The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Hour 1 - Bronny James

Episode Date: March 21, 2025

Doug Gottleib fills in for Colin for day 2 of the opening round of March Madness Doug defends Kansas head coach Bill Self after a 1st round exit Did Bronny James finally look like an NBA player?   Guest: GRANT MCCASLAND #douggottliebshowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Thanks so much. I'm Doug Gottlieb in for Colin Cowherd on an absolutely spectacular Friday in Southern California. Absolutely spectacular Friday in Southern California. Welcome in. I had a great time hosting with the boys being back in town for a couple of days. Full disclosure

I had a full day yesterday Full day yesterday I don't know if I shared this with you Greg and Ryan and Ryan part of the production crew So yesterday's show And then

It's my work It's like our celebration week for my son's 16th birthday So We have a We normally do it When we lived in Southern California on the Jewish holidays because he went to a small private school and we'd go to six flags during, you know, one of the high holidays

and ride all the roller coasters and just have a great time. We did it yesterday instead. And then all the while, right, you got your cell phones handy. We're watching the March Madness games. Then the drive home, we're watching Kansas and Arkansas. And then you watch all the games at the end as well, right? Great thing about West Coast time is they were all wrapped up and you're good.

You're like, okay. I saw Michigan hold off UC San Diego and shut it down, go to bed, wake up this morning. Oh, yeah, by the way, we'll get to Brony James' best offensive performance as a pro in the NBA last night. Full day. All right. Full day. It's a good day. Good day.

But we were watching Arkansas and Kansas. and I got a text from a friend who was like, ah, Bill Self, Bill Self, this thing might have passed him by. And I was, I don't know if I was laughing or crying on the inside at that text. So you mean to tell me that a coach who just four years ago won a national championship and had a run of, what was it, 12 consecutive, big 12 titles, the game has passed him by after signing a new contract with the Jayhawks over the offseason. Or there's a different way to look at it.

Look, it wasn't a well-played game. It was an ugly game. Self-lost one of his best players to what appears to be in a, Achilles injury, but I was watching Kansas play, and I was identifying, you know, their players and what was going right and what was going wrong. And like, look, I make no mistake about it. I have a ton to learn. Anybody can learn watching the best of the best of the best of the best. You know, they mix and match with a two-three zone.

There's a little triangle in two. It really confused Arkansas. And Arkansas just survived really was because Kansas just turned the ball over so much. And the things that when you games or lose you games are, you know, turnovers, basically defense turnovers and rebounding. And look at that game and Kansas had 16 turnovers, had one less offensive rebound, and only outshot them from the free throw line. But, you know, Arkansas took 65 shots.

They took 58. And they lose the game by seven points. and K.J. Adams Hurt's Achilles' tendon. But then I was watching their lineups, and I was like, okay, Hunter Dickinson played four years at Michigan. Zick Mayo just transferred in from South Dakota State. Rihling Griffin transferred in from Alabama.

A.J. Storr, who probably plays best game as a Jayhawk last night. He transfers in from Wisconsin. David Coyt had transferred in from Northern Illinois. And it didn't stun me, but there was an aha moment. right and obviously john cal Perry's in his first year at arkansas and his his team will look wildly different next year is he brought over several players kept a couple uh from arkansas last year and then brought over players you know john l davis who was at florida atllantic dj wagner who was uh one of the players that came came over along with big z from from kentucky and i thought to myself hold on

this is a different sport than the one both of these two men have coached in before. I actually think Bill Self is like the perfect example.

The guy's the best of the best of the best. And you could say the same thing honestly about John Calipari. Different ways of doing the same thing and same thing meaning being a Hall of Fame coach. Both are in the Hall of Fame.

Both have won national titles and Bill's won two of them. Two of them. And you look at, how they went about their business, right? John Calipari, you know, evolved from what he was at UMass, then the NBA, and of course, when he was at Kentucky, it was won and duns. And he would go and handpick the best five freshmen that he could get. And more often than not, it would hit. And whether they got to the Final Four or one year won a national championship, or were constantly

competitive at the very top of the sport, he became the signature of the one and done era. Now, truth be told that even when they won the national championship, one of the strengths of that team was some of the veteran players, but he picked off the top of the deck. Bill Self, a little bit different at Kansas, right? They had guys that you would call program guys, guys that improved over time. Darnell Robinson, for example, would start their career at one thing and play four or five years and evolved become really good all big 12 caliber players and he would sprinkle in one or maybe two one and duns and then have a couple that were pros and maybe take one transfer and again i don't think

that it's just covid or just nil or just the transfer portal or just the fact that it's not just the transfer portal it's the fact you can transfer without repercussion transfer and not sit out but those three things have changed their business dramatically. And it's hard to adjust. Hard to adjust. My mom is, let's just say she's in her late 70s. And we go out to dinner the other night. And she's had a problem with her phone. She hands it to my son. She's like, I've had this problem for a month. It won't do something. My son presses two buttons. Problem solved. Because he grew up, frankly too much, with a phone in his hand. My mom still has a landline.

How many do you have a landline? And the point is that here's the things that have changed. It started with the G-League Ignite, where players could go straight to the G-League for a year, get paid, and then go presumably to the NBA. Did it all work out great? Did a bunch of guys go? No, but it was a couple of year.

Then there was overtime elite, which has since expanded, but did it all, was, did it take 20, 30 guys? No, but there were two or three that mattered. A couple of went to Australia, one a year maybe, would go to Australia. And for John Caliperi, the pool, and frankly for Bill Self, the pool of those one and duns on a given year that can really impact a program. was between 5 and 15. And 15 is probably too much. Really, it's two or three and 10. And when you take just a couple of them out there, out of it,

and then you factor in that, you know, one would go to OTE, one would go overseas, one or two would go to the G League night. Now a sudden that pool started to shrink. Then you factor in that there are players, Kevin Durant, DeAngelo, Russell, are perfect examples of guys that, you know, could have gone to Kentucky and been a part of that one-and-done era, but instead chose to have their own path. And you're fighting Duke for these one-and-duns.

And now, of a sudden, instead of getting the best five players in the country, you might get one of the five best or one of the, and then you strike up a lean year and it's hard. Then you go to COVID. And how did COVID affect college basketball? By the way, Bill Self had a team that during COVID could have won a national championship. They were dominant. COVID canceled that tournament.

But if you go to COVID, that extended to where now you're playing against guys that have a COVID year. I don't know how many people who are listening to the herd know this, but if you, not only do you have a COVID year that given, that's the super seniors you're seeing play college basketball this year, fifth and sixth year seniors, sometimes seventh years. But now there's a recent ruling that if you play play. play junior college basketball or N-A-I-A-A basketball during any of those last four years. This is after the COVID year. That year doesn't count, and you get another year. So I don't care how good you are. With exception, maybe of Cooper Flagg, like he's a unicorn.

He's a generational player. Outside of that, all of these other freshmen, you're 18, 19, and look, A lot of freshmen are 20 years old. A lot of seniors are 23, 24, 25 years old. Stephen Ashworth has played. They Creight and beat Louisville last night. Now, again, part of it is he's a Mormon. He went on a mission.

But part of it is he also existed during the COVID year. He's 25 years old with a wife and a kid playing college basketball. So if you're somebody who's always played freshman, what am I going to? This is a completely different landscape, a complete, different sport. Then, post-COVID, you have the transfer portal and you can transfer without ramification. You don't have to sit out. So everything you built in terms of your culture, and that's what Kansas has always built on their culture. Come in, you're part of KU's program. They've had transfers before, but they've never played four transfers at once. And again, it doesn't mean that

transfers about how was a transfer? And I didn't sit out at my school. I went sat out at a junior college. But when you have a team full of them, and that's not how you've always coached, and coaching a transfer that's played multiple years at another school, here's the easiest analogy I give you. Go over to a, get ready to watch the games today, go over to a buddy's house, have him hand you the remote and say, have at it. And you're a spectrum guy, and he's got direct TV.

And you're like, whoa, wait, what? He's got Sonos and direct TV, and he's got one university. remote and you would look at that thing and it's not your same universal remote you got that's what it's like to coach somebody who's who's played college basketball has succeeded in college basketball at a different level a different school right David Coyt was at northern Illinois and a star Zeke Mayo was a star at South Dakota State but now you have to completely change roles and you've played for somebody else and there's different verbiage and different ways of doing things and again you have a coach who's used to coach

people a certain way and now he's coaching you that same way only you've been coached in program by somebody else and then you factor in NIL into the whole thing where if we're honest with ourselves there were schools that were compensating student athletes above that of of your normal grant-nate room board tuition and fees now everybody can so everybody can go and find players and pay them to stay or pay them to transfer or you can go get an overseas player whose older experience played professional basketball and can go and compete against your college player. I don't know if you want to use this as if this is appropriate analogy, but Monday, I took my son to see Black Bag. Black Bag is a new Stephen Suddenhyde movie.

And Black Bag. By the way, if you like short movies, it's like 85 minutes long. It's great. And it's really good. We're sitting in the movie theater. It's like a private showing. It's me and my son. Nobody else.

And I'm thinking to myself, this is a really good movie. It was short, it was interesting. It's kind of a spy flick. It's good. I would, Rotten Tomatoes, it was like in the 90, like 97% in Rotten Tomatoes. But who goes to the movies anymore? here's a guy who's made some of the best most clever movies

um in the last 25 years and I have no idea what it made opening box and of course it opens in March which means they didn't think that it was going to do do huge numbers but I guarantee you've seen Landman

more than you've ever heard of blackback right? Because the same people that are making the same shows and the same movies, they're getting left behind because their business, their industry has changed. And whether it's changed because of COVID or changed because of our viewing habits, which were only sped up by COVID, whatever it is. It's a different sport than it ever used to be. I'm watching John Caliperi come from behind and take down Kansas to Hall of Fame coaches, two well-invested programs, and two guys who are coaching similarly, if not the same to how they've always coached and it has worked and it will work.

But the business of the sport has changed. Yes, Arkansas won. Yes, Kansas is mixed. It just, I don't know what happened within the chemistry of that squad that caused them to look so dysfunctional. But the game has passed anybody by. It's just changed so quickly that you have to level up. or level over, or otherwise, you're leveling home. Doug Gottliebind for Colin.

This is the Hurt, Fox Sports Radio, IHeart Radio app. We talked Brony a little bit at the end of the show yesterday. Did you see what he did last night? We'll discuss next in the Hurt. Be sure to catch live editions of the HARD weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific On Fox Sports Radio, FS1, and the IHard Radio app. Hey, it's us, the Jonas brothers, and guess what? We have some big news.

news. We created our own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast. Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts throughout there. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name Hey Jonas guys? I honestly don't remember. I think it was on a call about what we should call it. And we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas, brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down?

Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, Hey, Jonas. And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys.

Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, Not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel,

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And on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast, I'm breaking down. on everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Jen, she won. I mean, she went down at three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me. And she likes Clay. Listen, Lena Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now,

and I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the Eyeheart. radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Doug Ghalybinford-Fercon. This is the Hurt. Fox Sports Radio, IHeart Radio. Grant McCaslin set to join us upcoming. He's the head coach of Texas Tech.

The Raiders, only a four-point lead at halftime, but then they end up winning by 10 against UNC Wilmington. We'll talk with Texas Tech's second year, second year head coach, Grant McHastlin. who, former Baylor assistant, former head coach at North Texas. We'll get Grant in here in a moment. In the meantime, let's give them like a little credit here to Brony James. Had finally had an NBA game where you're like, all right, that tape looks like an NBA player. Now, to people who are like, oh, Godlieb, in your face!

In your face, Brony, awesome, right? 17 points, 7 of 10 from the field. Five assists, three rebounds, two of four from three. Yeah, he had four turnovers, but, you know, Brony was awesome last night playing a career high 29 minutes. Yeah. I mean, he shot the ball well. He looked for the first time like an NBA player.

And it's like the number one thing you need in life, the number one thing you need in sports is confidence. and his ability to maintain and even grow his confidence through. Look, he had not shot the ball well at all until recently in the G league. Percentages were 30s and 20s from field in three. Now it's 40s and 30s. And obviously, in limited minutes, had shot the ball very poorly with the Lakers and just look lost. Right?

Look lost. Look overwhelmed. Look like, I don't think he's got it. It's a fair assessment. Last night it's some shots. it's also fair if we're going to be the voice of actually reasonable and i understand that i operate in a world of sports radio and sports television where you have to have unreasonable polar opposite takes he can either be awesome or can't play and there's nothing in between you're either lebron or

you can't go and they're different i prefer jordan but i respect that because you can and you can never throw like you know i i mean it's prime i think i might take magic or bird, you know, or, you know, some would say Kobe, I wouldn't, but some would say Kobe or Tim Duncan or, you know, you have all these others that we have seen play. We're not allowed to do that. Well, I get to host the herd and I get my own show, the Doug Gottlieb show on Foxport Trito. So I'm going to do that because the reality is he was a minus 36. They did get smoked. They threw out essentially a G-League roster. And the only other, you know, Laker to do anything was Dalton Connect, who, you know, with the Lakers,

is now, based upon their roster now, is probably out of the rotation or barely hanging on the rotation as he's a rookie who they want to develop. Here's J.J. Reddick talking about Brony after the game. You know, we've obviously monitored him in the G and feel like he's, you know, in those sort of end-game situations when he's gotten a chance to play with us, he's been really good.

So not surprised by tonight. And I think his confidence is growing because you mentioned the word comfort. That's certainly there for him. And I think the next step is just, you know, becoming like an elite conditioned athlete. Because when he does that with his physical tools and just his burst and his handle,

and, you know, we think he's going to be an above average to really good NBA shooter. Okay. There's actually a lot to kind of digest there. Can I tell you what I heard in the coach's ear and trying to read? Now, some of it is he hadn't. I actually don't buy the, he's been really good with us. He is not. Second lowest field goal percentage in the NBA.

You know, you're talking about four minutes, two minutes. He played 16 minutes at Denver. in a blowout, you know, barely played and hasn't looked apart. I don't think anybody would agree with that. And it's hard to do anything in four minutes or two minutes anyway. Again, if we're being fair. When he said he

needs to be an elite conditioned athlete, that was a little bit of a, I don't want to say shot, but that wasn't a positive note from your head coach. That wasn't a positive note from your head coach. If you said he needs to be an elite, because remember, it's all about wording.

JJ knows he has to knows he has to be measured in his wording. Because it's pretty obvious. I don't know guys if we've talked about this. I have a friend who's worked for President Trump in the first administration. And if you notice how people

who work for him or want to work with him, they either bow at the altar or he tries to crucify them, right? and the expression they had in the White House, this is a real thing, is you're either at the table or you're on the menu. And I love that.

You're either at the table or you're on the menu. And honestly, that's how LeBron treats people. You're either at the table, you're on the menu. You're either all in. LeBron's the greatest, and Bronte's going to be awesome, or you're on the menu, and he may tweet at you, he may call you out, or call you over in the middle of a competitive basketball game.

So JJ has to be measured with everything he says because LeBron's got rabid ears, especially about his kid. We all kind of do. And when he says he needs to be an elite condition athlete, here's the translation. If you do the coaching translation, Bronny's not in shape. Brownie's not in shape.

So the issue with the idea that he'll become an above average to elite shooter is you can't show me anywhere so far in his life that that has been the case. Again, my issue with Bronny James in terms of the evaluation of Browning James has been every NBA player. that has been, or every future NBA player I've seen outside of a couple that are truly late blooms, right? There are some guys that are really late in high school, grew in college or whatever. But if you say, hey, here's a McDonald's All-American, you can pick apart, you know, 10 high school games in their senior year where they were the best player in the court by a mile. You're like, well, that's a pro. You know, that's a pro. I can't mention the school by name,

but there's a school in Wisconsin that I believe is the number one ranked school and they play the state playoffs are tonight in Madison. And I went to see them play against another school. They're both in Milwaukee. And there's a sophomore who's six foot nine and you're like, that's a pro. And so my issue with Bronny was like,

there's never been a moment where he's been an elite elite shooter. So why we put that expectation that he'll be an above average to great shooter in the NBA when that's never happened before? The part I do agree with is he's getting more comfortable, he's getting confident. And you're not going to achieve anything if you're not confident. Last night was the first night. Bronny James looked like an NBA player. His confidence is still there.

That's something outstanding considering how off-discussed his game is, despite the fact he plays like two minutes a game for the Lakers. But let's not get it twisted. He was a minus 36. It was a blowout, and his own coach said he's got to get in a better shape. Meanwhile, Texas Tech was fighting off UNC Wilmington, and Grant McCaslin was winning an NCAA tournament game as head coach of the Red Raiders, and he joins us in the herd on Fox Sports Radio.

Coach, how are you? Doug, what's up, man? How are you? Not as good as you. Coming into the game, right? When you throw on the tape, Selection Sunday, you're watching Wilmington. What did you think of the matchup? Well, I was concerned, and everybody is when you get in the tournament,

and there's nobody you're not concerned about, but legitimately because, and I said this a few times in preparation for the game, but we played Coach Siddell and UNC Wilmington when I was at North Texas in the championship of the Bahamas. So I watched them play two games leading up to it, scouted them closely was around their program watching them compete and man are they tough and they won games that they won because of their grit they had a crazy amount of belief they were crazy physical they rebounded well and so i wasn't confused on watching on film and going oh they're

kind of small or maybe they don't do this well i just knew their fight level would be what it needed to be and that part really concerned me so uh i was concerned you know this like you can facing teams that can score, but it's teams that really believe that they're going to win or the ones that can go in there and find a way to win a game. How long did it take your team to adjust to the fact you're in the NCAA term? And I say that because you've coached it before, right? You know what this is about having played in it and covered it. I know that, you know, it's just different, you know, the environment's different, the

expectation different. And, you know, you just got done playing in arguably the best or second best conference in the country, and there's a team that has a hyphenated name there, and all of a sudden it's a ballgame. How long did it take your team to kind of adjust to playing in the NCAA tournament? Well, honestly, it didn't take this team very long, and thankfully, we recruited a team that every player that played has played in the NCAA tournament and played multiple games. and so that was kind of intentional, not kind of,

it was intentional in the way we recruited because we just felt like maybe some guys didn't have the greatest numbers or whatever it may be, but they had all had success on teams and played a role that was significant on a team that was able to compete in the NCAA tournament. I mean every player, like literally every transfer

we've signed since we've been here in the portal has played the NCAA tournament. So I do think that, That was a benefit. We didn't handle the end of the half. We got a little fatigued, and we got up 15, and we let them back in the game, and they cut it to four before the half. But really, to start the game, it felt like we settled in pretty well.

Yeah, I mentioned the end of the half. It's really interesting, right? Because you want to go in up 10, up 11, to where they go into their locker room, and no matter what belief they have, it's dwindling. instead you had to think only up four like now of a sudden they're like we got them we're in a good space what was your message at halftime well it really keyed around offensive rebounding and limiting their second attempts and you know that's the great thing you know dog about having these the technology that we have so i had six clips of them getting offensive rebounds or them beating our guys and i went in there and pulled it up because, you know, these tournament games, you get 20 minutes. So that was the first thing we showed them. We showed them a few possessions offensively of things we can do better,

and then we showed them clips at which we felt like we had holds and what we were doing defensive rebounding-wise. And so there's no argument anymore. It's just these are the things we've got to fix, and it's not to say you can do it because they're such a good team at rebounding, specifically from the guard spots. but it at least made it clear what the message was in order for us to win the game.

Yeah, yeah, and you end up out rebounding them? You only have six turnovers as well, right? I mean, if you outrebound a team and you only have six turnovers, despite the fact, which is kind of strangely, you're a good free throw shooting team, didn't shoot the ball well from the free throw line. Like, you're going to win more often than not, and you did.

Grant McAllen joining us, he's head coach at Texas Tech. He's been a head coach at Arc State and North Texas. and now in his second year at Texas Tech, they're 26 and 8. And the reward is the Drake Bulldogs. And Ben McCollum, who of course has won four national titles of Division 2 level. We played against Super Bowl of this year. How do you prepare for that pace?

One of slowest paces in the country, how do you prepare your team for that? Well, ironically, the three seasons before that, before we got here at Texas Tech, our North Texas team was the slowest team in the country. and I talked to Ben literally every day the second year I was at North Texas in prep or the third year I talked to him basically every day for about an hour in prep for that season and I'm not joking I mean it was probably five months that I talked to him just about every day and we went over philosophy he watched film of our team and told me our offense sucked and so I went back and watched his teams and saw how

well they moved the ball and so he and I became really close We'd known each other a while, but we became really close about eight years ago. And just we talked a lot. And so we modeled a lot of our teams after the Texas Tech team and the Virginia team with Tony Bennett that played in the national championship game in 19. And then I talked to Ben because he'd won so many national championships, like how could we do that at North Texas? So familiar with that. I mean, you just got to be comfortable with the fact that you're going to be in a grinder.

I mean, you can think you can speed teams like that up. you cannot. You really just got to take advantage of the opportunities you get and be a gritty team in regards to how you manage every possession. And don't panic. That's the key to these games. Don't panic. And it sounds easy, right? You're like, I've done this, but it's different for your kids. It's just, it's very, very different for those plays. Grant McCaskin, joining us on the Doug Gottlieb show on Fox Sports Radio. Obviously, coming from North Texas, coming from Arc State to Tech. And for people who don't know, tech has an unbelievable level of investment in not just the program. Everybody talks about NIL, but like practice facility, the fans,

the arena, like the whole thing is national championship ready. I was, I started the show talking about here you have Bill Selfen and John Caliperi, and there are two guys that have one national titles, two Hall of Famers. And I don't, they don't look uncomfortable, but it's such a different environment for them. You know, self had at one point a line up with four transfers out there, right? It's just so very different for them. For you, what has the kind of evolution of the sport been like? Well, I mean, you know this, Doug. We needed it. And so whether anybody likes it or not, it feels like this is just what should have happened at a more rapid pace over time. And we held on to something that wasn't sustainable until it broke. And then it just,

just kind of broke everybody in a fashion that feels like it's separated, you know, a lot of people quickly. And I do know, and you know this, and I'm thankful that I've been turning over rosters and teams, and that experience of doing that and not having the continuity gives you a different confidence level of what it is that you're looking for in a short amount of time. And I just think that's extremely different than, hey, we're going to get this guy and he's going be with us for four years. And that mentality over time is helpful in some scenarios, but it just wasn't my story and our story. I mean, I was a part of rosters and I took, you know, junior college to Division II and then was at Arkansas State. Then one year later, I was at North Texas, and then

we revamped that roster and flipped it in two years and had transfers every year. So I will tell you, the biggest thing for me is really trying to find the quality of a guy that you want to be around day that you feel like believes in winning. And I know that sounds easy, but it really is not. It's unique to every team of finding that. And I think the obsession with finding guys that really want to win in a climate where everything's changing quickly is probably the most valuable that you can find. No, I could not possibly agree with you more.

I had a conversation with a parent two days ago, three days ago, talk for an hour. I hung up the phone I talked to my staff and they're like What'd you think coach? And I said we talked for an hour Not one second to the parent Talk about hey my kid can help you win None of it And I was like I think I'm gonna

Think I'm gonna Think I'm gonna pass All right so you have the day off A day to prep They run a million things He has guys You know Ben has guys that have played for him for four and five years Four and five years

how do you prep for a Drake and Ben McCullum in, you know, 48 hours? Well, you know, it's crazy, but because we're so close, and obviously Jeff Lender was an assistant in Poria State, Ben took his spot when Jeff came and he and I worked together at Midland College back in 2003. So it's a wild circle, but we actually scrimmaged them at our place in October. So, I mean, who would have thought? Not me, but when the first two brackets came up, first two regions. That's crazy. That's crazy.

So, like, when the first two brackets came up in the NCAA tournament, and I knew they would be somewhere around, you know, a 10, 11, you know, seed, and I knew we were probably going to be a three. And I was just like, don't say it, you know. And so I sent a message to Ben after the second bracket came out with the hand over the face emoji. Like, is this really going to be us? And sure enough, you know, there it came. So I just, you know, you prepare basically in regards to now we kind of know what it is for both of us.

I mean, they're not going to be overly concerned about size and athleticism because they played K-State. They played Missouri. I mean, they're going to be teed up for it. and at least we have some film of trying to guard a lot of their actions that we can at least reference that our guys have a genuine respect for the way those guys compete and how good they are. Yeah, that'll be fun. Fun and yet not fun.

That's what it is. I basically paid for a – I got paid for a coaching clinic when we played there. As I walked away, I was like, hey, coach, I got a lot of notes. I really appreciate the coaching clinic. Thanks so much shook the hand. And he was really kind after beating us. Hey man, always rooting for you. Keep it going, and thanks so much for being our guest on Fox Sports.

You're the best, brother. Good to catch up. Talk to you soon. Thanks, Grant. Grant McCasland, head coach of the Red Raiders of Texas Tech. You want to talk about evolutions. And obviously, I think it happened when Chris Beard was there. But, you know, I was obviously played in the Big 12, and we're at Oklahoma State.

They opened that arena. When my senior year, so at 99, 2000, and it's always been beautiful, and they used to say it was too big. It's too big, it's too big, it's too big. And now it might be too small. You can win a national championship there, as Chris Beard nearly did.

And Grant McAssum's got a chance to win one this year. I'm Doug Gottliebent for Colin. This is The Hurt on Fox Sports Radio on the I-Heart Radio app. Are the Warriors' title hopes in trouble? Wait to you hear what happened next. Be sure to catch live editions of The Herd, weekdays at noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific.

Hey, it's Steve Kavino. And I'm Rich Davis. And together we're Kavino and Rich on Fox Sports Radio. You can catch us weekdays from 5 to 7 p.m. Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and of course the IHeart Radio app. Why should you listen to Kovino and Rich? We talk about everything, life, sports, relationships, what's going on in the world? We have a lot of fun talking about the stories behind the stories in the world of sports and pop culture. Stories that, well, other shows don't seem to have the time to discuss.

And the fact that we've been friends for the last 20 years and still work to together. I mean, that says something, right? So check us out. We like to get you involved, too. Take your phone calls, chop it up, as they say. I'd say the most interactive show on Fox Sports Radio. Maybe the most interactive show on Planet Earth. Be sure to check out Covino & Rich live on Fox Sports Radio on the IHeart Radio app from 5 to 7 p.m. Eastern, 2 to 4 Pacific.

And if you miss any of the live show, just search Covino and Rich, wherever you get your podcast and, of course, on social media. That's Cabino and Rich. Hey, it's us to Jonas Brothers, and guess what? We have some big news. What's the news, news? is we created our own podcast called Hey Jonas. We invented a podcast?

Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts. Pretty, yeah, pretty wide range of podcasts. We're starting a trend. But this one's extra special. So how do we actually come up with a name, Hey Jonas, guys? I honestly don't remember.

I think it was on a call about what we should call it. Well, we were thinking I'm originally calling it one of the early names of our band before Jonas brothers. This is how you guys remember it going down? Yes. I have a very different memory of this. We were talking about a thing, a bit for the podcast, where people could call in and say, hey, Jonas.

And then I wrote down on my little notepad, Hey Jonas, and offered it up as a potential title for the podcast. But thanks for remembering that, guys. Listen to Hey Jonas on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, Not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends.

Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Last night, a blown call changed the game. Morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athlete themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions,

the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, We break it down, give you context, and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports Slice brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slicelife 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. The French Open is one of the toughest tests in tennis.

And I know firsthand because I competed there myself. I'm Renee Stubbs. And on the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast, I'm breaking down. on everything happening at Roland Garris. Every match, every upset, and what it really takes to win on Clay. Jen she went. I mean, she went down at three to Rabakina, but I'm delighted. She's an outsider to win the French for me.

And she likes Clay. Listen, Lena Rubakina is arguably the best player in the world right now. And I actually can win on any surface. Because if she's serving, well, good luck. Consider this your court side seat to the French Open. Listen to the Renee Stubbs tennis podcast on the Eye Heart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports.

Doug Ghalyman for Colin Cowher. This is the Hurd, Fox Sports Radio, IHeart Radio app. Welcome in. Grant McAllen spoke glowingly about Ben McCullum, the Drake head coach, who's won four national titles at Northwest Missouri State. He'll join us top of next hour. He's the head coach at Drake. Bulldogs took down the Missouri Tigers. Last night, got lead start to finish. And, you know, I think. the mainstream world has learned what we in college basketball knew, which is Drake's been for real all year, undefeated in the non-conference, beat Vanderbilt, beat Kansas State.

They're legit. And Ben McCullum, obviously, that guy's a ball coach. He's pretty darn good. He'll join us top of next hour. Plus, you'll hear interesting thoughts from Najee Harris on his former team, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Speaking of the Pittsburgh Steelers, we have breaking news. as a part of Heardline News with Ryan Music.

No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the Heard Line News. Hello, Ryan. Oh, Doug, good morning, and I don't know, you know, normally Monday mornings, second hour, we do where Colin was right, where Colin was wrong. This will be a little Heard Line News, NFL update,

and where Doug Gottlie was right. breaking news coming out of Pittsburgh that's right Jerry Doolock a longtime reporter for Pittsburgh and the Steelers tweeting out breaking Aaron Rogers is at the Steelers facility today

an indication a deal with the team could be forthcoming per sources Aaron Rogers Steelers facility deal potentially incoming that tracks that tracks and for what I was referencing

to those who did know yesterday on the show, Doug very clearly laid out. Aaron Rogers making an announcement about the team he will sign with in the middle of the start of March Madness weekend is perfectly Aaron Rogers. Now, I will say that it does, it's a little bit like a holiday weekend, right? So it kind of becomes a Friday news dump. But it's a sports holiday weekend. So, yeah, Aaron Rogers will be on the bottom line on every sports broadcast network. I do think that if we're honest with ourselves, no matter what you feel about Aaron, positively or negatively, and how he handles himself, or even how he played this year with the Jets, he started to look.

He looked washed early in the year, but by the end of the year, he's not vintage Aaron Rogers, but he's pretty good quarterback. Totally. A pretty good quarterback. Yeah, I mean, him and Cousins were like in reverse. Cousins was better early and then fell off a cliff. Rogers did not look right initially. And then, you know, it feels like most people tuned out because you sort of made your opinion formed your opinion.

Ah, he can't play anymore. Ah, the Jets are a dumpster fire. And actually, the last 9 or 10 games, he was very much in that, like, you know, maybe like the 15th most productive, 14th most productive quarterback in the league. Fair. Fair. Fair, fair, fair point. Fair point.

What's next? All right. You talked about this before the break. before this NBA NFL news is some NBA news. Warriors got the win last night, but Steph Curry went down hard, had to leave the game late in the third quarter, driving to the

hoop, hit up high by two Raptors players, landed hard on his back. Warriors are saying it is a pelvic contusion injury. That's right. He was taken in for an MRI. No reported results just yet. Head coach Steve Kerr after the game did say Curry thought he might be able

to make a comeback, but we just decided not to risk anything. Hopefully, It's not bad. So the surging warriors dealing now with a potential injury, hopefully not serious, to Steph Curry. I don't think you've ever heard of a pelvic contusion. I would say, though, that when you think of pelvis, we think of the front side. That sounds like a tailbone, right? Yeah.

Isn't the tailbone technically a pelvic injury? I need a ruling. If you want to tweet at us, let us know. Got one more? That is it for right now. We can do a quick tournament update. have Alabama taken on Robert Morris. They're up eight in the early in the start of that game. And then we also have Baylor taken on Mississippi State. They have a four-point lead over

Mississippi State. And that's rhyme music with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Hurd-Lie News. So I'm a, you know, obviously in this form of the business, been 23 years. I'm a son of a coach, brother of a coach. And now I am a coach myself. self, everybody in coaching knows who Ben McCullum is, or now everybody in the mainstream world knows who he is. The Drake head coach joins us next in The Hurt in Foxport Trudeo. Hey guys, it's us. The Jonas Brothers. I'm Joe.

I'm Kevin. And I'm Nick. And guess what? We created our own podcast called, Hey, Jonas. We invented a podcast? Well, we didn't invent it. We just contributed to it. We're the first people to do podcasts.

We get to ask other people questions because we're sick and tired of being asked questions. Well, sick and tired is a strong way to put it. but, you know, tired and sick, tired and sick. Listen to Hey Jonas on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Just listen. We don't care where you hear it. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite.

Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on. A Mormon polygamist and an Armenian businessman. Multi-million dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, a billion dollar fraud. But how long can this alliance last? Tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. And every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. and we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves.

Their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to SportsSlic on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.