The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - Good Follow - UCLA HC Cori Close Joins the Show, Clark Injured, is Kiki ROTY? + Aces & Sky Rough Start & More

Episode Date: May 28, 2025

This week on Good Follow: Ros & Logan discuss Cailin Clark’s injury and how the Fever regroup, break down what’s going on with the Aces and Sky, celebrate Nneka Ogwumike moving up to 9th in All-time scoring, and determine if Kelsey Plum is in the running for MVP. Then, Ros sits down with UCLA Head Coach and Women’s National Coach of the Year, Cori Close, to discuss whether or not she was expecting players to transfer out of UCLA, navigating the transfer portal, and takeaways from UCLA’s first-ever Final Four run. Finally, Logan shares her WNBA pick of the week presented by DraftKings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Please enjoy responsibly. Product availability varies by region. See app for details. You're listening to DraftKings Network. and we'll be right back. Thank you so much for joining us. We'll see you next time. Bye. Hey, what's up everyone? And welcome to Good Follow. Good Follow is presented by DraftKings and my name is Roz Golden-Wade and that is my girl. That's my co-host, Logan Hackett. And guys, she's actually coming to us.

She's so dedicated. She's coming to us from France and Paris. You're out there with your mom. What exactly are you doing, Logan? Yes. So we are both huge tennis fans and we're checking off the Grand Slam bucket list. So we're Australian. So the Australian Open is very easy.

US Open is accessible. And so she wanted to do France and Wimbledon. So we're doing French now, and then I think Wimbledon next year. And then the next few days after that, we're just gonna go shopping. We have like mother-daughter shopping trips, and so we're gonna use that.

Well, y'all, it's very clear that Logan is living her best life. But for the rest of us, we're still living our best lives. We got a whole lot of women's sports and a whole lot of women's basketball. WNBA action is kicking off and it's heating up and it's been a big first week and a half here now.

So let me tell you what's on the menu for our show today for Good Follow. We are talking about the fever, but they are without Caitlin Clark. What does that mean for them? We're talking about the Aces, rough start to the season. And we're talking about the Aces' rough start to the season. And we're talking about the Chicago Skies' even rougher start to the season and what they can do to climb out. Shout out to my girl, NECA's top 10, baby. She's climbing the record books.

And guys, does Kelsey Plum have an MVP case? We'll discuss. Does Kiki Iriafin have a Rookie of the Year case? We'll discuss. And don't leave because we have an amazing, illuminating, sit-down interview with Coach of the Year, UCLA Head Coach, Cory Close. We're going to reflect on last season's run to the Final Four

for UCLA Women's Basketball, the transfer portal, and more. You don't want to miss this conversation. We've got a nice show, right, Logan? We absolutely do. And as always, y'all all thank you so much for subscribing, commenting, liking, clicking all the buttons, following our socials. And don't forget new episodes drop every Wednesday at 7 p.m. Eastern or maybe a little bit earlier if you check. But are you ready to get into it?

OK, Logan, OK, take us through it. All right. So yesterday, actually, I was sitting right before my flight and my phone started blowing up. I thought something incredibly tragic happened, which it kind of did, but it just turned out to be Caitlin Clark suffering an injury. And she is out for at least two weeks with a left quad strain. Now between Iowa and playing for the fever, she has played in 185 consecutive games.

According to Google, the last time she missed a game was in 2017, which was her sophomore year in high school. And I feel like this is just somebody who never rests. And now she has to get put on rest. So how can Caitlin use this time while out dealing with this injury to kind of work on other things that she needs to? Well, you know, it's interesting because she used this WNBA, the offseason coming into the season to take that time, you know, off's interesting because she used this WNBA, the offseason coming into the season, to take that time, you know, off from like full-time basketball. She didn't play unrivaled,

you know, she did the things she enjoyed. She went golfing, she went to Taylor Swift concerts, like she did all the things. So, you know, it's unfortunate that she's hurt right now. But I also think it might be a good thing because the start to the season for Kaitlyn, if we're going to be honest, has been a bit of a mixed bag. You know, so I think this is a useful moment for her to watch film, refocus, understand what is and isn't working because she's certainly she's Caitlin Clark. She says she's really that talented. So there's certainly been moments of brilliance, like her knack for the moment

of hitting a timely shot or an assist. She's still filling up the stat sheet. She's averaging 19 points, nine assists, six rebounds, but there's been some high inefficiency there. She's not shooting the three ball well overall. She's had a hard time putting it together from three and she's turning it over far too much. And coach Stephanie White is willing to be honest with her

and hold her accountable there. And I think Caitlin's willing to hold herself accountable there. So I think while it's certainly still great production from Caitlin, there's just a lot more efficiency and high level play that she could be working towards. So perhaps it could be maybe a blessing in disguise for her. I love that blessing in disguise. That was one of the first things I thought about. But as for the fever, it comes at a pretty awkward time because they lost two of their last three

games and we do have others stepping up like Aaliyah Boston. She had 27 points, 14 rebounds against Liberty and the last three games, three of four games she's had a double double, but they're going to need more than just Aaliyah Boston. So how can they kind of regroup and pick up some wins while Caitlin is out? Yeah. Well, you mentioned Aaliyah Boston, you know, so much of her success, which has been great, very much comes from the work she's doing with Caitlin Clark in the pick and roll. The two of them are fantastic together.

And, and Aliyah does a great job of reading the defenses attention on Caitlin and making the right read her versatility. Like it's not just a roll to the rim. She'll pick and pop. She'll hit a mid range jumper. She's been great. But now what happens when it's not Caitlin creating that for you or working in that with you?

And so I also looked at Kelsey Mitchell, like this is somebody who is fast, who can create her own shot. She may be leaned on as well to be someone who can also, you know, create for others, even more than she already does. And I think with overall, it's going to be a continued work in progress on the Fever's defense. They've got to continue to get serious about it. And especially if perhaps you lose some offensive power, then you've got to get even better on defense. And that's been the talking point since training camp from Stephanie White.

And for me, I think a lot of this too comes from they need time to mesh and gel. Like this is not normal. There were a lot of new faces but one face that I've kind of got my attention on that's new to this team is DeWanna Bonner. Now we celebrated that she moved up in the record books to third all time and scoring and but but this season you wouldn't know that looking at her season this year. She's only taking four shots a game. This is somebody who averaged 15 points per game last season. She's now averaging two and a half, all right, on 12% shooting, 12 and a half percent shooting.

This is over a small sample size. But more what I'm seeing is just like discomfort and even being able to figure out where and when she can get shots up or fit into the offense. And so I'm looking at Stephanie White to kind of help identify what DeWanna Bonner's role is gonna be with this team. Already DeWanna has started,

already she has come off the bench. When you know where you are in the rotation, when you get in the game, you understand where your shots are coming from, who you're playing with, like how to kind of move yourself over the course of a game. It's really important to establish like some kind of rhythm like that.

And I think that's what you can do that's fair. And I also want to point out, I don't think it's a bad thing to come off the bench at all. I mean, you know, if DeWanna Bonner ends up being someone who comes off the bench, it might be better for her because sometimes in starting lineups, there's certain players that have a hard time

getting the touches they need or finding their rhythm. And in the second unit, suddenly you can be featured more. And now it can even be a change of style or a change of pace. They could slow it down a little bit. You know, the fever playing fast, they could, you know, isolate or just show different ways to feature DeWanna.

And then for the coach, for Stephanie White, you get fire power off your bench and you know what you're going to get off your bench, which is a luxury for any coach. So I'm interested in seeing like how DeWanna Bonner's role solidifies on this fever team. I'm also really keen to see Sophie Cunningham integrate with the team. And for some reason, I feel like this is kind of her time to shine, especially the first thing that comes to mind is the spiciness. Caitlin's not there to bring the spiciness on the court.

And so she's going to step up. But she is definitely someone who can always bring the power. And when she is hot, she is on a roll. So I think this could really be a good time for her to get back into it. She's only played two games coming off of an injury. So I am very keen to see how they play without Caitlin. That I that's not really in recent memory. But speaking of kind of things going down on Sunday,

the Aces lost to the storm 102 to 82, and they fell to two and two on the season. And while Asia leads the Aces in all stack categories, it is just not enough. And I mean, with all due respect, this is not final stretch fighting for MVP. We are going to win the championship Asia. She is still playing amazing, but it's not anything crazy. We're not to that point of the season yet. But what do you think is going on with the Aces and how do they bounce back against the Sparks when they play on Friday?

It has to start with defense, Logan. Like, and I'm not even saying nothing that's like science or like some rocket science research. This is coming out of Coach Becky Hammond's mouth. Like she called her team publicly, she said we're undisciplined. Defensively against the storm. They allowed 34 points in the first quarter.

The storm shot 60% from the field, 50% from three and more impressively or crazy, like 32 assists. I mean, that's crazy. I mean, the storm are good, but they were out there looking like magic Johnson himself, like they were just doing whatever they wanted against the Aces, cutting in front of them, beating them to the spot, they couldn't jump to the ball. They just absolutely outplayed them. And the defense really didn't make Seattle feel anything.

There's no discomfort you're seeing from the other team. So now they play the Sparks next, and there's potential for this to be emotionally charged. It's the first time that they see Kelsey plum again And of course the Erica Hanby's on that team so oftentimes emotion and discipline are these words that often go together not usually But it's a healthy test for them and here's the good news for the Aces Their last game to this now this game against the, four days in between, four days for practice. And they need the practice.

So that'll be really important for them. One player and girl, you know, you and I went to Unrivaled in Miami, right? Like how good was Chelsea Gray in Unrivaled? So good. That was one of the things is her and Jackie Young, there are too many good names on this roster for Asia to be carrying this hard.

You know? Point blank period. Point blank period. And I'm shocked about Chelsea. I'm wondering what's going on because she's kind of had a slow start to the season and I'm not even just talking about points. I'm talking about the assists. Like Chelsea makes so many things happen for everyone else and it's all down. So oftentimes with Chelsea Gray, whatever team she's on, as she goes, they go.

So I just I've got my eyes on that and we'll see how the Aces try to respond. And you talked about Seattle having a ton of space and just out there like Magic Johnson in that game. Neko Gwameke moved to a ninth in all time scoring, ninth in all time. Steals became the seventh player in WMB history to eclipse six hundred six thousand five hundred points, 3,000 rebounds and 800 assists in her career. Roz, what stands out about the play of Nneka? Can we get a slow clap going?

Because it's the body of work for me, baby. It's the body of work for me. You know, she's like 14 rebounds away at the time of taping this from being top 10 all time and rebounds as well. So we're talking about someone who this season, the early part of the season is in top 10 points, rebounds in the record books.

Right now she's averaging 20 and 10 again early in the season but both of those are career highs for her. And she does it on offense and defense. She's been dominant throughout her whole career. If you ever bored, go to basketball reference and look up NECA's stats. I mean, it's literally like this, if you look up the word consistency in the dictionary,

it should be a picture of NECA Agumake next to her like career stats. Cause that's what she is. And I, this is my friend and also my former teammate. You know, she's a very thoughtful person, intelligent, all the things, dependable. And that's how she plays. She plays very dependable and thoughtful.

And she just make it all the right reads. She's skill, highly skilled on top of, you know, the athleticism that she has, but making all the right reads and making teammates better too, and crashing the glass. And look, Nekka plays at every range. She has touch from every range. It's a master class.

So applause for Nekka. And another applause for her social media activity recently. She is all over my free page and the videos are so interesting. I love to see it, but oh my gosh, onto the next. Actually sticking on the West Coast, the Sparks took down the sky, 91-78 on Sunday and y'all will get to the sky in a second. But Kelsey Plumb dominated with 28 points and she now leads

the league in three pointers made and is second in points per game. Now her name is coming up every single week at this point, which there hasn't been very many weeks, but she has been in every single week. And it begs the question, is she in the mix for MVP this year? Yeah, absolutely. She is. You know, the only thing that could potentially hold Kelsey Plumb back is her team's got to be there with her, right? She's got to just make sure that the Sparks continue to win because you're second in the league in scoring. She's also top 10 in the league in assists and steals. She's doing a whole lot of great things for her

team on both ends. You know, you talk about the efficiency too, above 40% from three. You're talking about someone who's, you know, taking a lot of shots, who's averaging a lot of points. This isn't a role player that you're penetrating and kicking it out to. She's making things happen and she, one thing I've always known about Kelsey Plum, she's a hard worker. And then she's highly skilled. That's a great combination. And she's a great creator for her own shot and her teammates. and probably what stands out most to me about the way Kelsey's playing right now is The assists that she has in her last game. She had eight assists

She's just and it's the way she does it off the dribble like, you know, she can catch and shoot She could play in any range, but when she has the ball on her hand It kind of reminds me of like how Steve Nash used to play where like the dribble was always alive And so like she's just like it's beautiful. She's like slicing through this defense. She if you're reaching she's teaching she's going to the lane and the cup she finishes very nicely. She knows how to get her to the heart of the defense and then kick it out to a teammate. It's just you know I always am impressed at her size what she can do off the bounce.

But you mentioned her teammates and it's going right for them, but they can also possibly be holding her back. What do you see is going right for the Sparks right now? Cause they've been looking pretty good. Yeah. And for me, it's the veterans for the Sparks. It's the veteran play.

You know, the only thing right now, they're a little banged Sparks. It's the veteran play. The only thing right now, they're a little banged up to all of their youthful stars. You've seen injuries now to Rae Burrell, Rekia Jackson's been out, Cameron Brink's still out. So those are all the big young girls that, players that we're excited about for the future, but it's been the vets holding it down. It's been Kelsey Plum, obviously,

but it's been D'Erica Hamby, it's been Azrae Stevens, it's been Odyssey Sims. And remember last season when we were talking about the Lynx and we said they were just the right combination of characters given their just career story arcs and sometimes that I like this mix of the veteran group for the Sparks

because they're clearly very talented, veteran. They're very tough players. At some point in each of those careers, they've all been slept on a little bit. They've all got a little dog in Chip and them, whether that's Kelsey, D'Erica, Azaray, or Odyssey, and perhaps that's just the right formula, you know, to make the Sparks a spicy team. And just a little to add with Azaray,

because she's really been standing out to me. She is currently averaging, averaging eight points more than her average in the past eight seasons, maybe more. Four or five games in double digits with three and 20 points. And last year, she had 10 games in double digits, but only one of them with over 20 points and like Kelsey, she is shooting amazing from three. Forty seven percent. Great numbers. one of them with over 20 points and like Kelsey, she's shooting amazing from 3, 47% great numbers, but I actually want to kick it over to some something that's not going as good

and that is the Chicago sky. My goodness at the time of this recording, they're 0 and 3 to start the season after they're lost to the after they're lost to the Sparks and they had 43 turnovers in two games are in last place in free throw percentage. And to make it a little worse, their plus minus is minus 72 or 73 compared to the Liberty in first who is plus 40. So it's just it's not going great. And I have to say I had a lot of faith in Tyler Marsh. I thought he was going to do his big one off rep.

Maybe maybe that was me being a bit too keen. But what do you think they need to improve to keep the season alive? Logan first of all You already you already trying to get rid of Tyler Marsh day No, but I feel you and I know that that the Chicago fan base is probably just as eager You know, but I just think everything we said in this show so far We must keep in mind every team's played three to five games like the season just started Let's a lot of these teams have completely new coaches new rosters

But that being said there's just some very simple things that stand out for the sky that they can do It has to start with defense in three games teams are averaging 94 points per game against this guy. You come in there and this like Oprah in there, you get a bucket, you get a bucket, you get a bucket. And also they are struggling offensively, right? So you really have to make every easier opportunity count.

So they're giving up 19 turnovers a game. You've got to value the ball. Also those turnovers often end up to be runouts, momentum plays for the other team. And all of a sudden the score gets out of hand in a hurry. game you've got to value the ball. Also those turnovers often end up to be runouts, momentum plays for the other team and all of a sudden the score gets out of hand in a hurry. They're shooting in the first two games of the season, they did better in the third, first two games of the season they were only shooting 51% from the free throw line. So you get in freebies and you guys are coming away with only half, you have to make that count. Let's address

Angel. First of all, Angel Reese we know she works hard and she's make that count. Let's address Angel. First of all, Angel Reese, we know she works hard and she's crashing that glass. It's not for lack of effort. She's averaging nine points, about 14 rebounds per game. But again, the efficiency, she's shooting even lower than she was last season. And we wanted to see improvement there. She's shooting 30% from the field and it's only three games,

but she's also averaging about five turnovers a game. So for me, it's even less about the shooting, and for me, it's more like the decision-making for Angel. There's opportunities for her to pass out. I'd love to see an Angel over the course of her career, and I'm sure we will, where she's better at anticipating and making the right play out and getting teammates involved, sure we will, where she's, you know, better at anticipating and making the right play out and getting teammates involved, being a player that can get more assists for her teammates.

But right now I just see a young player that could use more time and more film sessions and certainly is willing to be a student of the game. But like it feels like a lot is riding on her. And I also think hey that veteran group of Kia Nurse, Ariel Atkins, Courtney VanderSloot, they've come out slow and they were supposed to take more pressure off the shoulders of Camila Cardoso

and Angel Reese. And right now, no one's taking pressure off of anyone. So I think just also a little bit more time for Chicago to gel and maybe some rotation shift ups, because one player that has been a bright spot is Rebecca Allen. And she's always been a very nice role player in this league. And she's very nice vet. When she's coming off the bench, she's gotten points. You know,

she's played with a lot of energy. And in general, when I watched them play against the Liberty, I thought the second unit overall for Chicago brought a lot of energy and pace to the game in a good way. And last but certainly not least, we have to talk about Kiki Iriafin. And I feel like her and Angel, their beginning of their careers have kind of mirrored each other, but she became the youngest player to record three straight double doubles joining Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Satu Sabli as the only rookies since 2020 to do so.

But then on Sunday, she put up her fourth straight double double and has the most rebounds by a player in their first five games since 1999. So with that, is she the front runner for the Rookie of the Year award? You know what? She got a case. It's too early for me to say to somebody who is a frontrunner. I mean, I think, I think, I think if let me be honest, she might be what she's certainly done, and also Sonia Cidron, is prove that this was not a one trick pony draft class. This is not just only the Paige Becker show. And some people might have read wrong

how good Kiki Irifen is. I think maybe her season at USC wasn't quite as sparkly as what we were seeing break out for her at Stanford. But what I'm seeing is a very versatile and mobile post young playing with a lot of confidence and that double double she has. What stands out to me is the three offensive rebounds per game that she's averaging. Like she's she's got a motor and I just want to shout out Sonya too because she's got a rookie of the year case as well.

For her it's it's about her efficiency. She's shooting 53 percent from the year case as well. For her, it's about her efficiency. She's shooting 53% from the field, nearly 48% from three. She takes four threes a game. This is a player that's putting it up there. So she's the team's second leading scorer. So, you know, both of them have been doing really great. And they're a lot of fun to watch. I love the way the Mystics are playing here early.

Absolutely love it. I wonder if they could do like a co-rookie of the year award. I don't think that's ever been done, but maybe this could be the first year. But y'all, we have to cut to break, but coming right up, Ross sits down with UCLA women's basketball head coach, and this season's women's college basketball national coach of the year, Corey Close.

We'll be right back. Hey, what's up? Good follow. It's your girl, Roz Golden-Wooday, and we are coming to you from our LA studios. We're in LA today because we are in the home of our guest who last college season won the national coach of the year award, the Naismith, the WBCA, the AP after a historic season, leading her UCLA Bruins to the first final four in program history and winning a Big Ten tournament title. So we have coach Corey Close here. Thank you so much for letting me come with your amazing show and I'm just impressed that you know where you are. I see you all around. So thanks for having me. I am on the move a lot, mostly just moving where this game is taking me.

As I was getting ready for this interview, I was looking through all the different things about you and I'm like, oh, look at my girl, Corey. She's an influencer. So I happen to notice on social media you have a like a campaign Car Rides with Cory. Yes. And you actually asked your audience a really great question and I was like, what a great way to start our interview off.

So how did you choose joy and gratitude today, Cory? Honestly, I was out in my backyard, which I am almost every morning at 6 a.m. and I just just and literally just recounting all the things that I have to be thankful for and wrote them down in my journal and I think gratitude and joy Really are hand-in-hand, but if you don't choose them usually Negativity and comparison squelches it out. So it is truly a discipline, but when I think about,

oh, I don't have time for this or I need to move on, I'm like, okay, what are the ramifications of that? If I don't choose joy and gratitude and set my mind there, am I really willing to live with the ramifications of having comparison, greed, entitlement, self-absorption sneak in? Because that's what will happen if you don't choose something else. And so it really is self-preservation for me.

And it's just the way I think you lead a life of contentment. But a word you brought up was comparison, which I think is like so thick in our society with social media, all the things. What is that for you as a coach? Well, you know what's interesting is, you know, as you listed all the special things that happened this year on the basketball court and that journey, I am of course incredibly humbled and very grateful for all of the things. But you know what it really taught me is that it is shallow and short-lived. Because what also ended up happening in the middle of our NCA tournament run,

we are literally on our way to the Final Four. And I am having meetings with families about the next year's NIL package, which we had to do during that time. There was no choice, because if the rev share passed that Monday, which was the first day the judge could sign, it hasn't passed. Still hasn't been signed. Right. Right. But we had to have these contracts in place. And so here we are in the midst of all of this.

And I realized, you know, as soon as we were done with a, you know, first final four, all the championship, all the things. And of my 13 conversations with families, about, I would say 11 of them were probably disappointed and they got big raises, really big raises. And I just thought to myself, okay, and then I'm also going into a contract negotiation. Yourself?

Myself. And I thought to myself, oh my goodness, everybody's getting a big raise and they're still disappointed. Where does that come from? And that comes from comparison. That comparison is truly the thief of all joy. And so as soon as I start judging anything, Coach Wooden used to talk about it, never

compare yourself to the person on your right or on your left. Only compare yourself to you giving your own best effort. And then I started holding myself accountable to go like, well, I have to live by the same rules. I can't just judge my contract. Well, well, is it better than such and such or is it better than the next person? No. Is it what the market has brought and what is it what I've earned? Period. And, you know, and I just think we're all

tempted to succumb to that if you're not careful. And so, but it really taught me this year is that you know what? It was really fun. And it was it's obviously the cherry on top. Right. But I heard a great analogy the other day that championships are like roses. They are incredibly beautiful and you pursue them and they're amazing. You get the championship and it is the rose is pretty and it smells good and two days later it's brown and it stinks. And you know what? That's true. I am just like you know I am thankful but the final four

and the awards are a by-product of the work and the process. And that is truly where the value really still lies for me. Yeah. It also probably makes you think that there needs to be an evaluation of just the timeline because for coaches and teams that are still playing at that point in April, you need to be focused on the game, not negotiating deals and contracts.

And you're dealing with agents, you're dealing with all of the things and the portals open. So first of all, do you think this is where a GM would come in now? Is that something that you would? Yeah. A GM would be somebody who would be dealing, having those conversations moving forward, and we won't have these contract timing things ever again. This is a blip in history where we are absolutely shifting the entire landscape.

And so hopefully that never happens again, but we need to change the date of the transfer portal. So given that you had all these conversations, one, what I read from that is, you mentioned players were disappointed. Like that's not the right energy you want to take into the final four. But also did you get any inkling that, hey, there might be a number of players

who are going to transfer out of my program as soon as we're done with this, no matter what happens. You know, I I thought I'm a coach that has a pretty good pulse. But honestly, this year I didn't it wasn't as good as I thought it was. You know, I think the reality was is that, you know, no, Fortner, who recently retired at Georgia Tech, she was her team was at UCLA for the first and second rounds. And she said something to me that really hit me.

She said, you know, Corey, there is such thing as too much talent. And at that time, I was like, oh, whatever now, you know, here we go. And we and but you know what? In the end, when I look back, we had too much talent. And at that time, I was like, oh, whatever. Now, you know, here we go. And we and but you know what? In the end, when I look back, we had too much talent and there was just every someone was disappointed every week and some, you know, a family or a player or whatever. And so honestly, I am thrilled to only have 10 next year. I think we have a really, really great 10.

And so I think we're in a good spot. But the reality is, is I really am invested in these women and I absolutely love them deeply. They're my kids. God hasn't brought me a husband yet. And so at this point, they're family and they're they're my kids. So even if I believe in the end, it was probably the right decision for some of them to leave or whatever. It still rips my heart out. And you know, so it's hard.

But I was actually talking to Lauren Betts on the way to the Wooden Awards. And she said, coach, you have no idea how distracted we were. And as a whole team, because these conversations are happening. Their agents are. And the team is aware in the moment. Yeah, the team is aware.

She says we were fighting like crazy to be like, hey, put that aside. We got to focus on her. And honestly, I respect them because they did a pretty darn good job. Given now what I know about what they were all dealing with. I think a really important thing is so agents lost a lot of money with Unrivaled. How so? Because a lot of the money that they used to get from those same top players going overseas was a higher percentage to go to the agents than when they went back. So where do they go to make that up?

College. College. And the only way for them to make money is if they transfer. So you're talking about it's not just, well, I'll help you if you want to leave. It's I'm encouraging you to leave. You had players entering the Final Four with you and they already knew they were out. Yeah, absolutely. Now, I don't blame the players. They don't know that they didn't know any different.

They just know they're contacted by whoever. But, you know, there's always been something. So like, you know, we've been in this a long time. There's always that call you get in January and February and says, hey, such and such is thinking about going in the portal. If she did, would you be interested? I mean, I don't expect anyone to not respond to that question and say, hey, yes, I would be interested. But then what needs to come next is,

but I will not be having another conversation until they are actually in the portal. But obviously that's not happening. You look around and that's, that's not the way things are going. From coaches now it's on the coaches who are, may not be doing the right things. And the. Well, I don't think, yeah, I think the coaches are leveraging it for their own good.

So we need to deal with the tampering in our game. It's pretty bad. Yeah. And so, you know, you guys lost the entire freshman classroom last year, also Barker, Jones, just as a coach, you know, what is it like navigating the transfer portal as it is, as far as planning? Like, can you plan ahead or is it now literally season by

season? Well, I do think I'm, I have to change my leadership. I mean, you know, on our staff, um, I have an incredible staff, but Shannon, uh, Perry LeBuff is just spectacular. And she just called me in the middle of the, this craziness is like, Corey, we have to change. This is a new era. This is a new landscape. I don't think it's only one year at a time, but I do think that

you have to plan. You cannot count on four years of development anymore. So I would say you should probably count on half your freshman not working out. And then I think you were like, we're going to replace a really big issue. And I think that's a really big issue. And I think that's a really big issue. And I think that's a really big issue. And I think that's a really big issue. And I think that's a really big issue. And I think that's a really big issue.

And I think that's a really big issue. And I think that's a really big issue. And I think that's a really big issue. And I think that's a really big issue. And I think that's a really big issue. And I think that's a really big issue. And I think that's a really big issue. And I think'm a coach and I'm really trying to reload, I'm not reloading with freshmen for two reasons. One is they're not ready. Most of the time. And then secondly, they don't all stay now. And so I need to have a blend of experience, proven players.

And so, you know, I do think it's a different day and age. And it's just like running a company, right? When a major shift happens in the business landscape. And if you're a leader of your company or CEO, which in essence I am now, it's my responsibility to adjust and pivot and be the leader that our organization needs me to be. And I think I've got to change. Coach, it sounds to me like you got to delegate because you're also a therapist. You're also a second parent. You're X's and O's.

And now you gotta be a CEO. That's crazy. And I don't know that that allows you to show up as the best version of yourself if you're gonna do all of this. Yeah, and I think that's what you're seeing a lot of college coaches, really good ones retire. Tony Bennett, Jay Wright, all these people

that are stepping down, Tara Vandiver. I mean, you name it, so many really good coaches. And I'm not going to lie, I'm waiting for the next couple of years to see if this pendulum comes back to a better centering point, because I want to show up as the best version of myself. And I owe it to the women and the staff that I lead that I do that. And if I can't do it in this new landscape, I will get out or I'll go coach in the WNBA. Hey, Good Follow Show.

I hope you're all enjoying this interview as much as I am, but we need to take a quick break. We'll be right back. The conference finals are set. NBA history is on the horizon. With DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NBA, you're not just watching, you're in the game. From player props to game lines and live bets, this is playoff betting at its best.

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Let's get back to the incredible interview with Ross and Coach Close. So just to put kind of Bo on the portal conversation, Hey, it's also been good to you. And I do want to say a shout out to, I didn't say is to London Jones and Janiah Barker. Sure. Sure. We, um, sometimes, you know, the transfer portal gets a bad name and the fact of, oh, they're always, they're jumping ship and whatever else.

And I have a lot of respect for our freshmen families. I get it. I understand why some of them wanted to do that. And I will always wish them well. But I think especially for the transfers that left in the fact of the returners like London, Jones and Janiya, we had three hours of Zooms. We had really significant conversations. And I said, you bring to me what you really need for this last year from me, and I'm going to bring to you what I need from you. And

if there's not alignment, it's okay. I love you. And I want to support you to go somewhere else. And that's exactly what happened. So I want to give a shout out to their authenticity, their maturity, and we came to a point that there wasn't alignment anymore. And so if I really love them and they really love us, then we part ways gracefully. And I will be rooting for them every game except if we play them.

And so I do want to say that because I think sometimes that gets misconstrued in the narrative of what the portal is. And sometimes there's just not alignment anymore and there needs to be change. And I think that was a beautiful shout out. Just to let people know that there there there are healthy dialogues and two way streets happening. And it's not just individual actors on the coaches side and on the player side that are just like, I'm doing what's best for me. I'm glad to hear that y'all were able to discuss that. Did being in the Final Four put you behind the goal in hitting the transfer portal?

Totally put us behind. Absolutely put us behind. And part of it too is if we hadn't, so we couldn't promise anything to anybody because at that point we had 15 people accounted for. And so we ended up having plenty of space. But when Neepkins went in, she called us. She wanted us to recruit her.

And we just honestly told her, look, I would be surprised if we didn't have spots. Open. We saw some of it coming. And and but we couldn't go all in with Neepkins because at that point we had all our spots built. Interesting. So it was a really interesting dynamic. So this is a big win though, getting a Gianna Neepkins and she's big time, big time out of Utah transfers over. So what's your vision for her? And not only her, she now will join Kiki Rice and they're going gonna headline a really talented back court

for your team. Unbelievable, yeah. You know, Neepkins is one of those few people that's a 50-40-90 player. She's 50% from the floor, 40% plus from the three-point line, 90% plus from the free throw line. There are very, that is rare air. And to add that, and then that was a big piece for us,

and the reason I bring that up is that it's not about just adding talent. It's about fitting together talent pieces for a greater whole. And when you have a Lauren Betts, it's gonna draw a double and triple team every time and force defenses into rotation. The more space you can create with great shooters, that just makes all the difference.

So adding Neepkins and then adding Charlize Sledger Walker and her ability to stretch the floor. I mean, people are going to be really surprised by what she, how well she's playing and shooting is it's pretty remarkable what the job she's gotten done this year. And so she's been really able to add to her toolbox. I mean, I just think that we have, we have all the pieces. We're not going to have a big team, but we go 10 deep. I'm not going to get caught off guard by UCLA.

I think you, not only are you talented, you're incredibly veteran and you've got some real experience coming back. I got one more player personnel question, um, just about the bet sisters, you know? So you have Sienna joining Lauren, who is the national defensive player of the year. All the things projected. Number one pick in the WNBA draft next year. All the things. This is more just about like, OK, you got sisters coming in like, are they similar? What are their personalities like? Like, what do you anticipate in coaching big sis and little sis on your team?

And do they play at the same time together? Yeah, I think they will. I think they will play at the same time at certain points. I don't think it's, you know, I think that they will have lots of opportunities to do that. But I think the biggest thing is they actually are as different as night and day.

How so? You don't have enough time for all the ways they're different. They're more different than they are similar other than they're from the same family. You know, on the court, Sienna is a an elite passer. She's more of a stretch for she shoots it better than Lauren. She's really loves to attack off the bounce. She's she's much more of a stretch for I mean, and who's versatile

and can play different positions that way. Lauren is, you know, is a unicorn, she's a generational player, but she is a true center, right? And so she's not only a back to the basket center, but very different in how they see their games. And Sienna plays facing the basket more, and obviously Lauren plays more with her back to the basket.

But personality wise, Lauren has always scratched and clawed to earn her confidence. It doesn't come easily for her. Sienna is up. She is confident and she does not want to be compared to Lauren. She wants to blaze her own trail and do her own thing. And she has earned the right to do so. She is so good in her own right. But also she's her own person. She's an incredible

artist. You know, she's got all these other passions that she has. Her fashion style is totally different. They just have very, Lauren is a very empathic, deep kind of person. You know, Sienna is a don't mess with me. You're going to have to earn your way past my shell kind of thing. They're just different. And one of the things I'm most excited about is to prove to Sienna that we are not coaching Lauren's sister. We are coaching Sienna and her own journey and her own path. And she has earned that.

And I'm excited to execute that. Yeah, I'm sure she would appreciate that, too. And, you know, she's a new face. But one of the things I said is your team also has a lot of veteran players and experience. And let's just dive into that experience real quick. The Final Four experience. You play UConn in the semi-final and they win 85-51.

They were dominant. They were dominant throughout the whole Final Four. That has to be an eye-opening moment, not just for you, but for the team, for the players. Like, what is it that you realize? Okay? That's the gap that we have to close. Yeah, um, that's where we have to grow like what was what were those moments of realization? After that game, I don't know if I would have changed this or not. But one of the things we were both in the Spokane regional, okay, and

When we beat LSU, you know, we did all the things. We cut the nets down, the confetti came, and we for sure weren't done. But this is a difference. They won on their side and they, you know, they won the regional. No, they did say no, no confetti. We're not getting on the latter. There will be no nets. We have another net we're trying to cut down. I'm not sure that would have been wise for me because we haven't done it in program history. There's so many other people in that.

But I do think it shows a level of expectation, maturity, preparation that they had that we haven't earned yet. And we didn't, you know, I think the next time I've thought, okay, I'm gonna need to think that through. I also think, you know, I think the next time I thought, OK, I'm going to need to think that through. I also think, you know, just even deciding when you leave, like we chose to practice here and then fly to Tampa and then just go to bed that night.

If I had to do it all over again, I would not have done that. You know, just some little things that we had to do. I had no time to fit a practice in on the second day. You know, and I'm just and I just think about, OK, what they went to a secondary site and they practiced even the midst. They had the same media things. They had the same dinner they had to do. There was just a business like approach that they just check those boxes and say, we know exactly what we're doing, how we're preparing

and what's what it's going to take to get there. And so and that's a I mean, none of those kids on that team, credit to their staff, because none of those kids had won a national championship for UConn. So it really, I think, credit to their staff for leading in the way that they did, and that's part of my growth as a leader

that I wanna be ready for for this particular year coming up and I will be ready. Absolutely, I mean it clearly sounds like those are kind of experience like, hey we've been here before, we know how to navigate this type things. I personally, this is just Raza's little opinion, if it's your first time getting to the final four,

I think you cut the nets. I actually was glad. Maybe in your next one maybe, but I'm like, yeah, but not the first one. So no, I don't know. I actually think maybe maybe in your next one maybe, but I'm like, yeah, but not the first one. So, no, I, I don't know. I actually think it would have been selfish for me not to, because we have these alums families, they want to share donors, share that milestone with them. So I wouldn't have changed it.

You might've cut the nets still lost and regretted that you didn't properly agree. Shine in that moment. I remember my neighbors told me, said, Corey, you never know whether or not you're going to be back here again. And you need to make sure you create every memory you possibly can. And I was like, okay, I may get some things wrong, but I'm going to make sure we get every memory.

The court, the game itself. Yeah. What are the lessons or the takeaways you take from how the game kind of got away? Inches. I think you can say it. Every coach will say it, every player will intellectually understand it, but the inches at that level are so small. And UConn grabbed their inches better than we did. Every setting and using of screens, every time you have a mental error

on the scouting report, when you're supposed to switch, what your drop coverage needs to be, when you need to, and they made less errors than we did. They, when, I always say that every time there's a one-on-one battle, there's a one-on-one battle, they're trying to not get hit by the screen, you're trying to run them through the screen. Who wins that battle? And bottom line is they won more of those one-on-one inches battles, whether it be a tip on an offensive rebound, an out of area rebound, there's just no margin to not win your set of inches. And I think our team was like, oh, that's what we mean. Like, you know, we had enough talent and we just said all year long

is that our talent would be our floor, but our character and our habits would be our ceiling. And we had pretty good ones, but they weren't final four good ones. And we got to go to another level if we want a different result. You know, I really am, I do believe that the only two things that stay with you for the rest of your life from these four years is not rings, is not banners, is not even WNBA, you know, contracts, it is who you become and who you impact. And so my legacy is I want to know that they feel wonderful

about who they've become and who they're impacting with their lives. And so that is the most meaningful part to me. Coach, I think that's a great way to finish the interview. It's been an incredible conversation, and I truly appreciate your transparency and just honesty through it and you really are a great leader in this game. So thank you so much. It is a privilege and thank you for our history. Thank you for your kindness to me and thank you for the stories that you're telling and

the way that you're shining a light on our game. You're making a difference. Thanks coach. Coach. Mm-hmm. ["Draft Kings Theme Song"] Welcome back to Good Follow. This segment is presented by DraftKings. This weekend, New York is heading over to Washington to play the Mystics for the first time this season. The Liberty have been cooking, currently sitting at 3-0, tied for first, and leading the league

in points per game, blocks, and field goal percentage. Natasha Cloud has been the X Factor for this team, not only bringing the dog on both ends of the court, but also leading the way, averaging 18 points and close to 8 assists per game. On the other hand, not many people expected Washington to look as good as they have, and although they've lost their past three games, they've all been within 4 points, and their play has been so fun to watch. It is hard to pick just one player, but I keep an eye on Kiki Irith in this game, as she's been on a roll with 4 straight double doubles and is looking like rookie of the

year. This game is going to be incredibly good and I'm excited to see how Washington shapes up against the Liberty who I'm taking to get the win on the road. Make sure you follow along and tweet us your predictions at Good Follows Show and this segment is presented by DraftKings. DraftKings the crown is yours. The crown is yours Logan you are holding it down out there. Trying to.

Okay Logan, I know you're in Paris right now, but we are at the point in our show worldwide where we have to get to the headlines and the quick hits. What do you got for me? Alright, well the first one was pretty big in the end of yourself. Barbara Banda delivered the first ever hat trick for the Orlando Pride and this was crazy. It happened within 38 minutes and her last two goals were one minute apart. The score in the game was three one so she absolutely carried that and actually we had a whole text conversation about this in the group chat the other day. The New York Liberty sold their stake at $450 million which is a pro women's sports franchise record. That is some big money, especially considering how much they bought the team for. Do you remember the number? Like, but somewhere between 10 to 15 million dollars, reports say.

And in a turnaround, like a return on investment of six years, that's crazy. The Liberty are, as they say, where the money resides. And next up, we have the French Open that's underway and that is why I'm in Paris. I'm so incredibly excited. I'm going to go for two days for the day session. It's very beautiful here. Lastly, we have Arsenal winning the UWCL Champions League and they shock Barcelona to get the title. It was their first European title in 18 years or something crazy and their

celebration was huge. So very exciting for them. Very exciting exciting I'm so excited for you Logan out in Paris I don't want to keep you any longer you're in France you're watching tennis you're doing all the cool things so we're gonna end this episode of Good Follows show I want to thank coach Corey Close UCLA head coach for joining us on this show an illuminating just fascinating conversation with her. And I wanna thank all of you guys for rocking out with us. We try to bring this show wherever, I'm in New York, Logan's coming from France,

but we breaking down women's sports and whatever the top topics coming out. Good Follow is presented by DraftKings and we drop every Wednesday at 7 p.m. Eastern or sometimes a little bit earlier on DraftKings Network and YouTube and or wherever else you get your Podcasts so keep rocking with us. We'll see you next week and Logan have so much fun