Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Iowa United big man Liam McMorrow joins for part 2 to tell us about his TBT experience, playing for the Iowa United, and his future pro wrestling career

Episode Date: June 3, 2020

We wrap up our conversation with Iowa United big man Liam McMorrow today as we dive into his time playing in the TBT, why he chose the Iowa United (and who he is most excited to play with), and what he plans to do post-basketball. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I thank God I was born on the good arms of the Midwest, and not on the battlefields of the U.S. It's a time of panic, and it's intercepted! It's picked off right away! Intercepted by Marty Hooker! Pick six! Eight seconds into the game! Buffen sets up deep in the pocket, goes down the field for Smith!

Oh! He's got it! Smith! Touchdown. 85 yards. High on. Touchdown, 10. Taking a shot in the end zone.

It is caught. No offense. Touchdown. That's either one or you have it. Go ahead and three. Yes. Two-point lead for the Hawkeyes. Welcome back to our Wednesday morning edition of the Locked On Iowa podcast,

your daily podcast covering your Iowa Hawkeyes and the Iowa United on the Locked On Sports Network. As always, I am your host, Andrew Wade. And if you listened to yesterday's episode, you know we are back for part two of our interview with Liam McMorrow, the 7'2 big man who is joining the Iowa United this summer as they hope to win the $2 million TBT tournament prize. If you haven't listened to yesterday's episode, I highly recommend you doing that. It was a fantastic insight into how Liam became a basketball player at the age of 18 after playing hockey and lacrosse his entire life. So make sure to check that out. On today's episode, we're going to be jumping more into his time playing professionally and then his time as a member in the TBT tournament. He's played on three teams prior to this and he's going to be playing for the Iowa United this summer.

And then we talk a little bit about some of his personal life and some of the things he wants to do post-basketball. So another great conversation on today's episode of the Locked on Iowa podcast and a continuation of our TBT Tuesday for part two of the interview with Liam McMorrow today. Before we jump into that, though, make sure to like, review, and subscribe wherever you downloaded this podcast app. Give us that five-star review and make sure to follow us on Facebook, though, make sure to like, review, and subscribe wherever you downloaded this podcast app. Give us that five-star review, and make sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

And you can follow the Iowa United on Twitter as well. They're doing giveaways, training drills, all sorts of stuff every single week for all the players to help you get to know the players on that roster. So make sure to follow them on Twitter at IowaTBT. roster so make sure to follow them on twitter iowa tbt and of course follow liam mcmorrow on twitter at the liam mcmorrow l-i-a-m-m-c-m-o-r-r-o-w all right that being said though let's hop into the remaining part of the interview with liam mcmorrow but yeah no i didn't realize that the philippines were it was such a basketball crazy uh country oh my god brother it's insane they're like people literally chase you down uh if they see you because say there's you know i'm not exactly sure on the number i think there's about 10 teams you only have one foreign player or import player on each team so it's not hard to know who's in the country who's who's playing

basketball like like you know you see a seven footer or six nine guy you're gonna most likely know he's playing in the PBA and that he's an import so it's like people will chase you down they say idol idol idol please take a picture idol idol oh my god like I've never heard the word idol used so much outside of the American Idol the show like it's it's it's unbelievable there it's just like that's crazy it's crazy and like the food is so good like even the local food is delicious they have tons of American restaurants there it's like I don't know man if they hadn't changed the rule after I played there like me and PJ Ramos were we're playing there at the same time I don't know if you really were PJ he's a Puerto Rican player he's 7'4 yeah um after me and PJ played there and pretty much dominated everything, they actually changed the rule.

So I'm actually not allowed to play there anymore. It's 6-11 and under for that league. Wait, seriously? Yeah, since, I think that was 2015 I was there. The last five years, there hasn't been any seven-footers allowed to play there. What they usually do is there's three parts to their season. There's a Filipino Cup, which is the first part, so no imports at all, and they gauge how the teams do based on without having imports. So what they would do is out of the 10 teams, the bottom three teams

after the Filipino Cup, they'll give them an import of unlimited height. So that's when they would come out and get me. get a pj ramos they get a whatever uh hasan whiteside he was playing overseas at that time yeah and then um and it kind of evens things out because the rest of the teams can only would only be able to get an import a 6-9 and under so that you know one through one through seven would get a 6'9 import after the Filipino Cup, and eight through ten would get an import of unlimited height. So they've taken out the unlimited height rule. They still do the same thing with the Filipino Cup.

The bottom three teams just get a 6'11 and under. 6'11 is the max you can get, basically, as opposed to before. It used to be unlimited. How does it feel that they made a rule to basically make sure you couldn't go there and dominate like honestly like people put up crazy numbers in in in philippines but i mean i just felt like it was like coming out season for me like i was just like i was confident i was in great shape i had just come off the stint with that canadian team that i was really fond of all the players um I was just ready for it man like we came in we were a bottom team obviously bottom three team we were actually a last place team and we won six games in a row and everyone was like what the hell is going on McMorrow's killing everyone I think I averaged 27 and like 24 27 and 23 oh my gosh

something like that it was it was I was just in great, great, great shape. So it was just, like, running up and down, grabbing every rebound. My teammates, like, I would run with them every time. They had layups. They would just throw it back to get a big dunk. It was just, like, I was rolling with those guys. I'm still in communication with them, a lot of my guys in the Philippines. So even in seasons after that where I would be playing in Taiwan or in China,

like if they gave us a break, I would fly to the Philippines, go check out my old team's games and just hang out with my old guys. Like it was such a good – like I just have the best impression of the Philippines, man, from playing there. But after I left there, I literally flew home and played summer league with the Clippers with one of our other guys, Deontay Garrett. He was on the team. He was a point guard on our team and just had a really great experience

with the Clippers as well because of the shape. I went from playoffs to flying home to literally two days later starting summer league in Orlando. It was perfect timing. You couldn't have timed it better. So it was great, man. That's awesome. Yeah, it was perfect timing. You couldn't have timed it better. So it was great, man. That's awesome. Yeah, it was really cool.

Yeah, I mean, I guess I just didn't realize Philippines were so into basketball. I didn't realize all of that. So definitely. Yeah, it's like Manny Pacquiao, man. He's like a god there. He actually owns teams in the league. He actually started his own league since then. At that time, he owned a team in the PBA. And he would play when he wanted to, too. He'd put himself in the league he actually started his own league since then at that time he owned the team

in the PBA and he would play when he wanted to too he put himself in the games there's been players that have gotten in trouble over there I know there was some article about you know Daniel Wharton said something about you know this is a joke why is Pacquiao playing in the games and then he was fined for saying that because I think Pacquiao is a senator in the Philippines now it's like a very powerful guy you got to watch your tongue you can't you know even when things are weird like you know i never try to say anything about politics because it's just like it doesn't make sense right politics and religion it's not it's not going to go over well with a lot of people no matter what you say so just keep it to sports and i guess he did keep it to sports but it's just

you know talking about pakia you just you just can't basically they're gonna no matter which way you look at it the guy's beloved by a whole country you're in that country you don't say bad stuff about the guy yeah that's some real semi-pro type stuff though with him playing in the games yeah like you know he would he owned the team so like he was feeling really good he would just you know he'd play a couple minutes come down and get all the shots. And maybe, like, you know, in blowout games or something, you know. Yeah. Like, not in the playoffs or whatever. But, you know, the guy's a world-class boxer.

He's not a world-class basketball player by any means. But, you know, he does his thing. You know, guys with a lot of money, a lot of confidence, big egos, do whatever they want, whatever they think they can. Yeah, I mean, despite the fact that he's 5'5 and 155 pounds, I mean, when you're that low, you probably can do whatever you want. Yeah, right.

And, like, you think, like, you know, people, when they don't know overseas basketball, oh, you play in China, you play against long guys who are 6'. Well, the reality of that is the CBA has the most 7-footers out of any league in the world. China has the most 7-footers out of any league in the world um china has the most seven footers out of any country in the world and the most of them are being forced to play basketball so when people tell me oh you play against five foot five people in china i'm like okay we'll watch the tapes because you'll see a bunch of monsters out there that you'd never

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Use the promo code LOCKEDON at BuiltBar.com to get $10 off your next box of Built Bars at BuiltBar.com. Again, that is promo code LOCKEDON for $10 off your first box of Built Bars at BuiltBar.com. Again, that is promo code LOCKEDON for $10 off your first box of Built Bars at BuiltBar.com. Yeah, but you typically, like, you know about Yao Ming and stuff, you don't realize that there's that many tall people and, you know, China does do a pretty good job of, you know, kindly directing people

into certain sports and activities, I should say. Right. Absolutely. And it's just like people don't realize you know i'm a seven footer so i've done i've googled this many times but it works out to about one in every two million people will be seven foot doesn't matter what your background is doesn't matter where you're born so if you look at china just in general they have billions of people they're gonna have the most seven footers period like you can get lucky and have good genes but the odds are just gonna pull pull out every, you know,

one every every 2 million is going to be seven foot or taller. Like those are just the numbers. So that's crazy. So then, yeah, I guess, yeah, I just didn't even think about that either. And so you've had a pretty, you know, pretty interesting career, obviously paying professionally. You've also played in the TBT before with Eberline Drive. I don't know if I said that right. Is that how you say it?

Yeah, Eberline Drive, yeah. Okay, perfect. It's just a little street in – I think it's in Michigan. It's just literally where the originators of the team, they all grew up – not even all of them, just one of the originators grew up on that street and they just thought it was a good name. I mean i like it yeah pretty well yeah so how did you how did you end up on that team um so that was through the the same agent that brought me out to chicago brian brundis he was uh contacted um contacted by matt i'm trying to think if that is the real

connection if it was through my buddy Scott Vandermeer. Because the very first year, yeah, I think it was through Scott. So Scott Vandermeer is a center. He's a seven-footer. Shoots threes. He plays at UIC. He's the all-time shot blocker leader at UIC in Chicago University. Or no, what is it?

University of Chicago. University of Illinois Chicago? Yeah, University of Illinois in Chicago, yeah. So UIC, he's an all-time shot blocker there. Yeah, and he just told me, like, in the summer I'm always just training, right? So it's a great idea to get me for a couple days or whatever. So I think I was actually in Chicago at the time that Everland was going to play out of there.

They were in that region that year. And he's just like, yeah, man, this team, you know, they're sponsored. They're whatever, whatever. I'm like, dude, it's basketball. I'll play. And he's like, if we win, we can win a million bucks. I'm like, oh, okay. Well, I'm definitely playing.

Yeah. So that year, I want to say we lost our first game. First or second game. We played against an alumni team, a bunch of older guys. I had a great game, but I just, we just, we couldn't put it together. And then the second time I played with them was when we went all the way to the finals and lost the overseas elite. I think we lost by seven, which was heartbreaking because we know in this tournament, in second place, we didn't get anything. So that was brutal because

we were stacked. We were set to win vegas had us winning and odds and everything and um we really didn't we weren't you know i think it was the thing like we took every game seriously but we weren't even uh we weren't taking overseas elite that seriously like we we thought a harder game for us was the game before where we played the team for debt yeah because that jimmer on the team right yeah jimmer was on the team uh but we played team for debt. Yeah. Cause that Jimmer on the team, right? Yeah. Jimmer was on the team, uh, but we had a good game plan for him. We kind of shut, well, not, it's impossible to shut him down, but we, uh, we did well against them. We really got into them. We had a lot of talented guards. We had Jerome Randall, um, uh, Donald Sloan, you know,

who else do we have? Well, those were our two main guys, two main ball handlers. And they really, you know, those guys are really offensive guys, if you know their games. But they really took it upon themselves to lock up Fredette or at least limit him in that game, limit his catches and his touches. So, yeah, we beat Fredette. And then we were kind of like we thought we had it. You know, we really thought we were going to end up playing Marquette,

which is going to be interesting for me. Yeah. We're all staying in the same hotel. Obviously, I'm talking to my Marquette guys. They're like – it was interesting. I'm like, either way, we're going to win this thing, man, because it's Marquette or it's Eberlein. And, you know, and then it doesn't.

They get knocked out by overseas elite. We end up playing overseas elite. And, honestly, we just had a bad game. We didn't rebound the ball well um we had tons of bigs i mean we had um we had mackadoo and we had jeremy evans the dunk champion and we had uh willie reed we had lou edmondson like those are literally four mba energy guys that are supposed to be rebounding and we we got out-rebounded. So it's like – It should never happen. It should never happen.

We've got guys who've been paid millions of dollars just to rebound here. But it's like at the same time, you know, with all those NBA guys, there's a lot of egos involved, and I think they're all great guys. But at the end of the day, I feel like we really just should have had it, man. We just – like anyone can win on any day. I always tell my brothers, like, they're mostly hockey guys and they watch a little bit of basketball. But I'm just like, what do you think about this game, Liam? You know, is this going to be blown for sure?

I'm like, if both teams lace up, there's a chance that anyone can win. That's what I tell people every time. Yeah. Like, it really – I don't care if you got four all-stars on your team. They don't play well. They have big egos. They don't want to pass the ball. They don't want to, you know, really work on your team. They don't play well. They have big egos. They don't want to pass the ball. They don't want to really work as a team.

They'll lose. Yeah. And I think that's what makes the TBT so fun and interesting is you're getting a wide variety of guys. You don't know how good a shape each of those guys are. They haven't necessarily played with each other for a while. But you do have a lot of name recognition, and it's a lot of fun to watch those games you play because literally anything could happen. I mean, the year that y'all went to the

championship game, you were a seventh seed and went all the way to the championship game. So I think that to me is really interesting. And then the fact that you did make it to the championship game, how does that experience help you coming into this year with the Iowa United, a team that, you know, technically formed last year. Obviously, it's a little bit of a branch off from the Hilton Magic Legends and whatnot, but, you know, they did not win last year. They lost the first round game to Wichita State. So what kind of, you know, what is that experience?

What do you bring to this team? And also, what made you decide to join the Iowa United this year? Okay, so firstly, the experience I bring, I think, I mean, just with the – so I played in TBT three times. The first time was the Everlane. We lost our first game. Second time was out here in Vegas, which is a team that literally brought me on, I think, day of, and i didn't know anybody and it seemed like that was like the thing on that whole team no one really knew each other we battled hard no it's funny actually that coach

ended up as the coach of overseas elite the year that they beat us oh wait really yeah so that's another interesting connection like you never know what's gonna happen right so that coach that brought me on for this Vegas team that was thrown together like a frigging, you know, a grocery cart. Literally, we lost our first game. It was over, whatever. No one really cared. They weren't too invested in it. It was kind of guys that were already in Vegas at the time.

Like, no one had flown in for it, I don't believe. But that coach, his name is escaping me right now, but he was the coach that beat us, beat David Lane in the finals. He's a really great coach, actually. But the experience, I just feel like, especially with the Elam ending, like, you really just have to, like, you can't let up, like, at all. I know everyone probably says this in their pre, you know, game speeches or whatever but you really have to go 100 percent from the from the first like from the

tip-off like you have to go like all out like you can't feel the team out you can't be like okay how are they gonna play us like we don't care how they're gonna play us we have our game plan we're gonna go straight at it that's it like like you can't kind of let the game come to you in the tournament like once you get to that elim it's like it's over pretty much like if you're the team that's up like the team that's down still has a chance I don't know what the stats are how many teams that were down when the elim started that have come back and won maybe a few but usually the team that's up is gonna win so it's like you really just have to go all out until that until the elim starts like until that target score or whatever like it's i don't know man but but with this team uh the

connection was um so marcus pfizer who is a legend yeah um in iowa and chicago and a few other places where he's played but uh he's a good friend of mine. He lives out here in Vegas. We were – we had the same agent originally when they first brought us out here to train in Vegas. We actually lived together for a whole summer in a three-bedroom house, me, Marcus, and another player named Trent Tornicasa. That's a pretty good connection then because, yeah,

Matt's pretty close with Marcus as well. That makes a lot of sense yeah absolutely so marcus is like a big brother to me um he lives out here in vegas still we've been in contact ever since we we first met um and and he texted me and said are you interested in playing tbt there's a team that needs a center i said of course i mean anything you're recommending i'm gonna for. And he hooked me up with Matt and that was the end of that. That's awesome, man. I think you talked about having some of the, you know, some good big men on, you know, the, you know, Everland drive team. Are you excited to play with some of the big men you get with this team as well? I mean, from a, a four position you have, you know,

this team is stacked, right? You have Royce White, Mike Dom, you have Nick McGlynn, Matt Tybee. I mean, this team has a lot of big guys and guys who can step out. I didn't even know Royce was with us. I didn't know that. Oh, really? Am I breaking that news to you? That's breaking news for me.

So, Royce and – Royce, me, and Deontay were all on that 2015 Clippers Summer League game together. Oh, that's crazy. He actually broke his nose in our first game. So he only played one game with us. But, I mean, Royce is actually a good buddy of mine. We also have the same agent for a number of years. Yeah, so Royce is playing.

He just put his video in last week. I'm kind of funny in saying he's a good buddy of mine. I don't know we're going to be on a safe team. When we see each other, it's like one of those ones, like we see each other, we know each other for a long time. It's kind of like – you know what I mean? You don't miss a beat. It's very friendly.

Yeah, there's no beats missed. So it's like, that's fucking awesome that we have Royce. Are you kidding me? Yeah. The guy is like – he's Magic Johnson in 2020. Yeah. But he'll dunk on you. Yeah.

I love Royce, man. Royce is one of the highest IQ players I think I've ever played with. It's amazing. His vision is unbelievable. And he's athletic and he's strong and he's tough. Like, who else do you want on your team? Who else do you want? It's great.

He's such a good post passer, too. Mr. Do-it-all. He's such a good – he sees the whole floor. He sees every play, man. He sees everything. I really like Royce. That's good. As a person and as a basketball player. Yeah,it-all. He's such a good – he sees the whole floor. He sees every play, man. He sees everything. I really like Royce. That's good. As a person and as a basketball player.

Yeah, that's unbelievable. He just got me excited, man. Good, yeah. I mean, I'm happy to be able to break news to you. That was fun. Oh, my gosh. Yeah, I've been in my own little zone here, man. Just like, you know, I don't – I'm not like –

I used to be really active on social media and stuff. But, like, since all this stuff has been going on, I haven't really made too many posts and I'm only really on there when I get like a message or like, you know, like some people will message me if they don't have my number, they'll just message me on there. So it's like, I haven't been really that involved with the social media in the last,

I don't know, a couple months, I guess. Yeah. And that's really where, that's where Matt's breaking all of it is. So I got to get back on it, man I gotta follow the follow the feed man yeah it's your week this week too man they're dropping more position yeah they're dropping all the information on you this week so you gotta check that out oh no definitely definitely I'll definitely be involved this week for sure that's fun man so I was gonna ask you what you know what player are you most excited about playing with and are you familiar with any players but it sounds like you're pretty familiar with Deontay and Royce and I would uh it'd be tough for me to imagine you're the most the person not you know most excited to play with isn't Royce

White right so I think that answered that question for sure um outside of Deontay and Royce are there any other guys on the team that you're familiar with or excited about playing with I mean obviously you know probably excited about playing with all the guys, but is there any one guy in particular that you're excited to play with outside of, you know, Deontay and Royce? So, like, quickly after I talked with Matt and sent him my video, I looked at that, the current roster at that time, and, you know, Google guys up a bit and, you know, it just seems like all these guys, like, I didn't come across a profile where I, you know, I wouldn't be excited to play with someone there right like i like um i'm just trying to think of the names i know you mentioned tyrus

um he's a dude he's a beast um last year in the tbt he went off um i think he was the leading scorer 27 points he kept ioway and added in for the first part of the game before, you know, until everyone kind of got their shot going, but he was a, he was a stud in that game. Yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, he sounds like an exciting player right off the bat. Yeah. I mean, I think we have enough, you know, cause looking through a bunch of the guys profiles, I think we have a lot of sharpshooters too. We have two or three guys that are really, you know, like specialists shooting. Right. So it it's like i don't think offense is going to be an issue it's going to be defense that wins this thing because you know we're going to be able to score scoring's not going to be the problem you know so it's like as long as we have our defensive strategies down i think we'll be we'll be set

because it sounds like we have energy guys we, we have shooters, we have playmakers. So it's like you have formula for a championship team. You just – the only thing we all have to do is lock in on defense. You know, some guys really take pride in that and some guys, you know, shy away from it. But it's like I'm not sure – I saw that it's only what? It's only 24 teams, right? Yeah, only 24 teams. So it'll be a little bit smaller.

It's going to be less games, I'm guessing, less than typically. Yeah. It was six games, I think, the year that we went to the finals. So if it's only going to be four or five games, I mean, it's even more of a reason to just lock in on the defensive end. Like four or five games, ten days, you just have to really grind it out. And, like, the prize is the prize. You know what I mean?

Yeah. It's great money. It's a great thing to have on your resume. Like, I was even – you know, when I see transactions happen overseas, and they even list these TB teams on their real GM resume. It's like – it's a big deal. Yeah. To be in these teams and to, you know, to get to the finals

or to win the championship is not so much just to be on a team and, you know, get knocked out the first game and don't really show anything. But, you know, it really helps out. It's film, you know, say a guy, you know, was playing in a, in whatever, Slovenia this year and say that they, you know, they just don't really have great, great game film for that guy. So what people don't realize is game film is like a resume

for an overseas player. So your next team is going to be looking for that game film. And if you're in a league where you don't have great media coverage and the video is grainy and it's not great to look at, you're not going to get a lot of good looks. So the TBT is just another, you know, we know it's all high definition. ESPN, I mean, you're getting good content. Yeah, you're going to get amazing game show if you really show your game.

And people that know basketball, they don't have to see too much to know you can play. They see you play 10, 15 minutes. They're like, this guy can shoot it. You know, he really locks up on D. We really like him. You know, and then if you go far in the tournament, you get a good sample size too. You can get four or five games of that, you know, 10, 15 minutes, whatever you're playing.

It adds up. You can make a nice little highlight, and it can end up being a really good thing for your career. Definitely, man. So I just have a few other – just a couple quick questions. I know I've taken up a ton of your time, so I really appreciate it. I know you're busy at home and whatnot, but just a few get-to-know-you questions, super easy stuff.

What is your favorite place to eat? Favorite place to eat has got to be back home in uh in toronto and then more specifically scarborough um there's a there's a caribbean restaurant called twice as nice and uh i don't know you tell by the title but it is delicious um it's it's so good it's uh so it's like typical west indian caribbean food it's uh you know oxtail and jerk chicken curry chicken oh man it's just like god it's making me hungry thinking about it now so you gotta check out twice as nice in toronto if i'm ever there all right i like it oh my god twice as nice yeah absolutely um but yeah as far as favorite foods i mean i'm a big caribbean guy

i love spicy food um you know i'm half trinidadian so that's kind of i guess where that comes from but i love like a nice fettuccine alfredo chicken fettuccine you know i really love italian cuisine um i've just recently started eating sushi and realized i like that i've always been grossed out by it my mom's allergic to all seafood so we didn't grow up on like the most seafood we had growing up was was fish sticks so it was like oh man you know but and then playing overseas you play in Taiwan or China or any of these you know island countries you're gonna get a lot of fresh seafood and you're gonna get your teammates that want you to try things and you know so now I really enjoy shrimp I really like lobster all sorts of different fish and um yeah so I say I'm a little bit of a seafood guy and uh mostly Italian and Caribbean

though oh and Mexican too I love Mexican food I can dig it um I'm actually uh I'm actually half Mexican and I can make like homemade chorizo and stuff so my wife really likes that a lot I'm gonna hold you up on that man yeah I have to take some sample there if you ever endeavor man hit me up. Okay, yeah, for sure. All right, so what is your favorite non-basketball activity? Outside of, you know, hanging out with your family and your kids, obviously. Yeah, I was going to say family.

So, man, honestly, I'm like a workout head. Like, I really enjoy being in the gym. Like, what I always hear from people, damn, how much do you weigh now? Like, how much do you, like – so, I guess, like, I don't have have a typical basketball build I don't know how many pictures you guys have of me but it's like my weight range a small size for me is 250 which is like I don't think I've been since my first year pro and then I usually play at like 270 275 I've gotten up to 295 but like not in a bad way at all like I'm always under eight percent body fat I can always see my abs but it's just like it's a lot of muscle mass for a basketball player so it's like I always get the question of guys are like when you're done playing are you gonna

wrestle uh what are you gonna do like like um my brother is security for a very very uh very extremely popular artist uh they want to know if I'm going to do that with him and just help my brother out. So I always tell people I'm going to wrestle because I really like wrestling and I think I could have a really good go at it for sure, just being like a real seven-footer and showing these guys what it really looks like.

Because Kane and Undertaker, all these guys, they're not really footers. They're you know, Kane and Underdink are all these guys. They're not really footers. They're just like 6'9", 6'10", right? You'd be a beast in that. Yeah. And a really – like a mentor of mine is Diamond Dallas Page. I'm familiar with him. Yeah.

So we're always talking. You know, I spend weeks at his house and we go over, like, the real plan. Like, as soon as I'm ready to transition into the wrestling and it's gonna be really exciting man I was honestly it's gonna come soon like I kind of wanted to you know finish that season in Bahrain and if I got a really good offer for something next year I was gonna do it but if not I was gonna make the transition right after that so well we'll see where we end up after all this COVID stuff and see what overseas looks are looking like for next year. Yeah.

But if it's not something that is really enticing, like I really don't want to be away from my family like that unless it's something I can't refuse, then I'll probably do the – start the transition to wrestling. So I just want to – I mean, we started out with talking about your non-basketball activity, and then the next question I was going to ask was what would you be if you weren't a basketball player and yeah and so but like the transition to you know I think wrestling be pretty cool too I'm going to be in wrestling

in probably the next two years um that was not the twist I expected there so um yeah love that man um so just one other question then um who was your favorite basketball player that's tough man but growing up in Toronto like even though we weren't huge basketball fans it's So just one other question then, who is your favorite basketball player? That's tough, man. Growing up in Toronto, like even though we weren't huge basketball fans, like when I was younger, Vince Sanity was just crazy. Like he was transcending it even from kids that were strictly hockey players and just watched hockey games to like you had to see Vince Carter. Like he's putting his arm in the rim.

He's winning the dunk competition. He's just like jumping off a trampoline. So like everyone wanted the Sharks. I got to say it's Vince, man. I got to say it's Vince. And, you know, as a kid, like, you know, like, so the years, Marquette and Tennessee Tech, so now I'm starting to watch a lot more basketball. I'm really understanding the game.

I'm really seeing what I like. I'm kind of an aggressive player. I really like guys like Rasheed Wallace. I really like, you know, that's kind of more of like guys who I think I play like and similar to. I like Rodman. I like Rasheed. Man.

But yeah, growing up, I'd say Vince. I'd say Vince. Hell yeah, man. Gotta rep Vince. Toronto kid. If you're a fan of Rasheed Wallace and Dennis Rodman and you like playing like that, I think you're going to be a perfect fit on this United team. They need a guy like you to be that rim protector, be that big guy down low.

So I'm really excited to watch you play this year at the Iowa United, man. Oh, man, I'm excited. Sounds like it's going to be a great run. And I'm glad I could break the news about Royce. But, Liam, I have taken up so much of your time, man. I really appreciate it. This is going to be a great run. And I'm glad I could break the news about Royce. But, Liam, I have taken up so much of your time, man. I really appreciate it. This is going to be a fantastic show for everyone else. Obviously, I'll try to send you the link and whatnot.

But any last words, man, before we hop off and drop the show today? I just want to tell the fans that we appreciate all their support. And this team is going to really do something special. And we're going to give it everything we got. So look forward to raising the championship banner. Heck yeah, man. And where can fans follow you at on Twitter and Instagram? So Twitter is TheLeonMcMorrow

and Instagram is Real7Footer. So just spelled out just R-E-A-L number seven 7, F-O-O-T-E-R. Perfect, man. Well, Liam, thank you again for hopping on the show. I will be watching, obviously, when you play for the Iowa United this summer. If you're ever in Denver, hit me up for some chorizo, and I'll make sure to hit you up when I'm in Vegas, man. All right. Sounds good, brother.

Awesome. Have a good day, pal. All right. See you. Bye. All right. And that will conclude our two-part episode with Liam McMorrow on our TBT Tuesdays episode of the Locked on Iowa podcast. Really appreciate you all tuning in and listening to that. I hope you really enjoyed the conversation and the story from Liam.

I would say quite possibly the most unique and interesting story we've had on the Locked on Iowa podcast so far. interesting story we've had on the Locked on Iowa podcast so far. Really enjoyed the, you know, the concept of picking up a basketball at 18 and going to junior college and making something out of that and going to the pros and then his time in the pros and playing for, you know, multiple TBT teams making it to the championship game and the inside. I mean, he was very candid about really everything.

And I felt like that, you know like that made for such a fascinating story. So I hope you all enjoyed it as well. And if you did, make sure to give us that five-star review wherever you downloaded this podcast at, and make sure to subscribe so you get all the future episodes of the Locked on Iowa podcast coming right at your door. And if you like the content we produce here on the Locked on Iowa and Locked on Hawkeye podcast,

make sure to follow the Locked on NFL Draft podcast. I know we talk a lot about the NFL Draft here with all the Iowa Hawkeyes who are drafted every single year. The Locked on NFL Draft podcast is that. But for all teams and every single day, hosted by Trevor Sikama and Benjamin Solak, it's what I go to for my draft news, so I highly recommend you do as well.

Make sure to follow them at the Locked On NFL Draft Podcast. And if you do like our show, make sure to follow us as well on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. And as always, I hope you all have a very safe and fun day. And as always, go Iowa United. We'll see you next time.