The Herd with Colin Cowherd - All Ball - Utah St. Forward Justin Bean on Trae Young HS Matchups, Tourney Chances, Playing HARD, Pro Aspirations

Episode Date: March 12, 2021

In this episode, Doug talks with Utah State Forward Justin Bean. He discusses facing off against Trae Young in high school in Oklahoma, his Mormon mission experience in Reno, his transition into college hoops after a long layoff, his reputation for playing insanely hard, his take on his team's tourney hopes. and if he sees pro ball in his future. Make sure you download, rate and subscribe here to get the latest All Ball Podcasts! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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take back you are listening to another version of all ball

and by the way I've been blown away by the feedback from so many of you

basketball people who have listened to this coaches administrators, players, fans. You know, you start doing a podcast and we kind of started the same from scratch. I just kind of want to do, you know, my own way of talking basketball with people. And the feedback has been amazing.

So if you like something, write a review, subscribe, download, rate, yada, yada, yada. But also, tweet it out. Send it to your friends. There's a clip in there or something that's poignant. I learned something from every person I talked to on this thing. And I think it's pretty cool. I guess I could go off and things going on in college basketball if you want it. It's really fun to watch all this thing come together.

I'm actually recording these now from Indianapolis where the bubble is going to be. I'm not going to be in the bubble for long at all. I'm actually just covering the Big Ten. Then I'll be doing the studio for Westwood One. but we have a bunch of people and we're going to load them up so that if you have your phone and you got time, we're going to fill up your ears with some really cool pods. This one I'm really happy with. Justin Bean is one of my favorite players to broadcast.

And he's one of these guys that when you watch him play, you're like, is he real? Or is he, you have to watch him play. He just, he's a, I guess, a powerful word for Utah State. Tech, do they be size of a small Ford, right? He's like 6, 7. But a strong, built kid, good athlete, not great athlete, but gets a ton done. And Neme Keda is their best pro prospect. I love this kid, Raleigh Worcester, who's their freshman point guard from Missoula, Montana.

We'll get him on like next year. got plenty of years left. Anyway, Justin is one of those straw that serves the drink. He does all these little things, but he's an incredible rebounder. Incredible. Just constantly in perpetual ocean. So it's like a two different, we recorded this at two different times. At one time they're on the bus from Logan to Vegas.

And then I had to call a game, the CIA championship game. It's kind of loud anyway. And so then we record the rest of it when he got to Vegas in his hotel room. So first, just in Utah State, thanks for all the time. You're going to love this kid. And there's a bunch of stuff in there that I didn't know. Do you know what it's like to go on a Mormon mission? I didn't.

You think they all go to a foreign country, right? They don't. So where do they go? What do they do? How do they find out? can they play basketball? What's it like to preach to people? What do you eat?

You know, how much you get to call your parents? And how do you end up at Utah State when he didn't have any scholarship offers at a high school? So all of that is in here. And then so you're going to love this. It's really fun. But he's just one of those guys that I feel better getting to know him. Like you ever have listen to some of that like that in your life? You're like, wow, like, that's a really good guy.

So, yeah, maybe I'll do some college basketball stuff on the back end of it because I don't want to take away from it. I have to, by rule, I think, promote that my, the Doug Gottlieb show is daily three to six Eastern, 12-3 Pacific. And you can download that podcast. You can listen to it, whatever. Thanks so much. Here's my talk with Star of Utah State. I think he's still the reigning Mountain West Conference Player of the Week. Justin B.

Let's start at the beginning, not birth, okay? High school basketball, Southmore, Oklahoma. How long ago was that? Oh, gosh, I graduated. It will be six years after this summer. So, yeah, since I was a senior. I'm an old man. You were a freshman in what year?

I was a freshman in 2011. Okay, so you're... So it's 10 years. So Trey Young is how many years younger than you? He is two. Two years, I believe. Two years younger than you. Okay. So you're a senior.

What do you remember about your matchups? Okay, because he was at Norman North? Norman North. Yep. Yeah. So we're in the same conference. Yes. So what do you remember about playing this, Trey?

Well, I remember his senior year, first of all, I remember that he averaged over 40 a game. But when I played him, it was only about 25 or 26. But yeah, every time we played him, I mean, it was literally just force him at half court. Just don't let him get any room, any space. And me personally, I didn't match up with him a ton, but I do remember one play. He drove baseline, and I was the low-hold guy. I was a secondary defender.

I come over. I get a tip. I get like a little block. I wouldn't call it a block. his mark a little tip and it goes out of bounds. So I'm feeling pretty good about myself. You know, I just blocked Tray Young. And next play, they're running out of bounce play where he just pops up,

literally gets the ball at half court, takes two dribbles, and just nails it. And so that was my claim to fame is that I may have blocked Tray Young, but then I have to tell people the next play he dotted this up from 30 plus. That's about how that went. How good were you in high school? I feel like I was really good in high school. I averaged my junior year, was really when I was playing my best basketball before my injury.

I was averaging like 19 points, 11 rebounds. And I was first team all conference that year. And the week before playoffs, I tore my ACL. So the week before the same playoffs, tore my ACL and I was out for six months. but yeah I was I was a good player in high school I definitely I was I was the guy on our team like the number one option I was also the tallest so I had a lot of matchups where I was guarding you know one through four sometimes the five man so I was able to get a lot of rebounds you know so but yeah that's kind of how high school also more is known for the tornadoes right but I but one was when you were really really young right and then there's another one you were a little bit older. You remember either of the big tornadoes? Yeah, one of them was, I was really young. It was 1999, so I was about three years old. That one actually hit our house. It was a rental home,

but that one totally just knocked it out. We weren't there. We drove off. We heard there was a tornado coming. You get about 30 minutes heads up and you just get everything in the car and load up and leave. And then the one that just hit in 2013 is the one that the more tornado, another famous one, F5, knocked out my elementary school, our hospital, you know, a lot of home. Who were you? You were gone, right? Not for that one. For that one, we were just at home just in our safe room.

So mom ran and checked me out of school. I was in practice. She came in, checked me out, didn't even go through the administration. She literally just came in and said, you're coming with me. And my coach couldn't really argue with that. So Coach Brown just let her take me home and took one of my teammates with me as well. And all eight of us were just loaded up in the safe room and just waited it out. Thankfully, it touched down, you know, and right near us and miles south of us.

And then it lifted up right over us and then hit right in the center of the city. So we got really lucky for that one. But, yeah, tornadoes are definitely not a new thing to my family. It's a Oklahoma, obviously, a very Christian area. I don't feel like there's a big Mormon population. what was that like to grow up Mormon in an area that though you know and I understand it's a different form of Christianity but what was that experience like for you? It was unique for sure. In my high school there was about 2,000 people and there were about, I want to say four, four or five members of my church out of the 2000. So definitely got some good questions. I got some funny questions by a lot of people.

I asked if I could donate blood. I've been asked if I could donate blood before. If I celebrate my birthday, you name it, man. Right, because it's interesting. So I'm Jewish. And so you get the same, like, questions. It's like, that's not actually our religion, but are you circumcised? Like, actually Jewish people were the ones, the first ones to be circumcised.

Exactly. You don't want to be condescending because they're interested. They don't know, but it really is amazing on how people who, and it's not, like a non-religious, I don't, I feel like it comes from a decent place, but it's just one of, like, you're just so different than everybody. Exactly. No doubt. And yeah, it's cool you can relate to that because it's true. I don't know where people get their information. And like you said, they're not trying to be condescending in any way. They're genuinely serious. They're genuinely sometimes like fearful for me. They're like, dude, like, what are you doing with your life?

But it's like, that really is, it was a good opportunity for me, though, because it gave me a chance to, you know, to tell them exactly, like, what I believe in. how I lived my life. So it was a good opportunity for me. I loved it. And then coming to Utah, it's a lot different. So it was honestly a culture shock for me, being a member of the church, being a Mormon, coming to Utah where there's so much more.

So it's kind of just the more. I can't tell you how similar it must be for you. I played basketball in Israel. And I remember the first time I went there, they had the Maccabi games. It's like the Jewish Olympics. And you're like looking around, you're like, wait, everybody here is Jewish? That is so weird. And then you also find out, and I think Utah is a little bit like this.

Like, just because everybody's Mormon doesn't mean they're practicing Mormon. There's like different levels of commitment to the church, right? And so it must be, but we'll get to Utah in a second. Okay, so were you being, before you tore your A cell, were you being recruited? Honestly, no, not really locally. There were some D-2s, Division II schools that had agreed. reached out. But everything that we had done to make contact with any schools in Utah was by email. My dad would just send emails, basically just spanned a bunch of teams with my highlight tape.

And yeah, that's because I decided that I wanted to play college basketball around my sophomore year because I felt like I was good enough at that point. But it really, for me, that wasn't something I grew up saying I'm going to play in college. It wasn't really that kind of a mind step in me until sophomore junior year. And I saw it like, I'm good. Like, I can hang with these guys. I think I have a shot. And so my dad, you know, he obviously played in college.

And I'd always had that kind of upbringing and that foundation of collegiate basketball. And so I learned a lot from him and just kind of picking his brain about what it was like. And that's really how it started, though. Literally, I was not recruited at all, really. Our team wasn't great. We were like, we were middle of the pack, I would say, all throughout my four years. And that's just kind of how our team was. I had a great coach, obviously.

You met coach down my high school coach and can't say enough good things about him, but yeah, it was just how it was. Okay, so how does it work with your mission in terms of when you decide, because you can go to college for a year and then go, but you went straight out of high school. How does that whole process work? Yeah, so that actually, the age change is. a big deal. So it used to be, you had to be 19 years old to go on a mission and you had to have

at least a year after high school before you could go. But then they changed it like two years before I left. So all my brothers went when they were 19. So they did a year of college, year of school. And for me, I felt like going right out of high school definitely helped me, you know, just being able to just get right out, go do it for two years and just have to be focused on that. And then just be able to come back and know exactly what I was going to do. But to be honest, I didn't know. And you know that. I didn't know what I was going to do halfway through my mission or even a few months left.

So I have a crazy story. So you go on a mission and you're in Reno, right? All these dudes get like foreign countries. You're like, where am I going to go? You know, it's going to be amazing, amazing culture, maybe the Philippines, maybe South America. You get Reno. What was your reaction when you got Reno? Well, I didn't even pronounce it right.

I pronounced it Renno when I read the mission call. That's great. We'll appreciate that when they hear this, you know, before the Mount West Tournamentment, too. I'm sure they will. I'm sure they will. But, yeah, it was an honest mistake. But, no, I mean, I knew that it was going to be, you know,

in the States, and I wasn't going to be speaking another language. And there's pros and cons to that, because learning a language in that span of time is really tough. My brothers, they've all done it. And so, but for me, I was just like, all right, cool. I just get to speak my language and get right to work. work and go teach people. So that part of it, though, being in Reno, you know,

there's some things you just can't forget about Reno and being there and just the people and everything. But it definitely seems to be that. Okay, give me one interaction. You knock on somebody's door and go. All right. Let's see. There was, well, one of my companions, I won't say his name, but we were driving downtown

from the strip. And we just had sushi. We just had some all-you-can-eat-sushi at a restaurant, and we are driving home, and we're pulling up right under the Reno sign, the biggest little city in the world ever knows about it. And literally right in the middle of that intersection, he's driving. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

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So I'm Leanne. Yeah. This is my best friend, Janet. Hey. And we have been joined at the HIP since high school. Absolutely. Now a redacted amount of years later, we're still joined at the hip, just a little bit bigger. hips wider. This is a podcast we're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my

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people just like homeless people just sitting on the on the side of the street and they're running over there food poised yeah yeah i think it was just food poised and just bad sushi and so there's people running over to the middle of the street and they're just like everyone just like laughing and they're just all like almost like just dancing like parading around my companion and i'm just like what is going on so i get out of the car and there's still traffic being backed up so i'm over here like directing traffic from all my companions just puking his guts out. And there's homeless people just circling around and just laughing and just like, who knows what they're doing

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Were you ever homeset? Yeah, I was. I'd say the first few months, I think everyone was. I was definitely more of a homebody growing up. You know, I did things like scout camp and for a week at a time, but I'd never been away from home. So my brothers had all been away from home after that, after high school. They had a year going to school, but I didn't have any experience. I was literally just thrown me into the wolves. But I definitely grew a lot. now we're off the bus by the way if you're watching the video version of this it's kind of cool I caught you I was about to do a game the CIA championship and you're on the on the bus I want to get your thoughts on that long bus ride whatever from Logan but okay so you're in Reno and you're a missionary so this is an honest question and again this is kind of like we were talking about with Oklahoma what's your day like people don't know like we We know tie, white shirt, short sleeve.

I heard you say you're in a car, but I'm used to like, used to guys in a bike, right? Yeah. Give me the setup. Where are you sleeping? How do you have money? What do you do? What's your day life?

Definitely not glamorous. That's for sure. White shirts and ties, I mean, that's about as good as it gets. And so we wake up, we have a pretty strict schedule as far as, you know, when we need to be up by what we need to be doing. throughout the day. And that's why you have a companion. The whole point of having a companion is so you can hold each other accountable. You're not just out doing your own thing. And so we wake up 630 every morning. You have 30 minutes of exercise every morning doing your companion. So wait. So where are you living?

Oh yeah. So Reno, you live in different areas. Usually a missionary for 24 months, you get transferred roughly about four times, three, four times depending. It just depends on how long you're in a spot for. So I was actually in my first area, I was in Elko, Nevada. So eastern Nevada, super rural, lots of farming, cattle ranching, mining. And so moving to Reno, that was probably my third area. And it was the longest area. So I was there for six months. And during that time, I lived in downtown Reno, just outside the legacy hotel on Pine Street, like a two-bedroom,

probably like 600 to 800 square feet. I'm not sure exactly how big, but it was super nasty. The bathroom is really dingy. Missionaries kind of filter in and out of that same apartment. So whenever you go, you replace someone else. So you're literally just living. It's kind of like a hotel honestly. You're just kind of filtering in and out.

So wait, do you have the same companion when you're in Elko as you do in your Reno? No. So that changes as well. Yes. I had about 11 companions, probably 11 or 12, because sometimes I was in a trio. So that shakes it all up. You don't just see two guys on bikes. You see three of them.

And you see a guy that's 6-7 and another guy that was 6-5, who was my companion at the time in Reno. So we were living. Who is the guy? Twin Towers. His name was Davin Lyman, Elder Lyman. So that's my companion. He was, yeah, one of my best friends. We served in Sparks as well together.

So, yeah, it was. So that's pretty much. So you served in Sparks before? I served in Sparks before. And then. So, so, so, do you know, I know you get like an envelope when you first find out, but you're in Sparks and you have Gavin and you guys, you're good at your better friends campaigns then. Yeah.

And then you're in Reno and then all of a sudden, like, knock at the door. It's him? Or did you know he was like, how do you find out who you haven't did the pain? Yeah. So you don't know them beforehand. So you're all, I mean, you find out the day before transfers. So there's a transfer day every Tuesday, every six weeks. So there's a transfer day.

And sometimes you get transferred. Sometimes you stay. So you just get notified. that's Sunday before. Who decides this stuff? The mission president. So the mission president himself, he, yeah, he pretty much designates kind of where where missionaries are going to be at.

He's super organized. He also has two missionaries that are kind of working with him, like kind of his assistance. That's what the term is. And so they'll help him kind of stat out where each missionary has been, prior living conditions and kind of like where they all end up. And so, yeah, there's a lot of structure. It doesn't seem like it, but there is.

Okay, so 6.30 the morning, you get up, and you're in this dingy apartment, and you have to exercise, right? And what would you do? I mean, we didn't have really anything. We didn't have weights. We didn't have, like, a machine, a bench press. So I literally would just get up and we'd go on a run. So we'd run downtown Reno.

Streets are pretty quiet. 6.30 in the morning. Wow. 6.30 morning. It was cold. It was freezing. Yeah, it was bitter. It's not like the people watching at 6.30 in the morning. Oh, yeah. It was good. It kept me entertained. I didn't need music to listen to. I just look at where I was going. See a lot of fun things. But a lot of interesting artwork, you know, all that good stuff. So, yeah, that was pretty much how the morning went. And you just, um. Okay, so 6.30 to 7, you exercise. What do you do at 7? bed of seven you get home shower eat breakfast um get ready for the day it takes about you know 45 to an hour roughly get on your white shirt and tie and that's what you're in for the whole day for the rest of the rest of the night so and you're and you're and is there is there a plan when you go and you're and you're and you're preaching the gospel right when you're when you're going and you have

the book of morm in your hand and you're knocking at doors is there a plan hey we're going to go this street today, does their mission president tell you where to go? Like, how does it work? How does it work? Again, remember, you're talking to people who are complete outsiders. We don't know. For sure. Yeah. So every morning, right after you eat breakfast and get ready for the day, you get an hour of studying. So you study by yourself for an hour. And then you get companionship study. So then you come, you and your companion get together and you study and then you plan what you're doing the whole day. So you literally just plan, okay, from, from 12 to 2 we're going to go on this street.

We're going to do what's called street contacting. So in my mission, I didn't do a lot of knocking doors. We didn't do a lot of tracking, what we call it. What's it called? It's called tracking, just when you just go door to door. I don't know where it was derived from, but that's the term. But yeah, we just did a lot of street contacting. So you just go on the street and you just literally just look for any stranger,

anyone that's breeding, and you go and talk to them and try and start up a conversation to him and teach them about Jesus Christ and our message. And so that's literally what it was like. We also had appointments, though. So when we meet with someone, you get a return appointment, get their contact info, and then that's someone you could potentially go see that day. So you just have to call them. A lot of them, you know, didn't call back.

We're getting cards. They never respond. But you'd get something that would. So you'd be like, all right, we're going to go see John at 3 o'clock at his house and go and meet him. So it literally just depended on, you know, the day, some days. You were super, super dry, not a lot of contacts, not a lot of success. It felt like they didn't get to talk to a lot of people.

There are also days where our schedules were super full, and we talked a lot of people and set up a lot of lessons. There's something about you. You have an error of positivity that is really remarkable. And I don't know if it's just because you're playing basketball now and you're in a good place, but I've noticed it for the past couple of years and watched me as just in my job. You know, there's a, the famous

Princeton coach who's got in Pete Carill. And Pete had an expression. And his, one of his four point cards, when they beat UCLA, his point card was Sidney Johnson. Sydney's a friend of mine. And he, he was the head coach of Fairfield. And he said that Pete used to,

Pete used to say, you know, he wants people that are light bulbs. Light bulbs light up every room. And that's, that's your personality. But everybody has a day in which, sometimes you're off, you miss your family, you know. I mean, life of missionary is not easy. So when you're reflecting and you're reading, is there a passage?

Is there something that you would, when you had a tough day that you would read that you would study, that would kind of bring you back and reset you? That's a good, yeah, that's a great question. There were definitely days. And, you know, when you're a missionary, you're always supposed to try and look happy, and look, because you know, you are the message.

You know, you're not just telling people it's not just lip service. You know, you have to act and just to be, you know, happy. And it's hard sometimes to do that. But I definitely do mean this when I say that even though I did have bad days, I never had a doubt that things would get better, that there would be, you know, light at the end of the tunnel if it was a tough day or not. And I think a lot of that stems from just how I grew up, how I was raised. My family was always super supportive of me.

They were always really real with me. And they didn't force me, you know, to come out there. They always made it a priority to let me and my brothers know. Because I had three older brothers that all serve missions before me. So it's not like I was the pioneer. You know, I had a lot of experience to learn from. But yeah, there was a time where I was super down in the dumps. It was my second area in Fallon, Fallon, Nevada.

And we had mice in our apartment. That was probably the worst. place I lived was in Fallon, just this little White House, and it was super nasty. But there were times when I just, I read my dad's email that he sent me, and he attached to a copy of the race by D.H. Grover, I don't know if you've read it around, but that was a big, you know, a lift for me. And obviously, there's a lot of scriptures, you know, in the Book of Mormon and also the Bible that that I use to help me and I use that for other people. But I think that the race, that totally changed my mindset. It's not about how many times you fall, but it is truly about, you know,

what you're going to do when adversity hits and how you react to that. And so I've carried that with me, you know, to Utah State just throughout my life. And I definitely know that I am the player that I am because I served admission. And that's, yeah, so I really do believe that. Okay, so I told this story on air. First thing before we get to that. So I also, you know, I was saying how nobody's going to want to guard you a church ball. Now, what you don't know is, so I grew up in a town. I grew up in Orange, California.

Okay. And there's a Mormon church that was down the street from my school. And a buddy named Rick Ray was Mormon. And Rick, we used to sneak into the Mormon church and we played ball. That's the only indoor gym near where I grew up because California, everything's outdoors. And the middle schools even don't have gems, whatever. So we sneak in there. So I know all about like Mormon Church Ball.

And then when I was in Canton, Connecticut, brother Anderson lived across the street for me. He's a Utah state alum. And his son went to the Philippines. He's got a great, incredible family. And then across the street. And then across the street with a Walburgers. and they're also a Mormon family. The prementors were across the street,

up the street, they're a Mormon family. Anyway, so I, and there was a Mormon temple in Avon, and there's a Mormon church in our town, whatever. So every Mormon church has a basketball gym. But you're a missionary, and you're telling me there's no hoop. So did you get to play basketball at all? Every Monday, well, not every Monday. Most Mondays, you know, our P-Day, Preparation Day.

That's when I would play. know, probably like an hour, hour and a half. And so it was me, it was myself, and then some other missionaries in our area. So in Reno, there were probably like 20 missionaries, 20 of us. And a couple of companionships were sister missionaries, so they're females. So yeah, we play every Monday, you know, you do all your grocery shopping, you write your family, and you go to the church. So yeah, we had a key, you know, the church building. And that was at that time. So it's probably, yeah. People like, dude, you got to play when you're done. You got it like, or we So were you so out of it, out of shape that it was bad?

Well, you got to keep in mind. There's a lot of people that none of us are in shape. Like, we're all bad. But because I'd had the most experience, and I still wanted to play, I still would say I was disciplined, you know, in my eating habits. The last year of my mission, I told, because we eat at members homes, members of the church, they feed us each night. And I told them, I'm like, I'm not having dessert.

I know you're going to cook it, but I'm not having it. Some of them thought that was cool, but most of them were like, are you serious? Like, what are you doing? We're here to feed you. Like, you got to eat. And I'm like, no, I got to play some basketball after this. I'm going to lay low. But yeah, no, I get the GSR, the Grand Sierra Resorts.

That's like the biggest hotel in casino and Reno. Yeah, so they stayed there. My mission president's like, hey, I'll take you. Let's go. Where is this at? And so we go, pull in, and we take a, We take like three steps in the lobby, in the main lobby, open the doors. The cigarette smoke hits us like a wave.

And my mission presence, I just kind of look at him. And he's just like, his eyes are just big. He's just like, uh, we're both just like shock because you're in such a, uh, a reserved and like protected environment as a missionary. And even him as well. Like he wasn't under the same guidelines we were. Like he could have a little more freedom with some things. But for us, for me, it was just like, what is going on?

Like I had not been used to. I hadn't seen any of this in like a year and a half. So, yeah, so he, Spencer comes and he can just tell, you know, the words, like, not comfortable. So he's just like, oh, my dad's like, hey, we can go somewhere else. And then my president's just like, oh, yeah, I saw subway, like across the street, let's go. So it was him. He initiated it. And then we just literally just walked over.

It's about a couple blocks away from the hotel and just sat in there, got me a chicken, and baking ranch six inch didn't want to seem like i was a slump didn't go 10 inch because you try staying shape right exactly i don't want to make it bad no chips or did you do bake chips did you do it's a big race no chips i don't do baked chips if i'm going to cheat it's disgusting but you can do chips do chips right exactly you get it um so yeah we were just sitting there and okay and so was his sale you were going to get a scholarship you were going to walk on and have a chance to play like what was his honest pitch to you yeah his honest pitch was literally just we have a preferred walk-on spot.

And he did say, though, that they're looking at another guy. He said they're looking at another guy. He's 6-9, 2-30 out of Juko. I can't remember which Juko. But the coaches were just trying to decide between like a stretch-for, like a more versatile player like me, or if they want that traditional post-player. So I only a stretch-for when I show up, by the way.

I just want to point that out. Yeah. You're a shrink-for on the scatter-poor-port, a stretch-for when I show up. So. No doubt. No, no. I love it. I love it. I appreciate that. So yeah, that's that's kind of what the mindset was. So you, you walk away from it and did you call your dad's that this one want to go? Or what was the decision like?

Yeah, well, I was all in. I was like, yeah, this is great. My mom went to school here. Seems like a great opportunity. Obviously, Spencer was a great player for him. My dad knew him really well. And so I trusted him. So that was kind of the contact that I wanted to kind of take a step further and just be like, yeah, this is where I want to go. But on his end, he just said, we still got to talk things out, see where the season, how we end up. And we'll let you know in about a month. So I still had no knowledge. if I was even going to go there still. So I found out he sent me an email like a month later and I get it on Monday and I open it up and he's like congratulations. Like we got a spot for you you can walk on. And for me I was like I just won the lottery. Like it was like no way. Like this is this is awesome. Is it just what I wanted? So I'm over there type in you know like a hundred words per minute tell the fam and it was we that was that was. That was. was the one time I wish in my mission that I could have just called them up. Oh, you can make phone calls?

You know, you can only, well, now you can. When I was a missionary, they changed some guidelines. Yeah, you can only call Mother's Day and Christmas twice a year. So there's no. Now you can like Zoom, like FaceTime. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, they went soft on it. But yeah, no, it's just email.

Just email account? Was it a hotmail or do AOL.com? It was my LBSmail.net. LBSMINELD on that. I didn't know you guys had your own server. It's getting your own server. We do. Okay, so when does the mission end?

What time of year do you use your mission at? Yeah, for everyone, it's different. For me, I got there in August, and some missionaries have the option to go home, transfer early. And for me, I wanted to do that because they had been starting workouts. And so I got home end of June, 2017, is when I got. at home. And then they were going on an Italy trip to go play two weeks later. So I literally

just had a couple weeks to work out and get there. So it was literally like off the plane, take the shirt and tie off, get the practice gear on and let's go. Where did you work out? Just the fastest. I just flew right to, right to Logan. After I got home, I was there for a few days, and then just flew out, did some workouts. And yeah, that's how it started off. So how did you play when you hadn't played in so long. What do you think? It was bad. But they're used to it, right?

Because, I mean, like, they are used to it. They're like, this is how guys look. For sure. But I think in my case, I did have that few months of working out, getting back in shape. For me, like Brock Miller, he got off his mission in February, and in February that year. And then he had a few months to get back in shape

and get the rest off. So I'm, like, calling him and asking him about, like, drills and stuff that's going on. And just like, my head is spinning. And that first week of workout, So I just questioned, I was like, am I, is this really the right idea? How sore would you? God, you have always been so sore?

Oh, that was the most story I've ever been. My whole life. So I was told, the story that I was told was, hey, did you go to Italy with him? No. But there was some workout in the way before Italy where they're all like, we got a dude here. Mm-hmm. Right? Yeah.

Oh, that's a great story. Tell me about it. Uh-huh. Yeah. So it's called the self-reux. Drill and the Celtic drill, I don't know how long it's been around or who's, what teams have used it. But basically it was just a conditioning grill. And you had to touch, you had to go down and back, just full court, end to end, 26, 27 times in two and a half minutes.

And it's one of those things where you can't really plan it out and know how hard it is until you do it. And but Coach Nelson, he gave me a heads up. He said, hey, there's a conditioning test. All the guys have to pass it before a workout start. And for you, you're going to have to pass it the day you get there. So, like, you better be, you know, getting in shape. And I'm like, all right, 30 minutes. It's all I got each morning.

And so that I did. I, when we went to the track every morning for the time that I was there. And I literally would just run sprints just by myself 26 times. And I did that every morning until for about three months, probably. And so I get there and all the guys are like, oh, man, who's this kid? He looks pretty out of shape. But I tell you what, I was conditioned to do that drill. I don't know.

I couldn't do anything else. Couldn't dribble, couldn't shoot, couldn't do anything, but I could run 26 times better than anyone on that team. And I did. I smoked everybody. I mean, all those guys, you know, Sam and reporter, Diogo Brito. I mean, I finished two laps ahead of them. And it still was hard. We were all just, you know, coughing.

Our lungs were just dead. But that was the one thing. They were like, man, like, Bean's got, he's got energy, man. Like, he's got something. So that was, I definitely used that to my advantage, you know, going forward. I was like, if anyone's going to work as hard as me, you know, they've got another thing coming. When did you get the scholarship? Imagine an Olympics where Dolphics where Dolphiard is.

Hoping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.

Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam, Ms. Isaiah Thomas. I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast Point Game is about defining the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before.

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Soccer Mom. So I'm Leanne. Yeah. This is my best friend, Janet. Hey. And we have been joined at the hips since high school. Absolutely. Now a redacted amount of years later.

We're still joined at the hip. Just a little bit bigger hips, wider. This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey. With all the snacks and drink. Sidebar. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? Oh, they had a bogo.

Well, then you got it. Do you want a white collar or something here? Just hit it. What are y'all doing? Microphones? Are you making a rap album? I would buy it. Cut through the defense like a hot knife through sponge cake.

That sounds delicious. Oh, you're lucky I'm not a drug addict. You're lucky I'm not an alcoholic. You're lucky I'm not a killer. I love this team and I'm really trying to be a figure in their lives that they can rely on. Oh. Listen to soccer moms on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. January of 2020. Yeah, January 2020.

Okay, so we'll get to that one second. Okay, we'll get to that one second. Coaching change happened when? That happened the year after. So, yeah, I registered that year, all year, and then Coach Smith came in that summer. Okay, but Coach Durrier was the first coach that ever talked to you, grew up. You know, he'd been a lifetime assistant there.

And obviously things kind of went sideways, right? The AD did hire him left because Scott Barnes left went to Pitt. whatever so like now all of a sudden you're thrusting like this is big time basketball where everybody from coach morals clan was gone and they hire some guy from south dakota who no one knew what was what was your first interaction with him like um it was my first interaction with coach smith was that i mean i didn't know what to expect i but when i first heard him speak i'm just like this dude has charisma like more than than any coach or any honestly any person really He's just so energetic.

The moment you see him and just interact with him, you just want to just punch like a brick wall or something. You just want to do something. You just want to get up and get active and just go for it. And so he's always been able to channel that and help us do the same. But yeah, honestly with like the scholarship and everything, I wondered, I had questions because I had worked that whole first year to get better, get back in shape.

And then new coach comes in. So it's like, all right, I'm starting. from scratch again. Yeah, you got to prove yourself again. You got to prove yourself. But the first meeting I ever had with him, he just said, after seeing me a couple workouts, he's just like being like, you're the type of player that we like in our system, like being able to move without the ball and just your energy, your activity.

And because he, you know, I had proved myself in any other aspect of my game at that point. And so being able to dribble, rebounding, you know, he didn't know that either. But he still gave me that confidence to. say, okay, let's roll with it. Let's see what Coach Smith from South Dakota can do with Utah State. And so I'm glad I'm glad to stuck around. I had thoughts of maybe transferring, maybe going to my dad's alma monitor. But again, I wouldn't have had a scholarship. And so that was the best thing to do. Okay. What was Sam like? Sam's great. He was great from day one. He's always been a a calm, composed, just I'd say on the court, he's the loudest person, you know, ever. He's, he's

vocal. He's not afraid to tell you, you know, what to do if you're messing up, he'll be the first to get in your face and say, all right, hey, this is what you got to do. But it was never negative. It was always just, you know, we need you to do this. Like, you do your part and hardest

working guy, you know, I've ever been around. He's always in the gym. And I definitely look up to him for that. So, yeah, I owe him a lot. Just that development, that first year for me, and ever since then, just being the player any now, just because he was always, that guy that everyone knew was going to, you knew you were getting out of San Meryl every night.

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Brought to you by Mitza and the Ad Council. Okay, so Nemi comes in and I like dude from Portugal. But what's cool about your club is you got a bunch of guys that speak Portuguese, right? You said, uh, dogo, right? Yo-go, Brito, right? The bean burrito combo. I used to love that one. That was a good one.

Yeah. Awesome. I know you did. Oh, yeah. But you had other dudes that spoke Portuguese. So, now, but you didn't speak Portuguese, right? You speak any other language? English and Nevada.

That's it. That's about it. Just to do. Because it is another language. You have to bet on things. I said. All the different betting terms from your time. I said it is.

You know what. Okay. But so this dude gets there from Portugal, right? And all these guys are speaking Portuguese in the locker room. What was that? first interaction life. It was weird. It was weird. It was pretty amusing, though. Like, I would just catch myself just kind of listening and just kind of staring at the two of them, because it was, whenever they speak together, Portuguese, it was always loud. It was never just

a casual conversation. They were always yelling at each other about something. And so I couldn't tell you what they were talking about, but they definitely were passionate. And it was really good for both of them to have that because they definitely, I think they used it to their advantage and being able to learn English together. And Diogo, he spoke really good English when he first got there. And Nimi, it was harder for him. It was an adjustment. So, but he took some classes.

And, I mean, you talk with him now, it's like you wouldn't even suspect, you know, anything else. He's a really good speaker now. Okay. What's it like to go from where you were your first year, your coach gets fired, to winning a league championship? Like, that is, and it happened. Fast, too. It wasn't like one of these, like, you know, five years ago, it was like,

bam, all of a sudden you guys were Mountain West champions. What's that feeling like when you guys were cutting down nets after what it was like previously? It was surreal, to be honest. It was coming in, we were picked ninth that year to finish in the league. And we always, I feel like we always had a chip on our shoulder. But it was never, it was never about what I anyone else said. It was literally just about what we could control. And Coach Smith preaches that he's he's always saying, you know, control the controllables, you know, be the tougher team, you know, stay together, just simple things that really, I think, went a long way in terms of just our success. And because we didn't have a lot of experience that first

year. And then you had Sam, Diogo, Quinn Taylor was a great veteran for us. But outside of that, you know, there's a lot of new guys coming in. So I think, looking at back on it. I think it's hard to choose which one, which championship I think was. Well, you get so many years like, like, wow, you started to be like Tom Brady. Let me clear. I mean, like, look, you win the one this year. Then you can get this year back. So you win next year. That's true. That's true. I'd be a 25-year-old senior. That'd be a, good.

You have them all the time. It's true. That's true. It's true. But no, yeah, it's amazing, honestly. I would have told you were crazy if you told me that we'd come in there and do what we did, you know, after everything, before knowing Coach Smith, before, you know, interacting with him and seeing what he was about. Yeah, I mean, I mean, honestly, like, look, I grew up in Southern California and back when they were a dominant team in the Big West and then the Wack, but when they first got in the league, it was like, it was too much. Like, the league was really, really good. And, you know, they were a Big West and Wack level team. And it was too much. And, you know, to go from there,

to all of a sudden rolling out pros. Yeah. And, you know, you had two pros on a team. What was that like for Nemi last year? You guys, and no one, people didn't know if he'd come back to his freshman year. Then he comes back, he's got a knee injury, so he's not right. But he seems like, kind of like you or one of those, like, positive horses. But was he like, was he like that when, they're like, man, maybe I should have gone pro instead of coming back?

Well, he's, Nimi's always been super selfless. And he just, that dude just loves to win. And so I think his mindset after the injury, obviously he was devastated. He had big plans, you know. But I think when he, that dude was always just in the gym, just trying to get better. But his mindset has always been just, I'm a team first guy. And you say that's crazy, but it's true because of how talented he is, you would think that, you know, he really is.

is the most selfless person. I mean, he passes more out of the post than anyone I've ever played with. And that dude could score at will if you wanted to, but he's always been about making the right play. And so I think for him that definitely, hopefully scouts and coaches see that, that he's never been about himself, but that he's willing to do whatever it takes to get to the next level. And I think he's definitely proven that. So whether or not, you know, he still hasn't said anything officially about what he's going to do after this year. But we all support him and we know he's going to, know, do whatever is best for him. Okay, so BYU and Utah hate each other, right?

And it was so ugly, they stopped playing each other. Where is Utah state in that? Like, do you guys, are you guys good with Utah guys, or do you hate this? Everybody hate you? Like, how does, give me the whole beehive state. I don't even want to get into Weber in Utah Valley and those, and Dixie.

Right, right. Between those two don't like each other. That is well documented. Where is Utah State in that mix? I couldn't tell you how other schools view us. I'm not really sure. But I think in terms of, I mean, we definitely want to be the best team in Utah each year. So those games are huge.

They're definitely rivalry games. And obviously we have a streak. We've got a break here with BYU. It's been a long time since we've beaten those guys. And I haven't played Utah for a couple of years. So, yeah, but anytime we play those guys, it's definitely the tensions are high. But there's no actual, like, personal beef, you know, I don't think any of our guys really talked to him at all.

I think last summer, I think if you guys had a little run with some Utah Valley guys, like a summer run, just playing pickup. But that's about it, honestly. You probably have to ask Steven Ashford that question, being from Lone Peak. Yeah, Long Peak guy, those guys, those are all those BYU guys. Right. What is the deal with all you guys having the fresh cuts? Like literally everybody.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's nice. I mean, I made a mistake when I was in college, back when I had really, good hair. I'd like cut it myself. I've seen it. It was fresh. It was fresh. It was, it was, it was, it was full. It was full and fresh. Yeah. But, but, but you guys like, like, it's like a team thing. Sam, I think that's Sam's leadership, I think. It is. That is. Always clean, clean, clean hair. Or is it the Mormon missionary thing? Well, it's funny you say that because Coach Smith last week or a couple weeks ago, he's like, man, what, he was asking the same thing you were. He's like, what's with all these,

these return missionary cuts? That's what he, that's what he, that's what he calls. the RM cuts. So great minds think alike. But no, I think it's just, it could be a culture thing. I've never done my hair any other way, being from Oklahoma. So maybe I get a pass

being from Oklahoma. But I don't know, man. I know Brock Miller definitely takes pride and it's been bald and he's never been about it. Yeah, that whole, for a while there, the whole staff was bald, right?

Yeah. Yeah, the cameraman couldn't even get it right. Yeah. I don't know if you saw that. They were flashing on different, three different guys you guys coach men right now. Okay, so you also have this

intangible ability. And I think a lot of, BYU, you guys have this too, you have it, but also the way you play. Somebody wants to fight you almost every game. Now, I think that's a gift. My brother coached a cow. There was a dude named Jorge Gutierrez. Jorge played in the NBA for

a long time. He's playing in Mexico now. And he was at, you ever heard of Finley Prep? You know, like the prep school in Henderson? Okay. So my brother gets an assistant job. He's in San Diego State. He gets a job at Cal. And he's like, all right, I got to get a player from Finley now in Pack 10. I can be there.

So he goes there on the coach's like, he's looking at like Tristan Thompson is there. And all these other guys like, like, you want a player? Take the Mexican kid. And he had a long ponytail. And he's terrible. Like, just to look at does not look like a ball player, right? He's like, why don't want him? They're like, well, here's the thing. Anytime we play a game, his team wins.

And anytime we play a game, somebody other team wants to fight him. And he became packed 12 player of the year at Cal. But every game he played, somebody wanted to fight him. Dudes want to fight you because you just play hard. You never stop playing hard. You never stop rebounding. You're always moving.

And so there has to be like you ever have this like you're hearing guys want to fight you. Do you ever stop and catching your truck? You're like, playing hard. How often you? Against Nevada, I had a couple of dudes say I was a psycho. I feel like being a psycho, man. But it's always been in a tournament. You got to get my crazy look like, who are you called psycho?

I know. I should. I'm just like, damn. You call the voices? The voices in my head? I feel like messing someone. I'm saying, I know. I need to.

Next game, I will for sure. I'll get some back. But no, I've never been that kind of guy to just, you know, talk back, but I've always just kind of taking it with a grain of salt.

Just been like that. Do you notice it, though? Because I noticed it watching. Guys, look at you like, this guy, but part of this you just play so hard. For sure,

100%. Yeah, I'm going to make it as hard. it on you as I can. If you're my matchup, then yeah, I'm going to make it, you know, miserable for you or at least try to because I think it it doesn't only give me an edge, but I think, you know,

my teammates see that and there it's kind of that gait of mentality. So we all just are locked into that. It's weird. The, you guys being on the bubble is weird to me because you know, and I know everybody that covers the conference.

Like here's, if you watch TV, everybody shows from the conference they cover. You know, like, oh, let me tell you, the ACC, you should get 50 teams in. Right? Yeah. And I watch with an open mind. And I'm like, you swept into your state. Obviously, lost the Boise, but she didn't have Raleigh.

And Boisey's good, right? Like, they're legit good. They're a hard matchup for you because they play so small and spread you out. And though I understand previous years shouldn't play a factor. This is a tournament team from last. last two years, granted, you don't have Sam Merrill. Right. You have all these other dudes. What is it like when people seem to overlook how good your team feels like you are and how

how you're playing? Yeah. It's a good question. We, again, we believe in each other. We know, we believe we're a tournament team, that's for sure. And at the end of the day, it's, we just have to keep our eyes, you know, on the prize. And that's winning a conference championship. And that's not to say that that's been, just to get an auto bid. We just want to win the league, man. We just want to... Three years in a row to be the best team.

It would. It would. That'd be insane. I think the last team that did that was, what, New Mexico, maybe? Yeah. Early 20... Yeah. I did that game.

Did that game when they went, then they lost to Harvard. Oh, in the first round. Was that... Was Alford there at the time? They had Bearstone's brother. Yeah, that's right. Cameron Bearstow.

Yeah. the four and then they had a big center and Harvard went small and they never adjusted he never went small to match up with them really they got they got beat yeah it was a crazy Harvard's first ever win I called that game it was nuts and that new Mexico team was legit really good they were really good the league was really good then saying he was good Wyoming was good Josh Adams was at Wyoming um and then who else was good oh Vegas was good Vegas is talented they're talented so Yeah, but yeah, I think we just, we take it a day at a time, and we're always just trying to get better. I know that's probably the most cliche you can say, but it's true.

Like, we just care about getting better and then taking it one game at a time. So, Coach Smith, you know, he said today, you know, we just got to be three teams. Like, I know there's 11 in this league. It could be easy to look at what other teams are doing, especially in the tournament, but we just kind of focus on UNLB and go from there. And UNAV is one of the teams that beat you, and, you know, which is crazy, considering. considering how well you played the next game when you play base. All right. Last question.

Then you got it. You, I mean, you got enough to do. Yeah. Got to get your, I know, I know,

I know, I know, I know. Now you get your desserts. Now you get your desserts. That's right. Eat all the desserts you want. I can.

You know, you go to everybody's house and eat their desserts. What is your favorite dessert, by the way? Cheesecake, 100%. Strawberry cheesecake. No hesitation. You don't like it? Cancer.

You didn't have to, didn't have to think about it. Peanut butter and jelly, what's your peanut butter and jelly ratio, like peanut butter to jelly? I would probably say, oh, that's a good question. Are we going in terms of like, we split it up in like thirds? Well, I don't know. Do you do the diagonal cut or do that halfway cut? Do you go in fours?

Like, what are you five years old? You got a cut in quarters? Wheat bread or white? I mean, wheat bread now. I go wheat bread now. I try to be healthy. I know. You're going to roll your eyes.

You do look like a white bread. I mean, it's too fish here to go. A Mormon kid from home home does white bread, right? Yeah, you would think. I'm really an uncrustable guy. That's what I am. You what? I'm an uncrustable guy.

You know the uncrustable is that they sell a freezer, frozen insect? So whatever ratio that is, there's probably a little more jelly. So you buy pre-made peanut butter and jelly? Yeah, man. Somebody who works as hard as you, I would think that a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is just like easiest thing to whip up. No, no, it's really not. I mean, I got to get to the gym. I got to get my wife.

Got some. Is that you're killing me small T-shirt? It definitely is. Oh, great, great shirt. Top three, top three movie right there. What are the other two? Other two are Glory Rhodes, number one, no doubt. And then, uh, oh.

Glory Rose. Remember the Titans? Remember the Titans? I mean, I'm a basketball guy, though, but it is, it is. Glory Rose Barron. Yeah, I would say so. Okay. It was.

Jimmy. I don't know. You have your opinion. Your opinion can be wrong. You're allowed to have your opinion. Where does Hoosiers stack up? I'm curious. Where does it stack up on yours?

Well, Hoosiers is a better basketball movie than Glory Road. Glory Road's a better story. I like the story. Yeah. And it's good. A problem with that. I've watched all these with my son. My son's like, dad, why are we watching?

Why do you? First of these, that doesn't understand. Like, why didn't people like black people? I don't understand. I was like, I don't either. And then, but then we, you know, we watch the, remember the Titans, to watch that one. Another one we watched, too.

And he was like, enough of the movies are people that were people don't like black people. I can't watch him. I was like, all right, we're done with that. But he loves, we like, we're more of a Hoosier's family. Part of his, have you ever been to Hinkle? I've never been, no. So if you guys get to the tournament, you could play in Hinkle.

Right. Which is the best. I'm telling you're the coolest place. You feel like you're in the 1920s. You're like, this is really cool. the town is set up or? You know how the arena is set up. Oh, the arena.

Yeah. So they redid it. So if you watch Hoosiers, they read it's much nicer than it used to be. But it's still very, it has this like overhang with stands behind each basket and then has these beautiful windows. It's magnificent. It's really, it's a cathedral more than it's an arena. Okay. So Glory Road.

What are the other two? The other two. So yeah, Glory Road, remember the Titans. and then Sanla. Although. Samas right. Yeah. It's good.

It's good. It's good. I'm a golf guy too, though. So, greatest game ever played underrated. More than 10 cup. I like tin cup. 10 cup.

I'm going to get to see that one. You never seen 10 cup? Your eyes may have to avert. There's some. I could be white. I could be why. But it is good. I mean,

and the winds of West Texas, you'll feel like a little bit of homo, Bahoma, whatever. Yeah, no doubt. Okay, so here's what I want to ask. Because I joked on the broadcast about 10 years from now, you'd be playing church ball and no one will want to guard you.

10 years from now, Justin Bean will be where doing what? TBD. But at this point, I've always, to me, I've never really had, like, when I was growing up, it was never, I'm going to play college basketball. I'm going to go to the NBA. It was always just, I'm going to get better today and then see what tomorrow brings. And I think in terms of basketball, in terms of life, I have a couple options. I have a couple of things that I want to do.

And still kind of still figured it out. But I would like to play in the NBA. I think I've obviously still got some things to improve on. But I'm really excited for just this next offseason, just being able to define different areas my game. I want to become, you know, a better shooter. And that's, that's probably the biggest thing, I think, for me right now. And then everything else, I think, is, we'll fall in place. But yeah, I'd like to play professionally. NBA would be, would be amazing. I haven't thought about playing overseas. I just think with me, I think wanting to start a family, raise a family. I feel like for me,

personally, not speaking other language, that would be more difficult. So I'd want to stay in the States. But if NBA, something happens, that I'd want to be a podiatrist. Because that I, So my dad does. He's a foot and ankle doctor. So I could take it over the practice. Is a podiatrist the doctor? Surgeon. Okay. I'll say he does surgery. So I, I'm not going to argue with you on that. But, but yeah. I'm not arguing with you. I'm just, you know, like a chiropractor, no, you're not enough. Right. Right. You're just not. You're crackbacks. Okay. Don't get me wrong. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. And, and you have foot problems, you know, you got neuromas, you get nerves.

I mean, you're needed. But my whole thing is the one thing is like somebody's choking an airplane. They say is there a doctor here, the psychiatrist doesn't have a lot of them. I got you. Right, right. But the foot surgeon is a little different. Well, I'll tell you this. This is my honest.

Obviously, everybody would tell you the shooting. But my brother has a saying, says, make them pay to see what you don't do. Right. Because what a pro does is a pro does what they do and doesn't do what they can't do. And there you have two defined. trainable traits that other people don't have. One, you play hard every time you step on the court. And not everybody plays hard.

That's just the fact. And two, you're tough. And all of those guys that make it. And I was doing this, I was having this conversation. Who's I had this conversation with? Oh, I was having this conversation with West Miller, is the UNC Greensboro coach. And he's got a kid, Isaiah Miller, who's the star in that league.

And it can't really shoot. And I said, you know, if you look at the backup point drums, but I had this with Andrew Bogot on my pot, right, Delhi, right? Delhi slow, kind of hairy, right? Great off a ballstream. But what Delhi is is he's tougher than a $2 steak, right? And in order to make it here, overseas, whatever, you know, you got to be able to live in a house where you got rats, you know?

You just got to be tougher than other people. And lots of guys think they're tough And they may be from tough backgrounds But they don't play tough And I'm telling you have two definable traits That other people don't have And you can't, you can't, and I coach little kids You can make them tougher, but you can't make them tough.

You know, part of it is your little brother But part of it is just something inherently in you, right? And I don't know where you get that amount of energy from In terms of playing hard, But those two things, they have value to people Because look, dude, you're probably never going to start you probably never going to start a game in the NBA. But on a Wednesday night in Minnesota,

when everybody else is like, man, let's just get through this thing. And they come down the bench and they say, Dean, you're in. Everybody, you know what you're going to get.

Right? You're going to get a hard playing dude that rebounds, puts back. And I've never seen anything like what you can bring to the table. It's a real, it's a gift. So don't get caught. Like,

do you want to work on the shooting? Of course. Because if you can just knock down open shots, right? you'll make it. But even if you don't, like, don't get locked because I was a guy who couldn't shoot. If I played off me, I couldn't shoot. And we'd get into my, I have to shoot.

I have to show them I could shoot. It's like, no, you know, just go play. You play with a little jump shot for your whole college career. Because you have those definable traits and you know who you are. Because that's like the secret to basketball is the same secret to life. I know who you are. And you know who you are. And so that's why you're going to be successful in life and basketball and whatever.

Hey, man, I've taken up way too much of your time. We started the bus in the hotel room in Vegas. It's obviously high, high-end stuff. I appreciate that. Thank you for your time. And I wish you nothing but success this year. And look forward to talking the office is. Appreciate it, Doug.

It means a lot, man. Thanks for taking the time. See, I told you about that. And if you watch Utah State play, and I think right now when I looked at the bubble stuff with Duke out, obviously, Utah State's going to be. me in. Boise

lost him. Kid jab didn't play and they lost to Nevada. That's the second time they lost Nevada. I was there the first time he lost Nevada. Nevada's got a couple really good players. Desmond Cambridge is a kid who's from Nashville. Not a lot of offers. Went to Brown.

Wasn't all I believe kid to Brown. And now he's in Nevada. And then they have then they're just they're fun. And Steve offers in a great job. Great job in a short period time. Look, Nevada is a hard matchup for them because they're so different than how kind of Boise plays, right? Boise plays occasionally with their big guy, but a lot of times they play, you know, like no big. So I do get why Boise lost. And I also

think that that Boise's lost Nevada only shows how good Utah State is because I did two straight Utah State

Nevada games and what they did the Grand Sherefield and Grand Shelfford had what 26 and three and two

what Utah State did the Grand Sherfield with Marco Anthony who's a transfer from Virginia

guarding him six foot four he couldn't do anything with sure feels really good kicks everybody's asking that league except Utah State. So I think Utah State's real. I think they're really good.

They didn't have Bradley Worcester. It's a tough matchup when they played up in Boise. They lost those games. I still think Boise is an NCAA tournament team, but all these losses are adding up and they may end up getting left out. That does happen. But talent-wise, coaching-wise, they're right there. And it's like, who are we going to put?

We had to put these teams in. And I think Syracuse is going to get in this year. I don't think they have especially impressive wins. And I don't like this. Well, they didn't lose by that much. So whatever. But I think Duke bowing out helps them. I don't know what to make a Louisville if they're any good.

I expected them to be better. Obviously, Carla Jones is legit. Right. He's legit. Well, UCLA seems to be playing the way out. They'll get in. but they're kind of playing the way out. But here's kind of my one thought

that I wanted to leave you with. I tweeted this and then I took it down because what happens with Twitter, you get like one or two people who lose their mind. I was watching Iowa State play. And I've known Steve Pro in a long time. He was actually my host

when I visited the University of Alabama. It's true story. And I think you can actually download and listen to that podcast, but he's a really good dude. So Steve Probe did not forget how to coach. They went Oprah in the Big 12. He didn't forget to have a coach.

And when you look at his roster, you have several guys who are transfers who got their previous coach fired. And there's something to that. Now look, I'm a transfer and in truth, and I told all of you this, that my leading Notre Dame because I got in trouble began the ultimate ultimately coach, Coach McClellan. cloud getting fired because he couldn't fill that, he couldn't feel that, that, that scholarship. Jimmy Dillon took my scholarship after I left. And they were good. And I mean, this is obviously ego not really in check. I do think that the pieces that we added, ultimately, we would have gotten the NCAA tournament. Ultimately, he would have kept his job. They also didn't let him take transfers that hurt him. Then he gets fired and they let Matt Doherty take a transfer,

or Ryan Humphrey the first day he's on the job, right? So anyway, I'm somebody who I've gotten a coach fired before. It was a couple years later, but I do believe me getting in trouble gotten fired. But when you have a team full of dudes whose previous coaches all got fired at some point, it's not the current coach. Now, it is the current coach's fault for putting too many of, too many players that aren't winning players on your roster. That is coaching, that is recruiting.

That is part of being a college coach. But I think it's real. And I think in this transfer culture, you got to be really careful who you take. Because coaches so often bitch about the guys that got away. I almost had him. The runner for him. We should have got to hit. He should have come here.

When it's the guy's on your roster. That's all that really matters. Not the guys in art. Make sense? Okay, good. My thanks to Utah State again for letting me get Justin Dean Martin to you, that you should download, subscribe and rate. and oh yeah by the way listen to the Doug Gottlieb show daily three to six eastern 12 3 pacific

on the iHeart radio app on fox sports radio and fox sports radio dot com you could also listen to us on syria xm 203 for serious and 217 for x-n i'm dug gotley this is all ball thunderstruck adjective shocked and amazed by the power of fun on carnival riding bolt the world's first roller coaster at sea brian got funder struck so hard his 93-year-old grandmother felt it 3,000 miles away in Nebraska and immediately booked a cruise. Hooray! Get thunderstruck starting at 289. Carnival.

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