The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - UVA Hosts Kansas State In Super Regional; Kansas State at UVA, 7 PM, Friday, ESPNU

Episode Date: June 4, 2024

The Jerry & Jerry Show headlines: UVA Hosts Kansas State In Super Regional Kansas State at UVA, 7 PM, Friday, ESPNU Hoos In Super Regionals 9X In Last 15 Years Hootie’s Golden Nuggets From UVA Regional Dante Harris Withdraws From Transfer Portal Point Guard Harris Returns To UVA As Walk-On Rumor Mill: Reece Beekman Back To UVA? UVA Golfer Ben James Qualifies For US Open Read Viewer & Listener Comments Live On-Air Jerry Ratcliffe & Jerry Miller were live on The Jerry & Jerry Show! The Jerry & Jerry Show airs live Tuesday from 10:15 am – 11:15 pm on The I Love CVille Network. Watch and listen to The Jerry & Jerry Show on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, iTunes, Apple Podcast, YouTube, Spotify, Fountain, Amazon Music, Audible and iLoveCVille.com.

Good Tuesday morning, guys. My name is Jerry Miller. Thank you kindly for joining us on the Jerry and Jerry show. Today's program is loaded. If you're a UVA sports fan, we got a baseball team that's heading to the super regionals. Ladies and gentlemen, a super regional appearance for Virginia for the ninth time in the last 15

years. Brian O'Connor's Virginia baseball team is the winningest college baseball program since he took the job here in Charlottesville in 2004. Are the Hoos getting the national respect they deserve? We'll talk about that on today's program. We'll talk about a regional that was. 6,000 fans and counting and many, many more watching across the ACC network in absolute delight in a positive hysteria as Virginia flexes its muscles at the dish. We'll talk Dante Harris exiting the transfer portal and returning

to the University of Virginia as a walk-on. We're talking the former Big East Tournament MVP coming back to Charlottesville as a walk-on in what is now a very crowded backcourt. We got one guy on the Virginia beat offering the rumor mill, Reece Beekman may return to UVA, strictly rumor at this point. He is not projected to be an NBA draft pick as of now. So much to cover on the show, including a Virginia golfer and Ben James qualifying for the 2024 U.S. Open. Oh, my. Judah Wickhauer, studio camera, and then a two-shot to welcome the star of the program, the Virginia Sports Hall of Famer, Jerry Hootie Radcliffe. Good night, Hootie.

Golf, baseball, basketball? It just continues on, doesn't it? I know. I mean, sometimes in the summer months, you're looking for the stories to cover. Not this particular week, my friend. No, our cup runneth over for sure. And it's a delight to see all the success going around Virginia and some of its athletes. And so happy for Brian O'Connor.

What a delightful human being he is. And, I mean, we had him on the show here in the studio a few weeks ago. And you could tell he was so excited about the potential of this team. And certainly they've lived up to that, if not surpassed expectations. And like you said, the ninth super regional uh they're only one step away from another trip to omaha for goodness sakes and at this point you would have to think that they have a pretty good chance hosting kansas state this coming weekend friday saturday possibly sunday Saturday, possibly Sunday if they need to go that far. And with all the support and the momentum they have, I wouldn't bet against it. No, I wouldn't bet against it at all.

A potential third college World Series trip is on the line. That would be the third in the last four years for Brian O'Connor. Yeah. Going to Omaha for the third time in the last four years, as Hootie Ratcliffe just highlighted, they've got to be the favorite with Kansas State coming to the dish. First pitch Friday, 7 o'clock, ESPNU. We'll talk about the Kansas State matchup in a matter of moments.

That news just released before the program. First, let's talk about the regional. You were there in the press box. People were giving you props over there, Hootie. You were live tweeting. I was watching you while watching on television as well. First, set the stage and paint the picture of what you saw this past weekend. I guess the first thing would be just the atmosphere was amazing.

O'Connor said it was, in his memory, the best regional atmosphere that he could recall. And I would not dispute that. It was, I mean, you had more fans than you've ever had there for a regional. Almost 6,000 every night. And they were into it, man. I mean, they were definitely into it. It was an incredible crowd, and it just made it such a spectacular setting for baseball.

In terms of performance, going in, I guess we all knew that Virginia had one of the best offenses in the country, so that was no surprise. The surprise was that their arms came alive. And, you know, that was the big question mark going in. Can Virginia's pitching staff endure through a tough series against somebody like a Mississippi State? And not only did they endure, they dominated.

Dominated. If I'm Brian O'Connor, I could not have rubbed a genie's lamp and gotten a better performance out of my pitching staff than what he got this weekend with guys going deep into the games, the relievers coming in and shutting people down. Jay Woolfolk. Unbelievable. The best performance of his life. Went from afterthought.

What do you call it? From the doghouse to the penthouse in a lot of ways. Exactly. And he, you know, looking back at the season, except for one game back on, I think, March the 3rd against UMass, which he went six innings, up until the other night, that was the only time he had gone past four and a third all year long. And he goes eight innings.

Maybe he could have finished the game, but there was no reason taking a chance at that point, and so they replaced him to a standing ovation. But, I mean, he dominated a Mississippi State Bulldog batting order that was pretty dangerous. The same Jay Woolfolk guys from the football team that started against, what was it, Notre Dame? Notre Dame as a true freshman. As a true freshman, as a backup, because the starter was injured. Who was the starter at the time?

Brendan Armstrong. Oh, Brendan Armstrong. Yeah. 100%. Yeah, he had to hurt his ribs at BYU. At BYU. In, Brendan Armstrong. Yeah. 100%. Yeah, he had hurt his ribs at BYU. At BYU. In that shootout out there in Provo. You have a good memory.

And he couldn't, you know, he had an idle week, a bye week in between, but still his ribs were so messed up he couldn't throw. And they trot out a first year against one of the most storied programs ever. He gets bamboozled and banged up, Jay Woolfolk. And you've got to understand, the kid's a freshman playing against the fighting Irish. Then he makes the decision, a surprise decision, to leave the football team, where he could have been potentially the starting quarterback. Potentially.

Potentially the starting quarterback. Focuses on baseball. Gets dabbles with team usa has a shaky 2024 i think that's fair and ladies and gentlemen wolfook as hootie rackliff i'm reading it verbatim pitched superbly for eight innings 103 pitches scattering eight hits striking out seven bulldogs walking only one in addition to picking off a key Mississippi State baserunner at second for the second out in the sixth inning. Award-winning writing from the Virginia Sports Hall of Famer.

Woolfolk's got to get some love. He deserves any love he can get. And he was so modest after the game. I don't think he was accustomed to talking to media, particularly a whole room full like there was at the regional. And I think he was a little uncomfortable, maybe a little stunned that he was in that situation, but very blessed and thankful for the opportunity

that Coach O'Connor and Drew Dickinson believed in him, never lost faith in him. And O'Connor said that, you know, I guess it was three weeks ago maybe, he said that he and Dickinson had decided that Woolfolk was going to be their Game 3 starter in the postseason. They planned on starting him had they made it to a game three in the ACC tournament. And they were losing lopsidedly to Florida State. So they decided to throw him in that as a reliever into that game just to get him some throws in prior to the NCAA.

And wow, did he deliver with flying colors. Unbelievable. John Snow watching from Flow Automotive right now. Flow, a fantastic partner of JerryRackliff.com. Love them. He's watching at Flow. Renee Pettiford, one of our favorite viewers and listeners, giving us both props on our polo shirts.

Thank you, Renee. Down in Durham. Down in Durham. She also wants to talk Dante Harris, the rumor mill about Reese Beekman leaving the NBA draft and heading back to UVA. He and I both follow the UVA guys. And unfortunately, Reese Beekman is now falling out of the second round projection-wise by most of the national and global pundits that cover the draft. We'll table basketball just for now, Renee, because we've got so much baseball to cover.

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to read the super regional brackets for the viewers and listeners. Virginia's got Kansas State this Friday at the Dish, first pitch, 7 o'clock ESPNU, game two, 3 p.m. at the Dish on ESPNU. And if necessary, June 9th, Sunday, 3 p.m. on ESPNU. Virginia is a heavy favorite at 44-15 overall. Kansas State, 35-24. If Virginia wins the Super Regional matchup, they head to Omaha,

where they will most likely face the North Carolina Tar Heels. The Tar Heels, a heavy favorite against West Virginia. That's super regional in Chapel Hill, Hootie. Yeah, I watched a little bit of that game yesterday. The Tar Heels came back and beat LSU, which is quite a feat in itself because LSU is probably considered the number one program in the country and one that was hotly in pursuit of Brian O'Connor just a few years ago until he told them he wasn't interested, that he wanted to finish his career at Virginia,

which shows you how fortunate Virginia is to be able to keep a guy of his caliber and not only for his coaching expertise but just a quality human being and a guy who contributes heavily to the community as well but you know we were you were talking a minute ago and we were talking off air about virginia being the winningest baseball program in the nation over the last 21 years since Brian O'Connor came to town. I mean, if you stop and think about that, that's mind-boggling. Mind-boggling. Considering who he's up against.

And because of the sample size. Yeah, exactly. We're not talking a few years here. We're talking two decades. Yeah. It's so overlooked, I think. I mean, you look at the historic programs that get so much attention still to this day. Mississippi State, Arkansas, Tennessee, Southern Cal, Texas, Florida State, Miami, on and on and on.

People rave about them all the time. The national people don't talk about Virginia. And it's about time that I think that they started doing so because what he's done, not just putting Virginia on the map, but they've gone to the College World Series five or six times. They're in the conversation almost every year. And he's the preeminent program in the East, if you ask me. And they just don't get enough credit for what they've done.

Gloria Diane West watching the program right now. She says, let's go to Omaha, boys. Amen. Gloria Diane West, thank you for watching the program. Viewers and listeners, let us know your thoughts. Phillip Dow watching the program. Thank you kindly for watching the show. I promise you we're going to get to basketball.

This is such a basketball fan base. We have so many basketball comments going on here with Dante Harrison, Reese Beekman, Ryan Dunn falling into the second round. This guy was previously at a lottery pick. Now a second-. This guy was previously at a lottery pick. Now a second round projected guy, NBA draft.net has him going to the Knicks in the second round. We're still talking baseball though. I want to highlight the atmosphere. I want to highlight the chanting of UVA. I want to highlight all the fannies in the seats, the hill taken. I want to highlight that it's turned into big-time college baseball.

Highlight the fact that folks are watching on the ACC network television-wise. I mean, we have an atmosphere that is akin to Southeastern Conference baseball. Oh, absolutely. Yeah, I mean, if you look at the attendance statistics over the last few years. Virginia, I think, is one of the very few, if maybe not the only, program in the top 10 or 15 in attendance that isn't an SEC school. So hats off to Virginia fans for their support of this program. Maybe it's time to expand the dish again. I don't know.

If they expand the dish again, I have no doubt they would sell the tickets. I have no doubt about that. Kansas State matchup. What do you make of it? If the pitching performs like we saw in the regional, the hitting and offense is there, but the pitching complementing what's happening at the plate, I mean, you're looking at a team that could potentially win a national championship, and it's all about getting hot at the right time. It truly is, and again, it depends on the arms because I think we saw this in last year's College World Series that sometimes good hitting can get beat by good pitching. And some of Virginia's best hitters last year were pretty much shut down in the College World Series

against Florida and somebody else, Texas or Tennessee, I can't remember. But that's going to be the key going forward is if these pitchers can continue to deliver it at the, at the level that they did this past weekend. I mean, Joe Savino was a spectacular in the first game with Chase Hungate coming in and, and in relief. And then Evan Blanco in the second game was spectacular um and then will folk in the third again you couldn't ask as a coach to have a better performance from your pitching staff and

saving those arms keeping them fresh uh had they needed them for another game, and now going into this weekend against Kansas State, you've got a really fresh pitching staff full of confidence because they had to have gained bukus of confidence in that regional, just the way they shut people down. Gloria Diane West watching in Lexington. She's given props to Jay Woolfolk and his pitching performance. So impressive. I mean, if this fireball and six-footer can deliver like this two or three more times, you're looking at an incredible addition to this roster, an unexpected addition to the lineup.

Oh, no question. I can't remember if we mentioned this off the air or we're on the air, but heading into this weekend, he had only gone more than four and a third innings. And that was in March. That was March the 3rd. Against an afterthought program. Yeah, UMass, he went six in March. That was March the 3rd. Against an afterthought program. Yeah, UMass, he went six innings.

But other than that, his endurance just wasn't there. And we asked him what the difference was. He said there really was no difference. But he said, I always felt like I was one guy that was just kind of one pitch away. One pitch would make or break him, and certainly he found that pitch in his favor over the weekend as it had turned against him prior to that. Phillip Dow in Scottsville says, pitching is going to be the key for this Super Regional.

Early in the season, it's been shaky. And, you know, there's some to that. It was, yeah, it was shaky. And we certainly give you that, and I agree 100% with you, Mr. Dow, on that comment. How about this one right here? If Virginia does get the victory and they match up against the Tar Heels, what do you guys make of that head-to-head in ACC showdown? Well, they played during the regular season.

Virginia won the series 2-1. That was quite some time ago, and both teams have gotten better. It should be a whale of a series should they meet again. No question about it. I think they're pretty even in talent and two great programs. No question about it. I think they're pretty even in talent and two great programs. No question about it. Kevin Yancey in Waynesboro says, good morning, fellas. Hello, Kevin.

We appreciate when you watch the program. I want to highlight this, and the super regional brackets just came out. Tennessee facing Evansville. You have a UConn. Man, what a year for the UConn Huskies. UConn against Florida State and ACC team. You don't think baseball and UConn. They're in the super regionals here.

Yeah, you don't relate those two. No, I mean, guys, can you imagine how cold it is at the start of the baseball season in Storrs, Connecticut? They must play all their games on the road. I mean, good Lord. Playing baseball in march and stores kansas state and virginia another super regional west virginia north carolina oregon texas a&m clemson and florida hell of a matchup there nc state and georgia another super regional and the last one kentucky against oregon state the wolfpack have had a year to remember.

The Atlantic Coast Conference, the following teams in the Super Regional Hootie. Florida State, that's one. UVA, two. North Carolina, three. Clemson, four. NC State, five. Yeah, that's a great representation. Five of 16.

That's pretty good. I mean, everybody thinks it's the SEC all the time, but the ACC has been right there with them. Unbelievable. How many SEC teams are there in there? You got what, Tennessee? You got not many. Florida?

Kentucky. Georgia? Kentucky. That ain't many. Yeah. Kentucky. Georgia. Kentucky. That ain't many. Yeah. I mean, Texas A&M is in there. So five SEC, five ACC. Unbelievable.

I mean, this is a matchup in a super regional that excites all college baseball fans. The park is going to be, the dish is going to be packed again. National coverage. I get, I remember what Coach O'Connor said while sitting next to you. There's not much sports going on in June. He said that. Yeah. And here he is. And ironically, he mentioned that the other night during his press conference after one of the wins over Mississippi State.

The very same thing he said on our show a few weeks ago, that he actually relayed that to UVA's president in a meeting he had with him about how important it is for Virginia baseball to be good at this time of the year because there's no other college sports really going on, and they're getting incredible free advertising nationally in prime time for the University of Virginia, and it's unopposed viewing. So very valuable to the University of Virginia on so many levels. Vanessa Parkell, thank you for watching the show. And Earleysville, James Harsh, thank you for watching the program. Viewers and listeners, let us know your thoughts.

We'll relay them live on air. I mean, this is coming on the feed again. When you guys start talking, Brian O'Connor, greatest coach in Virginia sports history. Hard to argue that. I mean, you look at the results. He's been to the, essentially the final eight, five times, six times, something like that. If he makes it this year, it'll be three of the last four in the final eight, the Elite Eight, if you may. He's won a national title.

Yeah. It's certainly on the Mount Rushmore of UVA athletics, if nothing else. But you can make a case that he's the winningest guy in UVA athletics history. Especially taking a program that was about to become a club sport in Charlottesville at UVA. Yeah, we talked about that last week when they nearly relegated them to club sports status, which I told a little story about John Grisham, who was a big UVA baseball supporter at the time, and he was filming a movie about one of his books called Mickey down at his little league complex in southern Albemarle County.

Coesville. Coesville. You sent me there when I was working for you at the newspaper to cover the opening. I sent you all over the place. You did send me all over the place. That's what happens when you're low man on the totem pole and you try to impress the boss. You go to the Little League Park Grand Openings in Coesville, which is, I think, about a 40-minute drive from us at the newspaper, 45 minutes or so. I'm going to tell you right now, that is the most pristine Little League field I've ever seen.

It was unbelievable. He didn't have a single blade of grass that was not cut perfectly. And he was cutting the grass. He was cutting the grass. And liming the field. Yeah. It was like out of Field of Dreams. It really was.

And I'll never forget when the first time I met him, he invited me to come down there and look at the complex. And the first few times we were snowed out, it was in early, very early spring. And finally made it down there. And he was sitting there on a gator. And me and my daughter, who was thrilled to meet John Grisham, went with me. And we rode around on the gator on him because everything was a sea of mud at that time. They hadn't built anything, really, except just laid out the complex.

But it's spectacular. But anyways, I've never seen him so upset as he was that day after he had gotten word that they were thinking about dropping UVA baseball to a club sport and he was adamant that that wasn't going to happen and he and people like Phil Wendell and some other great leaders in the community who love baseball came to the rescue and and look look what their efforts have produced. He brings a guy that's a pitching coach to Charlottesville in his early 30s at a press conference that no one was at, at a team in the first few games of the year in March.

You could probably count the fans in the stands on two hands and one foot. Yep. And now you have max capacity, national television coverage, and potentially three trips to Omaha in the last four years, and a national championship trophy on the mantle. I mean, this is a storybook, the stuff of movies. It really is i mean the way he turned this program around and built it into a national power um and you know it we've talked about this before but

you look at that corridor he's built from here all the way up to the northeast into New England, there's really no other consistent baseball power program in that whole avenue. And he's owned it in terms of recruiting. He goes in there and gets his pick of the litter, and Virginia's name is golden in baseball circles from here to Maine. So hats off to him for being not just a great coach and strategist but he knows how to build a program and how to maintain

a program and how to recruit. This is a great comment from one of Waynesboro's finest, Mr. Yancey. Vanessa, I'll come to yours in a matter of moments here as well. Mr. Yancey says UVA's Rushmore. In his opinion, George Welsh, Dom Stargia, UVA men's lacrosse coach, of course George Welsh, the UVA football coach for those that don't remember. What George Welsh did with this football program coming from Navy is should never, ever, ever be forgotten. No. This football team was bottom of the barrel. You could utilize words like sad and pathetic, and he turned them around. Dom Starge is the man, still lives locally.

Julie Myers, women's lacrosse coach. Watch out for Julie Myers on the pickleball court. She's nasty. Great pickleball club player. Great lacrosse coach. He says Tony Bennett and Brian O'Connor. That's a hell of a UVA Rushmore right there. It is, and, you know, other people would argue there's other names from way back in the past

in football and some other sports like debbie ryan and and terry holland of course brian boland tennis coach yeah um so yeah that's brian woolen multiple national championships somdev devarman and trett huey come to mind on that team trett huey still um around the b's head as the tennis coach with the team, coaching juniors as well, the fantastic left-hander. Bolin very well could be on that short list. The current coach could be on that short list. Yeah, no question.

So, I mean, there's a lot of people to choose from. The swimming coach has certainly put his name on the map. How about the rowing coach? The rowing coach has dominated the ACC for a quarter of a century. So many great coaches throughout the decades over there. You can't overlook some of those people, but that's why I don't like Mount Rushmore is because you're going to leave people out. And let's cut to the chase. How do you compare across gender and sport?

Well, you really can't. Yeah, it's not apples and apples. No. And then what's the standard as well? Football, for example, you can make a legitimate argument that the success trajectory in football is the steepest of any of the sports in UVA's athletic department. Oh, no question, because of the numbers involved and the competition and the money. The academic standards. The academic standards, it's all rolled into one, and it's mind-boggling when you think that.

And once you get down in football, there's no mercy. It's hard to come back. It really is because you're fighting an uphill battle against other people who have just as much invested in it as you do. So it's a tough sport to be really consistently good in. Comments coming in. I'm reading them right now on my phone. Man, comments are coming in quick here. Ms. Parkhill says, a friend of ours was coaching at Cove Creek when Mickey was filmed.

Our family joined many others from the community as extras filling in the bleachers. Cool experience in an amazing facility. From Vanessa Parkhill of Earleysville. Yeah, I haven't been down there in years, but when it first opened, I was there quite often. And I'd never seen anything quite like it before. And I remember asking John that day how much it cost. And he said, honestly, Jerry, I don't want to know because I know I've spent a lot more on this than I had planned on. But out of the goodness of his heart, he did that for the kids of Southern Albemarle County so they'd have a place

to play baseball and softball. Yeah, and to this day, I see Mr. John Grisham walking around the downtown mall, often sporting a blue blazer with gold buttons, khaki pants, and loafers with no socks on. That's John. Walking around the downtown mall in the most humbled, unassuming fashion. He's just an old Southern boy. Old Southern boy. He's been on my podcast several times. Great guy.

He loves to talk about sports i think it's kind of a release for him well didn't he was he at one time a sports writer is it memory serve i don't know that okay maybe early years maybe don't hold me to that i think if memory serves multiple people are saying amen to george welsh the impact he's had on this program hoody rackliff has done a fantastic job highlighting and commemorating and putting that impact front and center. Gosh, the basketball comments are coming in so fast here. Dot the I's and cross the T's on baseball for us, Hootie.

Excuse me. That didn't go down well. Pardon me. Just a fantastic job, a fantastic atmosphere. I think that the Mississippi State coach and the Penn coach both confirmed what we had talked about for weeks, that this is one of the most potent offenses in the country, and you can't hold them down because there's no easy outs. Everybody in that lineup can hit.

You can't take a breath because the next guy is just as good as the guy before him. And so we're still waiting on an explosion to occur, and maybe that'll be this weekend against Kansas State when these bats all wake up at the same time. But until then, the pitching has been incredible, and I would have to think that if I were a betting man, I'd be putting all my money on Virginia making it to Omaha again. I mean, you're talking a baseball team that's going against a Kansas State ball club

that's 35-24 overall, the Hoos 44-15. Virginia's got home field advantage, nationally televised on ESPNU. First pitch Friday, 7 o'clock, super regional, with a trip to Omaha and the College World Series on the line. All right, guys, we've promised basketball. As you go to maybe a lower third for Dante Harris, Judah. Dante Harris withdraws from the transfer portal. You're talking a guy

that was a recruit a transfer from Georgetown who's the Big East Tournament MVP as a freshman as a freshman Coach Williford joined us on the show prior to the season starting he called Dante Harris

an on-ball defender of Kihei Clark's caliber, if not better than Kihei Clark. Dante Harris' season in Charlottesville did not go as planned. He struggled out of the gate, in particular with the jump shot. Then a high ankle injury lingered and really impacted Dante Harris. Looked timid and lacking confidence with shooting the basketball. He appeared to be, or what looked like a numbers issue,

maybe even the conversation was had with the coaching staff, with Dante Harris, that look, maybe you should consider transferring. Hits the transfer portal, no bites, and the news breaks that he's returning to Charlottesville as a walk-on and leaving the portal and not having a scholarship. Yeah, of course that hasn't been confirmed yet by UVA, but that is certainly the story that has been told. And we're assuming that that's what's going to happen. And I was stunned that he was coming back, especially considering what Virginia had done in the transfer portal in bringing in Worley, the starting point guard from Florida State, and Day-Day Adams from Kansas State, and that Christian Bliss is certainly waiting his turn as a redshirt freshman to come in and make a difference at point guard.

And so all of a sudden you're loaded in the backcourt. Oh, my God. And now there's the rumor that Chris Graham reported that Reese Bigman is considering coming back. I should set the stage on that. For a sixth year. Yeah, Chris Graham, Augusta Free Press, has got a track record of being a bulldog or tenacious reporter. He did the FOIA request, the Freedom of Information Act request. He found out that Bennett has two years remaining on his contract. Great work.

Great reporting. He's caught a lot of heat from the fan base about that. But from Hootie and I's perspective, it's the job of a reporter to inform the fan base of what's happening with the programs they follow it's not the job of the reporter to be a fan of the team yeah i think uh i think the fans have a right to know that their coach only has two years remaining on his contract and and start asking questions about you know the future of the program. Chris did a great job of exposing that, and I applaud him for his efforts. We used to do that when I was in another life at the newspaper

until they got too chintzy to pay for our foyers, which happened in the last few years I was there. We had to do that many times to find out what we needed to know and what the fans deserved to know. Now, Graham has got something on his site. He's citing an unnamed source, which can be dicey from time to time, especially something of this caliber. He cites one unnamed source.

He identifies the unnamed source as being right almost all the time. That's the extent of the identification. And he says this unnamed source that's right just about every time mentioned to him that Beekman, who's now fallen out of the NBA draft projections, not even a second-round pick. Remember, second-round money is not guaranteed. Right.

So not even a second-round pick is considering a return to Charlottesville as a six year, he's got the COVID year. Right. And has to weigh this decision. Could I make more money as a six year at UVA with NIL revenue versus playing in the G League and make my game better to then make a push following a six year to get drafted again.

Yeah, it certainly makes sense if you look at it from the financial standpoint. I'm surprised that he slid completely out of the draft picture on some of the draft boards, but that's the harsh reality of being a pro athlete. Amen. Right. Especially a sport like basketball that has global talent pool. Absolutely. I mean, you're looking at most of the picks, not most of them, a large portion of the picks in the first round,

which is the guaranteed money. They're not even college players. We're talking about Europeans here. Tons of Europeans. the guarantee money they're not even college players we're talking about europeans here tons of europeans yeah and um and we're we're seeing more and more of those guys making a difference in the nba i mean look at luca every year and the joker perfect examples right there and uh those guys are coming in waves that people we've never even heard of before but the NBA people certainly know who they are and guys like Reese who used to be automatically taken into the league are now fighting for their lives professionally and you really you know if he's relegated to playing G League basketball, there's not a lot of money in that unless you are fortunate enough to convince an NBA team to give you a two-way contract.

You can actually make some decent money doing that. Certainly not the big money, but impressive money. The odds of that are you know 50 50 at best so maybe it would make more sense to come back for another year and you know i mean hell while we're at it why don't we just get ryan dunn to come back too and it's important win another national championship. And we should talk Ryan Dunn. Ryan Dunn, at one point, the darling of NBA draft projections, a projected lottery pick Ryan Dunn, the upside 6'7", long arms, leaping ability, the unfair comparisons to DeAndre Hunter of the Atlanta Hawks,

has now fallen into the second round, where he's projected a middle second round pick. NBADraft.net, which is pretty darn accurate a lot of the times, has got him going to the Knicks in the second round. So Ryan Dunn has now fallen into non-guaranteed money. Yeah, and, you know, I guess money is not the biggest issue with him, but if you're a second-round guy, your fate's up in the air. For sure.

Again, if you're a first-round guy, they're going to do everything they can to keep you on that roster. If you're not, you can find yourself anywhere, G League, out of the league, in Europe, in another country outside of Europe playing basketball. It's only the elite that make it on an annual basis, and everybody else is kind of left out there fighting for their lives. Graham reports that if he is picked Beekman, or if he's not selected, and he signs with a G League team, the minimum contract minimum in the G League, about $40K. G League life is not an easy life either, ladies and gentlemen. You do not have the perks of travel of NBA with private planes.

Let's cut to the chase. You're flying commercial here. The value, the Beekman scenario would be, can he earn more in NIL money, which I would imagine he'd earn more in 40K if he returned. Can he earn more in NIL money coming back for a six-year at UVA and improve his draft stock to make a push potentially after his six-year to get drafted maybe in the first round? He's got to improve his jump shot we know that yeah

and when you're getting up to your sixth year too the nba is looking at you as too old an older player and your value diminishes because you you're you have less chance of having a lengthy it's all a gamble, and certainly you better have a good agent, if nothing else. But there are no secrets on that level. I mean, NBA scouts, I know some of those guys, and they're so thorough. They know everything about your game, your strengths, your weaknesses, and how you can fit in with their club or somebody else's club. It is truly a wild, wild west if you're an athlete trying to make your way. And some guys linger and just kind of are on the fringe and never make it.

And some guys find a way to break through. And there's no way of telling how this story is going to end. Do you dot the I's and cross the T's on the Beekman rumor? I mean, obviously this is wait and see. Yeah, it's wait and see. I mean, again, he agent an agent who i'm sure is looking at all the angles about going overseas and playing um maybe trying to work out a g league a two-way with a potential club um i would think coming back to Virginia would be perhaps a last resort

because at some point you just want to put that behind you, college basketball behind you and move on. If the Cav Collective, which is the NIL push at UVA, if Lowe Davis or some of the wealthy alumni figure out a way for Beekman to make a couple hundred thousand dollars or more to return for a six year at UVA,

maybe he gets some kind of master's certificate, works his way to a master's degree of some kind. That would seem relatively appealing. Yeah, certainly more appealing than a G League contract. $40K.

So, time will tell. I would hope that conversation is being had right now with the powers that be. Yeah, we'll be following that, but it's hard to find out that kind of information because they don't want you to know.

Randy Clark is in Gilbert, Arizona. kind of information because they don't want you to know. And so we'll just have to wait and see. Randy Clark is in Gilbert, Arizona. He says, how would Reese's return affect the current projected guard rotation? We were having that conversation off air. We went from the past season with Virginia basketball, a backcourt that was very light in the cupboard a few weeks ago they had only one point guard on the roster and he was a redshirt freshman he was Christian Bliss and now they could have five or six now now now you have an abundance of riches in the cupboard and then there's the Beekman rumor that's going around here let's do it first without the Beekman rumor that's going around here. Let's do it first without the Beekman rumor

and only Dante Harris returning because we know that's a fact. Dante Harris returns, and the backcourt you've got, what, Day-Day from Kansas State, the transfer. You've got Christian Bliss, who you've seen with your own eyes. This guy's the real deal. I believe in him. You believe in him. You've got Worley, the combo guard from Florida State.

Florida State. Okay. You've got Dante Harris. All four have experience at the point guard spot. In the backcourt, you have Imac, Isaac McNeely. You've got Rhodey, who's a two or three. You've got Tane, who's a two or three. Yep.

I mean, you've got— Sharma, who's the incoming sharpshooter from Canada. You had Gertrude. You broke the news on this show, and then after you broke the news, it was on the front page of all the newspapers and talk of all the radio shows. He broke the news on this program

that Gertrude injured and out for the year. The scuttlebutt was a scooter injury, a knee injury from a scooter accident. If Gertrude was healthy, he would have been playing the one or the two. Probably the one. You see why Leon Bond transferred now.

The guy who struggled with his jump shot in between positions two and three. Maybe not the height for the three and not the jump shot for the two. Hootie, where do you go here? Tony Bennett's in a good spot. Like you said, it's an embarrassment of riches, but certainly it's a good position to be in if you have all those people to work with.

If nothing else, you just go with whoever's hot. But I don't know. I don't know how you parse out playing time amongst five point guards. And I know that Tony likes to play two at a time. There may be times where he plays three at a time this year, but he could even go with a four-guard lineup at times. But it's certainly a nice position to be in and he has to be grinning like a chess hour cat because um like i said just a few weeks ago we were talking on this show he only had one point guard just a few weeks ago he was unproven

just a few weeks ago, we were questioning Coach Bennett and his management of the transfer portal and being able to build a lineup. The fan base was – half the fan base was up at arms and furious. Yeah, which was – Which is asinine. Yeah, they were reaching for the panic button way too soon, but as we have pointed out many times. But now he has to be the envy of every coach in the ACC,

having this many guys at point guard. Although some people still aren't sold on the fact that they don't have a strict creator, playmaker type guy out of all those choices. We'll see how that develops. Well, that could be Day Day. It could be Day Day. Yeah, I mean, you're talking about...

It could be Bliss. It could be Bliss. Day Day, one of the most regarded recruits in Kansas State over the last 10 years or so, their top-rated recruit in his class. I mean, you're talking about one of the best point guards coming out of high school in the nation right uh he leaves kansas state comes to charlottesville he's what do you you've used this before is it jitterbug quick yeah he's yeah he's legit he's got quickness and uh you know none of these guys are cow-guy type shooters, but they're decent shooters and more efficient than what we've seen this past season.

So I think the offense is going to be much more efficient than it was a year ago. Randy Clark says, thank you, Hootie. I love the insight. Arizona in the house. Love Arizona. Let's play the game here. It's a talk show. let's play the game here it's a talk show we'll play the game, we'll talk the hypothetical Reese comes back

for a six year what happens then what happens then I mean Beekman Roger Voison, hey welcome to the program if Beekman comes back for a six year, he's got to be penciled in as your team captain and clear-cut starter at the point. There's no question about that. Because he would probably say, if I come back, I have to have your word that I'm starting.

He's ACC Defensive Player of the Year. Right. A candidate for National Defensive Player of the Year. So Beekman's at the one. Yeah. A candidate for National Defensive Player of the Year. So Beekman's at the one. Yeah, I mean, and I don't guess any of these guys, the transfer portal's closed. Right. They can't jump ship, I don't think, unless they just decide to leave school. If it becomes so crowded that it's unmanageable.

I don't know. I don't know that we've ever seen anything quite like this ever happen before because not just here but anywhere that I can think of where there's an overflow of point guards. I mean, that's five point guards on your roster right there. Five quality point guards. Five quality point guards. I mean, to put the quality into perspective,

probably the fifth-ranked point guard on the team would be a one-time Big East Tournament MVP that played at Georgetown as a starter. Yeah. Because you would say, Beekman's your one, your top. Maybe you make the argument, Day-Day's your second. Probably Worley's your third.

Bliss, your fourth. Dante Harrison, the five slot. So your fifth worst point guard, if Beekman comes back, was a one-time Big East MVP in the tournament. That's bananas. That's insane. This is a great comment here from Roderick Mullins. He's a content creator. That's bananas. That's insane. This is a great comment here from Roderick Mullins. He's a content creator.

Great comment here. Perfect example of the Beekman situation. He says, a perfect example is Mac McClung. Mac McClung has bounced from East Coast to West Coast, back to the East Coast, and he's now in Orlando on a G League team.

He's super talented, but he can't make it with the Lakers, with the 76ers, but he wins the NBA slam dunk competition over veterans. Two years in a row, an NBA dunk champion. Mullen says, if I were Beekman, I would take the step back and wait. The writing is clearly on the wall. It's a hell of a comparison with McClung. That's a great comment from him. Yeah, I can't think of a better comparison than that. It does make you stop and think. And I'm sure that's, Reese is probably talking to his agent

and probably Tony Bennett and other people about what his position and his options are at this point. And he's going to have a heavy decision to make. And the only person who can make it is him. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. Stacey Lee, thank you for watching the program and liking the show.

She's, I believe, watching it in Los Angeles right now. Wait and see, ladies and gentlemen. We will wait and see. How crazy would it be if Ryan, and I don't think this is going to happen, but Ryan Dunn, now a second-round pick from lottery to second-round pick. And just what's your starting lineup?

That question here. What's your starting lineup in game one? Well, it depends on. Let's say no Beekman return. Oh, okay. Well, if no Beekman returns, you've got to go with McNeely at number two. Yep. I think three is going to be a toss-up,

and I wouldn't write Tane Murray off because I think he's in store for a really good year. He really impressed me late last season, and I'm sure he's working hard on his game. Probably T.J. Power at the four. If Buchanan develops over the spring and summer like I expect him to, I think he'll be at the five.

San Diego State transfer off the bench? Yeah, Saunders off the bench. Then at point guard, wow. I mean, do you go with Worley, who has three years of starting experience, or do you go with Day-Day, who... Has massive upside. Has massive upside with three

years of eligibility and maybe the chance to be that creator that they're talking about um wow that would that would be probably my guess at this point. But he's going to have some great options that he hasn't had in a while because there's just an abundance of wealth there. And a lot of it's going to be who wants it the most. Some of these guys are going to make that decision for him and how they prepare and how they develop between now and October 15th. Now, I know preseason rankings, we don't put a lot of stock into it, but I would imagine this is a preseason top 25 team. I think it is now. Yeah, I really do. I've talked to some

people who are very familiar with this roster, and they're excited about it. And so I know if they're excited, they're expecting big things. Ladies and gentlemen, we'll follow up closely. Crazy news, more positive crazy news. You've got a, was he a rising second year, the golfer Ben James? Ben James, sophomore, just finished his sophomore season for Bowen Surgeon's golf team over at UVA, which had a heck of a year, making it to the national quarterfinals for the second straight year, lost to an SEC team for the second straight year, the eventual national champions, actually.

Ben James finished second nationally in the individual competition, coming off just two great years that he's had here at Virginia. And we got word yesterday that Ben James qualified for next week's U.S. Open in Pinehurst, one of my favorite golf courses in the country. And he'll be one of three Wahoos, Jerry, in the U.S. Open. That's never happened before. Denny McCarthy? Denny McCarthy and Ben Coles. Unbelievable. I've had the opportunity to cover a bunch of U.S. Opens,

and all three of them that have been at Pinehurst, dating back to the Payne Stewart raised fist in the air on the incredible putt on 18. I was standing right there at the green side and saw that as he beat Phil Mickelson. Phil Mickelson robbed of his only U.S. Open opportunity, I guess. It's the only major he hasn't won. So it's exciting that you're going to have three Wahoos to root for in Pinehurst number two next week. Suzy Bailey Stone, thank you for watching in Jacksonville, Florida. Three Wahoos in the U.S. Open June 13th through 16th at Pinehurst No. 2.

Ben James is a beast, guys. You're looking at one of the best golfers in college golf and clearly a pro golfer waiting to happen. He finishes the runner-up in the 2024 NCAA Championship, which was his second consecutive top ten finish at the event. This athletic department, top to bottom, is fantastic. The

depth is just second to very few. When we had Craig Littlepage sitting in the chair here in the studio a few weeks ago, we asked him about that. He was charged with his mission was to

make virginia's athletic program the stanford of the east and what's the director's cup i'll be damned if he didn't he i think he did yeah um i think he did they won 75 acc championships during his time here and then numerous national titles, which they continue to do. And it's one of the top athletic programs, top to bottom in the country. If they can ever get football back to where it once was, Katie, bar the door because there's no stopping these guys. And, you know, we went an entire show, ladies and gentlemen, an hour flies when you're sitting across from a Virginia Sports Hall of Famer without even talking football. And we're in June here.

Training camp is a mere handful of weeks away. And football is going to be front and center very soon. But we got a baseball team. A baseball team that's trying to make a push for the College World Series. We got three Wahoo golfers in the U.S. Open. We got potentially Reese

Beekman, potentially, returning to UVA to play basketball for a sixth year. We got a Big East Tournament MVP coming back as a walk-on. It's just a great time to follow Virginia athletics right now. It's one of our best shows, my friend. A lot of fun, a lot of controversial topics. I'm sure the fan base is all abuzz with all the possibilities and all the rumors flying around out there. Jerry Hoody Ratcliffe, guys, is the namesake of jerryratcliffe.com. Find it online, jerryratcliffe.com.

We are on the website every single day for everything Virginia sports related, jerryratcliffe.com. Judah Wickhauer behind the camera. He's our MVP. Our MVP, Mr. Consistency, the director and producer, Judah Wickhauer. My name is Jerry Miller. The show, The Jerry and Jerry Show, wherever you get your social media and podcasting content. The I Love Seville Show, up at 1230 PM, guys. So long,

and thank you kindly for joining us. Take care. That was excellent. Fun show. Thank you.