The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Jenkins and Jonez - The Lakers Experiment Is Over + Torres Fontain On Being A South Carolina Practice Player

Episode Date: April 7, 2022

The guys discuss the Russell Westbrook experience and the Lakers missing the playoffs and Kansas beating North Carolina in the men’s championship game before bringing on Torres Fontain, a former practice player for the South Carolina women’s team, to explain what it’s like being a practice player and what makes Dawn Staley such a great coach. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The volume. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. 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, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

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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 IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but, celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. On the Look Back at it podcast. For 1979, that was a big moment for me. Eighty-four is big to me. I'm Sam Jay. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it with our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A quick scroll of sacks.com is your guide to shopping the best spring fashion.

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This new exhibit will give you the experience of descending from the ocean surface through the dark abyss, to the sea floor and a rare look at the animals that thrive in the depths. Into the Deep feature species displayed for the first time anywhere. Some, so new to science, they have yet to be named. Don't miss it. Buy tickets and reserve your day at Monterey Bay Aquarium.org. This episode is brought to you by Square. What if your business could sell anywhere at any time and open to more customers, all by making one simple choice?

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sent you. That's J-A-N-D-J. Disclaimer must be 21 and over and present in Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, or Wyoming. Gambling problem called 1-800 next step. Welcome to Jenkins & Jones on the Volume Podcast Network. It is Wednesday, April 6th, and we're talking a lot of college hoops before we transition into NBA playoff talk on the next episode, we are going to be joined by Torres Fontaine, friend of the show, who was a practice player in the South Carolina women's program. So very excited to get some insight on Don Staley and the game cacks just won their national championship. As always, Jengis and Jones

hosted by my good friends, Dragonfly Jones, aka Tyler. Hey, everybody, I've a good. The Jethro Jenkins, aka John. What's that, Bubb us? And before we get to college hoops, we do have to to talk a little bit of NBA because there's some big news. Very proud to be a Lakers fan. The Lakers beat the Warriors 134 to 123 to advance to the G-League Western Conference semifinals. South Bay Lakers led by Mack McClung dropping 27 and 10 in a closeout W. This is what Lakers Nation is all about.

They tried to tell me this season was a disappointment. We're going to the fucking semi-finals, bro. The G-Leaks. The son zipped them boys up second year in a row, man. Damn. I don't know. It's wild. I don't feel any type of way about it.

It's more, I guess I'm a bit relieved that I don't have to go through the fake hope of maybe saying that they'll pull it together. But because I started to give it up on that fucking pipe dream, you know what I mean? So, you know, just go ahead and take old yellow out back and put it out its misery, man. It's time, bro. This was the worst experiment ever. Okay. I have moved, bro. Like, this is the worst science experiment ever seen.

Bro, y'all know I tapped out like 10 games in. I'm like, yo, this ain't it. I quit. Y'all like, it's broad. He can do anything. I'm like, not today, Bubba. Not with them uncle legs. You know what I'm saying?

He can get his 30, but he can't guarantee to help everybody else. Gee, you feel me? Like, duh, great year for Brian. You know what I mean? I don't know how I feel about AD experiment when we're talking about this shit. the most important thing you need to do as a basketball players be available. He's played, I think he's played 60-something games in two seasons. Bro, we plan up.

We paying Westbrook $47 million. You know what I mean next year? I don't know what needs to be done, but some needs to be done, Gee. Brown's wasting years. And we can't expect him to be putting this much effort into trash-ass seasons. We need to see him playing with his son. You feel what I'm saying? So I think that's the goal now.

Preserve Brian until he's 48 and Bronny's in the league. You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah, for sure, you know, lowered expectations or whatever you want to call it. I had high hopes, man. You know, if Bron could have got a ring for Russ and Mello, like two of my favorite fucking hoopers ever, like this would have been a perfect season. But, you know, we knew early, you know, this shit wasn't clicking, bro.

This curl was not quite curling, you know what I'm saying? I was like, man, I don't know, man. The pick was not quite rolling. Yeah, yeah. I still remember that time. Who's going to stop the pick and roll with E.D. Westbrook. Fucking. Everybody.

Everybody. Everybody. Me, you. So me. You know what I'm saying? Knee tendons. You know, everybody was going to stop that. Right.

They were going to stop themselves. You know what I mean? Like, Jesus Christ. Oh, man. How do y'all feel about AD for? I know he's great. He's a. a God-tier player when he's healthy, but he's just not been healthy.

You know what I'm saying? And it feels like the bubble, you know, that year was somewhat of an anomaly. You know what I mean? I'll say this first of all because, and I understand people hate the Lakers. It's, you know, that's all good. I, the, people who write off the bubble championship or something, it's kind of hilarious to me. Like, that's just simple.

So to me, like, you make a trade, you give up some young players who are good, but who are not going to win you a championship. And you get a championship out of it. Any professional sports team, I know the Lakers are one of those teams where the fans expect a championship every year, but any professional sports team that makes a move that leads to a championship, the move works, right? Yeah,

and especially for me, that being during the pandemic, that's like one of my favorite sports moments ever, was being stuck at home with my family and actually having something to be happy about for a couple weeks during the playoffs. Since then, you know, it has definitely been a rough couple of seasons. AD unfortunately was getting some of the best jokes off at the Lakers expense last night. He said we have more starting lineups than wins.

He was right. I think he has to know that that's centered on him, you know. So I just hope that he does whatever he needs to do some injury stuff's out of your control. Some of it's not out of your control. and I hope that he does whatever he needs to do physically this offseason to come back ready. But I would have thought this would have been the year that he did that. So, you know, I don't really know what to,

I don't really know what to say about it. I think the criticisms of Braun the last week for not playing are the stupidest fucking thing ever. The dude is the age he is. That's a legit ankle roll. People who don't understand that once you roll an ankle a couple times, you roll it easier, they've never rolled an ankle. You know what I mean?

But that dude fucked his ankle? up. I wouldn't be out here grinding bone on bone right now either to try and make the 10 seed so you could play the sons if you win to play in games. So you can play the sons who just cooked you. Like, you know, I don't, I fully behind Braun resting and supporting him, you know, his body getting ready for next year. But as far as AD, the trade was a success. They won a championship. But last two years are tough, man. Yeah, no. Yeah. No, yeah, you're right. The trade was a success. I'm thinking about the future. We needed the last two years for AD to be the best player on the team in order for them to be what we expected them to be. And we just don't get that

partially. I mean, I agree. He played it. It was rough at the beginning of the season, but he played great when he was back, but he just wasn't healthy. You know what I'm saying? So when he's available, he's fucking AD, but he just is not available. And I don't know how that changes as he gets older. You know what I mean? And like you said, if he was going to- season standing on a fucking balance board and stop falling down every 20 fucking seconds. It drives me crazy. Grab the little shit that Brian does and get that core writer. Whatever the fuck you need to do on that fucking ad ball.

You know what I'm saying? To get those, get that shit stabilized or whatever. But bro, I don't know it needs to be done. But I mean, I don't, I think he brought this up. Some of those injuries, man, like, I mean, there's a frequent, obviously when like, you know, Brian actually bumped the player into him and all that. But I don't, I don't, I'm wondering if he is just one of those guys. I mean, Brian is different.

You know, Brian does that shit, but also Brown has a bill that allows him to take a lot of punishment. AD doesn't necessarily have that build. Most people don't. So I don't know if it's going to change. I mean, AD, you know, he tried, we saw him bulk up. He came in about 15 pounds heavier. And that fluidity that he had that made him a fucking menace. That shit was gone because of that.

You know what I mean? So we can't go that route again. So I always had NBA live. Pulp down. Yeah, right? So I honestly don't know what you do with with AD here besides, you know, pray and hope for the best. But as far as, you know, is, you know, are there any regrets about moving forward, you know, and how they, you know, blew up the young core for 80? No, no, I don't think you regret that at all.

Right. Nobody's question. Yeah, yeah. Because, for one, you don't. Laker haters are all over that. Like, oh, you, you know, you believe the shit up for a bubble championship, you know, whatever, whatever, whatever. No, that's silly. I mean, for one, you don't win championships with young guys.

You know what I mean? And two, young cores usually break themselves up, right? Like, like, you know, young guys want more of a spotlight and they'll leave. They want a bigger bag that their team won't be able to give them. they leave. Young cores usually do not stick together anyway. So if you got it in you to blow that shit up and get a ring out of it, blow that motherfucker up. You know what I'm saying? So it's, I don't think there's any regrets on the Lakers on that part. Yeah, for sure. Um, all right. Anyone else have anything mean to say about the Lakers or can we talk about, let's talk about the children.

Yeah. What's interesting is people saying that like, you know, magic is dry snitching on Brian. Yeah, we already knew. You know what I mean? We knew. We knew when with Chris Haynes and when, I, He was reporting what Brian said. So, you know, Brown was, you know, putting out there that he wanted. No, we knew that. I knew that was cap. And it's okay to say Brian wanted Westbrook. I get it.

You know what I'm saying? It's, you know, GM LeBron. He's won chips being GM LeBron. You can make a mistake. This is a big mistake. You know what I'm saying? It was a bad experiment. But it's okay, bro.

He made that decision. He wanted Westbrook. I get it. We all wanted Westbrook to work out. We were all excited when it happened. Emotionally. Emotionally. Emotion.

But yeah, like you said, like I guess, once, once I thought, for eight seconds. I didn't see it making sense. And it didn't. I mean, I give you credit for being, it's always fun to be right when you're cynical and it's always fun to quit early and be right about that too. And I give you credit for both of those things. You are, you, you, you will. Thank you, you, God of Basile. I'm holding on to this. This might not have a four year and a half. I might not be right. You quit eight games in and you had a much more enjoyable winner than Tyler and I did. I went to the game. I went to the game when they played the pelicans and they lost.

I enjoyed the hell out of that loss. Braun gave me 38. I didn't give a fuck about a dub. I knew they weren't going nowhere anyway. I'm just there, you know, I'm just there to enjoy myself. I mean, and truth be told, I wasn't locked in and like all the way invested. I was like, hey, man, you never know. You never know.

You never know. Yeah, yeah, I think we know now. This is your shit happened. And Ron is still Bronn. He can't out. He couldn't. He couldn't, Brian. I don't think.

He averaged the second most points of his. career. Yeah, this, but this, but this, but like we saw, a lot of it was taken away from defense. I mean, we're looking at, I'm looking at Brown on the defensive end, and he doesn't have, like, the same amount of, he doesn't have the same engine he had or the same goal he had, where he could do it on both sides for, you know, for 48 minutes. He's playing three point, he's playing three point line to three point line. Yeah, he's, this is, this is, this is Brian's old man game. And it's beautiful to watch. And it's 30.5 points for game. It's a 30 point old man game, But we shouldn't expect the old man to be out there stopping motherfuckers on D either.

And he can't get really, can't really get by people as like he used to either. But that stroke, I mean, the way he's playing, it's up top. It's beautiful. You know what I'm saying? You know, I mean, it was an impressive reinvention. It just, the team needs an impressive reinvention to not waste next year. All right, let's talk college hoops for a couple minutes. We've got cock talk coming up with Torres.

But first, we've got to have some rock chock talk. We got to, bro, I wish I'd never said cock talk. That was the worst shit. It's the best shit. It is the best fucking thing. There's so much going on right now, bro. We are getting paid to have a continual cock theme on our podcast. I'm not overwhelmed by all of this.

There will always be space in my heart for cock talk. Okay, I'll tell you that. Well, good for you, man. Jesus Christ. What do we think, Tyler, as a North Carolina fan? If I told you before the tournament started, you could ruin Coach K's retirement party, but not win a championship. I feel like you take that 100 times out of 100. Does losing, does blowing the biggest lead ever in a championship game, does that cut back in the other direction?

Like, how do you feel, now that you've had a couple days of space from it, how do you feel about the tournament as a whole for North Carolina? I think it does. I think it gives Duke fans ammo, unfortunately. I think that, you know, whenever, you know, Carolina fans are going to clown a Duke fan about how, you know, Carolina sent Coach K's ass home. The Duke fan is going to pull out that motherfucking, okay, but what happened to next game out there, back pocket? You know what I mean? They're going to slam

that car down on the table. And, you know, of course, I'm sick for you and see that they didn't win a championship. I wanted them to win it. But, you know, it was a hell of a run. You know, an 8 seed, you know, getting to the championship, you know, a team that wasn't ranked. You know, Carolina was getting spanked this year. They had like fucking three or four, 20, 30 point losses. And to make it to the championship, man, and, and, you know, get that close.

It's, it's, there's nothing to be proud of. Like, Hubert Davis himself said that, you know, he, he, he felt weirdly, he was, he said that he felt weirdly happy. He wasn't disappointed at all. Yeah. Which is like a whole fucking 180 from, remember when, when Nova hit that game went and that motherfucker was ugly crying in the locker room? You remember that shit?

Like, yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, you know, it's, there's nothing to be ashamed of. And like, you know, a college sports, you know, I'm saying, like, like, John, I'll say your two, where you were like, after the game, I just turn it off. Because, you know, seeing those kids get their heart broken. and crying and shit. Like, that shit does something to us, you know, in our older years now.

And, you know, unfortunately, someone has to lose these games. And I, you know, I hate that it was Carolina. But, you know, congrats to Kansas. Yeah, bro, that's what, that's what tripped me out. I mean, I've noticed it more. But, like, this year, I just, after the games, turn it off. I can't sit and watch these kids take that L. You know what I mean?

But, I mean, bro, you can't. I wouldn't. If a fan relies on another team winning to make you feel bad, bad. You know, like, I just couldn't give a fuck about somebody saying, well, what happened next game? Well, what happened in the game? We actually played, motherfucker. But I remember, I remember my homie hump hit me up when the first time that Duke was, when Coach Kay's last game, when Duke took the L. And he was talking about North Carolina. I was like, yo, how is, how is UNC look this year? Because he's a UNC fan. And he was like, man, they're trash. Y'all probably

going to cook us. You know what I mean? And I think that game started them being like, okay, you know, we really got what got that, got that. and it got them to this chip. So I don't know, man. Like I said, you know, I'm, if I'm rude for anybody, I'm rude for the crib, you know what I'm saying? So I wanted to see, you know, Caleb Love get his off. He seemed little timid, you know what I'm saying, not as aggressive as he's been. But, I mean, you know, good player.

Hope to see him in the league doing this thing, you know what I mean? But seeing these kids, like, break down and, like, you know, fucking Puff Johnson throwing up because he's going so crazy. Right. You know, like, I mean, like, you see what they give to it. You know, back hot, you know what I'm saying? Come and playing as hard as he was, you know what's like Baycott, without the, without the, with the ankle injury, hurting it again.

Like, man, like, it's, you see everything these kids give it to it. Even in the, when they were playing Duke, when Baycott was hurt, was walking off. He could even put pressure on that ankle. And he was walking off. He's decided to come back. One of his players looked at me, looked at his player. He said, fuck it. That shit, that shit brought me, like, I had chills when I saw that shit.

I'm like young man, you know what I mean? You got 20 rebounds, bro. You got a future ahead of you. Take care of yourself, you know what I mean? And he came out there and still played. You know what I mean? It's hard to see kids putting that much amount of effort in this stuff and then taking else.

But like you said, somebody has to lose. I think it's, you know, the format of the tournament is so fun to watch as a fan. But it really is the cruelest sports tournament that you've got. How many teams are in there now? 68 teams. You have 67 teams are crying and didn't 67 get in. Going home sad. Half of them is a huge deal that they're there and they're gone 24 hours after they get to the fucking venue.

You know, I mean, it's a, it is cruel and punishing. And I think it's kind of crazy that the UNC Duke stuff shook out the way it did such that Kansas winning a national championship. they were a one seat. It's not like they snuck up on anyone. Right, right. Imagine an Olympics where doping 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-Hart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show.

This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be.

Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast.

Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fans, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of Tontons and Wampas on the ice planet hot,

or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith Rule of Two. Listen to Stuff to Bole Your Mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush

didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do a Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jett. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here,

unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack, so I'm starting to see that there's a through line.

We also have AIDS on the table right now, so. Then you're finishing that sentence. Yes, I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years. for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the Iheart radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It was like the most under the radar sports story ever. But even so like the only other note I had that I wanted to talk about was what the fuck was up with the court? USC looked like they played a football game. They had half the team didn't make it out of the fucking game. They had dudes barfing. They had do his mannick goes down on a loose floorboard in the national.

championship game. I mean, that was the craziest shit I've ever seen. But you got to double check the floors put together, bro. Come on, man. This is a national championship. Yeah, that was a tough break right there, no pun intended. I don't know. It just feels, you know, weird.

Like, there was a whole lot of pushback when the Final Four went to, like, the football dome model. You know what I mean? A lot of, you know, people were concerned with one, like, death perception because it fucks up kind of gameplay a bit there. But, you know, shit like that, man, where they're not even, you know, putting the fucking floorboards down right. Like, goddamn, get it together, NCAA. Well, you know, this underrated part of basketball, too, to be honest with you, I covered an NCAA game where the decal was not the right kind of decal that they had stuck down on the court and kids were slipping on it.

I mean, you know what I mean? It's shit like that where it's just like because basketball is indoors, you don't think of it the way you do with football or baseball or something where you're like, if there's issues with the playing surface, it's a safety concern. You don't really hear people talk about that in basketball, but it absolutely is a huge issue in basketball. And I should have something like that after the National Championship. I was kind of shocked. Then you get that fixed. They got to take care of these kids, man.

All right. Stick around. We'll be back to talk to Torres Fontaine. This episode is brought to you by Square. What if your business could sell anywhere at any time and open to more customers all by making one simple choice? Running your business with Square means being able to sell just as easily, whether it's in person, online, or on social media.

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Gambling problem, call 1-800 next step. Now welcome on our special guest, Torres Fontaine, host of the podcast, All You Do Is Talk. But for today, most importantly, as part of our special cock talk segment, a former practice player at South Carolina. First of all, I love practice player stories. I don't feel like everyone understands this aspect of the women's game. But we've written a couple of them.

Those are always like the wildest features. and I think I'm glad John had the idea to bring you on. So can you first just explain what a practice player is for the people who don't follow women's basketball? Yeah, for sure. First of all, as a practice player, I think in the beginning you kind of come in thinking like, I'm just here to get some shots up to hoop a little bit. But no, bro, you're actually coached like you're one of the players. So you might have one of the assistant coaches that are like giving you plays.

they're making sure you're doing the right things on defense. The only thing they really ask you if you're playing against a women's team is to play below the rim. But other than that, like you're out there going on hard, bro. Like you're actually a D like Liz says, a D1 athlete. You can, you know, enjoy all the perks that D1 athletes to enjoy. You have to academically qualify to. You have to qualify too, yeah. Well, we had a story at Long Beach State and one of the male practice players for the women's basketball team

was academically ineligible when they were going to the conference tournament. And the coach was like, you believe the shit I got to deal with out here. This fucking get on the practice squad to make grades. Yeah, they don't fuck around, man. They don't mess around. For sure. No, no, I was going to say. So something that really jumped out to me was when Dawn Staley, after she got her, you know, after she won the chip, she shouted out the bench players.

She shouted out, you know, the players who might not have played in the championship game. but, you know, they were the ones who, you know, helped them with game preparation and practice all the time. And that just floored me, right? Because I know Don Staley is super solid, but you don't see coaches like, shout out, you know, bench players who don't get in the game. And for her to do it, you know, after beating Yukon against a coach like Gino, Gino will have the number one player in the country and flat outside. She was horrible today. You know what I mean? Like, it's two different ends of the spectrum with the way those two approach the game and scenes.

And so, you know, I'm just kind of curious, like, you know, from someone who's been on the inside and worked with Dawn Staley, like, Like, how would you say that she approaches the game in her preparation and making, you know, every player feel valuable? Because that moment, like, spoke volumes for her character. Yeah, I mean, it might sound cliche, but she really preaches people playing their roles. And it's not, it's not saying that she's not going to coach hard to the players who might not play as much. It's actually quite the opposite. Like, she's going to coach you like you're, you know, like you're going to go out there. play 40 minutes.

You know what I'm saying? Like she's, she's really, she's really, uh, brought this system to South Carolina that even if you don't play as much, like you're here for a reason. And so,

um, one thing, one quote that she said, uh, a few days ago, I think she said, um, you're dealing with these kids dreams.

And I was like, damn, like, that's so real because when she, when you look at it that way, you can't, you can't cut corners. you can't like lie to these kids you can't try to prop them up on a pedestal like you have to realize that

they're going to be gone from your school one day and they're going to be out in the real world and i think that's what don really um that's how she approaches the game i when i read that article i think it was in sports illustrated she said i'm dealing with those these kids dreams that don't take that lightly yeah and i mean that that blew me away like you know when you're thinking about the the person on end of the bench that's why you call that person out because they had a role to play and she made to coach him coach him up with that role But how was your experience playing against, you know, like she, she, the recruits she brings in are cold as hell, bro. You know what I mean? She has a few that they made it to the league.

You know what I'm saying? Aja Wilson, I think, was playing for South Carolina too, you feel what I'm saying? So how is your experience playing? Because a lot of dudes talk that shit, bro. But, I mean, you know, like you said, we talked about a little bit before and everybody hit you with that hand here. You're going to know what time it is then, you know what I'm saying? It was funny because when I, like my last year, there, Asia was, she was doing a visit.

She was doing an official visit. And one of the players, Lisa Welch, she came over. She put her arm around me. She was like, come to South Carolina. She grabbed another dude named Chris. Put him around here, and she said, this is the type of dudes we got here at South Carolina. Cute, coopers. Oh, look at you, boy. Look at you. I'm sitting there like, he is handsome. You can't see him, but he is handsome. I'm going to let you know that.

Fontaine. You know what I'm saying? He earned that Fontaine. We get into practice and they dogging us, bro. Like they, they, they, it's really on some shit where you think you got to kind of like tone it down because you're, as a man, you're probably more athletic. Sometimes you might be stronger. That was not the case at all, man. Like, and Don treated it that way too. I remember her stopping practice a few times and asking me like, can you go by her?

And I'm like, what you mean? She's like, can you get past her? off the dribble. I'm like, yeah, she's like, do it. You know, I hit a little move, go to the cup. A five, five guard literally took the ball out of my hands as I went up for the layup, bro. Just snatched it. It started the break. So that's the type of, that's the type of, like, like tenacity that they play with. And I don't know how she gets them to buy into that, bro, but it's like every player plays like, this is my last game. I'm about to show you, like, why I belong.

here why I should be in the positions that we're in. You know what I'm saying? But yeah, man, there were some dogs, man. I think, like, now it's great. The women's game's gotten so much more acceptance. Like, they sold out the final four. You know what I mean? The ratings, I think were good on ESPN.

But when I first started covering college sports like 15 years ago, the only, the people who had the most respect for women's basketball in the country were male practice players for women's basketball teams. That makes sense. They were the ones. I mean, this was pre- Twitter even. You know what I mean? Like this was this is free Twitter and it was like those are the people who, because I'm still in touch with some people from when we were in college who, you know, whenever the stupid like how would you do against ex-W NBA player stuff will come around.

It's like the NBA guys were like no. And the people who are on the practice teams were like, no, no, no, no. Right. It's not what you think, man. It's not what you think. I've been literally posted up by a person my side. is my same height, you know what I'm saying? Probably weigh less, 10 pounds less than me.

Just put in the basket by a woman basketball player, man. So it's tough out there. And I will say this too. You can actually hook, too. You're a hooper, bro. You ain't just a dude, you know what I mean? Like I'm not just a dude, you know what I'm saying? You still booming.

You know what I'm saying? Like a dog, that don't make no sense. I don't see how you still doing it, but you're definitely a hooper. So look, man, I'll say this. Like, not to brag anything, but the first time I done it to basketball was in the seventh grade, man. man. I was like 5-8. So he's not regular by 80 standards.

He's got the boy. He's got the boys. I had an older sister, though, who used to bust my ass because she just understood who. Like, she had better footwork. She had a better jump shot. All I could do was jump at the time. You know, so my older sister, you know, she put that respect in me early as a youngster. Let you know what time it is, yeah. For sure, for sure. Exactly.

You know, South Carolina, it's a slept on basketball. hotbed. You know what I mean? Like, like you got job, you got signed, you got, you know, Don Stanley and the game, Cox on top of the college world. You know, you got Ray L and the KG from there. So, so, yeah, I'm just, I'm just curious, man. Can you give us some insight into, like, what the basketball scene is like out there?

I mean, if y'all have hooped where y'all are from, you probably, you probably know this, but like, like, you don't have a lot of resources all the time. So, being from here. So it's really you hooping on the

concrete. Like you hooping with grown men, John, you probably hooped with dudes who were way older than you, way stronger, way bigger. You know, and I, and I'm like, I'm not sure because, you know, that's just, it just seems normal to us, but I can't imagine that would hurt you when you, when you get to play more organized basketball that's in a gym with hardwood, where you don't have to worry about dunking the goal too hard and breaking the rim or something. I never, worry about that. I'll tell you that, bro. I was a shinter. Okay.

Those are shit. We call those champagne problems, bro. I didn't have to worry about that, bro. You know what I mean? Didn't have to. Yeah, man, but it's just, it's just, like, it's tough, bro. Like, I remember playing as a young, and my pops was a hooper, too. You know, my whole family was hoopers.

And my granddad taught us how to play, like, he had a little goal in the backyard, and he got concrete put down and we used to hoop there every day. You know what I'm saying? Like you get beat up, bruised up. Like you got older people betting money on the game. So you just kind of, it kind of puts that competitiveness into you, you know what I'm saying? Like you're dealing with pressure from the time you're like eight because it's like 30 year olds like, yeah, my son. My son's going to be all state next year. Watch, watch. You know what I'm saying? And if they pull you up to that old because you know like there's usually two courts, there's one with the young cats and then there's one with The hoopers and the old dudes.

When you get pulled up from that young joint, you know what I'm saying? You want to show out. You feel what I'm saying? Like, when you're playing with the own hands, and like you said, they bet, I would never bet myself. But I would appreciate people that bet it on me, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, that was interesting. You bring me back, gee, I forgot about all that. Lokeet.

I'm old, you know what I'm telling you. Yeah, you got the park tournaments in the hood where it's like they got a grill out there. They got a DJ. And it's like two of the oldest basketball goals you've ever seen. in your life, bro. The court is half painted, you know what I'm saying? It's a nigga out there with a leaf blower. It's not.

You got a leaf blower? What you got that shit for? You know what I'm saying? I remember there was a, I think she was from, I don't know she was from South Carolina or North Carolina, but I think it's similar as far as basketball. I mean, the love in both, I've been in both states and spent time in both states. And the love is similar.

But I remember she said that she went to school. in Virginia. And when she left, she found, that's the first time she ever saw niggas that didn't hoop. She was like, you know what I'm saying? She was like, oh, there's niggas that don't hoop. I thought everybody hooped, bro. You know what I'm saying? So like, I think South Carolina is school of that. We're like, you know what I'm saying? Like, bro, every, that seems like everybody hoops. You know what I mean? Like, whatever level you are on, you still hoop. And it's interesting because, like, I don't, I don't think I ever really had a hoop dream because I was I was always better at football um but it's kind of like people still stay in

shape like I'm 30 now and I still like I want to be in shape so I can go home and hoop when it's time to hoop you know what I'm saying like and it's not even that you know I'm trying to make it to the league or like you know I didn't already been to college and all that shit but it's like everybody has this mentality where like I got to be able to go home and play in that tournament so we can win like $250 you know what I'm saying? It's really about bragging right. It's really about being able to go to the bar after and be like, yo, I bust y'all ass today, you know what I'm saying?

How does it feel seeing her win? How does it feel like, you know, you watching Don Staley be successful, like knowing how solid she is and having an experience? Like you said, you know, you told me, you know, y'all built a friendship. You know what I'm saying? Y'all built after you leaving school. You feel me? Yeah, yeah.

Just to kind of talk about that a little bit. when I left school, I left USC 2012, and I started working at a nonprofit art house theater in Columbia in 2013. And when I, I think it may be a year into that job, I started seeing Don come in late night. And one day, I just kind of worked up the courage to be like, hey, hey, Don, you remember me? I used to play on your practice team. She came in, she looked and she's like, boy, I know who you are. Bro, I love her. Those are the hardest moments in adulthood, bro.

I hate that shit. It's like, you're too old to be like shy about it, but you're also like, I'm not at your age, so I can't approach you as a year. And also she's Don Staley, you know what I'm saying? And she's Don fucking stupid. But I got a chance. to like thank her for for making me a part of her part of the team or whatever.

And she was just like, you know, that means a lot to me. And every time she would come in, like, we would chop it up about movies. She would like throw a little hints in and be like, hey, you know, my favorite movie is ghost. You know what I'm saying? Like, if y'all want to play that on a late night one day, because she would be like her and maybe her sister, like real late night and movies that you probably would not go see. You know what I'm saying? When you work for independent theater, like you all.

already don't have the blockbusters. And so I think Don were kind of creep in there late so she, you know, she could just enjoy the movie or whatever. But like, you know, that's when we kind of started really like chopping it up and like, you know, I saw her as like just a real, like a real person, a real thing for like a bit of way. I'm curious about like like how the scheduling works. Like, would they ramp it up when there was like a big game on schedule? Like if it was Yukon week or something, like did you know you would need to be on call and you would be there more than if it was, you know, just, you know, like playing, you know, a conference game or something like that. So they really treated it like, like they, they really respected that you had other shit going on.

But at the same time, like, the more you show up, the more engaged they're going to be with you. It's like with anything. Like, you get, you get out of it what you put into it. But, you know, like, like there would be, what I remember is if there was a game on Saturday, On Friday, you're practicing in Colonial. Like, so you're getting the feel, like, you're practicing in the arena that they play in. So you're getting a feel for, like, how is going to be out there. And as a practice player, you're out there, you're like, damn, like, it's an empty stadium.

You know, I had been there before for high school, but it would be, like, people out there. But when you're in there and it's empty and you see all that space, I don't know what it is, but like a bunch of space behind the backboard just kind of changes how you see the court. And that shit kind of like, you look up and you kind of get the chills running down your back and whatever. And I think that kind of ramps it up a little bit where you like, damn, like some real shit goes on this 94 feet. We're not here, you know.

That's fucking perfect. John, you got all the question? That's all the questions I had. Okay, cool. Torres, thank you for jumping on with this, man. Some great insight. Go Cax. I'm very happy that Don's Daily.

Reading Gino feels like a moment that we needed as a country. So, you know, Gino, that's the only Italian I don't root for. I don't know why and when I started rooting against him, but for as long as I can remember, I've never wanted him to win. So, you know, in women's basketball, there's a couple of divisions, bro. And like, one of them, and I've covered women's basketball for the whole time. I've been a sports writer. there's a division between people who recruit

straight athletes versus gay athletes as a division between male coaches and female coaches is kind of a division sometimes between straight coaches and gay coaches. And Gino was just one of those dudes who was on the other end of every one of the divisions of the kind of people and coaches that we covered. You know what I mean? He loves recruiting a straight blonde girl out of a rich family.

He loves that shit. And when Pat Summitt, who's one of my all-time idols up there with Billy Jean King, said, I have no respect for Gino and he knows what he did. I was like, all right, cool. I don't need to fuck with this dude forever. Say less. I knew that. Say less.

Whatever he did. Anyway. If that ain't fucking wish, I ain't fucking wish. All right, Torres, man. Thanks for hopping on. His pot is all you do is talk. I hear there's a couple. episodes of John talking about stuff.

Tyler and I aren't cool enough to talk about it. Yon don't give me the space to talk about it. Fuck as you. Fuck all. Fuck art, nigga. We want to laugh. You don't give a fuck about my little weird shit that I care about.

Hey, but for real, we talk about any and everything. We do, man. We do. Talk about our summer workout plans and shit, bro. It's everything. All right, man.

All right. Appreciate Charles. All right, our thanks to Torres for hopping on with us. That's all the time. We've got no time to get to this and that this week. Sorry. We'll be back on Monday with more this and that, plus some NBA playoffs stuff.

Very excited to have an NBA playoffs look forward to where I just have zero stress about the Lakers. And I won't have these weak-ass transition lenses. Next time, I'll have my contacts back. I want to be out here looking like a fake cool nigger, you know what I'm saying? John Lennon Nichols on the podcast today. Jesus Christ, man. So embarrassing.

I hate this shit. Fucking right by a window on my sleep. I'm inside, bro. Why am I? Why do I have sunglasses on? Why are they transitioning? I'm indoors. John's been smoking too much opium.

He's got to have his tints on. Ew, Johnny with the tints. All right. That's enough, bro. All right. We'll see y'all on Monday. Bye. Bye.

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