halftimes and all the different segments. I love that. All right, Jackie. Let's wrap this thing up. In the third quarter, that's when we blow this thing wide open. 25 to 9, defensive intensity stays turned all the way up. South Carolina had that smaller lineup in there for a little bit.

Just dump that thing into Lauren Betts, can't fronter, doesn't work, come on. 25 and a, it gets up to 30 points, man. Oh my gosh. Coach, like, how did your, does coaching change it all up 30 pieces? Are you looking at the score? Now, they got to stay dialed.

Stay dial. Yeah, no, no, I will say. Put on the pedal. There was one, um, I learned, first of all, there were so many fouls and they are called in the third quarter. I was like, this is the longest quarter ever. It seemed like, you know, it just was going forever. But at we, I think we were up a 30 at the, um, at the, um,

at the end of the third. And I turned to our staff and go, is that score right? Like I just literally was like, seriously? You don't play the score. We're just in the standard. That's exactly right. But I just, you know, I really turned,

at that point, they were not coming back. I knew our mentality was just too good. But I turned to the team in that huddle. I said, how do you want to finish this thing? What do you want to feel like at the end of this? Do you want to just, do you want to just limp in?

Or do you just want to just, put the foot to the neck and just compete all the way through. And they're like, we want that. I said, then go live it. You know, and forget it zero, zero and play the way you love to play. And let's finish this thing right. And that's what they did. That had to be the funnest time for them too.

Yeah. Because the coach, you know, the coach kind of let you do that. That's let her give in the permission. Hey, guys, girls, go do your shit. Dang. Finish them. And then the clock hits zero. What do we do immediately?

What's the first thought you have? I really was like, I did no idea how to handle it. I happened to watch back a part of it on the other day. And I was like, I looked lost. Like, what am I supposed to do now? This is like crazy. The media is just, you know, you can, I couldn't anticipate all that it was going to have the next two and a half hours.

But, you know, honestly, just going to have the moment, I got to give Don Staley credit. She was so classy. And not only in what she said to me right at the end of the game, but also how she was in the media. and that's not easy to do and I think it spoke volumes about her character but then it was just like media confetti you know interviews

I mean it was just nonstop but I mean what she said? She said to me just that you know just that we do things the right way and as much as she would have didn't want to lose if she had to lose to lose to somebody she respects means a lot so that meant a lot.

That is so cool. Classy on her part for sure but yeah, it was, it was unbelievable. Holly Rowe, you know, and I just adore her. I love the way she tells people's stories, but she brought my mom into the interview right after the game. And, you know, I just, that was really a special moment to be able to share with her. I lost my dad about, you know, five years ago.

And, you know, just to have her have that moment and to be able to, you know, I don't know, I just kept thinking about maybe my dad and Coach Wooden and one of my leadership mentors, you know, Jan, maybe they're all watching. in the game together. I don't know. But it's just to be able to share that with my mom, to be able to, you know, tell her story a little bit. That was pretty cool. That's amazing. And there can't be, I don't think there's a cooler tradition than cutting down the nets with the team. Everyone gets when. How cool is that? Yeah, I mean, so cool. Are you scared on the ladder? Well, a little bit. Yeah, it's kind of high. Yeah, it's kind of high,

especially for a little person like me. So, you know, I think it's, what I love about it is that everyone had their hat on and then the rest of the time we're traveling they all got their piece of the net tied into their hat and it's just like awesome. I have this room in my house called, we call it the coach's corner. It's where I spend most of my time and I've got the nets all hanging there and you know, but it's a really cool tradition and what I love is everybody gets to share it. Everyone. Everyone, you know, your managers, you know, your team docs, you're everybody. And it's just a really cool celebratory tradition that we share and everybody gets a piece and I think that's the way it should be. Awesome, man. Shout out to Werner. Werner ladders. Yeah, seriously. Man, they get it possible.

Yeah, seriously. Is that a big? That's a huge endorsement. It's like a special one you get up there too with like a platform and stuff. There's a platform and then there's even a place for the scissors. Whoa. I didn't know that. It's another level. Safety firm. Yes, exactly right. We don't know what happens to the net. What happens to the scissors? That's a good point. You take the scissors. I don't know. No, I didn't take the scissors. And I'm the last one. So I need to get those. We need to auction those off somewhere.

Like, come on now. A lot of big, great hands have touched those. Yeah, someone, I mean, Warners needs to be giving you guys a cut. Seriously. The props you just gave them. Definitely. I think we, let's go in and let's grade this thing and see where this thing stacks up. Heck yeah, let's do it.

We got to put a bow on this bad boy. 79, 51, 28 piece. UCLA wins our first ever NCAA Women's National Championship. Other than 78. Other than 78. We got a shout out. We got a bit of shout out Ann Myers in the crowd that day. Absolutely.

Let's go. Almost had a quadruple double in that game. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. And then like coach was saying, right away, we're into the draft. We got a draft right then. Oh my God. Six players drafted record.

That's insane. Incredible. And I did leave the scissors. They're right there. There it is. Just there. You know, hey, you know, question answered. But, you know,

That might have been the coolest part about the whole thing is being, so I'll be just full transparency. Two years ago, we set a lot of records, but it was not easy. And I actually really challenged our parents. Like, we're not going to get to the national championship if you guys aren't all in with what we're doing. And I had several Zooms with them about, hey,

if you have a problem with me, call me, do not tell your kid because it just is a distraction. There are a no-win situation. And so I really talked about that. but at the draft after each kid's name was called, the dads and the brothers doing a mosh pit, like celebrating each other's kids.

And I honestly got so much joy out of that because, oh my gosh, we came so far that the enthusiasm they had for each other's children was just awesome. And then watching our players just have the night of their lives and to set every record, it's validated all of our player development, all the things that we'd sacrificed for.

And I got in the elevator at the end of the night with Pam Walker again and she says now it is finished and I thought you know what you're right man that is that in the best recruiting tool that I mean dang yeah just look at that transfer portal got a little easier after that transfer border a little easier all right let's name the game these are some names we came up with but if you have a specific name that you want to call it we can call it that we came up with the super seniors games yeah okay the bets games the now it's finished game The Bruins breakdown

The Smackdown Or breakthrough There you go Or breakdown One of the two Either one works We've done a couple of these with We had a couple

WWE superstars on And I You know You know it's You gotta use right verbi You're nimble You're nimble There you go

And the smackdown In the Sodarin Sonoran The desert Desert Desert Or something else Or something else

Coach Do you have something else? I don't have You guys are way better at this. I like that old... Okay, one of my biggest regrets of being in Los Angeles with the Dodgers on the whole Betts game that had to be right up there is that we didn't get

Moogie bets along with Lauren bets. I was going to say, I was thinking of that when I was watching the game back. We got to get the bets of. I know. She was supposed to, she actually had, she was leaving for the NBA or the WMBA and she was supposed to throw out the first pitch

at the Dodger game and Kiki Rice did it. And Kiki Rice is amazing. love Kiki Rice, but it had to be bets to bets. I know that picture would have been insane. I know. And we should have been marketing that for a long time. It sounds like Kiki Rice brought to the Bruins breakthrough, right? I think this is got to be the Bruins breakthrough, right? I think the Bruins breakthrough

for sure. I like it. All right, let's score the game. Is this the greatest game of all time? Let's score it. Decimals and courage, coach. Now the stakes. Okay, how does this work? Zero to 10. Okay. The stakes of this national championship game

between the Lady Bruins in South Carolina. I mean, first championship ever, the stakes of this game, zero to ten decimals encourage. 10.9. 10.9. 10.9.

10.9. I felt like, you know, it was championship robust. I got to go nine for me. Yeah. It's a nine. You know, for us, I mean,

9.8. 9.4. There's some legacy involved for South Carolina too. I know. That's why they don't have an adie. So I might have to change my 9-2, 9-2.

Nine-two. Star power of this game. 0 to 10 decimals encouraged. I'm actually going to go 9. 9. 9. I mean, it's a college game

that just happens so they still have their whole professional career in front of them. I'm going to go with the 8.8. Okay, can I change? I'm going, I'm actually going to go 7.9. And the reason I say this

is that it actually wasn't as big as star power as some other ones. There's no like Caitlin Clark. For me, that was like the coolest part that it was really about team. Yep. So, but I would agree with that.

All right. The game play. I like that a lot. Yep. I was in the same region, 7.2. Eight seniors on the floor. This was a lot of veteran players out there.

A lot of veteran players. I see that more now, though. Probably be seeing that more now. I hope so. Cheddar. Yeah. The gameplay of this game, code zero to 10 decimals and Kirsch.

Oh, yeah. 9.5. 9.5. I got to go 7. You guys blew them out. I got to go 7. You guys blew them out. I mean, our gameplay was pretty darn good.

I don't care what theirs was. 6-1. I do the whole game. Okay. I did. I mean, I've only seen it through mine. We don't, okay.

Now the name of the game. I'm going to have to up my. The Bruins break through. Okay. I'm going to go with 8.8. 8.8? Mike Lervyn. I'm going to go with 8.9.

Steve Smith. I like that. Okay. Integrity score. Oh, 5-0. What am I doing? I have a 5-0. This game just happened.

You don't have the cultural impact yet. That's true. That's okay. I can go with that. What does this stand on the list? Oh, baby. Okay, it is a 7.89. That's going to put us as our new 68th game.

It's just ahead of the 2001 SEC championship game, Georgia versus Alabama. And just behind the 2005 NBA Finals, Game 5 Spurs versus Pistons. Wow. Okay. this is quite the new metrics. I'm going to have to add this to my analytical breakdown. This is all analytics. But by the way,

the story is not always there. Okay, that's all right. Mark Cuban who comes on and gives all 15s. Or if like Chuck Cadell comes on, no one's going to try to have a most share. We can't give a 10 on that. Mark Cuban's daughter,

you know, is a rower at UCLA. Is she? I mean, I think you should donate to women's basketball if he really wants to see women's sports go through that as well. Cubs.

What are we doing? Come on Cubs. You're giving Mendoza and the Indiana football team all his money. Come on, baby. UCLA. Just a little bit. It would take a lot less to make a bigger difference. So, you know, just my own.

It's good ROI. Yeah. Yes. Returning. There you go. Coach, we miss anything from this game? No, you guys did a great job and fun being with you. I didn't know all of what's going on here, but new level of respect.

But thank you for having me. Coach, we're so excited for this. Everyone go check out the UCLA women's basketball team. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you. UCLA women's basketball team. It was so fun to get to sit here

and learn your story and see, you know, where the proof is in the pudding. It comes from the coach. And she's setting the standard, not playing to the score, but setting to the standard all real time. There you go. Coach, thank you so much for coming on.

Appreciate you guys. Want to rip a couple voicemails here? That's rip some voice mail. We got some good ones here. Hello. I hope you're doing so, so, my name is patron and i'm from northern kentucky and i have two questions for you one's more of like a plead first one what's the best piece of life advice you've gotten from a coach like any time in your

life and then the second one is can you please please as a die-hard brown fan get someone on from the browns to relieve a little bit of our misery for what this team does to us okay have an amazing day Thank you. We got to get Miles Garrett on. Miles Garrett. I mean, I want to pick his brain about his girlfriend winning. Incredible.

Olympic medals. He was out there with the Halloween. Yeah. I mean, he's shooting. He's just such a, he's an interesting dude. I would love to get Miles Garrett.

Tyler said he could block him. I don't think he could walk through that goddamn door. What? I'm going against him. Best he going against Miles Garras is like me going You, Jack. Oh, I'm Malz Garrett. No, he would be awesome.

Are there any other Browns that'd be interesting? My mind went to Timmyel. Some legends. Some legends. I mean, Joe Thomas would be sick. Joe Thomas would be great. He's great at talking it, too. Miles Garrett would be so cool, though.

What a legend. But a coach's advice. Best coach's advice I got, you know, I would say, it's not coach. I think the best advice, something that came to me was, was what Tom told me and he wasn't my coach.

But working smarter, not harder, learning how to work. I think that's something, or Bill used to say something along those lines too. You got to find out to improve, you can't just work hard. Going out and running sprints isn't going to make you better just because you're tired.

How do I get better on the field? Find out through a peer, a coach, and then work hard at that, and then you'll see improvement. So I think that. That's a great one. We'll be right back after this quick break. Hey, I'm Ruby Carr, the host of the podcast, Encore. Check out our brand new episodes featuring music from the show that everyone is reheating as we speak. Heated rivalry. Join me as I go behind the songs that brought Shane and Elia together. I'll tell you the stories

of Fice, My Moon, My Man, Wolf Parades, I'll believe in any. anything and tattoos all the things she said and how they all became a part of this global phenomenon. Stream encore on IHeart Radio, crave, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Munga Shatigula and I'm back with a new season of the podcast Skyline Drive. This time I'm diving into a rabbit hole of peptides, organoids, blood boys, blue zones and brain replacement to try to understand what this longevity obsession is all about and what it really means to live forever for all of us. I learned about some rad science.

I can make a brain for you, and then we can test what draw is the best for your brain, as opposed to his brain. Here's some hard truths. I would expect Indians to age faster, but I did not expect it to be almost a four to five-year acceleration. And get myself into a world of trouble. I'd say probably start bone smashing. That doesn't work. Make it look more defined. They say it works.

I don't know. Listen to Skyline Drive How to Live Forever on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, guys, big fan of the show. I've got a question for you that I've been debating with some friends. What is the age limit for wearing a team jersey? What are you too old to be wearing a jersey,

either to a game or just wearing it around? and kind of a caveat to that question, is there a, does it vary by sport? Can you wear a jersey longer for football or when you're older? And another caveat, is it ever okay to wear a basketball jersey without a t-shirt under it? Thanks. I look forward to hearing your response on your next call on episode. Thanks again.

I love that. Scholars have debated this for years. No, yeah. That's a great. Yes, you can wear a basketball. jersey with no shirt under it, but it specifically only at water parks. I was going to say, also depends on like, do some self-scouting on that. Yeah, or if you're in a jump around, in the jump around music video, wearing a Larry Bird jersey

with no t-shirt under it. That's called a Boston tuxedo probably. Larry Bird jersey, no shirt. You know, I think this is a debatable topic because, I mean, people wearing jerseys is part of the game. Part of the game. You know, the fans are, are the sports. I know. And it also, you know, I probably wouldn't wear another man's jersey just because I've played.

But when I was a kid and when I was a teen and before I came became a pro football player, I was wearing jerseys left and right. I love them. And then I also think hockey jerseys are, I think those are like the coolest ones. Yeah. I think you wear those until like you're 80. I'm with it. Plus, it's another one of those soccer, Euro-sockers in this. same vein where they make them and they still look good but no name on the back. You know what I mean? Yeah.

Which is a big one for me. Like you can wear a Bruin sweater and not have to have like Basternack on them. You know what I mean? As a 50 year old guy. Yeah. And it looks like a sweater. It looks like a hoodie. Yeah.

They look like hoodies. Swaggy. Tupac in the in the Red Wing surgery. What do you guys think? What's too old? I've been, man. I've thought about this question a lot. So I was happy to really hype to see this in here so that the brain trust could break

this down. I think I'm drawing the line of demarcation post college. At a college. Because I picture, you're at the day, drink the dardy with the, you got your, uh, basketball jersey on here and there. It's kind of cool when it's spring out. Like you said, maybe a little, uh, slip and slide day kind of vibe.

I think you can get away with it in. Post that, I, I don't think you can do it. I can't wear another man's jersey on the back. Jersey's are back, bro. They're back for sure. I'm with you, but another, like a, like, me wearing like a Drake May jersey, right? Like, dude's like 10 years younger, you know what I mean? Like, it's just weird to have another dude's name on your back. But it's like if you, depending, I think it's an actor player. I think it's a personal choice.

I personally don't like to wear jerseys as an adult with another dude's name. I'm just not my vibe. I'm with you. But like, it doesn't mean it's wrong. No, no, no. I'm not knocking anyone with it would. I just don't know. I think it's great.

I think all these guys out there need to go buy these jerseys because it's better for the league. This is true. This is true. Can we all agree, though, that... You still getting jersey money, by the way? Sorry, Kai. Can we all agree that the NFL football jerseys are the worst jerseys to, like, wear, like, as, like, regular clothing?

Because it's, like, not even the actual jersey. Like, you can wear a jersey that was game-worn in the NBA, and it works. Same with hockey. But, like, the football cuts, it's just like, it's like a jersey. It's just... It's an impression of what an NFL player is wearing as opposed to being the actual product. I don't know, man. I'm just...

I see E-40. He makes them look cool. I think there's some... You know what I'm saying that? Yeah, I mean, but to me, that's more of a tailoring thing. Yeah, but you're not going to, like, you're never going to wear like a gamer. Yeah, just because, I mean, they're tailored so different.

Sam Bradford. Right, right. So what's the age? We've got to start going to the team polo. See, because then it's weird. When you're on the scouting department. Yeah, that's weird to me. It looks like you're trying to be like a coach.

Like, like this guy thinks he's in the front office over here or on the sideline. But I'm with you. You got to, I almost think you got to transition to the team hat, like a hat. A hat's pretty cool. You can do that whenever. I almost wore my U.S. jersey. Oh, Craig jersey out. It's not Jim Craig. I thought it was. Who is it? Jack Ocallahan.

Oh, it's Ocallahan. See, I think you could get away with that. If the guy, if it's like legend, there's a legend car. It's a little too big, though. And I was trying to wear it was short. It's actually my jersey. He's probably look cool. You still look cool, bro. It's actually my jersey that I brought here. Yeah. I almost wore it that day that we won. Shout out to the U.S. men's and women's fucking going out there stealing.

I bought it from Timmo. I literally bought it from Timu. It's pretty good. Shout out. Shout out. Shout out to the fucking U.S. hockey. On top of the world. There are some of those that do, they transcend any rule in here. Like every great rule, there's their exceptions. I think Larry Bird, you can wear that one when you're night. I don't care how old you are. You wear Larry Bird jersey?

Jordan? Jordan. There's a legend. Magic? Yeah. Yeah. There's a legend. There's a legend component. Or if like, oh, so you're saying if you're an older person, you can only wear an older. I think you can't wear a jersey of someone who's 10 years younger than you. Yeah, I'm with you. That to me is where I'm like, if it's someone that was a star when you were a kid.

Yeah. Like if you rocked the Joe Montana jersey, I think that that's fine. Like if you rocked like Tom Brady. But that's like a little like, if you look for Larry Burr's. He's 20 years older than you. Yeah. This is true. But it's weird because you were like an adult when he's still playing.

I know he was. If I rocked a Mario Lemieux jersey, like, I don't think I would, but I think that, like... I used to wear a Ben Coats jersey a lot. Yeah. I got it from fogdog.com. One Coats is a stunt. He was a beast.

Deep cut. Yeah, I think, and then I think all bets are off as Americans here for like a semi-obscure, like Euro soccer jersey. You can get that away. You know what I mean? I think that's your just trying to sneak one in for you. I think that's... Yeah, maybe.

You're just wearing a billboard when you wear, like, a... It's awesome. Yeah, because the, the, the, the, The front sponsor is, it's huge. Soccer jerseys look like, I see kids all day wearing those. Yeah, it's cool, man. There's like fashion pieces at this point. Also, that's kind of not the hard gear shift.

Like, Rexum right now. They're going to go to. They're like this morning. They're in the position to make the playoffs to potentially get. Yeah. Yeah. Insane. Freaking McElheny.

Rounds. And they've done a great job. I was talking to my daughter's soccer coach about it. Shout out. And they said like they've done, they haven't just gone and bought the best. they've gone and bought the best of the next level each team. They haven't gone, you know what I mean? And they had a home run with their coach too, Arkansas, I think.

Shout out to Brexham. And Tommy's team's up there, right? They're in, I think they're in a playoff too. I got to look that up. I don't know what they're. They're a Premier League team already. No, they were. I mean, they were in the past.

Let me see. This one, this is going out. I think they're tier two going. I think they have or two. I know Rexum is playing Chelsea at Chelsea. No, Chelsea's playing at Wrexham as a part of the FA Cup. It will have already happened by the time this episode comes out, but that's crazy. That's nice.

Yeah, Birmingham City shut out. They're 11th, so Rexum's doing a little bit better. Yeah. Man, I mean, this is, it's crazy to see what's going on over there. These damn Americans are taking over the soccer sport. We get up to buy a team. Oh, no. Ryan Reynolds is Canadian.

No, true. Yeah, but McElhaney. Crazy. Oh, this is going on the last voice mail up. you were talking fast food items, give us your Mount Rushmore or fast food restaurant. Thanks.

Ooh. Oh, this is hard. I love it, though. Can we first define fast food restaurant first? Versus fast casual? I think my biggest one, where do we're doing?

Because I have a drive-through. Where's shake shot? Yeah, we're a shake-shack. Got out a drive-through. Okay, I like that rule. Okay, so Raising Keynes is in. Oh, bro. Shout out Todd Graves.

So right now. So right now, raising canes. No matter what, for me, two, in and out. Chick-flay. They're in there. Not negotiable. I'm with you. I might fight you on the In-N-Out, but I'm with you on the Chick-Flea. Great call. Not even just from a, like, a food standpoint, like, they're dialed.

Dialed. Even if the out's long or Chick-Flay's long, you're getting through. No matter what in the country either. Oh, am I going to be a chick-in-out? They are a pleasure every time. Every time you go there, the employees are great. There's a long-ass line. You get there, maybe 20 minutes at the longest. and I'm talking, I'm down on Fairfax

or, you know what I mean? Line is out the door. They got two or three people coming out with their little electronic thing because they're so, and they get you through there and you never had a bad experience. Can we talk about bank for your freaking buck?

And it's still relative, it's cheaper than McDonald's now. Chick-flay is getting a little. Oh, yeah. Chick-Lay. In-N-Out. In-N-Out. In-out, you can still get a,

like I think it double-doubles under five bucks. Crazy, bro. I'm with it. I used to be an in-and-out skeptic. I think I'm a convert. Five guys, too. I love five guys. Oh, my God.

They don't have a, they don't have a drive-through, do they? No, I don't think so. I don't know if that counts. Got to have drive-thru, man. Damn it. Because five guys, five guys in Shake Shack are up there for me, too. Chick-fil-A, got to be in there. I think I'm ripping Taco Bell.

I'm putting Taco Bell in there. Taco Bell's on mine. Oh, my God. Crunch rap all day. Oh, you got a Baja. I'm not a T-Bel fan as much. Oh, Bob Blast. Oh.

I liked it growing up. I, when I was a kid, I loved. KFC. Oh, see, we didn't have Popeyes. Until, like, until, like,

until, like, oh, see, I'm a bojangles guy. And I like, I like, I like, you know,

a lot of people think I'm crazy, I like the KFC original recipe but I like the Popeyes. I like the Popeyes biscuits better and I like, their mac and cheese better. Yeah. That's a,

that's a take some people would fight you over, but I like it would fully fight me. Chat, clip that, clip that. A lot of people, but I, that's, it's something I grew up on.

Yeah. So like, it's, it's, No, I'm with it. But I'm not putting them in my fast food. So in and out, Chick-fil-A. What else are you got in there?

I mean, you got like you're missing the big burger type. Donald. The Burger King, McDonald's. Yeah, but I'm a little disappointed in them. Okay. I'm a little disappointed. McDonald's has changed. They change their buns.

You've changed, man. Yeah. No, for sure. Their buns, they look better. Right. But they taste like they're faker. Yeah, I don't know what's going on there. McDonald's, I've gotten really discombed.

And it's fucking expensive for McDonald's. I know, it's ridiculous. I'm like, what are we doing? Yeah, yeah, yeah. You can't be, what are we doing? And then BK, it's just, it's so hit or miss with those. It depends on which BK or McDonald's you're at. You know what I mean?

It's just never the same anymore. You know, I haven't been to BK since the Chick King. And that was like three years ago. Dairy Queen had better. I love Dairy Queen's burgers back in the day because I used to have a flat top. Yeah, I forgot they actually did have one in there. They don't have it anymore, though. think.

I haven't been to a DQ or a fucking DQ in a minute. What other fast food? Let me just start ripping some for you. All right. McDonald's breakfast. All right. Hold on.

We can't, hold on. We can't do a separate breakfast. One. We'll do a separate breakfast. Oh, yeah. God. You can't just say for breakfast on a fast food restaurant. But what if the breakfast is so good that it carries it into it?

Can I just say I prefer Burger King breakfast to McDonald's? Well, never had Burger King breakfast. I don't think. I prefer it. They have the wild. Yeah. I like the hashgrounds better. And the chast sandwich.

I like the introduced. and croissant into the mix. Got it. I mean, interesting. Take. I like it, though. We're also missing, we're missing, like,

the coffee types. The Dunkin' Donuts, the Starbucks. Lily loves Starbucks. Lily loves Starbucks. My kid, like, I'll say, you want to go anywhere in the world.

We can go anywhere. Like, we can go McDonald's in and out this, Starbucks. That's what? All the kids love the egg white, eight bikes, right? Huh?

That's like their generation loves that. They love that. And I just found out the pink drink. that all the kids get full of caffeine. Oh, I didn't know that. I thought it was a caffeine-free drink.

I thought it was just sort of like a... That's how they get you. I thought it was like, now my kids addicted to it. Oh, my God. Are you kidding me? Yeah. Oh, my God.

What's that guy? That guy that was going to run for president. What is he doing, man? Remember that guy? No. What's his name again? The Starbucks guy? Oh, yeah, Schultz.

Shultz, bro. Take the caffeine out for these kids. Come on, dog. Come on, Jordan. Jordan. We need you. Come on. Dude,

I went to Chick-fil-A. I was in Starbucks the other day. I got their protein latte. Pretty good. Oh, I've had that one time. The infusing protein into everything, I'm a little bit against. It's like the new like sugar-free, fat-free,

like Lazy canes in there. I give Raisin Cains. I love Redmond Cops. But I did like this one. I just like, honestly, I just like the Raising Cains that was at Austin. That was a great one. I like the Texas toast.

Oh, it's so good. You know, there's like controversy going on with, I don't think. it's that raising canes, but I think it's the other raising canes in Boston. The gold one? Yeah, without having a dispute with the ownership because the owner, like the landlord's like, you're making the place smell like fucking chicken. Yeah, that's the idea, buddy.

We make chicken. Did you use our, ours, I don't want to disparage ours. The one that was right next to our office on Com Ave. I think it got shut down for a while for some mysterious odor that was just terrible. Just terrible odor. They couldn't tell where he's coming from. Really? God, probably, I might blow up that bathroom.

So we got two. Wait, should we each? Yeah. Is it easier if we each do our? do one. Each do one. Guy guy. I got in and out in Chick-fil-A. I go two and then you guys do the two. Okay. Oh, maybe it's this one, Jack. Maybe we conflated our two

stories. Oh, dang. No, this one's on Boston. Smelt related stories. Yeah. Raising Kane Sue's Boston Landloid trying to evict restaurant over offensive chicken order. Yeah, it's that one. Oh, my God. Oh, I've been to that one. That's near the Lennox. Yeah, we went to that one. That's a great one. We have two spots left. This is tough. This is really tough. Are we, are we? I mean, we could be

sellouts here and just throw like, hey, Dunkin Donuts, more brand deals. Spons to the pod. Full chill. How about that wheel? You guys remember the wheel? The Duncan wheel. Shout out T.J.

He just had a baby. Oh, hell yeah. Brother. Love Oliver. Shout out Rob Rosenberg, bro. He's a founder of Dunkin' Donuts. He's a legend. Shout out.

I read the next door. Around the block or whatever. Where are we go? Taco Bell. We got to go Taco Bell. Yeah. We got to put Taco Bell in there. Heck yes, baby.

I mean, that's what I have. Crunch trap. I have Chick-filate in and out. I'm not mad at that. And, like, I do like, Raising Canes. I love canes. I love Bo Jengels.

I like a burger king. I love Colvers. I'm not one of these that puts fucking coffee joints and fast food. Okay. I don't care what my kid does.

Is there a drive-food? I don't care what you say by no means is coffee fast food. Then we should have defined that. We said with a drive-thru. No. I won't allow it.

Okay. So we can't. Duncan is an honorable mention. Honorable mention. With peace and love. We love you. All right, so we're now... I still think of Greg Lewis getting their croissant sandwich every morning.

Greg Lewis used to come smelling like a black and mild and a Dunkin croissant sandwich eating in a team room. Bro, they should have... Now they had like the bad bunny meal. Shut out of those. Duncan should have introduced the Greg Lewis meal. It's a croissant sandwich with a black and mild on the side. And a black coffee. So Subway doesn't count.

Greg Lewis meal. Yeah, but... Subway's not counting. It's lost. You know it's a top three in like metrics. It is. It is. because they started putting them in, like, hospitals and shit.

I go, that might be, eh, I might be wrong there. Subway fell off hard. You know what? You know what? You know what I still, fuck with Subway. Do you really? Over, what about? I've tried it.

They got really expensive. They got really expensive. It's expensive. And it's like, oh, am I eating meat? Yeah, it's like, I don't know what this is, bro. I'd rather go Jersey mics. There's all day. Jersey Mike's so good.

Shout out to Davido. Dude. And Eli-Mee. Dude, yes. Jack in the box. Raise it or what you called? I love Jack the Box. Jimmy Johns.

Jimmy Johns and Jersey mics are way better than Subway. See, I used to like Subway better than Jimmy Johns because they had that at Kent. And I was diehard Subway. Because Jimmy Johns is an Ohio company. Correct. It is. I think so. Culvers.

Oh, Colvers. I never been to Culver's. I ride for Culver's like it's my job. El Poirloco. It's from Wisconsin. Poil loco is actually pretty fucking good. Del Taco. El Poil loco, you got to try.

Timorins? It's good. It's like a rotissory Mexican-style chicken. Oh, I got to get up in there. Fire. That's about it. I always think of breaking back. Askin Robbins, Auntie Anz,

uh, Boston Market, whatever, White Castle, no, we're past it. Taco Bell, in and out. Chick-fil-A. Chick-fil-A. And five guys in there? Doesn't count. Can we make an exception?

I like five guys better than I like Shake Shack. I don't know. I'm mad at it. I went to Shake Shack yesterday. And even a hotter take, I think the hot dog. at five guys. It's good.

Bro, they split it. They split it, baby. The hot dog at Shake Shack's pretty good, too. Oh, yes, I have had it. Really good as well. And the chicken sandwich at Shake Shack. The chicken sandwich is a bag. Would be insanely better if they had Chick-fil-A sauce.

Oh. Okay. I've ordered Shake Shack. Okay. And at the house, you put Chick-Flea sauce on it, and it's 10 times better. Bro, they need you in the R&D labs. Some of these, the R&D labs at these places, slacken. Slacking.

But sometimes they want just a mayo-based. chicken sandwich. I mean, that's the original taste of a chicken sandwich is mayo. Oh, I know. I know. But I like, like, why are we not? I used to slap on the Burger King Chicken sandwiches. That long joint. The long one. And then I used to like little Mick chicken 99 cent. For my money, bro? That shitty ass lettuce.

You know, it was all. And I just get so mad how they, the mayonnaise. So you could just tell that they like pooped the mayonnaise on it. The mayonnaise would be spread out. You know what made this time when it came out. Yeah. No, thank you. The person who did it got a little on their shirt.

And then I started to see, I started seeing like when they start using the thing that squirts the four dots. Yeah. No. We're not doing that. It's too fucking fast. Hey, we can't. Too fast food. It's become too fast food.

Not everything needs to be full. We got to wrap the side. Good show. We barely did any of it. We'll be right back after this quick break. I'm Munga shit together and I'm back with a new season of the podcast Skyline Drive. This time I'm diving into a rabbit hole of peptides, organoids. organoids, blood boys, blue zones, and brain replacement to try to understand what this longevity

obsession is all about and what it really means to live forever for all of us. I learned about some rad science. I can make a brain for you and then we can test what draw is the best for your brain, as opposed to his brain. Here are some hard truths. I would expect Indians to age faster, but I didn't. not expect it to be almost a four to five year acceleration. And get myself into a world of trouble. I'd say probably start bone smashing.

That doesn't work. Make it look more defined. They say it works. I don't know. Listen to Skyline Drive, How to Live Forever on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. The declaration, which is full of these beautifully rendered sentences and paragraphs about enlightenment ideals, does also.

also have this darker history to it. Why is it important for the darker part of the Declaration of Independence in the American Revolution? Why is it important that Americans know about it? Well, if we don't understand the full context in which our nation was founded, we won't understand the full context in which our nation now finds itself. I'm Rebecca Nagel. Gohyn, Taoadon, Jalike Yatliqa, Lai, citizen of Cherokee Nation. Are you guys big Chiefs fans?

Hell yeah. This is First America, the true story of how the United States came to be, and how we got to this present moment. Listen to First America on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We got a lot left in the minute, part two. If we keep up this fast food talk, I feel like it's every show, we're like cooking for like a nut house like pop up. I love this. Yeah.

I love it. I can do a burger pop. up. I would knock its fucking face off. I should think about that. I like that idea. That's a great idea. They'll get some sports game. Some USC games, some UCLA game. Yeah. Wow. Get the flat top out. I'll fucking flat top the shit out of it.

We got it. We got it. All right. Wow. We could talk burgers, fast food all day, even though don't even eat it that often. Like a tent talk over here. I'm tinting my fingers. I'm sitting back in my chair. I'm fuming that we're not including Dunkin' Don't know. I got, I'll tell you right now, I'm so mad. I saw, I saw, I saw, I saw, I saw, I saw, I saw, I saw, I saw, I saw, saying five guys over in and out. Did they really?

Which I can understand a little. They're both from Iowa. Arizona, Arizona. Colorado for, no, Purdy's. Purdy's, Arizona. He's like, oh, is there college? He went to Iowa State. Iowa State. Iowa State.

And then Kittle went to Iowa. Yeah. So they're both. But I, I guess. is five guys? I love five guys, but I don't know. That's tough, bro.

I like in and out, especially as Bay guys. A lot of people I think hate on in and out because it's a California thing. I could see that. But you got to, you got to. I'm talking straight like,

in and out's legit, bro. I get it typed up, but it's legit. Just the freshness of everything. The fucking burger's good. Always good. It's always, the price is great.

It's like, a quintessential fast food. It does it all well. If I'm sitting anyone from another country to America, I'm telling them we go to in and out. Yep. Say that's what I want America to look like. Sometimes,

I will say about... Are they nice every time? The one knock on... They quit using 6-7 though. Oh, they did. Dude, those videos were electric. Gnarly. Those were electric.

God. That was when 6-7 peaked, honestly. No. Yeah. Wow, that was fun. That was so fun. God. The one knock on In-N-Out.

and it's not their fault. Don't say the fries. No, no, no. It's not their... It's nothing about their product. It's not their fault. Sometimes, particularly in Los Angeles, it's like too much of an ordeal to go there, right?

Depends on where you go. But the one near me is the one in fucking Hollywood and it's like too much of an ordeal, which is the opposite of what you want from a fast food restaurant. I like those hot chilies. Oh, I love those...

There is one bad thing about it in. I love those spicy chilies. What they need to do, one critique, they need to get a thicker straw for the milkshake. Wow. Like a boba.

Get a boba straw or something and I know the lady I know she'd be hearing us. The straw every time it's too thick. Yeah, they are. The real heads are listening. It's too thick.

It takes you too long to get the milkshake. Yep. I need a thicker straw like because one time I brought a thicker straw two in and out. That works.

Trust. That's what my little dog my daughter says to be down. She goes trust. Trust. See, that's one of those. Then the sides of the straw start touching. You start pinching?

I'm sucking so hard. Yeah. Pause. Jesus. When they pinch, you're done. You're done. You better get the spoon out of that. All right.

All right. We're out of here. We're out of here. Man, what a game. Thanks again to coach Corey Close. And the UCLA Bruins getting that natty. Let's go. Right here in the backyard of the Nod House.

I mean, let's go. Crazy. She's really cool. She's really cool. And she's from the Bay. I play for her all day. Would you want to ask her, Kai?

I wanted to ask her about food spots in Westwood. I know. We didn't get into it. I saw the time. Yeah. We were getting kind of long. I wanted to jump into it. They got some,

always the college areas of cities they got hitting gems. Yeah, you're hitting fresh corn grill? What are we going? Well, over there in Westwood, they got a bunch of great shit. I hit that in and out all the time over there. Oh, that thing stays jumping. I know, but it gets in.

I love fresh corn grill. Fresh corn grill is pretty good. Friday. They also, they have a food opportunity. Sal's right over there. Oh, yeah, fat sows for sure. They got that new NADC burger too. Yeah.

We got to try the NADC burger. Is that over there? Yeah, that's the one at the Waggoo. Yeah, we got to check that out. I mean, I know it's a little bit of a chain, but still, I want to check it out for sure. Man, that's got to be so cool to be part of UCLA, 126 national championships.

Conference of champions, more like school of champions. I remember, I think would they get their hundredth in like, what, 2011 or something? That sounds right. Slate. I was living with Slater at the time. And he goes, you want to know why the U is gold? It represents the 100 or there's something like that. I'm like, ah, Slate wouldn't know that.

How many national championships Ken State have? We got, we got a few because of wrestling. Yeah. I think, uh, we, when I was there, we had a wrestler national championship who got priority free agent to the Patriots. I forgot his name. My God, he's going to kill me. Um, he wasn't there that long. Or was the year after?

We had a Ken State guy. 2009. Ressler. 29. Oh, 19? Oh, 9. Jamal Porter? Yep.

He was fucking huge. What about David? We were trying to pull the Steve Neal. Elon, we got nothing, bro. Emerson College. We've never even made the tournament. I think Emerson College has a quitted. Hey, how many do we have at Kent?

Do we have, just put that in the AI. See, how we got? Kent. A little quick. I mean national championships is Ken State. heavy organization or programmer. He has not won an NCAA Division I team national championship. Just national championship.

Individual championship in general. So we had some badass gymnast too. Dustin Hilgore as a wrestler, Daniel Thomas Dodd as an outdoor shot putter. Is there more? That might be... That our other guy not win it? He might not have.

There was Ian Miller's a three-time All-American. there's been some finalists in wrestling Kyle Connell Reggie J. Yeager's the third Yeah we had some badass wrestlers Yeah that's like wrestling territory Yeah right there Man

What we think about the blue lights today I don't know I have to see how it looks Yeah I was gonna look Let us know in the comment section It felt very apropos for UCLA Yeah well we tried to do yellow and it looks like shit We did do yellow and blue But the yellow looks too much like real

We gotta get a little UCLA brewing something and we technically have Matthew Slater's inhaler, so that's UCLA bro. Counts. He should have just kept her jacket. I know. That was so fresh. That was so cool.

I was not to snake it. She said I was just with the recruit, so I was wearing it. Flex. Flex. I know. Oh, man. That's so good.

Signed right there. Oh, you know what? You know what I saw on Facebook marketplace? Oh, gosh. I love going on Facebook marketplace. Oh, gosh. You can buy like 15 gamer balls from UCLA.

They're charging like $150 a ball. Bro. Fuck that. Are you kidding me? There's like some gamer slash practice. balls on a Facebook marketplace from UCLA right now. I'm going to buy some. I got to say there's a,

is it a ball like 150 bucks just in general? I think it's LA. So they're like, ooh, that we played with it. It's cool. What they like Rick New Heisel's kid buffed up? Like, I mean, not a lot of winning went on in those balls, brother. I'm just saying, no, no shade. Man, no shade.

Oh my God. I'm seeing them right now here. No, but there's like one post. Keep going. Let's wrap the show. If I find it, I find it. Man. That was a fun.

episode. We got to get more coaches in here. Yeah. We, we, we have more female coaches. Female coaches indeed. We got more female athletes.

Here it is. Here it is. I found it. Oh, they're 1.25. They're cheaper now. They're practice balls. UCLA, GST,

practice footballs. We could get all 17. Yeah. We could get all 17 for $1,200. I'm going to keep it a buck. They practice with Wilson football. I don't know about that.

GTS, yeah. Do you like the GST? I threw the GST. They started it. Back in my day, they used to have the 001, the Wilson 001 or something like that. I like that one too, though. And then you can travel with those ones. Right?

Yeah, yeah. Is this the Wilson GST? Looks like it. I changed it. Or I don't know. That's a big ass W. Yeah. It's a lot of, they got me, Wilson got to eat.

Got to eat, bro. See that? Bro, that's the thing that's annoying with college basketball. Which is every, like a lot of the places you'll go is different balls. It's not like offense Stevens. You got to play with that ball. Do you? Is your home field ball?

Yeah. So like, like when I was a fucking manager, like, we would have all these balls of other teams in the closet. But that's for basketball. Yeah, that's something. For football, you're just, I just said that, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it's annoying.

Wow. Yeah. Because offense defense, you don't get that in basketball. Yeah, yeah. So you play with the home ball. Yeah, you got to play with the tournament ball. They have the tournament. It'll be a, the tournament's uniform.

Yeah. So like the, but when it's whatever the official ball of the conference is, which could suck. Like Southern Conference was the Rock. The Rock stink. What is the rock? It's a brand of basketball's. Bad.

It's a movie with Nick Cade. No, I mean, not for the Socon back in the day. What are we doing? The rock. They were heavy like a rock. Nike jumped in for a while.

Yeah, Nike's were the best. Nike was the standard. At least for me, I liked them. I don't know if they were they good. I always like Spalding. Not Spalding. I mean,

Spalding was awesome. And then Wilson for football. Yeah. He saw Mikey for basketball, volleyball and Wilson for football. That's how it should be. And what was the ball? Now it's Wilson.

Wilson is the NBA. Ball ball in basketball in basketball. And Castaway. No, no. What was the basketball that had pump in it? Oh, that was the, that was a Spalding. The name one.

You can pump it up yourself? Yeah, had a little pump in it. I think I remember that. It kind of like the Reebok, the pump rebucks, but it was a basketball. Yeah. What else did they have? They had some other ones, some other technologies where they had like the electric in it, the ball that had no air.

Oh, the infusion, the spalding infusion. Yeah. There you go. O-1 introduced with a hidden micro pump. It's probably the last. time I shot a basketball. Wow. What did you guys know about the micro pump?

You probably know. Hey now. Hey now. Congratulations to the UCLA Lady Bruins for taking down the Natty this year. They got the national championship. So first time in school history added to that big ass trophy room. As Coach Close said, that little spot that she saw day one, she filled it up. She filled it up.

Thanks again to Coach Close. unbelievable episode. And that's been another episode of games with names. Subscribe on Apple, podcast, Spotify, wherever you listen to your podcast, comment a game you want us to do. And remember, rate and review. And leave us a five-star review on Spotify while you're there.

Remember to follow games with names on YouTube, Instagram, X, TikTok, Snapchat, and Facebook. And leave a comment on the YouTube full episode. We'll read the best ones on our future episodes. leave a message on the hotline. That number is 424-291-2290. And we'll see you guys next week. Games with names and production of IHeartRadio.

For more podcasts from IHeartRadio, visit the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts.