The Kevin Sheehan Show - Adjustments To Jayden?

Episode Date: February 15, 2025

Kevin opened with the Terps' win last night at Nebraska. He thinks Maryland is a sleeper "Final 4" contender. What will the adjustments to Jayden Daniels by Washington's opponents be in 2025? Kevin tried his best to answer that. Chris Knoche jumped on to talk about Maryland as a potential threat to go deep into the NCAA Tournament in March. Eric Flack/WUSA TV 9 jumped on with the latest on the Commanders' hopeful return to DC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You don't want it. You don't need it. But you're going to get it anyway. The Kevin Sheehan Show. Here's Kevin. Morgan Show is pushing Gillespie out. He'll drive in. Scoops it to the rim and in.

Jacoby Gillespie, the Belmont transfer with a huge bucket. Every time Nebraska got close last night, somebody from Maryland hit a huge shot. That one from Jacoby Gillespie, drive, reverse layup with the shot clock winding down, with just under two minutes to go. It extended Maryland's lead to four at 75-71. They went on to beat the Huskers on the road, 83 to 75.

Maryland's won six of its last seven. They have become a team that is going to be very difficult to deal with in the month of March. The show's presenting sponsor, as always, is Window Nation, 86690 Nation or Windonation.com if you need new windows. mention my name, they'll come out and give you a free, no obligation, no risk estimate. Two guests on this show, Chris Nocky, who was on the call last night with Johnny Holliday, will jump on with me to talk Maryland Hoops. And then Eric Flack will give us an update on the RFK site and the latest from the mayor who held a town hall last night and disseminated some information about the stadium in D.C.

at the RFK site. So Eric will jump on with us in the final segment and give us an update on that. I'll spend a lot of time with NACI coming up on Maryland, but let me just mention this to start. Maryland is a deep into March contender. I'll say it right now. You can mock me if you want. Maryland has a final four starting five. If they stay healthy, if when they get to one, one and done basketball, they can steer clear of foul trouble for four games. They are a sleeper final four contender. Let me back that up so your laughter can die down just a bit. Since 2001, 96% of the national champions in college basketball finished with a top 21,

Ken Palm offensive efficiency rating. Ken Palm is Ken Pomeroys, advanced statistics. Everybody in this sport uses them. They are a great measure of a team's overall strength. Right now, by the way, Maryland's overall Ken Palm number is number 17 in the country, which would put them as kind of the first five seed in the tournament. Since 2001, 96% of the national change. champions in college basketball have been top 21 in offensive efficiency per Kenpom. 91% of the national championship teams since 2001 have been top 31 defensively per Kenpom. Right now, Maryland is 16 offensively in the country out of 360 teams or whatever, and they are 22nd defensively.

Right now there are only nine teams in college basketball that are top 21 in offensive efficiency and top 31 in defensive efficiency, and Maryland is one of those nine teams. Look, there's a lot of season left. There are six regular season games left. Then there's a conference tournament before we get to the NCAA tournament.

They are a lock to make the NCAA tournament. tournament. They are climbing in seeding as well. Just a few weeks ago, they were penciled in by a lot of the brackatologists as a nine or a ten seed. Now they're up to kind of an average of a six seed. As I mentioned, their 17th in Ken Palm, that would equate to a five seed. Their 16th in the NCAA net rankings, that would equate to a four seed. There's a lot of room for them to move up. and they've got four of their final six regular season games in College Park. And really, as you look at their schedule, it's been really difficult, but over their final six, they are likely to be favored in five of those final six games.

The only game, they'll more likely than not be an underdog in, is when they go to Ann Arbor on March 5th to play Michigan, who is currently the top team in the Big Ten. Look, I know I get carried away when it comes to Maryland basketball sometimes. It's happened before, but this team is good. This team's fun to watch too. I mean, they are loaded in their starting five. They lead the country right now in starting five points per game.

All five of their starters, average double figures, all five of their starters last night finished in double figures, and scored all 83 of their points. They didn't have one bench point last night. That is a concern for sure. They need more off their bench. Now, their best offensive bench player was out last night. But Maryland is the ninth best shooting team,

field goal percentage-wise, in the Power 4. They're the 14th best three-point shooting team in the Power 4. They've got shooters everywhere, playmakers everywhere, and then they're two big guys. Julian Reese and Derek Queen are dominant on the post. And Derek Queen's basically dominant everywhere. Derek Queen, the five-star that Maryland recruited and brought in this year, is Maryland's best freshman since Joe Smith.

I would say Mellow trembles a close second. I put this out on Twitter last night. A lot of people thought it was Mellow. Mello was great in his freshman year. And he was significant. to the program that year. But Derek Queen is a lottery pick. Like, he's top 10 to top 14, pretty much in every NBA mock draft now, and climbing.

So Derek Queen is, I mean, he's got it all. I mean, he is an old school player. He's a highly skilled big, if you haven't watched him. He's not a 6-10 overpowering, physically dominating athlete. He's just a highly skilled basketball player. All right, more with Naki coming up in the next segment. This from Robert in Fairfax as we move the conversation to football. Robert writes, Kevin,

what do you think the adjustments to Jaden Daniels in year two will be? This time last year, everyone was convinced that C.J. Stroud's second year would be even better, and it wasn't. I've heard people say that Jaden probably just had the worst year of his career because the supporting cast will only get better. But Houston went out and added to their team too, and he got worse. I know Diggs, and he's talking about Stefan Diggs, got hurt, but that was halfway through the season. Teams adjusted to Stroud. They'll adjust to Jaden. What happens then?

Okay, so it's perfect timing for this because this morning I woke up and there was this ESPN.com 2025 NFL predictions from all of their ESPN NFL experts column. It's, you know, it had, you know, what's your early Super Bowl pick for next year? Believe it or not, Dan Gratziano, Chiefs over Washington, some woman named Pamela Maldon Cincinnati over Washington. I mean, when's the last time in any of these things, you know, at this time of year, predicting all too early Super Bowl matchups that Washington's been mentioned in? Also, Jaden Daniels is picked by like two or three people to be next year's MVP.

You know, I was thinking also real quickly, I'll just get sidetracked here for a moment. Jaden finished seventh in the MVP voting behind Josh Allen, obviously, who won it, Lamar Jackson, Sequin, Barclay, Joe Burrow, Jared Gough, and Patrick Mahomes. I mean, we have the perspective of playoff games in our mind, you know, and this is a regular season award. I'll tell you what, man, if the playoff games did count, Jaden would not have finished seventh. Now, he may not have finished first. In fact, he wouldn't have. You know, you'd probably still at that point because Josh Allen went head to head with Lamar in a playoff game and beat him.

I'm not so sure he wouldn't have finished fifth worst case in front of Mahomes and golf. He's going to be one of the four or five favorites to win the MVP next year. Anyway, back to what Robert wrote and why it was. timely. So they had one of these sections in this ESPN NFL expert column titled, which team will take a step back in the 2025 season? We're going to see a lot of these, too. There was one the other day on CBS Sports, I think I referred to. Which team will take a step back in the 2025 season? Well, Aaron Schatz from FtN Fantasy, who is the creator of the DVOA metric that I reference all the time. We've had Aaron on the show. I like Aaron a lot.

He picked Washington as the team that will take a step back in 2025. And he wrote the following. When a team pulls off a magical run to the conference championship, despite not being one of the two or three best teams in the conference, you usually see a step back the following season. And when quarterbacks are as good as Jaden Daniels was as a rookie, They usually don't take the step forward that fans expect because they're already very good and there's not much room to improve. When I read that this morning, I'm like, man, I'm not predicting Washington to be the team that takes a step back next year. I don't agree with Aaron on that.

You know, the magical run, yes, there was a lot of magic involved in the run. This was also a team. that was really good offensively and has the ability to get much better in the offseason. But when he wrote that part at the end, when quarterbacks are as good as Jaden Daniels was as a rookie, they usually don't take a step forward because they're already very good and there's not much room to improve. I started thinking, yeah, where is he going to improve? Like, you know, where are we going to say next year at some point during the season? Man, that thing that he didn't do well last year, he got much better at.

What a great job in the off season. You know, working at it, working with coaches, because that was a major problem last year, and it's not this year. He's improved dramatically. What would that be? Back to Robert's email for a moment, because I want to address kind of something big picture. on what Robert wrote because he's comparing C.J. Stroud's second year to what Jaden's second year may or may not be. First of all, I don't think it's appropriate to compare C.J. Stroud and Jaden Daniels. Jaden's year this year was just flat out better than C.J. Stroud's rookie year in 2023. Jaden had a rookie season that was

historic in many ways. I mean, I think most would point to a lot of number of that were historic numbers, but just say the eye test tells me that that's the greatest rookie season by a quarterback I've ever seen. You know, C.J. Stroud did have better numbers in a couple of areas than Jaden. Did he threw for more yards, about 450 more yards. He threw fewer interceptions. He threw five, Jaden through nine. But in a lot of the key numbers, Jaden's way ahead of Stroud. He had a much higher completion percentage. Some of the advance numbers, he had fewer turnover-worthy throws. His expected points added per dropback was much better.

His completion percentage over-expected was much better. You know, there are a lot of other advanced numbers. You know, even the QBR number was better. The passer rating was comparable. Jaden had a much more impactful rookie season than C.J. Stroud did. Jaden strapped his team to his back. to win 12 regular season games and two road playoff games. C.J. Stroud, in a bad division,

strapped his team to his back to a certain degree, not like Jaden, because Houston's defense was much better in 2023 than Washington's was this year. Houston had a top half of the league defense in 2023 per DVOA. Washington did not have anywhere near a top half of the league defense. Stroud got help on the way to 10 wins and one home playoff win over a team quarterbacked by 39-year-old Joe Flacco. Jaden got very little help overall, and they won 12 games and two road playoff games. So I don't think actually the comparison between the two is a good one. I can't think of any that I'd want to compare him to.

I mean, I guess you could look at Lamar Jackson to a certain degree, but Lamar Jackson didn't start as a rookie. He only started half of those games that year as a rookie. And by the way, in those games that he started, he wasn't anywhere near as good in his rookie year as Jaden Daniels was. And they lost in the postseason in their first postseason game with him as a starter in the wild card round. Yeah, I think in terms of just your overarching theme of what will the adjustments be to Jaden Daniels,

well, you know, when you write, I've heard people say that Jaden probably just had the worst year of his career. That's not what people have actually said. They've said that he just played with the worst supporting cast of his career. All right. He may be different statistically next year for a lot. lot of reasons, right? They may have a much more difficult schedule. It looks that way on paper. And that alone could be a reason that statistically he doesn't match what he did in this past season. But I can't think of the adjustments to Jaden. What do you do against a guy that doesn't have flaws?

Like, you know, the old saying, you got to make the guy play left-handed. Well, his left hand is just as strong as his right hand. He doesn't have an area that is a flaw. I guess the one decision-making in some of the zone read stuff, RPO game, he could improve there, I guess. I guess overall, we'd like to see him take fewer hits, although I think he did a pretty good job protecting himself. I think that's going to be on the coaching staff and by the way, the front office to go out and make sure that they don't have a team next year offensively that requires, you know, Jaden Daniels to be the leading rusher in 10 of their 17 games to win 12 games. You got to fix that. I don't know.

I mean, theoretically, they'll have a better supporting cast, which will make them even more difficult to defend. It's an interesting thing, though, to consider, you know, the idea of, you know, where will he improve? You know, where is he going to get better than he was this past year? You would think that intellectually, football-wise, he's going to grow, that maybe they'll add more than they had this year into the offense. Yeah, I don't have an answer for what the adjustments to Jaden are going to be. I don't have an answer as to where I think we're going to see a guy that is much improved in a certain area. He threw it well. He threw it well from the pocket.

He threw it well out of the pocket. He threw it well versus pressure. He threw it well against no pressure. He ran it well as a scrambler. He ran it well as a designed runner. He ran it well as an option runner. He proved to be just a major clutch performer. No lead was safe if you were the other team.

No amount of time or timeouts left was a stopper for him. He checked, we've said this, he checked virtually every box this year other than winning a Super Bowl. Other than winning a Super Bowl or getting to a Super Bowl, he checked every box. We found out in 20 games, he's a great thrower of the football. He's a great anticipatory thrower. He reads defenses exceptionally well.

He's poised in the pocket. He's exceptional outside the pocket. He's a phenomenal playmaker as a runner. He's clutch. He wins big games in one and done, you know, playoff formats on the road. I mean, it's amazing. Still, as we sit here, you know, coming up on three weeks removed from their final game of the season, the year that he had.

All right. Let's get to Chris Snocky. We'll do that right after these words from a few of our sponsors. I want to welcome a new sponsor to the podcast, and that sponsor is Rocket Money. And, guys, this is interesting, so listen carefully, because we've actually talked about the problem that Rocket Money is solving.

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Jop's it over to Queen. Queen against John Gary. Fade away. He has a knack for making that look so easy. But with his skill set and the way the game was played at that time, at that size, would have been certainly at the top. I mean, look at a play like that. A great example for Derek Queen. Derek Queen last night had himself another big game is Maryland beat Nebraska. 83 to 75.

This segment of the show is brought to you by Window Nation. Call them at 86690 Nation or head to Window Nation.com if you need new windows right now, 60% off on all windows and all window styles with no payments and no interest for two full years. If you need new windows, take advantage of this offer. The deal ends at the end of the month. Call them and mention my name. They'll come out and give you a free no-risk in-home estimate. 86690 Nation or windownation.com. Joining me right now is my friend Chris Nakke. He was on the call last night in Lincoln with Johnny Holliday. You know, it's not the old days where you would either just get on to a bus or a short flight from Chapel Hill or Raleigh and you're home at a reasonable time. From Lincoln, what time did you get home last

night? Yeah, it was the wee hours, Kevin. I walked in just a shade after four. It's like 4.15 a.m. Really? Oh, boy. So we've not really talked about this over the last, I mean, this is year 11 in the Big Ten. It's, you know, we're now Big Ten. We're now Big Ten. 10 people. But I mean, over the years here, you know, games in Iowa City and Lincoln, well, Lincoln's the, well, no, UCLA, SC, Washington, and Oregon are now the longest trips. But Lincoln, for a game that starts at 8.30 Eastern time, that's a totally different kind of, you know, grind, right? Yeah, you lose the hour coming home, obviously. You fly in west of east. you know, and it's a healthy trip as it is.

It was $2.50 to fly out there. It was a little bit more than two flying back. We must have caught the jet stream last night. We got home pretty quickly, but it was still $4.15, and I have to tell you, 20 years ago, or even 10 years ago, that wasn't that big a deal. I could come home, but still work the next day and, you know, do, you know, do what you're supposed to do, man. Anymore at this age, it just crushes you're the next day. You know, you're pretty spent.

You're pretty worthless for sure. Yeah. All right. We got a basketball team. I mean... That's fun, right? Yeah. I mean, this...

I said at the top of the show, and it wasn't with the intention of being provocative. This team's the best team clearly since the 2020 team. And this team has a chance to make a very deep run in the N-Sty. CAA tournament, their starting five is final four capable. What do you say? I mean, it's part to argue with that. I mean, particularly, I mean, it's on both ends. They're top 15 and offensive efficiency in the country and their top 30 in defensive efficiency. You mentioned the starting five. There is no weak link. And I'm going to knock on wood here because you see a lot of programs around the country. They're having issues with illness or injury,

you know, and we've terms of been very, very fortunate in that regard. So, yeah, the guards have been just phenomenal better than you could have hoped for, I think. And Queen, you know, is match the billing, particularly of late. There's a lot to love about the way these guys are playing out. You know, with all this going on, Kevin, I, you know, like Julian Reese to me has had a really underrated year. and, you know, he doesn't get a lot of love. I think sometimes he's been around the program forever in a day. And I thought, with the exception of the Rutgers game where he was in serious foul trouble,

since January 1, he's been as consistent as anybody on that team. And he's put together a pretty remarkable year, given the fact that he's sharing the paint with this, you know, this five-star phenom in Derek Queen. So, yeah, there's a lot to love about what. what they're doing and the direction they've gone in here. I mean, I want to get to some of the players, and I'm with you on Reese, man. There's just been an incredible improvement just in so many different ways. Obviously, you know, it shows up at the free throw line as much as it shows up anywhere else,

but it shows up in other places. But this team right now, I mean, they have one of the, you know, you mentioned it, and I talked about at the beginning to sort of support my assertion that Maryland is not, this isn't just a tournament team. This is a team capable of going on a big run. I read this stat that since 2001, 96% of the national champions have had a top 21 Ken Palm offense. And 91% have had a top 31 Ken Palm defense. Maryland right now is one of nine teams that is well within the top 31 on defense and the top 21 on offense. 16 and 22, respectively, 16 offensively, 22 defensively. The nine teams are Auburn, Florida, Duke, Arizona, Texas, Tech, Houston, Iowa State, Illinois, and Maryland,

teams that fit that national championship criteria right now. I mean, there's a lot of season left. But they're a tremendous team on both ends of the floor. offensively, what kind of team could slow them down from the, you know, when we see them at their best offensively, they're really difficult to guard. What kind of team could handle them defensively? Yeah, I mean, I think it's, first of all, a team that would have to be very experienced, you know. I just think that the balance is one of those things that's really hard to deal with. and virtually anybody that you play, and you put together a scattering report, you can find

something. Somebody to lay off of on the perimeter. Somebody you don't have to double down on in the paint. You know, somebody, just one guy. And yet, you know, when you've got the kind of balance where you've got five guys averaging and double figures, you know, you're just hard-pressed to come up with a strategy. I think the thing that you have to focus in on, if you're playing. them, I guess, is that you have to, you know, you just have to attack them and hope that maybe

you can get a guy going to the foul line because their starters are logging, they're pitching a lot of innings, the starters, you know? I think last night, there were only 17 bench minutes played the entire night. And so, you know, you have to do something to get to that Maryland bench. But again, you know, I'm not the only one to think of something like that. teams have been unable to do it here over the course of the last month. Yeah, I mean, I think that clearly if they were to get in foul trouble in a one-and-done environment and lose some key players for significant minutes, that would be hurtful.

The other thing I was wondering, and you've watched more up close and probably more overall because I was kind of immersed in football season here for the last few months, of some of these SEC teams and Duke and others, like I wonder. what a truly athletic, long, really physical defensive team that could switch one through five, what that would do to Maryland? Would it get them off kilter? Because it doesn't seem like right now anybody that's played that has really slowed them down from getting what they want offensively. I think one of the things I really like about the team, too, and I'll put Queen aside here momentarily, is you've got this wealth of experience in the back court.

And these guys find a way. They learn to adjust. I think back to that game, it seems like it was 10 years ago when the Terps played Marquette in November. High-level game. It did not go Maryland's way. It was pretty remarkable that they were even in the conversation in the last minute and actually could have maybe stole it. But they didn't.

Marquette ended up when a Marquette was, I think, playing better at that time. particular time. And I just, this team has sort of figured out ways to win games and to keep themselves in games. And even when they're not playing, you know, overly well. And I just, you know, that's really served them well, it will continue to serve them well. I just, the experience that they have allows them to adjust. And it's one of those things you can't take for granted because so often you've got, you know, You've got a couple of young guys on the floor,

and they're just not ready for prime time or what have you. And it's just a luxury to have. Who's the most important player for them? Oh, I think the point guard. I think Gillespie is Kobe Gillespie. And, you know, that's hard to... It feels like you're asking you to pick out my favorite kid, you know, at this point in time, you know, but he just,

does so many things. And so many things that don't even show up. He gets his hands on, like, 10 loose balls a game defensively, where he gets, you know, bat it out or come up with a steel always seems to be in the right place at the right time. The point he made when they were reeling a little bit, he had the ball in his hands to the entire possession last night and drove had a reverse layup going left to right, and it was just a couple minutes left to go. It was inside the four-minute media time out.

I thought that was one of the two or three biggest plays of the game. And you've seen him do that a bunch of this year. He's not afraid to take the big shot. And he just does everything well. Yeah, I mean, they cut that lead to two on three straight possessions, and it was Gillespie, Rice, and Miguel. They answered it because I don't know about you, but the Ohio State game was really, that was a tough one to swallow,

because they were the better team for three quarters of that game, and they played really well, and they lost it. And, you know, they had shots, obviously, at Northwestern, and we don't have to talk about the Washington game. That seems like years ago now. But I was worried at the end because they had played so well, and I just didn't want to see that thing slip away. And those three possessions were just big time.

But that Gillespie drive that you talked about was huge, yeah. Yeah, so on that, point two. You know, sometimes there's a tendency. I talk about it a lot during our broadcast where, you know, I always say timeouts don't do you any good on the bus, right? If you feel like you need a timeout, you take the time out. And I'm going to credit Kevin Willard. You know, he had all his timeouts left in that second half. And he never once, I asked him after the game, did you ever consider using him? And I just think he felt like I trust these guys. We're going to make plays. We've got good matchups out there.

You know, what am I going to do? Am I going to call a timeout so I can get Rodney Rice dry and driving on Hoyberg? Well, he was already, Hoyberg was already covering Rodney. So, you know, he had the matchups he wanted, and there is a tendency to overcoach sometimes in that situation, and I give him a lot of credit. He just, he let players play, and guys made those plays. Yeah, it's pretty remarkable, right? Think about what Naki just said. Kevin Willard did not call a timeout in the second half. I think the only timeout he called, correct me if I'm wrong, was at the end of the first half, the one that you've got to use it or lose it. And it was to make a substitution to get Deshaun out and get an offensive player in for their final offensive possession. And that was it. And we're talking about a game that was a two-point game on three different possessions. the final two and a half minutes of the game. That's pretty incredible.

It never happens. No, it never does. And, you know, it honestly was just, I was surprised because I do think sometimes, guys, you know, by rote, you know, call that time out, call time out in any one of those three situations. If not all three, you know, you've seen the NBA, they'll do that on all three of those. And so, again, credit to him. And, you know, he's got his finger on the pulse of these guys.

And obviously, they're on a nice run here over the course of the last several weeks. And he's in practice with him every single day. So he must have known something that the rest of us did not. I'm just going to insert a story here. And since it's a podcast, we have time to do it because I don't think I've told you this story before. But I've told it before. So those that are listening may have heard it before. but I think you'll get a kick out of it.

So I was coaching, I don't know, this is 10 years ago, maybe longer than that now. I think the kids were in his seventh grade, sixth or seventh grade. And it was one of those games you've coached. Chris was a college basketball coach. But where, you know, you don't have, your assistant didn't show up, and it's just you on the sidelines. So you don't have anybody keeping the book.

So you're relying on the scores table to tell you how many time. you have, et cetera. Well, anyway, long story short, we were in one of those situations where we were up one with like a second, two seconds to go, and the other team didn't have any timeouts. And so I wanted my kid to miss it intentionally, the free throw, rather than making it and giving them a chance to inbound the ball. So I said to the scores table, how many timeouts do I have left? And she said, you have one left. And so I called the timeout. And so, as a time out, and so as, I was bringing the kids over to explain what I wanted them to do when we're going to take everybody off the free throw line.

I want you to miss it. It's got to hit the rim. Can you do it? And I remember the kid, his name was Owen, he said, yeah, I can do that. So, you know, I send him back out there. And then I hear the ref hit me with a technical foul for calling a timeout that I didn't have. You had no timeout. No timeouts left.

And I said, well, wait a minute. I said, I just asked this, you know, it was a young girl. I mean, she was probably like, you know, an eighth grader. And she just told me, everybody heard her say, I had a time out. And he goes, coach, it's your responsibility to keep your book. It's a technical foul. Anyway, it cost us the game because they hit free throws. We hit the second one.

They went down, made two free throws. We went to overtime and lost, right? So I tell the story on the show the next day with Tommy. And you remember, you know, after our show, Coach Thompson and Doc and Brian had their show. It may have been Coking at the time, I forget. So Coach comes in and he walks into the studio before our show is over and he sits down, you know, in our big studio. And he gets, he puts his headset on and he said, so let me get this right. He said, how old were the kids?

and I said, coach, they were, you know, seventh grade. He said, what is that? And I said, I don't know, 13 years old. How many timeouts do you get in a game? And I said, I think I get four in the entire game. And he does the thing, he didn't say MF her because we were on the air, but that's what he would have said. And he goes, he goes, you called four timeouts in a seventh grade basketball game?

What's wrong with you, boy? And then he said, and you wanted to call another one. And then we go to the break and he goes, motherfucker, because that was always a term of endearment with Coach Thompson. He goes, that's the funniest thing I've ever heard of.

But then he said something that I'll never forget. Because, you know, we loved coach in that building. And he was the best to be around. And he said, he said one piece of advice. He said, when you get to the games, less instruction is better than more instruction, especially when they're young. Yeah, that's a good point.

And, you know, to his point, too, about, and I coached my kids, you know, particularly the youngest, too. I got a chance after I got out of coaching college, or they did get a chance to coach them in travel situations and stuff. like that. I was always big on letting them play, you know, and you don't want it to be overly structured. That's when you learn about yourself. You let your game grow a little bit. Yeah, credit him. That's always a great insight for sure. Yeah. All right. Back to real basketball here. So Derek Queen's the best freshman since Joe Smith. Do you agree with that? I don't think there can't be any argument.

I mean, you think about the, I mean, like, I was always in awe of the freshman year that Mellow Trimble had. And it came at an absolutely critical juncture for the program in 2015. But in terms of, yeah, I mean, you're talking about a guy, Melo's made a boatload of money, playing overseas all these years. Derek Queen is every game he plays, it seems like he jumps two nights. matches up the lottery ladder. Why is he so good? The feel, the feel for the game.

So, first of all, there's so much so much to like about him. And early on, a kind of question is motor. I think he's just trying to figure it all out, figure the game out. You know, when he's along the baseline, he's like a ballerina. He's got great feet. He's incredibly dexterous with both hands. but it's his feel for the game. He makes passes.

At one point in that game last night, he takes off in the second half. He's going full gallop up the court, and a Nebraska guard comes over to try and take the ball from, he goes behind his back, one more dribble, dishes it out to Miguel wide open for a layup on the break. Tell me how many freshmen bigs

you've seen do that in college basketball in the last 20 years. They just aren't a betting. He's got a great feel. You know, I think he senses the moment as well when he needs to step up. And there's just a big-time game, and some of it stuff you don't teach the field. You always wonder when you see guys play like that, that's got to be one of those just innate things. And it's hard to describe it, but you know it when you see it.

and that feel is just is exceptional. Yeah, that play, I mean, he's 6-10. He's a big man, even though he's a very young man, and he in the open court with pressure goes behind his back and then finds the open man on, I mean, he was leading the fast break, which he's done on occasion this year. It's just... One of the things, too, Kevin, I'm sure you were watching the game.

You know, they had a must-win situation. in here against Rutgers, act on the heels of that Ohio State debacle. And Rutgers wouldn't go away. You know, they just kept playing, kept playing, and Pichol's teams, they will never cheat you, right? They're going to go out and play balls to the wall

and hard as hell. So that game inside, the four-minute media time out, it's still a game. Although terms were in control, it was still a game, six, seven, eight points, and Queen was sort of a one-man press break.

Because, He's big enough so that you could just throw it up to him, just so you'll never have a problem inbounding, because you can just throw it up because he's 6-10, and he's got the great hands. But the other thing, he's got a great handle, and very confident bringing the ball up himself, and the last thing is he makes free throws.

And you know, you want guys, that's why I love one of the reasons why I love Gillespie, because late in games can have the ball in his hands an awful lot, and he's 90% from the free throw line. Queens, not 90%, but for a big freshman, he's probably, I don't have the stats, 74, 75 and a half, yeah. Yeah, yeah. So how about that as a luxury for Kevin Willard when you're, when you're dealing with any kind of pressure? Yeah, the only game was the Ohio State game in which the team missed a bunch of them and he missed a couple of them and that really cost him. But he's got a great stroke.

I mean, you feel, I don't think there's any, I mean, and that's actually a perfect segue into, into Julian Reese and the improvement that he's made as a player. But, you know, I think I had you on radio two weeks ago, and we talked about this. I mean, it's just unbelievable the improvement that Julian Reese has made at the free throw line. The strokes completely different. I think there was a stretch here over a couple of games where he was 94% over a six-game span from the free throw line. This is a guy that was shooting 50-something percent. the work he must have put in to get these results in this incredible turnaround.

It's amazing. Well, it was borderline unwatchable last year. I mean, he cringed when he got fouled. And the other part was, back to what the point I was making about, Queen, is that late in games last year, you had to take him off the court. Because he was his target to be fouled, you know. So that no longer is the case. He gets to 70-plus percent, almost 80 percent at one point.

Larger because he's been busted his ass. I know he's the first guy to the gym. He's the first guy up in the morning, you know, into the gym. But he's also got a coach who will shoot with him, who will talk to him. Yeah, I've always thought free throws are as mental as any part of the game without question. and I think sometimes a regular pep talk to guys about, you know, about sort of the, I hate to use the phrase, but sort of the power of positive thinking. You know, there's a lot of muscle memory involved in free-throw shooting,

but again, there's a lot that goes on between your ears that is critical to being a free-row shooter. And I think Julian now is in a situation that is in a place, Kevin, where he expects to make those. you know he's not he doesn't you know doesn't have an anguished look on his face like he did last year from time to time like oh shit i got to go i got to go back to the line here yeah it's i actually just feel like this guy has just grown up in front of us i mean he's in his fourth year which is strange to begin with in the sport you know in in the same place and beyond free throw shooting, Chris, talk about just the offensive skill improvement overall. You know, he can knock down that mid-range jump shot. He can, the jump hook, the patience, the footwork. I mean, he was a bit of

kind of an unwieldy, you know, baby kangaroo at times, you know, over the first three years. And now he just seems to be just a much more fluid player. I love it. when he gets that little pocket pass about 12 feet away from the basket and he just rises up and shoots that little floaty little jumper and I mean that's got to be an 80% shot for him and it's just a it's wheelhouse stuff for him

again that's one of those things that you know, the two critical parts that first of all putting in the work like he clearly has a free throw line it's also having you know a wealth of experienced teammates who are getting him the ball the right situation the right

time. That obviously is a big help. Julian also, you know, for the first three years, it seemed like every move of his was initially going over his right shoulder so he could shoot that left-hand half-hook. Now, that's still a go-to move. It's still his go-to play. But you see a much greater variety from him now, to your point. And clearly, that's just going to make him a boatload harder to cover. One more player question. Harris Smith came in as a heralded player local from PVI.

I mean, just a dominant high school basketball player, a high level four-star player. The expectations were through the roof for him. You know, last year's team just couldn't score, period, let alone him not being able to score. I mean, other than Jamir Young, who, by the way, for you Terp fans who don't know it, he's killing it in the G League. Just absolutely killing it. He's going to be on an NBA roster.

I think for years to come. But beyond that, this is not the role he anticipated when he signed with Maryland. A bench player, seven minutes last night off the bench. He's uncomfortable clearly as a scorer. He's a try-hard defender, rebounder, the whole thing. From afar, tell me if I'm wrong.

I just, I look at body language to see how he is on the bench, how he handles it when he's in the game. It seems like he's handled it pretty well. Am I right or wrong? Yeah, you know, it's funny you bring him up and you phrase it like that. Yesterday, you know, one of the things we do before the game is we usually interview the opposing coach and we grab a player for the pregame show and, of course, Kevin Willard does it through a four-minute segment. And the media relations guy suggested to Johnny a holiday that he used to Sean.

Well, we haven't really interviewed Deshaun all year long. And because there have been, you know, there are other bright spots, they've really been, you know, been balling and just sort of, they get the focus, right or wrong, they get the focus. So, you know, I was like, wow, I wonder what that's going to sound like. Because his body language, you know, he can be a little off-putting with that body language. Yes. But on the bench, he's been very positive, I've noticed.

No question. No question, but I've got to tell you, if you listen to this interview, Kevin, it is unbelievable how effusive he was about playing with these guys in this team. And if there's a sullen bone in his body, you sure don't hear it from him, you know. And I think that, you know, I would tell anybody that those appearances can be really deceptive. You know, and you think you know a guy just because you're watching him. I loved the three minutes he gave Johnny yesterday, and he got an opportunity really articulate his role. We thought it, what he thought it was, what he thought it could be. I did not sound disappointed in the least about the fact that last year he was playing 32 minutes again, this year he's playing,

I think the number 16 now. And I, you know, I give him a lot of credit for that. is a very mature outlook. I don't know if, Kevin, when I was 19, in a similar situation, I don't know that I would have handled it the way he's handled. He's been fabulous. Yeah, I mean, and what Chris is referring to for those that don't watch a lot of Maryland basketball is there is, you know, on the floor,

there's at times he doesn't look, you know, the body language isn't great, but I've been watching him on the bench first up when they come out, congratulating people. And sometimes you'll get, I mean, I don't know. I hope, I have a feeling they're going to need him at some point. He hit a huge three against Wisconsin that I couldn't believe he even took when they were down five in that game. And I was so happy for him, you know, that it went in.

And maybe he's just a shot like that or two away from having the confidence because he's not a, he's not confident offensively. No, I don't think, you know, obviously, that's a great shot. That was part of three-threes in a row that took a five-point deficit to a four-point lead. And I don't know that you necessarily need that kind of thing from him, but he's kind of a blood and guts type player, you know, a guy who plays in the trenches, and you certainly need guys like that. And I'm reminded of that line, I think I use it with you all the time,

that, you know, some guys play the piano and some guys carry the piano. And I think Sean carries it. You know, Derek Queen is, you know, kind of virtuoso, if you will. Yeah. All right. Six games left in the regular season. They're going to clearly move up, you know, in these projections if they, they got three home games left. They got an opportunity to end up a pretty high seed in the tournament by the time we.

I'm not talking about the Big Ten tournament. talking about the NCAA tournament. I don't think a four-seed is out of the question with what they have left. Do you agree? I agree. And I would like to, one of the goals I'd like to achieve, you know, just watching from the periphery here is I would love to get a double-by. Yeah.

You know, and that way you're not, you know, Gary Williams talked, you'll appreciate this because you're a Turp historian, but in 2004, we, we're, you know, we're, you know, we're, when Maryland won the ACC tournament, and they went through that great weekend, John Gilchrist. But they played three ballbusters, those games, Wade Forest, NC State, where they're down 19 at half, and then of course Duke, which is an overtime game. And they went from on the bubble to maybe a four-seat. I can't remember, but they really shot up. Yeah.

It got rewarded as a result of that weekend. And so on the podcast I do with Gary, we were talking about that the other day, and he had said, you know, one of the things I liked, it never bothered me when we got bounced from the ACC tournament. He said, I always felt like we just weren't there to win it all the time, and it allowed me another, you know, an extra several days of practice to get the guys focused for the NCAA tournament. And I said, well, let me follow up on that because it seemed like my recollectual. election was, we, the Terps won that TARC tournament, we got sent west to Denver. Yes, Syracuse. That was the year they lost kind of at the very end to Syracuse. Exactly, but they'd won the first game, so they played Syracuse to go to the round of 16. And I remember, and it was, Syracuse was good, typical Syracuse. They played the matchup,

they had the long, lanky guys. But it felt like the team was running in, mud that game. And it just seemed like all the events of the previous seven or eight days just zapped them. You know, and so here's going back to my original point.

I would love the double by because I'd really like to do well in the Big Ten tournament, but not if we have to play four games to play well. Got it. And the Big Ten games. Yes. You know? Yeah. And I would like to make a little noise in the Big Ten tournament, just simply because

We haven't. We really haven't. So it would be nice to do it sometimes. Well, I was saying to, I think I was saying to Scott last night, I'm like, I just want to be in that double header on Saturday on CBS, you know, against Purdue or Michigan or Michigan State. Because the first three or four years we were in the league, we were in that situation. We were playing in those semi-final games, you know.

And that's just kind of a big spot. It'd be fun to be. We've not played in a big 10-10. title game, even though they've had plenty of top three, top four finishes. They haven't. So I'm with you. They have a shot here. I mean, in looking at the remainder of the schedule, I mean, the two games that obviously stick out are Michigan State at home and then Michigan on the road. By the way, I don't know how much of Michigan you've watched because Maryland hasn't played them. I watched them really for maybe the second time this

year against Purdue last week. That kid, Danny Wolf, the seven-footer that plays basically point guard, is, he's totally unique in the league and in the game. Have you watched him? I've watched them. I think if, you know, Terps completely aside, I think they've got the best team in the league. The two bigs are a huge game changer, Vlad Golden. Number 50, yeah. very good at Florida Atlantic. Wolf was the best player in the Ivy League, and they fit each other like a glove because Wolf is a natural,

you know, four, almost a three-four, if you will, but he's got the ball on his hands all the time. They play through him offensively. And, of course, the coach is terrific. Dusty May. So, yeah, they put together a team. That was a woeful year-last. year. And they, you know, this is that, this is where we are in college sports. You can put,

cobble together a team in a matter of a couple of months if you, if you pay enough go and you, you know enough guys, have enough connections. Yeah, I mean, Marilyn obviously put together, I mean, Kevin, you mentioned it. He did a phenomenal job in the portal because it's not just that he got players that can play. They just seem to fit so well. Remember the number one preseason question. We asked each other as fans and for you as a broadcaster, and that was, how are Derek Queen and Julian Reese going to play together? How is that going to work? It's worked out pretty well. You know, I was interested, you know, back to that game last night, the single most eye-popping play of the game, and this is what Hoyberg talked about. I don't

if you saw Hoyberg's comment after the game. Yeah, I did. You talked about this play. It was late in the second half where the end of the shot clock, towards the end of the shot clock, Jacoby, Gillespie's driving, he's kind of cut off, and throws a one-hand left-hand pass a bullet to Julian Reese, who's underneath the basket. It looks like that ball is going into the third row of the baseline. Julian catches it with one hand, his left hand, the strong hand, and he throws a tip past the queen for a layup. And that's just amazing to see that sort of thing. And the chemistry that that sort of thing entails, obviously,

have three high-level guys to make that kind of tick-tac toe play. But that's kind of where we are with his team right now. They're playing with confidence and trust each other. And you've got two bigs playing lights out down there. makes all the difference of the world. Should be fun down the stretch. Chris, of course, with Johnny and Walt home games, and part of it now for, I mean, God, is this 25 years for you?

26 years calling games. Unbelievable. Yeah, and we started in those old ACC days, like you said, you know, where it was, you know, I could take my car to a lot of the games, and just drive back whenever I wanted to drive back. We're a long way away from that. You know, I admitted something that you kind of told me years ago that eventually one day I would admit.

Gary said this too. It's a good thing we're in the Big Ten. Because the ACC's a mess. An absolute mess. Did you read? I don't want to get too far fields here, but the athletic had a remarkable story the other day. about North Carolina's secret plans as to how to deal with the possibility of leaving the

ACC? No. Did you read that? No, I haven't. Well, you know, because they're a state school, you know, there's certain documents that are available through Freedom of Information Act that otherwise, you know, Duke doesn't have to put up with these shenanigans. But so they uncovered up $700,000 in payments to attorneys.

who were trying to devise the best strategy for leaving the ACC. Wow. And the reference that they kept making in all the documents, the reference that the athletic department and the attorneys kept making in all the docs were about leaving the ACC in light of the dwindling financial resources of the conference. Wow. Where will they go? Will they go to the Big Ten? Well, I mean, first of all, if they do. Well, they fit both the footprint of the Big Ten and the SEC, I think.

And they're going to have their choice, right? They're going to pick and choose whichever one. I think they fit more as an institution with a Big Ten. But they're going to be able to pick and choose. But if you get a chance, and the athletic never fails me. I mean, that story was remarkable. I'm going to read it. and revealing.

And it's sort of, you know as well as I do, Kevin, that Clemson lawyers at Clemson and Florida State are working every day on how to avoid the exit fee. I get now the ACCC. That's kind of where we are in this environment right now. The league is not good. The back half of that league is atrocious. And there's a financial aspect to it, too.

That's real. All right. Tell everybody about the podcast with Gary and when your next airing will be. I appreciate that. We just dropped one this morning. It's the D.C. coaches basketball podcast. Gary Williams, Jimmy Patsos, Eddie Taps got to work for the Timberwolves, and my friend Gordon Austin, who coached with me and played with me.

We have a lot of fun just kind of chopping it up, but we get a little nerdy from time and time, you know, the best five ways to deal with the high-screen and roll at every offense. We start with these days, but we talk a lot about just shit going on around the sport, you know, whether it's NBA or, you know, or a college hoops. Because this time you're so fantastic. It's a lot of fun.

Every game in February is head towards March. Seems like Armageddon, you know, one of the things we talked about the other day is this dichotomy where you get Villanova playing against a very good St. John's team and a must-win game for Villanova, right? And so they pull it off at home. this exact same time, Wake Forest, who's kind of come from out of nowhere in the ACC having a pretty good year.

They're playing at home. They're playing a bad Florida State team. But it's at Wake Forest, so you think they're in great shape, wakes up 15 at half, and somehow loses that game by two to Florida State. And so you think about now these games are played once that's probably six or seven hundred miles away, but it was Armageddon for a couple of teams, right?

I mean, Wake had to feel just sick after that game. And conversely, you think about Villanova, man, and the thrill of victory for those guys. At Coach's DC Pod to listen to their podcast. You know, actually, I'll never forget. It's coming up on five years now. You guys, and you had me on, we were doing it at Tommy and Joe's in Bethesda. Yeah.

And it was right at the, before the Big Ten tournament was about to start, and literally we were talking, you know, COVID had become a big topic, and the Ivy League was the first to shut down. And I just remember, I think all of us were like, well, no, of course they're going to play the NCAA tournament. Of course they're going to play the Big Ten tournament. And it was like the next day. There were two days later. It was over. I remember that so well, Kevin, and I got to tell you, Tom Levera that name.

I know. Leverro turned to me and said, it'll never happen. The tournament will not be played. Tommy said it. He said to me, he goes, once the Ivy League shut it down, he just said, no, no, no, it's over. They're not going to play the NCAA tournament. I said, what are you talking about? I mean, I love that guy.

I so wanted to call bullshit on him. And then you kind of wake up the next morning, you're like, damn. Yeah. Leverro is all over there. He was right. And by the way, he remembers that he was right. He only remembers when he's right. All right.

This is a fun team I might see you out there Sunday. Thanks. Awesome. All right. Look forward to it. Chris Nocky, everybody. One of the best people in town by far. in our industry, the best.

All right, up next, Eric Flack from Channel 9 will jump on with us. Give us an update on the stadium at RFK. We'll get to that after these words from a few of our sponsors. So, guys, if you're like me and you've basically been buying and wearing this same type of underwear for years, in my case, boxer briefs, same brand, same type for a long time, well, not anymore for me. I want to tell you about skims for men, something I've discovered recently, the softest underwear I've ever worn. I got a few pairs of the five-inch boxer briefs so comfortable, no matter what you're doing, from sitting in a chair in your office to working out, they are so comfortable.

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Shop Skimsmen's at skims.com in Skimms stores. Let them know I sent you. After you place your order, select podcast in the survey, and select this show in the drop-down menu that follows. This segment of the show is brought to you by MyBooky. Go to MyBooky.orgie. Use my promo code, Kevin D.C. And MyBooky will give you a cash bonus on your initial deposit. You have to use my promo code exactly the way I gave it to you, Kevin, DC.

If there's something written in the promo code section already, erase it and write Kevin D.C. talk about the sports book offering that My Bookie has. They've got a robust online Las Vegas style casino as well. Blackjack, craps right at your fingertips, roulette, poker, slots, kino, anything you want to play, My Bookie has it. It is a Las Vegas style experience from your home or if you're hanging out at an airport waiting area. Go to MyBooky.org.com. You use my promo code, Kevin, D.C. All right now is Eric Flack from WUSA TV 9. At Eric Flack TV on X on Twitter.

Eric is a Murrow and Emmy Award winning chief investigative reporter covering lots of things in town, including the Capitol Riot back on January 6th, I would assume, that Capitol Riot. But he, of course, Eric was a big part. of covering the investigations of Snyder and the team and all of the stadium stuff and all of the Capital One arena stuff. We've had Eric on the show many times, and it's good to have them back. And the reason I'm having you on the show is there was an event last night with the mayor. It was a town hall, and I thought maybe having you on, we could get an update on the stadium because it's now been over, you know, it's been a month.

and a half basically since, or almost two months, since the Chuck Schumer 2 a.m. We're getting the, you know, RFK site bill passed deal. Where are we on this thing? Well, I think the event that you referenced there in Ward 7 at Eastern Senior High School, which, you know, is really in the shadow of RFK just walked away, was really significant. It was, you know, in retrospect. retrospect, I think the mayor's soft launch, if you will, of her campaign to get the commanders formally back to D.C. with a deal for a new stadium on the RFK site. It was a meeting that was

kind of officially organized, a community meeting, officially organized by the new Ward 7 council member Wendell Fuller, Felder over there. But it was really Mayor Bowser's meeting. And she was joined by a team of people, but it was her presenting with a slide deck about the future of the RFK site now that the DC government has long-term control of that RFK site, but of note is that that presentation was pretty much presentation about why it would be such a great idea and so advantageous to build a new stadium there and bring the commanders. back to D.C. It was very much her first public, formal pitch for her plan or the concepts of her plan, as it were, to bring the team back. It was heavy on why sports are good business for D.C.

It was very light on details about how she was going to accomplish all the things that need to be accomplished to make this a politically viable concept, even if such a thing exists. And there were no details about, you know, rendering throughout the stadium itself. But it certainly was her first public meeting in which she said, here's my concept of why I want to bring the commanders back to D.C. Here's why I believe this is such an important thing to build a new stadium on the RFK site. And then she ended up taking questions for about an hour from the crowd of about 500 people who packed that Eastern High School auditorium for this really, really critical meeting.

So, Eric, what was the gist of the pitch? Why will a stadium at the RFK site be a great thing for the city? She, you know, she leaned heavily on nostalgia of the past, both from the Redskins, as they were called back in the day. And there were images of Joe Seisman, iconic with his hands up. She referenced all the great concerts, all the great performers who had played there from, you know, Michael Jackson to Madonna and, I think she said, Madonna, Rolling Stones, Grateful Dead. I'm now going through the concerts. I've been to it, R.K. But the point was made that, you know, this was a world-class destination at one point.

And she said, you know, her line is, you know, you can't have a world-class city without having a world-class venue that's going to attract people from all around the world. She leaned heavily on a study that we have talked about before on your program that was done last year, paid for by D.C., which painted a very rosy economic picture of what sports means to D.C. It uses Nationals Park as a shining example of taxpayer investment that paid off in the returns. It's brought back. and the development that they've had over there at the waterfront and next door as well at the wharf. And she believes that, you know, this is something that is long overdue for D.C. And she, you know, will argue that the data is there to show that a public investment is a smart investment for a district of Columbia. Now I'm not sure everybody's going to agree, but that's the debate more headed into, and I think last night was kind of the foreshadowing of where this debate is going.

Any part of the pitch include a future Super Bowl in Washington? There's no question, and I think it's pretty clear from my sources. You know, I can say definitively that the baseline to qualify to qualify, five for a Super Bowl is 65,000 people, a stadium that holds 65,000, and I can, I would bet a dollar and then some that when we see the concepts of this plan, the rendering that that stadium proposal is going to be for 65,000 people. The mayor has said many times, and she referenced actually in her presentation last night that she says on her first inauguration day, she said, we will have a Super Bowl in Washington, D.C.

And she's now a three-term mayor. So, you know, she has long said this, but certainly not just a Super Bowl. You know, she referenced a WrestleMania. She didn't reference it by name. She referenced wrestling. But what she meant was having a WrestleMania. She referenced the fact that, you know, we don't have, you know, a World Cup game, which we're not going to have, you know, we're going to miss out on that.

regardless of what happens, you know, hopefully future Olympics one day, potentially. But, you know, she talks about the Beyonce concerts and the Taylor Swift concerts. I mean, she envisioned that this is not in her mind in her pitch. And I think in reality, not even just about the commanders returning, the Washington football franchise returning to D.C. and the RFK site, but also having a world-class venue that is going to mean all sorts of events. that are economic drivers in today's sports-centric sports entertainment economy. Yeah, keep in mind, too, when Eric mentions sort of the capacity, minimum capacity, it would be a dome stadium too, because there's no more cold weather cities that will be Super Bowl cities.

The NFL made that pretty clear after the Super Bowl and the Meadowlands back in 2013. All right. So there was one thing that you tweeted out last night. She was asked at this meeting if she would commit to not using public subsidies for the stadium. And she didn't hedge. She didn't, you know, she was pretty direct in her answer saying no. I mean, it's kind of an obvious answer, but was there any significance of her just coming out and saying no? I mean, it's almost like, of course not.

We don't get the stadium without public subsidies for this stadium, right? Yeah, and the one thing that the tweet can't, the post can't convey is how quickly she said it. Right. She did not head. She did not mince words. It was no sooner than the resident had. And you could see where he was going with this question. But it was no sooner that he had finished the words.

and that she said definitively no. And there was no explanation and there was no hedging. It was just a flat now. No. Now, less than 24 hours later, the head of the D.C. Council, Phil Mendelsohn has come out and given his thoughts about, you know, taxpayer money going for a stadium. And, you know, he is against it, but he is okay with the concept of infrastructure. And that's where this is going to go.

What did she? And she did not. She was supposed to take questions from the media, reporters like myself afterwards, and she ended up not doing that. But one of the things that we needed to know and will need to press her on is when she says that, does she mean taxpayer money for infrastructure, which is something that's kind of a little bit more palatable to those on the D.C. Council who don't necessarily love the idea of spending a whole bunch of taxpayer money, on a commander stadium on the RFK site. Or was she talking about something more than that? And that's where she's going to run into trouble if she tries to extend the taxpayer

investment beyond the infrastructure piece. And it is with, and she's talked about infrastructure before, which is why when she was so quick to say no and without qualification, without kind of doing her no, but here's what I mean by that, which she has done in the past. Last night, it was just a hard no. It just felt different to me, and I want to know what she meant and if this now is going to lean into infrastructure, comma, and it's the comma and part of the taxpayer investment that ultimately is going to drive an even more passionate to, then she is going to run into already as it stands if she's even doing the infrastructure piece because, you know, infrastructure was $200 million for Audi Field.

So times that by a football stadium RFK over there. And it's not just infrastructure for the football stadium. It can be infrastructure for that whole development, which is going to be so much more than a football stadium, that you're really looking at, you know, a pretty, a pretty, pretty big price tag once it's all said and done. All right. So what's next? They have the land.

They can do with it what they choose. I'm assuming the team in the city have had conversations, have maybe even had negotiations. What are the next steps before we get the joint press conference with Josh Harris and Muriel Bowser saying, we got a deal? Yeah, we're entering a real critical. time here is the mayor's budget is due in the first couple days of April, which we're now just talking about a month and a half away. That is basically the window, the commanders and the city have to get a deal done. And so typically she'll present her budget to D.C. Council members before it is actually due, so in the final weeks of March. So that press conference you're talking

about is likely going to happen, assuming it does happen. Within, you know, the next, you know, three to five weeks, so to speak, obviously, you know, they're going to have to come out with a joint face on this. It's going to have to, you know, receive counsel approval. And, you know, any financial outlay, and there's certainly going to be one, is going to be part. And even infrastructure would come out of the capital budget. It's going to have to be detailed in part of the mayor's budget. So, you know, we expect that those details will come out as part of that her upcoming budget. And really, we are just, you know, no more, no more than six weeks away.

You've got to think that the details will begin to trickle out even before that. Are you still where, I think we've talked about this before, kind of, an overall $3 billion price tag where the city's going to have to come up with about a billion dollars of it? It's a good question, Kevin. I may have, you know, I keep on talking to more people and the only reason I'm hedging on that,

well, here's the thing. The only reason I'm hedging on that is it's becoming clear that it's going to be, I don't know where D.C. is going to come up with a billion dollars. Like, guys, that just, A billion dollars is probably not got a snowball's chance, and you know what, of getting through D.C. Council. $500 million, doing what they did for Capital One. Capital One feels more reasonable. But again, what is the infrastructure piece?

How do they pay for it? Is there a total price tag? Can the mayor say, well, this is only a $300 million investment, but, you know, but when you look at it a different way because of the way the numbers, some people call it a $600,700 million investment, if that makes sense, people can calculate the numbers different ways. You know, I think, I think that's where what we have to, that's what we have to think about. And so, you know, I think I'm, I'm as interested as the next person. I think the idea, that D.C. is reasonably going, not just going to, not just going to come up with it,

but that the city council is going to approve it seems unlikely. And ultimately, she's going to have to come up with something that can pass. That can pass. Yeah. Because if it doesn't pass, it's over. Like, I mean, at some point, Josh Harris isn't going to wait any longer, right? mean, not when, you know, it, you know, it's a, you would have to get inside of his head at that press conference at the end of the year. He continued just to just stress was still, you know, negotiating

with Maryland. I do believe they're negotiating with Maryland. And I, you know, I think they kind of have to negotiate with Maryland because it's bad business just to negotiate with one, one person. I, they do really, really want to keep on saying 2030. They've got to come up. with a deal this year to hit 2030. They just have to. I mean, they are up against it. And, yeah, it just feels like if it doesn't happen in D.C. this year, then they've got to move on. But it sure feels like they also really, really want to happen in D.C.

And the mayor really wants it happen. So many people want it to happen. But it just feels like the year. Now, you know, whether, how they get the sausage made or think is, is what we're all waiting for. I'll end with this. Percent chance right now on February 14th, Valentine's Day 2025, D.C. and the team reach a deal,

and the stadium gets built on the RFK site. 85 to 90. Wow. I think it's pretty high. I think it's pretty high. I was looking at the votes on D.C. Council. I mean, it's going to be really, really close. But, you know, she's got, I mean, she handpicked, you know,

the Ward 7 council member out there just for this reason. You know, Kenne McDuffie is behind it. He's like one of the other most powerful people on the, you know, counsel. Pinto is behind it. Mendelsohn's dragging his feet. I just, I feel like they get this done. I just feel like there's too much momentum.

It would be such a kissing your sister for them to go to Maryland at this point. It just would be. I agree with you. I didn't expect you to say 85 to 90%. But still, that's a good number for all of us that want it back in D.C., you included. Thanks for doing this, as always. Ask me next week, Kevin. Yeah, of course.

It's a number of things. Always good, Eric. Thanks. Really appreciate it. You got it. Eric Flack from Channel 9 locally. WUSA TV. All right, that's it for the day.

Enjoy the weekend back on Monday.