The Ryen Russillo Podcast - College Recruiting Stories With Jamal Mashburn, Troy Aikman, Doug McDermott, Dan Hurley, Andre Iguodala, Baron Davis, Jimmer Fredette, P.J. Carlesimo, Fred Warner, and Lane Johnson

Episode Date: July 23, 2024

Russillo talks with Jamal Mashburn (0:29), Troy Aikman (6:04), Doug McDermott (10:28), Dan Hurley (14:40), Andre Iguodala (16:31), Baron Davis (20:46), Jimmer Fredette (24:16), P.J. Carlesimo (31:10), Fred Warner (37:17), and Lane Johnson (39:27) about their best college recruiting stories. Check us out on YouTube for exclusive clips, livestreams, and more at https://www.youtube.com/@RyenRussilloPodcast The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please check out rg-help.com to find out more, or listen to the end of the episode for additional details. Host: Ryen Russillo Guests: Jamal Mashburn, Troy Aikman, Doug McDermott, Dan Hurley, Andre Iguodala, Baron Davis, Jimmer Fredette, P.J. Carlesimo, Fred Warner, and Lane Johnson Producers: Steve Ceruti, Kyle Crichton, and Mike Wargon Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I love these, the recruiting stories. We try to get everybody to give us some of their best ones. I love that we got PJ Carlisimo in the mix. We get some old school shout outs, including Jim Fordec, Jamal Mashburn, Fred Warner, the best linebacker football. So a lot of fun ones here. Enjoy. Make your nights unforgettable with American Express. Unmissable show coming up. Good news. We've got access to pre-sale tickets so you don't miss it. Meeting with friends before the show.

We can book your reservation. And when you get to the main event, skip to the good bit using the card member entrance. Let's go seize the night. That's the powerful backing of American Express. Visit amex.ca slash ymx. Benefits vary by card, other conditions apply. Ashburn's three-quarter. By Marlon Arkansas, he's going to stop this right now.

The Kentucky bench as excited as everyone else on the display by Jamal Mashburn. I don't think I've ever seen a more dominant performance that Mashburn has had in the first five minutes of this game. That's Jamal Mashberg dominating Tennessee in the 1993 SEC tournament. Okay, Jamal, I've talked to you about the recruiting part of it as a New York City kid. You end up at Kentucky and clearly Rick Pitino has been somebody who's had a ton of influence on you. Give us your best recruiting story that maybe we don't know whether it's Kentucky or, you know, as I used to joke, I really wish you'd gone to St. John's.

Is there a recruiting story from another school that you've never told or your go-to story that you do tell? Yeah, I mean, I won't mention the school's name or anything like that. I remember I'm on a campus visit with the school and the head coach puts like $10,000 on the dashboard and he put that there and he was like,

that's yours. And then I was like, I don't really want that that's short money. I'm looking for that long term money. And he's like, what do you mean? I said, well, I'm gonna be an NBA player. Well, 10 grand for you know what I mean? It's it's a so I wound up not entertaining that school anymore, not just because of that. But watching some of their habits and different things like that. It just wasn't conducive to what I wanted to participate in

that could help me move forward. Go back to the quote, what does it lead to? You know what I mean? And so that was one interesting one. And I also had a lot of coaches when I was going through the recruiting process, cause I would lead with, I want to carry a briefcase. And I would have a lot of coaches,

Hall of Fame coaches laugh at me, when they're in person, what are you doing to do that for? You know what I mean? And I didn't entertain them even any further because I saw how short-minded their thinking was. You know what I mean? And the one thing I always cautioned my son,

and why he chose to play for Richard Patino was because I knew that playing for Rick and the relationship that I had with him up to now, that his son would be honest with my son. And that's all you want in recruiting is transparency and honesty. Because as you go through this particular recruiting process, it's not necessarily just about you, it's about the process, it's not necessarily just about you.

It's about the coaches. It's about the university. And it's also about the coach keeping their job as well. So it's the business side of things. And people will say things to you in order to get you on campus so that they can benefit from your services. You know what I mean? And that's not necessarily you benefit from it.

So I've always flown under the banner of recruitment. Hey, be honest. You know what I mean? Tell me what your expectation is and we'll tell you what I expectation if it meets and we have the same core values. Yeah, we're entertaining, but, um, honesty is as far in view between in that business. Is it true about the Kentucky thing that the, they give guys horses back then?

Yeah, I didn't get one. You know what I mean? I, you know how I know I didn't get one? Because I eventually got into the horse business with Coach Pitino, and then I found out how much a goddamn horse really cost to maintain. You know what I'm saying? So I don't even, I don't know who got the horse,

but I will tell you this, it's probably, he didn't make money on the horse. You know, I mean, you know, so vet bills and feeding bills and boarding and all those things, that stuff is expensive, man. And at one point we had a stable old memorial stable. Me and Coach Patino, my business partner, along with Chris Sullivan, one of the founders of Outback, we probably had 30 horses, man. You know, and I got out of that business, man.

That's the, what do they call it, the game of kings or something like that? And this is the reality, man. It's expensive, man. Yeah, it makes boating look like a good idea. Best day of a boater is when you get it and when you sell it. So let me, last recruiting little thing.

If it weren't for your mother, would you have gone to St. John's? Probably not. You know, and the reason why is because when I grew up watching Big East basketball, that was with Patrick Ewan of Georgetown, Pearl Washington of Syracuse. Who else? Chris Mullen, Walter Berry of St. John's, Who else? Chris Mullen, Walter Beria, St. John's, all those guys, Thu Harvey, all those guys. The Big East was trending down when I was coming. It wasn't the same. You know what I mean? It didn't have the same muscle, the same pop. And then also being a local kid and St. John's being a commuter school at that time, I don't know what it is now, but Ryan, I grew up in the projects and I would be going and living in the projects in Queens.

I didn't wanna do that. You know what I mean? I didn't wanna do that. You know what I mean? So I wanted to see something different. Luke Carneseca recruited me and he said to me, he's like, I know I'm not gonna be able to get you cause he got wind that my mom wanted me

to go out of New York State. But he did recruit Malik Sealy, who was a St. John's legend, and different things like that. Another guy that I played with, David Kane, who was a point guard there. So they got some New York City players. But I was not a fit for that because it looked like it was from a living situation, it was a lateral move, man. I moved into Wildcat L, it was a ladder remove, man. I moved into Wildcat Lodge in Lexington, Kentucky, man.

It was an upgrade, man. It was an upgrade. Officially official, if you will, transferred from Oklahoma to UCLA, first team All-American last year, 23 touchdown passes a year ago, 209 completions in two years with UCLA. Chris Berman there after Aikman went number one of the Cowboys. Troy joins us now. I want to go back to a younger Troy Aikman. Your family moves out to Oklahoma. I was looking at some of the recruitingboys, Troy joins us now. I want to go back to a younger Troy Aikman. Your family moves out to Oklahoma. I was looking at some of the recruiting stuff

earlier this morning. You never know what to believe, but I know there's obviously baseball interest there with the Mets. What's your best recruiting story, whether it's why you ended up in Oklahoma or someplace else you were flirting with maybe going? Well, I wasn't highly recruited.

Jimmy Johnson was at Oklahoma State when I was coming out of high school. Barry Switzer, of course, at Oklahoma. I had also visited the University of Tennessee and Missouri, and those were my trips. I was 17 years old when I came out of high school, and I just really was not prepared to leave too far from home. Looking back on it, Tennessee probably would have been the best fit.

Johnny Majors was the head coach there at the time. It would have been a great atmosphere. I didn't know much about Tennessee football at that point in my life, but would have been amazing. But I had always planned on going to Oklahoma State because they were running the pro-style offense and Oklahoma was still in the wishbone. And even though they were saying they were going to the eye with Marcus

Dupree and they were going to throw the ball and that's why they were recruiting me. And it's ultimately how they were able to land Keith Jackson, who was the number one tied in, uh, in my recruiting class as well. And I took my recruiting trip to Stillwater and I went to an event, I was, Jimmy pulls me aside and we talked and I told him, I said, coach, I'm coming to Oklahoma State. It's where I've always wanted to come. My whole senior year, I was going to Oklahoma State. I just knew that's where I was going.

But I said, I want to take the last recruiting weekend visit to Oklahoma. I hear they put on a big show, they bring all the Heisman Trophy winners in, and it's quite a spectacle and I want to experience it. I mean, I'm only going to get to do this once. He tried to talk me out of it.

I went and I got caught up in it. The reason I did was because I came from such a small high school, I just wasn't certain that I could play quarterback at that level. I just wasn't confident enough to say, yeah, I'm good enough to compete at this level. But what I did think was that I'm good enough to play somewhere, whether that's safety or tight end or line, I'll figure it out and I'll be a starter somewhere.

I want to win. At Oklahoma State, you weren't going to win the conference title. You certainly weren't going to win a national championship. And Oklahoma, you could, you had a chance to do all that and I wanted to win. And so I then, uh, went to Oklahoma, but after about a week, I knew, I knew I could play quarterback at division one level. And so, you know, I shortly then transferred a year later and went to UCLA. It worked out for everybody.

I mean, even Jimmy later on, because at least you had that relationship. That's a great story. He recruited me again to Miami. He recruited me again to Miami when I was leaving Oklahoma. I turned him down twice, you know, because if I had signed with Oklahoma State, I never would have played for Jimmy. Right after national signing day, Jimmy became the head coach at the University of Miami. So I don't feel so bad about turning him down because he wouldn't have been

there anyway, you know. But I didn't I was all set for my recruiting trip to Miami and he says, hey, we're looking forward to having you this weekend. I said, hey, coach said I committed to UCLA. I'm canceling all my trips, I'm going to UCLA. And that's what I did. And then when I'm coming out of college, all of a sudden there's this rumors that, hey, some loyal guy from Arkansas is gonna buy the Cowboys and he's gonna name

Jimmy Johnson as the head coach. And I'm like, jeez, that third time, here we go. And then Switzer winds up being the head coach at Dallas after him. It's just been one big groundhog's day for me through most of my athletic career. Well, it was good that you were good enough that they weren't petty, right?

You're like this guy. Yeah. You know? Well, we were. That's right. Chapman with five seconds. Manigata to McDermott. The three.

Got it! Told you. Too open. too open. Too open. A season-high 39 points for Doug McDermott, including a potential game winner. That's Doug McDermott's game winner over my Johnnys back in 2014. Let's go back to Ames, Iowa.

Your recruiting story is probably a little different because you ended up at Creighton with your dad. What's your best story from that time? Oh man, well there's a couple because I was never playing on playing for my dad in high school so he was at Iowa State. He wasn't doing great there So he kind of saw the writing on the wall that he could potentially be out there So we kind of just made a decision that you know, I probably not gonna play for you at Iowa State so I was gonna look at more mid-major schools that were recruiting me and

central Florida UCF was one of them and I Get to the airport in Orlando My dad gets in the car with with their coach and then I get in the car with Marcus Jordan, MJ's son. He picks me up in this all white Range Rover, Jordan logo is on the headrest. I'm just this kid from Iowa, you know, I'm just starstruck. I'm like, this is MJ's son. And we stopped by the dry cleaners and he brings his whole bin of laundry from college to the dry cleaner.

And I'm like, being from Iowa, I'm like, this is usually where you just get like suits and sport coats taken care of. He had his whole laundry bin taken it into the dry cleaners. And I just thought that was hilarious. And he was an awesome guy. And he took me, we went to some parties and they got me into some clubs. And I just remember the next morning telling my dad, yeah, I want to commit.

Like I really want to come here. And my parents were both like, after every visit, they're like, just give it a couple of days, sleep on it. You know, let's think about the next visit. We don't want you to get too excited about one place. And of course they were right. I ended up committing to Northern Iowa like a week later after their visit, just because it felt like home. The Creighton deal, obviously, I was signed with Northern Iowa, not to go too long here, but he,

I was over at like a high school friends, it was like senior week, you know, we were like probably playing beer pong or something. And my dad calls me, he's like, Hey, I need you to get home. And I'm like, no, I'm good. Um, you know, I'm a high school kid. I got my curfew. He said, no, get your ass home. I need you home right now. And I get there and my whole family's gathered around the living room and I'm like,

Oh, something must be up. And he's like, I've been offered the Creighton job. I just wanted to, you know, run it by you first. Like, would you be interested in joining me? And I was like, well, I guess I don't really have a choice here. So obviously pretty much committed and signed with him right there. And, you know, the rest is history. I had to call the Northern Iowa coach who I love still to this day.

It was one of the hardest phone calls I had to make, but, uh, obviously worked out for all of us. Could you have told your dad? No. I mean, he just gave me that look, you know, uh, you know, I was probably, this is post post beer pong too, you know, I was kind of just like, yeah, let's, let's do it. Let's do it.

You know, I'm excited. Uh, all my friends were pissed at me cause they were all going to Northern Iowa and Iowa and they wanted to see me more, but trade wasn't too far. And we, uh, you know, we ended up doing okay. So, uh, it all worked out. Yeah. You did more than okay, man. I mean, you, you lit it up there.

I actually have one quick little, did Iowa state after your dad moved on, did they say, Hey, we'll still take you. No. Uh, I mean, it was, it was crazy cause Harrison Barnes is my teammate in high school, so, uh, we always kind of make that joke. What if we both went to Iowa State? Like maybe my dad would have like a lifetime contract there, you know. It didn't work out that way.

And I think best for all parties, you know, you see Iowa State playing well right now with Coach TJ and my dad kind of reinventing himself at Creighton. So it's been awesome to watch. It is a UConn coronation. The Huskies make history. Back to back national champions. Dan Hurley led UConn to back-to-back titles and has the crown as the best head coach in college hoops right now. But let's go back to a high school age, Danny Hurley.

We know the history, know the family history. You have this incredible run in high school. And I want to know whether it's with PJ Carlisimo getting into seed and hall or something else, what's your best recruiting story from those days? I'll give you two for me. I'll give you a quick two, because Davidson, I actually visited Davidson, but they scared the heck out of me with the honor code there.

You know, once they explained to me how that worked, I felt like just coming from Jersey City and just my academic background there that that could be a tough one as much as I love Matt Daugherty, who was an assistant for Bob McKillop back then. But then I visited South Carolina, incredible staff back then, Ryan. That was George Felton was the head coach. You had Jimmy Black, you had Joe Doola, you had Eddie Payne. It was like a big time staff there.

My last night on a visit was a Hootie and the Blowfish concert, which caused me to get on that airplane and just incredibly hung over. I knew that there was no way physically that I could keep up with a Southern school from a party standpoint. As a UVM attendee who also visited the South later in life I was I walked I just go I don't know how anyone did this down there so so we were aligned on that one. Right into the arms of Heimrich. And just likes the numbers. Bounces it in. Nash blocked by Iguodala. That was an incredible play.

And he comes back down with it. Jim Nance on the call. That's Andre Iguodala in the NCAA tournament at Arizona. Andre, take us back to Springfield in Illinois. You're Chicago Sun Times Player of the Year. There was a little debate on where you're actually still gonna go. Give us your best recruiting story. Good question. Well, I just remembered this one part of the story. Someone's asked me to buy private planes because I don't fly private, So catch me at an airport near you.

Kansas, they came and pick me up. They came to pick me up in Springfield on a private plane, and it had the Jayhawk on it. So as I pull up to the Springfield small regional airport, like it only goes to it only goes to Chicago, I think. It might go to Chicago two or three times a day, and it might go to St. Louis. I think it's too short to go to st. Louis So very small airport. So not many planes in and out of there and

When I pull up to the airport, we go through the gates I'm like, why aren't I going through the actual airport? And so I don't understand the private plane set up and When we we get around the airport, you can see planes on the tarmac I'm like what is that I saw the Jayhawk I'm like wait what and so I had no idea and to pull up straight directly to the plane hop on the plane by myself like I don't even understand the moment and so I sit down and buckle up and I just don't move it's like I just don't comprehend that I'm on a private plane to myself.

And it was probably my best visit because, you know, I was I wasn't highly touted. And my recruiting process was like started late, so I didn't get recruited till the summer before my senior year of high school, like that July. Most kids are getting recruited in ninth grade now, eighth grade. And so I was a late bloomer. And so I was a late bloomer. And so I was low maintenance. And Drew Gooden was my host.

And he was my favorite player in college basketball. So just to hang out with Drew Gooden was like the highlight of all my recruiting visits. And we play NFL, we play NCAA college football on PlayStation. I stole some shoes from Nick Collison because we wore the same size and they had this thing where they had this crazy highlight video on the football field on a jumbotron and all these pictures that I took when I first showed up to campus not knowing why I'm taking all these pictures in jerseys and they had a highlight reel for me it was all pitch black. We walking down this dark alley and I'm not knowing where we're at.

And it's like a tunnel to the football stadium. You come up and now you're on the field. I thought I was getting like I thought it was like a mob hit. Like it was so strange. And so the trip was just full of surprises. And Drew Drew Good and I are really cool to this day. Like, that's my man. We were never teammates in the league.

But every time we see each other, we embrace cause he was like, bro, you're one of the coolest recruits I ever had. Cause you were just so cool. I'm like, bro, I was just happy to be hanging out with drew good. And so that was one of my, that was my favorite trip. Yeah. But then you went to Arizona. So, yeah, but I understood like systems, like, you know, Kansas, you know, it was

high, low, you know, transition offense, you know, point guards and power forward centers were going to the lead, you know, besides Paul Pierce up until that point, how many, you know, great wings came out of Kansas. And so I'm looking at it from, from that perspective too. And this is before Bill Self got there and you kind of saw the same thing at Carolina in terms of Roy Williams and his offenses, you know, it's a lot of high, low point guards, you know, bigs, you know, you never seen too many wings be able to,

nah, I was trying to say flourish, but not be able to show their pool skill set, you know, me being a player that I am. So that's why I went on the West Coast. Well, it all worked out despite what Dick Vitale said on draft night, which I know you've told that story a thousand times. We're not gonna ask him to tell us.

Yo, he apologized. I know, I know he did. It was really cool. It was really cool how he did it. This was like three years ago apology too. It was pretty funny. Thanks, Andre. Yes. Take care. Thank you. Knocked out to Baron Davis.

He's got Rush in the left behind his back. What a dribble! Are you serious? Are you serious, Steve? Look behind the back to himself in the open court. Everybody on their feet about to play by that man, Baron Davis. Baron Davis with a filthy dunk back in his UCLA days. Baron, we like to ask everybody the best recruiting story. There has to be one from you.

You have too many good moments where there had to be somebody who thought they were gonna get you out of LA. Man, I got in trouble, man. Look, I got, I got. Right here. If I tell stories, I'm gonna get in trouble. I tell you what what, all right. So look, you know how like players now do like the ESPN thing, right?

Where they pull the hats and all that. So I believe I was like one of the first dudes to do it. And I did it live on Fox Sports. And what's the Lakers announcer, McDonald. Yeah, yeah, Bill. Bill McDonald, he was the host of the show. And so like, I had like 30 people in my family there, it was live.

And I started like, they were like, yo, which college you wanna go to? This one or this one? I just take a hat and I just flip it. I was just like chunking hats, you know what I mean? Off the table, boom, boom. And then I put the UCLA hat. Thought my life was gonna be cool.

Everything was over, go to college. I get a letter in the mail from Roy Williams. And he was like, yo, the whole Kansas fan base, they're upset, feel like you disrespected us. You know what I mean? And it was just like, damn, dude, like that was like one of the first mistakes I made. You know what I mean? Just like, like you burn, you can burn bridges so fast.

You know what I mean? And have people go from allies to enemies, you know what I mean? And have people go from allies to enemies, you know what I mean? Like with the flip of a hat, right? And for me, it was, they told me to do it. It was supposed to be fun. And then, you know, so I was just, from there, there's just kind of bad boy misperception

was created. Those TV producers, man. Now I'm glad you're on the content creator side. Don't do that to kids. Yeah. TV producers back then, they didn't care, dude. Everything was just like, you gotta think it was, it was very buttoned up. It was very raw. You know what I mean? I remember at UCLA, we couldn't have a mustache. We had to shave. And the coach would come in the locker room and he'd be like, hey man, let me see.

I was still messing around, you know. A little touch up. Got a little peach fuzz. Now it's like dudes got tattoos on their face, neck, eyes, all kinds of shit. So it was just a new era. And it's fun. It's fun to watch cause you get to see these kids,

how good they are, how highly skilled and highly talented they are, but also their personality and their style. And that was something that I always championed and still do to this day. something that I always champion and still do to this day. The rebound goes to BYU, Kyle Collinsworth. His ten. Here comes Jimmer.

Long range. That's Jim Murphredette in the 2011 NCAA tournament for BYU. Also the year he won college player of the year, the number 10 overall pick in the draft. He's also a friend of the podcast. He joins us now. Okay, Jim Murphredette, let's go back to your recruiting days coming out of Glen Falls. Give us your best recruiting story. Yeah. So for me, I wasn't super heavily recruited out of Glen Falls. Give us your best recruiting story. Yeah, so for me, I wasn't super heavily recruited out of high school, I was from a small town, like you said.

So I got recruited by two schools mainly and offered by Sienna College, which was about 45 minutes from my house. Who was, the head coach was Fran McCaffrey, who is now the head coach at Iowa, and now love Fran. Unbelievable guy, I almost went to Sienna just because of Fran. Love Fran, unbelievable guy. Almost went to Siena just because of Fran. Yeah, laid back guy.

Now looking back and I was like, man, he is not as laid back as I thought he was gonna be. But just, he's done some good stuff over at Iowa, played some good ball. But yeah, and then, so then obviously BYU. So I took an official visit out to BYU. And my host was actually a guy, one of the guys named Brock Zillstrom played with me, but the other one was named Jordan Cameron. And I don't know if you know that name, but he played

basketball at BYU or for he was going to play basketball at BYU for a year, but then he transferred and played football at USC and was a tight end and then ended up playing in the NFL, was a pro ball tight end for the Browns and was a really great player. And so they took me around on my official visit and you go do your normal stuff, you go to the gym, they take you into the locker room, which wasn't great back then. It's not like they had an amazing locker room or anything back then. We didn't even have a practice facility at BYU back then. So it wasn't a whole lot to show, but the Marriott

Center was awesome. The campus was great. And then we went to dinner and then afterwards, all right, we're going to bring you out to a house party. And just so you know, this is BYU, right? This is not a normal house party that you? And, you know, just so you know, this is BYU, right? Like, this is not a normal house party that you think of when you go to other colleges, right? You get there, there's a bunch of people in there, they're playing, you know, Party in the USA by Miley Cyrus and, you know, whatever, whatever songs that it is, and they're just kind of, there's no alcohol, there's, there's no anything that you would think of. And we're just walking around.

And then all of a sudden these people just bring out these bubbles and they start blowing all these bubbles all over the house and all over the backyard. And you're just like, what is going on? I have no idea what is going on right now. I've never seen anything like this. You know, I'm from upstate New York. I'm used to going to a party with my friends and there being all crazy stuff happening going on. It's just a completely different situation out there at BYU. And it was just a weird

thing and wasn't expecting it. But then I ended up obviously committing to BYU a couple weeks later, just because I felt like it was the right spot for me to be. But I don't really have any other cool stories because I only took two official visits. One was to Sienna and then one was to BYU. And Sienna was like 40 minutes from my house. So I didn't even stay over there or anything. I just went there and visited the school and then came back.

So I'm not as cool as everybody else's recruiting stories that you have on here with all the crazy stuff. But yeah, the bubbles at the BYU house is not as good as I get. The bubbles did it for you. You know what? Though I like we get the full scope of it. We get the whole thing. You must have known though you were like, I like the coaches. I want to play here. It's a higher level of Sienna, higher level in than Siena, so this is just what I'm. Yeah, the going out to the official visit was more of a formality than anything, right?

It was more, I just wanted to experience, I hadn't really been out there much to actually experience and see what the school is like. We went to a football game, obviously, and the football at BYU is great. They have 65,000 person stadium at BYU is great. They have you know 65,000 person stadium at BYU. It's beautiful. So that was fun to be able to experience that, be on the field and feel that energy. The fans out there are really great. They really they love their sports.

It's a cool town. You know it's bigger than people think but it is a fun college town. There's like 60,000 students in Provo because of the University of Utah Valley University, which is right up the road, and there's about 30,000 kids there too. So it's a fun place to be. There's a lot of things going on. You know, it's not for everybody, but it was for me. I'll never forget my first visit there.

By the way, I'd say that the backdrop of that football stadium is probably the best in the country. Unreal. It has to be seen, has to be experienced. If you just love college football and the atmosphere, it's probably one of my favorite places I've ever been. I would also say on a Friday night, drive around through campus, and I've told this before, but I'll just share it with you. I've never seen anything like it where every single intramural field was full of people on it. Like, and I'm talking like midnight, softball, soccer, frisbee, every single field covered with students just playing sports.

So if you're into competing, not even at the highest levels, you just want to join every single league possible with club sports or all that. And BYU's for you. Because I mean, you get a pickup game, you get a pickup game in literally any single sport at any hour of the day. Anywhere, anytime, they love sports.

It's because there's not much partying, right? Like they're not doing a whole, there's not a whole lot going on besides, they're playing sports, they're going to soda shops, and getting those types of drinks. And, uh, you know, the thing about it is like, you've ever heard of the term church ball. Like that's, that's what we do. We go to a local church and cause everyone has a key to the church and you can get in, there's a basketball gym in every single church and that's where it gets crazy. That's where it gets competitive. And, uh, it's, it's a

lot of fun, but you can always find something. And I will say BYU is a special place, man. I mean, I love every single thing about it. The people were amazing and yeah, they're energetic for their sports and their athletics. Yeah, they gotta let loose somehow. And trust me, that was a rowdy, rowdy group going into the stadium. Like I'm talking like, okay, things have changed.

The tone has changed, uh, in this town at Provo. Thanks, Jim. Yeah, thanks. Appreciate it, Ryan. Do you take some responsibility for Denzel Washington's career, considering you had to get him to Fordham and you coach him? Oh, not some. It's wrong.

I think an enormous, an enormous amount. There's no question. But I mean, like when you look back, he flat out believed that's what he was going to be. He was always there and he's, he's still friendly with all those. Two of my brothers played with him. My brother Kevin, who was a really good player. My brother Mark, who wasn't that good, played on the teams with him.

They're still close with him. That's me and PJ Carlissimo talk about coaching Denzel Washington at Fordham. That was back when we did that conversation in 2021. But we'd like to remind the audience that PJ Carlissimo was not a coach first, he was an athlete first. And we'd like to thank the athletes. And we'd like to ask all the athletes to come on for their best recruiting story. So let's go back to a guy at Scranton Prep, who then decided in the late 60s to sign on with Digger Phelps at Fordham. P.J., the floor is yours.

Give us your best recruiting memory from those days. Man, Ryan, I'm stretching it to be in this category. I mean, I was hardly recruited, but I was actually a better baseball player. Ted Thorne was the baseball coach at Cornell. And truly he recruited me harder to come play baseball for Cornell than anybody recruited me to come play basketball. I ended up at Fordham on a combo. And the combo, because at the time, Johnny, Mr. Bach was the head coach.

I mean, that's what we call it. And freshmen couldn't play. Johnny, my freshman year there, Mr. Bach coached the varsity and then he left to go to Penn State. And then sophomore and junior year played for Ed Conlin, who was at that point the best player who had ever played for Fordham. Charlie Elverton, in my opinion,

our classmate displaced him our senior year. Then Digger came in senior year. And baseball, the guy that I played for initially was a man by the name of Dan Ranallo who had been there for a very long time at Fordham and Gil McDougal replaced him. So I ended up playing baseball for Gil McDougal. But believe me, neither Gil nor Digger, had they been coaching when I was at prep, would not have recruited me. I was lucky as hell to play for both of them, but, uh, it was, uh, it wasn't cause I was recruited. Ted Thorne did the best job of recruit me. Uh,

arguably I should have gone to Cornell. You just threw more names in this than anybody's. Was a young PJ upset about no transfer portal at that time? No, man, I was happy. I'll tell you what, you know what? It was good in those days. You felt like you got one choice and that was it. Hardly anybody transferred.

You went where you went. It was great. I mean, we had three coaches in four years. Johnny Bach, freshman year, Ed Collin, sophomore, junior, Diggers, senior year, and we had two baseball coaches. I mean, it was, you know, it was unbelievable. But it was the thing you'd never even entered your mind. Now, guys are looking to transfer now the second week in September, because they don't like the preseason workouts. And

they're not you're not getting enough shots in in preseason workouts guys want to change. So it's, it's I said, the portal was the worst thing. I'm wearing a Colgate hat. My son was at Eastern Illinois. I told everybody for five years, the portal is the dumbest thing I've ever seen. My son, Kyle goes in, he ends up at Colgate ends up in his greatest situation as you could ask for great school, great coach. He loves it. And he proved that the portal was great for him. But you combine portal and NIL, riots, good I'm old and doing podcasts with you, not coaching anymore. I might be, Danny Early can handle it, I can't handle that.

So are you telling me Gil McDougal, rookie of the year, 1951, 112 home runs in his career with the Yankees, I think five World Series in there, he was your... My coach, number 12, and I think, I might be wrong, but I think five World Series in there. He was your. My coach number 12. And I think I might be wrong, but I swear I had this in the back of my head because I've always been a Yankee fan. I think he's the first guy to make all star at all three positions.

I think he made all star at second, short and third, you know, in different years. I may be wrong, but I literally think what a nice man lived in. He was phenomenal to play for phenomenal The best fun was before during after practice or a rain out sitting on the bench and the stories. I mean Mind-boggling. I mean, you know the Yankees in those days, but what a great great player number 12 I believe but yeah, it was a dream come true. Honestly. Yes. Uh, mom of County guy towards the end rookie of the year 51 and made the multiple all-stars you got, you have facts in front of you. For some reason I had that

in my head. I don't know if it was true because number 12, they moved him around, they moved them around the infield with different guys with the Yankees. And he was good enough to play all three of the positions. Amazing. Yeah, All-Star 52, All-Star 56, 57, 58, 59. And then when I look at the fielding stuff, you're right on it, you're locked in.

Made the All-Star team as a third baseman in 52, and then made the All-star team as a shortstop where he played the majority of his games in 56 and then in 57 he was an all-star shortstop again and I think yeah he played most of his games at second and 59 so technically you would say hey he played more games there but he basically split the season pretty evenly there incredible it's nothing like his games at second and 59. So technically you would say, hey, he played more games there, but he basically split the season pretty evenly there. Incredible.

It's nothing like early baseball impressions for all the only thing we can hang on to. What a guy, the best, the best. Gil McDougall. Thanks PJ. Great story. That's different. That's different from some of the other ones we've gotten.

We appreciate it. It's better than my other ones for sure. That's a line drive and it is picked off. Fred Warner has it. In a Boise State territory. Stays in bounds. Warner down the sideline. And it's a touchdown if it stands, what a run. That's Fred Warner's Pick 6 while at BYU before he became my favorite player in the NFL.

We ask all of our guests this, and I want you to go back to California where you were in high school. And I know BYU, because I spent some time out there and as my cohosthost was LDS so I don't know how different your story is gonna be but we ask every player is there somewhere else you thought you were gonna go what's your best recruiting story? Yeah man the recruiting process was a crazy one I'd say I think anytime that you're you know the first one in your family to ever be recruited D1 it's like you don't there's so much unknown you don't know how the process is supposed to go. BYU was my one of my first offers you know my after my junior season. They saw my tape and

they're like man we think this kid is it's pretty good let's let's give him let's give him an offer right and I went on a visit to BYU. I saw the campus it was beautiful the coaches were were telling me everything you know that I needed to hear and told me I could play right away. And ultimately, I committed right after that visit. And then going into my senior season, I had gotten just a ton of offers, all throughout the Pac-12, into the Big Ten, like Nebraska. And my dream school was USC. And USC came knocking, they gave me an offer. And that was the one that really had my attention,

that I kind of battled with, like, dang, do I de-commit and go to USC or do I stick with my commitment to go to BYU? And ultimately, USC was going through a coaching change and I didn't feel like they really wanted me like how BYU wanted me you know and I wanted to be the the big fish in the small pond you know comparative vice versa so uh you know I've stuck with my commitment went to BYU and it was obviously the best decision I could have made.

With the fourth pick in the 2013 NFL Draft the Philadelphia Eagles select The 2013 NFL Draft, the Philadelphia Eagles select Lane Johnson, Tackle Oklahoma. The draft was 10 years ago. Now as you hear Roger Goodell call Lane Johnson's name in 2014. Lane joins us now. Let's do either the high school one or your Juco or whatever you wanna do as your best recruiting story from your past. I think a funny one, my buddy and I, Wade Williams at Groveson, we were getting recruited

together, he ended up going to Northwestern State, but I remember his name was Jason Washington, he was the coach at Rice University. And so he was coming to recruit us. And so, you know, he spent about 45 minutes watching our tape and, and going, you know, asking us questions, you know, the whole recruiting process at the end. He goes, guys, very, very last thing. What's my name?

And I didn't, I totally froze up and forgot but way goes coach coach from right and shakes his hand and he started laughing because obviously probably does that to a lot of his guys he's recruiting but I just remember whenever Wade said coach coach from right everybody's kind of broke out and laughs yeah but for me recruiting wasn recruiting wasn't a fun time. I remember being, you know, obviously from a small school, I had 30 kids in my class and Lufkin, where Des Bryant went, is like 30 minutes up the road.

So I can see why kind of I was overlooked, but I knew, you know, I knew where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do. So I had, you know, Ry socked me out of high school, I ended up going to Juco, and then TCU was really my first main offer. Southern Miss, Oklahoma and a few others. But once Oklahoma offered, obviously,

you know, I pulled the trigger on that. But it was very close with me going to TCU. That's where I was headed. Yeah, was it tough? Because Groverton's basically down by Houston, right? So was it tough becoming sooner? Yeah, it's it's it's about an hour north of Houston. But I credit, you know, my coach from high school, Keith Thomas. He went to Oklahoma back when Switzer was there.

And so he knew Merv Johnson, who was recruiting coordinator at the time. And so we made a few trips during the off season that summer. And during that spring, I played a little bit of tight end as well at Kilgore. And so I had to have tape on that. And yeah, really, I think without his help at the time, my stepdad, Jimmy Evans did a lot of road trips to take me to those places.

So I was fortunate with the opportunity, but really credit those guys. and 18 plus in DC and present in select states. Fandual is offering online sports wagering in Kansas under agreement with Kansas Star Casino LLC. Gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit fandual.com forward slash RG in Colorado, DC, Iowa, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and Vermont. Call 1-800-NEXTSTEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342

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