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TBT Air Raiders and Texas Tech Basketball Talk with Andrew Sorrells · Talkin' Tech

0:39
SPEAKER_04: Welcome in, everybody, to the Talk and Tech Podcast powered by Guns Up Nation, part of the Guns Up Nation Podcast Network.
0:45
SPEAKER_04: I'm your host, Steven Rodriguez, my co-host Tristan McGonagall is not here today.
0:51
SPEAKER_04: He is selfishly enjoying himself on South Padre Island right now.
0:56
SPEAKER_04: So I am solo today, but the good news for everybody is that we have a great guest on Andrew Sorels, is joining the podcast, former Texas Tech basketball player.
1:08
SPEAKER_04: He is here to talk all thanks TBT.
1:11
SPEAKER_04: He's going to talk uh some funny basketball stories.
1:14
SPEAKER_04: He's going to talk uh his time at tech, uh, some thoughts on some recent uh um recent moves for Texas Tech basketball, kind of the upcoming season in general.
1:24
SPEAKER_04: So um really fun interview coming y'all's way here in a bit.
1:27
SPEAKER_04: Uh before I get to that though, I wanted to mention a few things for Texas Tech.
1:32
SPEAKER_04: One, uh Texas Tech Baseball coming up on their regional matchup in Statesboro.
1:39
SPEAKER_04: They are part of the Statesboro Regional.
1:41
SPEAKER_04: Uh Georgia Southern is going to be the host school for this um this regional.
1:47
SPEAKER_04: Something I did not expect to uh say at the beginning of the season.
1:50
SPEAKER_04: But um the four teams that are going to be in this regional with Texas Tech, Georgia Southern is the one seed, Notre Dame is the two seed, which a lot of people thought Notre Dame should have been a host.
2:01
SPEAKER_04: Um, but with the sheer amount of ACC schools that are hosting this year, uh Notre Dame was bumped to a two-seed.
2:08
SPEAKER_04: And then Texas Tech as your three seed and UNC Greensboro as the four seed.
2:14
SPEAKER_04: So uh Texas Tech going to be taking on Notre Dame Friday at one o'clock.
2:19
SPEAKER_04: Um, I assume Andrew Morris is gonna get the nod uh to go against Notre Dame.
2:25
SPEAKER_04: Um, you know, from this perspective, Notre Dame is probably your toughest competition in this regional.
2:32
SPEAKER_04: I know Georgia Southern is the one seed, and they are, you know, as any team is that made this tournament, a formidable opponent for sure.
2:38
SPEAKER_04: But you got to think Notre Dame um is probably your toughest competition in this region.
2:44
SPEAKER_04: So uh yeah, I think going with Morris is probably the right move here.
2:48
SPEAKER_04: Uh go with Bird Cell um, you know, next, and then you go one of Hampton or Molina here, there in the third game.
2:56
SPEAKER_04: Hopefully you get out of there pretty quickly.
2:58
SPEAKER_04: But um obviously these are a tough group of uh tough group of teams, and um we've seen tech, you know, play very well, and we've seen tech not play so well.
3:08
SPEAKER_04: So uh excited to at least be in the postseason for baseball.
3:11
SPEAKER_04: It's always good.
3:12
SPEAKER_04: Uh, I believe tech's one of 11 teams to have qualified for the postseason in football, basketball, and baseball this past season, and the only team from the Big 12 to do so.
3:23
SPEAKER_04: So uh shouts out to the athletic program.
3:26
SPEAKER_04: Obviously, they're doing a fantastic job with everything.
3:29
SPEAKER_04: Um The brand episode two came out.
3:33
SPEAKER_04: It was awesome.
3:34
SPEAKER_04: Uh, this whole series has been awesome.
3:36
SPEAKER_04: Uh, this one focused pretty much on the offense.
3:39
SPEAKER_04: Um you know, we got to hear from all three quarterbacks and kind of uh, you know, it's it's a lot of players speak, a lot of coach speak, a lot of guys, you know, that's what this whole thing is.
3:49
SPEAKER_04: It's it's great.
3:50
SPEAKER_04: I love that Texas Tech is getting this attention and uh Texas Tech football is getting this attention.
3:56
SPEAKER_04: Um, we have three, we've said this all, you know, since uh the season ended, we have three starting caliber quarterbacks.
4:02
SPEAKER_04: Um, all three of those guys look ready to go.
4:05
SPEAKER_04: Uh Joey seems to have faith that all of them are willing to stay, uh, no matter who's named the starter.
4:12
SPEAKER_04: But um, you know, it was it was cool seeing Kenny Perry talk about the running backs.
4:16
SPEAKER_04: It was cool seeing Coach Jones talk about the wide receivers, Coach Cochran going in on tight ends.
4:23
SPEAKER_04: So um just a fun episode.
4:25
SPEAKER_04: You really see, I think some of the things that kind of stood out are Miles Price, man.
4:29
SPEAKER_04: He is not only set up for a big year, but he is such a good locker room presence for these guys, a leader through and through with this team so far.
4:39
SPEAKER_04: Um, I also think Taj Brooks has kind of taken on that role of leadership along with Sir Roderick because those guys are vets.
4:45
SPEAKER_04: They've been in uh at Texas Tech now for a while.
4:48
SPEAKER_04: Uh they're gonna see some major action this year.
4:51
SPEAKER_04: Um but you know, I I just love how transparent Joey is with these with the quarterbacks and just with this whole thing in general.
4:59
SPEAKER_04: He he really just says what he means and he's just genuine about the whole thing.
5:05
SPEAKER_04: Um you know, Tyler Shuck uh had a good kind of sit-down interview and basically said, you know, Joey came up to me and he didn't promise me anything.
5:14
SPEAKER_04: Uh, like I think a lot of coaches probably would.
5:17
SPEAKER_04: Um, you know, for for an experienced guy like Tyler Shuck, um would have probably just gone in and and you know offered him the starting job if he were to stay.
5:28
SPEAKER_04: But uh Joey didn't do that.
5:30
SPEAKER_04: He said, Hey, uh, you know, you're gonna have as good a chance as any, but this is gonna be a competition and the best guy's gonna play.
5:36
SPEAKER_04: And that's how you should run your football team.
5:38
SPEAKER_04: Um, you know, so I I also think that's part of the reason why he hasn't named a starter yet.
5:43
SPEAKER_04: I think these other guys are making some leeway.
5:45
SPEAKER_04: Um, but a lot of cool b-roll as always with this.
5:49
SPEAKER_04: Um you know, we just have a really exciting team, young team, um, and and the brand is really kind of showcasing what Texas Tech football is gonna be and everything about that.
6:01
SPEAKER_04: So uh it's an exciting deal.
6:03
SPEAKER_04: Uh, I'd encourage you if you haven't watched it yet, go watch it.
6:05
SPEAKER_04: Uh, you can find it on YouTube now.
6:07
SPEAKER_04: I think they they're gonna play every Tuesday at seven o'clock.
6:10
SPEAKER_04: So uh check it out when you can.
6:13
SPEAKER_04: Um golf, I uh had a good season.
6:16
SPEAKER_04: Um, unfortunately, they fell a little short to Vanderbilt that, but they made the final eight.
6:20
SPEAKER_04: Um, men's golf, and so another another good year for those guys.
6:25
SPEAKER_04: Um, Coach Sands has that uh program in a really good spot, so wanted to shout them out, and um yeah, so this is a uh it's it's a lower point usually for sports.
6:37
SPEAKER_04: Um, you know, come June, July, August, the summer months.
6:40
SPEAKER_04: Um, you know, the good news is we can kind of bask in the sunshine and kind of uh not be glued to our television sets all the time.
6:47
SPEAKER_04: So um, but we do have a good interview ahead with Andrew Sorels.
6:52
SPEAKER_04: We're talking the TVT tournament, which is gonna take place in July.
6:56
SPEAKER_04: Um, a lot of good info on that, and uh, you know, kind of his thoughts on his playing career and and some other good stuff around tech basketball.
7:03
SPEAKER_04: So um I'm gonna shoot y'all over to that interview right now with Andrew Sorles.
7:10
SPEAKER_04: All right, we are here with Andrew Sorles, former Texas Tech men's basketball player.
7:16
SPEAKER_04: What's up, Andrew?
7:17
SPEAKER_04: Not much.
7:18
SPEAKER_04: What's going on?
7:19
SPEAKER_04: Oh man, it has been a heck of a day, but super excited to talk to you.
7:23
SPEAKER_04: Uh, we got some fun topics coming up here, talking some basketball tournament TBT.
7:28
SPEAKER_04: Wanted to see what uh your third your thoughts were on everything.
7:32
SPEAKER_04: Uh, and then we'll kind of get into your playing career and then just kind of go from there, man.
7:37
SPEAKER_04: So to start off, TBT, the basketball tournament, Air Raiders, man.
7:43
SPEAKER_04: This is a really cool deal that has kind of popped up as of recent.
7:47
SPEAKER_04: Um, wanted to know how that whole thing came together, what your involvement is with it, and just everything TBT.
7:54
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, so my involvement, I'm the general manager.
7:57
SPEAKER_03: It's a blessing and a curse.
7:58
SPEAKER_03: You get to, you know, you get to organize everything, and you're the guy that does all the hard work.
8:03
SPEAKER_03: And uh, of course, Texas Tech needs a team.
8:05
SPEAKER_03: All the fans want to see it, all the guys come back and play.
8:09
SPEAKER_03: Uh, but as far as getting the roster together and working out the logistics, that's it's a lot of work.
8:14
SPEAKER_03: But uh it came about TBT's been wanting tech to have a team in their tournament for a few years now, just with our recent success and the amount of pros that we're producing.
8:24
SPEAKER_03: And it just hadn't come together.
8:26
SPEAKER_03: We've had a few guys like Naeem, Justin, and Toddrick, and even John Roberson play on uh other teams, but we just haven't had a team full of Texas Tech guys, and so they expressed their interest in us doing that.
8:40
SPEAKER_03: And they knew obviously, with me being a walk-on at tech, that I knew most of the guys, and so they asked if I'd be willing to kind of put it together, and I told them I would.
8:50
SPEAKER_03: And uh I'm not saying I regret it, I definitely don't regret it, but it's definitely a lot more work than I expected.
8:56
SPEAKER_03: But yeah, it's it's long overdue for tech to have a team in his tournament.
9:00
SPEAKER_04: Oh, yeah, no doubt.
9:01
SPEAKER_04: And this is always a fun thing.
9:02
SPEAKER_04: I mean, I remember I've been watching TBT for a number of years now, and you you're right, we've seen these Texas Tech players play on different teams.
9:10
SPEAKER_04: We maybe had a team matadors in the past, I believe.
9:13
SPEAKER_04: And I don't know if that was if that was all Texas Tech or what it was, but no, it was just the Matadors, they had about three or four guys.
9:20
SPEAKER_03: I think Jay Crockett was on that team, but there were still there was still a handful of guys that didn't graduate from tech or even go to tech.
9:28
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, we're looking to put together a team of guys that at least went to tech for one year.
9:33
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, for sure.
9:33
SPEAKER_04: We've seen the Ohio State team, I believe, is one that's that's massive there.
9:37
SPEAKER_04: They always bring in their alums, so why not tech?
9:39
SPEAKER_04: Like you said, so many professional players now coming out of Texas Tech basketball.
9:44
SPEAKER_04: I mean, who would have thought it, you know, seven years ago at this point?
9:48
SPEAKER_04: But we've really progressed as a as a program.
9:51
SPEAKER_04: It's been awesome to watch.
9:53
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, we really have.
9:54
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, no doubt.
9:55
SPEAKER_04: So, right now, as of today, you have Zaire Smith signed on, you have Norritz signed on, Matt Mooney, Naeem Stevenson, and Zach Smith.
10:05
SPEAKER_04: When you're getting these guys, how difficult is it for you to either do you have to do a lot of convincing to these guys, or are most of them just like, hell yeah, let's do it?
10:16
SPEAKER_03: Um, well, it's case by case.
10:18
SPEAKER_03: You got certain guys that need more convincing than others, but most of them are interested.
10:24
SPEAKER_03: I would say 90% of them want to play.
10:27
SPEAKER_03: It's just a matter of whether their schedule allows them to, their contract that they're under, whether they can play.
10:34
SPEAKER_03: Uh, but it just it's case by case basis.
10:37
SPEAKER_03: Uh Norrence, obviously, I mean, he was on board, he was the first one to join, and he's kind of turned into our brand ambassador at Texas Tech.
10:46
SPEAKER_03: And so he was he was a great first edition.
10:49
SPEAKER_03: And then Mooney, obviously, another cornerstone piece, and we just started building around those guys.
10:54
SPEAKER_03: And um, I didn't think we were gonna be able to pull off Zaire.
10:57
SPEAKER_03: I've been talking to him a lot, and he just wasn't looking promising.
11:00
SPEAKER_03: And then all of a sudden he shot me a text and I talked to him, and he said he just went to the doctor and he got a great report on his knee, and that he's gonna be playing again.
11:08
SPEAKER_03: And so he's gonna play in the NBA Summer League, and then um after the NBA Summer League, he's gonna join us in Wichita, which that's why we're playing in Wichita.
11:17
SPEAKER_03: People keep asking me, why aren't you guys playing in New Mexico when that's the closer region?
11:21
SPEAKER_03: And it's because uh I asked the TBT folks specifically if we could play in the Wichita region because it's a week later, and that gives our guys that potentially are playing in the NBA Summer League time to finish wrap up um at in Vegas, wherever it is, and then join us in Wichita.
11:38
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, cool.
11:38
SPEAKER_04: I I was gonna ask about Zaire specifically because you know we all know his story, the unfortunate allergy issue uh to start off his career and then you know, a slew of injuries that have kind of sidelined him for a while now.
11:49
SPEAKER_04: But uh that that's great news to hear that he got a good medical report because I think I can speak for all Red Raider fans just to see that guy back on the floor.
11:57
SPEAKER_04: I mean, he was one of the most exciting Red Raiders, I think, that I've watched in, you know, since I've been a fan.
12:04
SPEAKER_04: And so seeing him putting on and teaming up with some of these guys from uh, you know, the 2018 and 19 teams, it's gonna be really fun to watch.
12:11
SPEAKER_04: So Zaire, good to go.
12:14
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, Zaire's good to go.
12:16
SPEAKER_03: And it's it really is cool when because Matt Mooney, he didn't get a chance to play with Zire.
12:21
SPEAKER_03: Zaire didn't get a chance to play with Matt.
12:22
SPEAKER_03: And so it's cool that we can combine kind of those two most successful teams in tech history and incorporate some pieces from both of those squads.
12:31
SPEAKER_03: Uh, but yeah, Zaire is good to go, that's what he says.
12:34
SPEAKER_03: And so, unless anything changes, he'll be suiting up for the Air Raiders.
12:38
SPEAKER_03: And yeah, you're right, man.
12:39
SPEAKER_03: That guy, he's just he's a freak athlete.
12:42
SPEAKER_03: And if we can get, and obviously, we have Zach Smith, who's another freak athlete, and we're working on getting Tariq Owens.
12:49
SPEAKER_04: Nice.
12:50
SPEAKER_03: Uh, and if we can finally get him on board, and then that's you're talking about Zach, Zaire, and Tariq.
12:55
SPEAKER_03: Those are three of the most athletic guys that have ever played at tech, and that'd be that'd be big time.
13:00
SPEAKER_04: Oh, yeah.
13:01
SPEAKER_04: I mean, that's like taking that 2018 team.
13:03
SPEAKER_04: I mean, obviously, without Keenan, who is you know your star over there, but you put those grad transfers from that Final Four team on that Elite Eight team from 2018, who that'd be fun to watch.
13:13
SPEAKER_04: Oh, I know.
13:14
SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, no doubt.
13:16
SPEAKER_04: But um, I I think the advantage that y'all are gonna have with this Air Raider team in this tournament specifically is the youth.
13:23
SPEAKER_04: I mean, you have guys that just played in college four, three, four, five years ago, guys that were on NBA rosters, Matt Mooney this this year with the Knicks.
13:32
SPEAKER_04: Zaire obviously playing NBA Summer League.
13:35
SPEAKER_04: I mean, you think you can see that as an advantage for you guys, just the pure youth that you have on this team?
13:41
SPEAKER_03: Oh, yeah, no doubt.
13:42
SPEAKER_03: I think we have a lot of advantages, and one major advantage is that we and we intend for it to be all Texas Tech guys, guys that have played in the Texas Tech program and that understand the defense, understand the system.
13:55
SPEAKER_03: We can run motion, we can incorporate some of the sets that everybody uh is accustomed to running when they were at tech, which that's a big advantage because this is this is uh it's not like we're we get three months of practice for this tournament.
14:10
SPEAKER_03: We're gonna have a short training camp.
14:12
SPEAKER_03: We don't have time to incorporate the Princeton offense.
14:14
SPEAKER_03: We just need to kind of roll the balls out, and guys are gonna play.
14:18
SPEAKER_03: But uh yeah, it's definitely a competitive advantage to have these guys that are young.
14:23
SPEAKER_03: We can get out and transition.
14:24
SPEAKER_03: And there's a lot of guys in this tournament on other teams that uh they're former pros, they're not quite playing anymore, but they're still talented and they've lost their athletic ability.
14:35
SPEAKER_03: We got guys on their prime.
14:36
SPEAKER_03: Matt Mooney's in his prime.
14:38
SPEAKER_03: Most of our guys are in their prime, so that's that's a that's uh a major advantage for us.
14:43
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, no doubt.
14:44
SPEAKER_04: I mean, I remember watching Zach.
14:46
SPEAKER_04: I think I I'm not sure if it was two, three years ago, but Zach was in the TBT tournament with another team and had just an absolutely nuts alley oop dunk, and it was just prime Zach Smith again, back watching him at Texas Tech.
14:59
SPEAKER_04: Awesome to watch.
15:00
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I think he was uh that dunk, he played with the the Marshall alumni team.
15:06
SPEAKER_03: And just because we tech didn't have a team, so and he wanted to play in the tournament, so that's what he did.
15:11
SPEAKER_03: Uh but yeah, I remember seeing that dunk.
15:12
SPEAKER_03: And then also last year you had Tariq.
15:15
SPEAKER_03: I forget what, I think he played with armored athletes, but all of a sudden, because I didn't watch TBT much last year, but um all of a sudden I turned on Sports Center and there was uh the ESPN top 10, and he had two of the 10, two of them, two dunks.
15:31
SPEAKER_03: I'm like, man, Tariq, you're hogging the top 10.
15:34
SPEAKER_03: I mean, if we can get him on board, we'll be in really good shape.
15:36
SPEAKER_04: Oh, yeah, absolutely.
15:38
SPEAKER_04: Um, so you're thinking run and gun kind of style, you know, you got the the youth, like we like we mentioned earlier, but uh with this team's style, you know, do you think it's gonna be kind of hey, we played together before, we're gonna kind of click back into that mode again from a few years ago?
15:54
SPEAKER_03: Oh, yeah, we're gonna run side, we're gonna run the Mark Adams defense for sure.
15:57
SPEAKER_03: All right, because everybody knows it.
15:58
SPEAKER_03: We're gonna side guys, keep them out of the middle, take charges.
16:01
SPEAKER_03: Hopefully, hopefully these guys aren't too good to take charges in this tournament, especially when a million dollars is on the line.
16:06
SPEAKER_03: So yeah, yeah, we we fully intend to kind of incorporate the same style as they uh is the Texas Tech program.
16:15
SPEAKER_04: Now you just got to get Coach Adams to go coach for a few weeks down there.
16:19
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, no, that'd be nice.
16:21
SPEAKER_03: That really would.
16:22
SPEAKER_03: Oh, no doubt.
16:23
SPEAKER_03: If Coach Adams could come out and coach, I don't know if he'll probably be busy recruiting or developing his current roster.
16:29
SPEAKER_03: So I I doubt he does that.
16:31
SPEAKER_03: Um, but yeah, that'd be that'd be awesome.
16:34
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, that's a 365-day job he's got right there.
16:37
SPEAKER_04: So it's tough to get him even for a couple weeks.
16:39
SPEAKER_04: But um, yeah, man, TBT, so excited to watch this team again.
16:43
SPEAKER_04: Uh, because uh these these are some of the best times as a Texas Tech fan, just reminiscing on those teams.
16:50
SPEAKER_04: I mean, I don't know how many times I've gone back and watched uh those that Michigan State game in the Final Four, or the Gonzaga game, or some of those Elite Eight games from uh from 2018.
17:01
SPEAKER_04: So I'm sure the entirety of the fan base is going to be tuning in to watch y'all play and uh just excited for the whole thing.
17:08
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that's what we're hoping for.
17:10
SPEAKER_03: And it's just good because I know everybody always some people have the discussion which team was better, the 2018 one or the 2019 team.
17:18
SPEAKER_03: And everybody likes having those debates because both both teams lost to the uh the champion, the eventual champion in Villanova and Virginia.
17:26
SPEAKER_03: And it's just fun to and also people think about what if we could combine those teams, and that's what we're trying to do.
17:33
SPEAKER_03: Um, outside of Jarek Culver, he won't be able to play.
17:36
SPEAKER_03: Um, but that's what we're wanting to do, and just kind of adding an extra layer to the brand, early basketball in July, and I think it's just uh good for the program.
17:46
SPEAKER_04: So, what what's the total on the roster y'all are trying to achieve here?
17:49
SPEAKER_04: Like how many guys do you want on the team by the end?
17:52
SPEAKER_03: That's a good question, Steven.
17:54
SPEAKER_03: So um I would say eight or nine, and I say that because the games are shorter, they're nine-minute quarters instead of the 20-minute halves, and the games, which I know you're a you know this because you've been watching TBT, but they end on a like every every game ends on a game-winning shot.
18:13
SPEAKER_03: It's called the Elam ending.
18:15
SPEAKER_03: And so the under four-minute timeout, the next, or not the under-four-minute timeout, but the first dead ball under four minutes, they stop the game and they add eight points to the winning team's score, and then you play to that score, which you know that, but uh the games are shorter, um, and we don't want guys that are spending their offseason coming to play for us, have a bad experience, or to be unhappy with their role.
18:39
SPEAKER_03: And we think we, you know, really you only play eight guys, and this isn't a long season, this is just a tournament.
18:46
SPEAKER_03: If we were playing a you know, a 40-game season or a long season, you know, we're gonna have we'd like to have 10 guys, but this is just a single elimination tournament.
18:55
SPEAKER_03: We want eight good quality guys, maybe nine, maybe nine at the max.
19:00
SPEAKER_03: Um, but right now we're thinking eight or nine.
19:02
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, and when you think about basketball in general, NBA, college, whatever, once you get down to the nitty-gritty, the playoffs, the end of the season, they're eight or nine man rotations at the most, too.
19:12
SPEAKER_04: So yeah, I think that's a good, that's a good number for y'all.
19:15
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, just like with any postseason, the lineup shrinks, man.
19:18
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, for sure.
19:19
SPEAKER_04: No doubt.
19:20
SPEAKER_04: And you know that best because obviously, you being a former Texas Tech player, you were on some great teams here, uh, up there in Lubbock.
19:27
SPEAKER_04: Uh 2015 to 2019, you're at Texas Tech.
19:30
SPEAKER_04: So you were under both Tubby Smith and Chris Beard.
19:34
SPEAKER_04: What I want to ask, I want to ask you specifically, what is the difference in the in the style of coaching between Tubby Smith and Chris Beard?
19:45
SPEAKER_03: Uh well, Tubby was a little bit, you know, he's on the backside, he was on the backside of his career, obviously a Hall of Fame coach.
19:51
SPEAKER_03: Both of them were great.
19:53
SPEAKER_03: Um, with Tubby, he kind of had um, he'd already established himself.
19:58
SPEAKER_03: He won a national championship at Kentucky.
20:00
SPEAKER_03: And so he was comfortable with his system.
20:03
SPEAKER_03: Um, he was a genuine guy, um, but he had his system.
20:06
SPEAKER_03: And with Coach Beard, Coach Beard was more of an upcoming, younger coach, still trying to prove himself because at that point when he got to tech, he hadn't made an elite eight run or a final four run.
20:17
SPEAKER_03: And those were different.
20:18
SPEAKER_03: And Coach Beard was a little bit more um ambitious because he's just younger, and so he's trying to prove himself.
20:24
SPEAKER_03: Um, but both were great coaches.
20:26
SPEAKER_03: Uh, I'd say Tubby Smith had more of the inside out offensive mindset, and Coach Beard was more motion, five out, and he liked his bigs to be able to run the floor and play on the outside.
20:37
SPEAKER_03: But I liked them both.
20:39
SPEAKER_03: Um, but both were both are nice guys off the court to their players.
20:43
SPEAKER_03: Both of them took care of their players.
20:45
SPEAKER_03: Like I could call, you know, Tubby.
20:48
SPEAKER_03: Um, he wrote me a check the other day because he just retired.
20:51
SPEAKER_03: He wrote me a check for my wedding, wrote me a wedding gift.
20:53
SPEAKER_03: Coach Beard has sent me a video in for my bachelor party.
20:57
SPEAKER_03: And so both are great guys, and Beards wrote me a recommendation letter for certain things.
21:01
SPEAKER_03: And so they take care of their players, they're good guys.
21:05
SPEAKER_03: Um, but the differences were I guess is Coach Beards younger when he got to tech, and Tubby was obviously on the backside of his career.
21:12
SPEAKER_03: But both great coaches for sure.
21:14
SPEAKER_04: You were also playing under another now great head coach and Mark Adams, um, you know, defensive-minded.
21:20
SPEAKER_04: Uh, obviously, we know everything about that.
21:22
SPEAKER_04: But for you, when you're on those teams where Chris Beard's the head coach, Mark Adams is the assistant, we hear all these stories about Mark Adams being kind of the defensive coordinator type.
21:33
SPEAKER_04: You know, he has control of the defense.
21:35
SPEAKER_04: How much control did he really have there in practices, in games, when it came to the defense?
21:43
SPEAKER_03: Oh, he had ultimate authority, I would say, defensively.
21:46
SPEAKER_03: Um, just because Coach Beard knew that was what was best for our team.
21:51
SPEAKER_03: And so he would let Coach Adams control everything defensively because he knew Coach Adams knew what he was talking about.
21:56
SPEAKER_03: He studied film and he is a Tactical mastermind.
22:01
SPEAKER_03: He just has a unique ability to understand X's and O's and where guys need to be in positioning.
22:07
SPEAKER_03: And so Coach Beard gave him that authority.
22:09
SPEAKER_03: And that's why that's why we were such a good defensive team.
22:13
SPEAKER_03: And of course, uh, just back in the day when Beard was head coach, you could just see Adams like he knew he was a defensive guy, but you could just tell he had that itch to like you know chime in on the offensive end, like on the offensive uh portion of practice, you could tell Coach Adams is wanting to itch to kind of input his recommendations.
22:32
SPEAKER_03: But obviously now he can do that.
22:34
SPEAKER_03: Um but yeah, that was Coach Beard gave him the authority, rightfully so, because Adams knew what he was talking about.
22:41
SPEAKER_04: Sure.
22:41
SPEAKER_04: And that's and that's what I'm trying to tell people.
22:43
SPEAKER_04: A lot of people are convinced that with the new hire Steve Green coming from South Plains College, um, he's gonna be a lot of people think he's gonna be kind of the offensive coordinator in a Mark Adams team.
22:53
SPEAKER_04: And now with you saying that, and I just don't think Mark Adams is going to just kind of give that side of a ball to somebody.
23:00
SPEAKER_04: I think he has to have at least some say in what goes on on his basketball team on both sides.
23:06
SPEAKER_03: Well, I think with every head coach and every assistant can has a different view.
23:12
SPEAKER_03: Um, but I think as the head coach, when everything is on your watch and you're at the helm of responsibility for wins and losses, you can't help but uh analyze everything.
23:23
SPEAKER_03: And so I think he's gonna give Coach Green the responsibility and the offensive coordinator role.
23:29
SPEAKER_03: But when Coach Adams wants to input an idea or to kind of contend with him or question certain things, like he's going to because ultimately it's about winning and losing and uh well, it's about wins and losses.
23:41
SPEAKER_03: And so if he sees something that he thinks we can change in order to get more wins, then he's gonna do it.
23:46
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, no doubt.
23:47
SPEAKER_04: Um, so for you, you know, you were walk-on, uh, you played, you know, you played here and there, but ultimately you were kind of the guy at the end of the bench.
23:57
SPEAKER_04: For you, right?
23:59
SPEAKER_04: What was did you ever consider potentially transferring out of Texas Tech for a bigger role on a different team somewhere?
24:06
SPEAKER_04: Was that ever, did that thought ever cross your mind?
24:08
SPEAKER_03: It went, it actually was.
24:10
SPEAKER_03: And you know, I wanted to play.
24:11
SPEAKER_03: And like I was, I mean, I was I was a basketball guy in high school, and I wanted to go somewhere where I could play.
24:17
SPEAKER_03: And when Coach Smith offered me the preferred walk-on opportunity, I jumped on it pretty quick.
24:22
SPEAKER_03: Uh, but that was also when Texas Tech was kind of the laughing stock of the Big 12.
24:26
SPEAKER_03: So I just kind of looked around and said, yeah, I could probably work my way into a role here by my junior senior year.
24:31
SPEAKER_03: And then all of a sudden, we're bringing in guys like Jarek Culver and Zyer.
24:36
SPEAKER_03: And I kind of looked around saying, I'm probably not going to be playing, but you know, the experience was too good to pass up.
24:43
SPEAKER_03: Um, but you know, after the final four run, I did have one more year of eligibility.
24:48
SPEAKER_03: Um, and I could have grabbed, I could have graduated and then transferred.
24:52
SPEAKER_03: And what I wanted to do is I wanted to transfer kind of back home to a school where I could get my MBA.
24:58
SPEAKER_03: Like I well, I either wanted to go, I really like I knew I wasn't gonna make my money playing basketball.
25:05
SPEAKER_03: Like my teammates are all gonna go play professionally, and that's gonna be their career.
25:09
SPEAKER_03: I knew that wasn't gonna be my career.
25:10
SPEAKER_03: So I wanted to go somewhere where I could get a valuable NBA in business and and play basketball.
25:16
SPEAKER_03: So I uh I wanted to go play at a division three school that had a top NBA program in the country in UT Dallas.
25:23
SPEAKER_03: And so I wanted to do that, but the NCAA had a rule that you can't be a division one grad transfer and transfer D three.
25:30
SPEAKER_03: And so we we filled out a waiver, we thought we were gonna get it, we appealed it multiple times.
25:35
SPEAKER_03: Beard was involved, he helped me out a lot, um, but ultimately it didn't go through.
25:39
SPEAKER_03: But yes, to answer your question, like I wanted to go somewhere and be the guy again.
25:42
SPEAKER_03: Like, oh, this is gonna be high school all over again.
25:44
SPEAKER_03: I get to take every shot, and now I get by my man, and there's not gonna be like a Tariq Owens type player waiting for me at the rim.
25:50
SPEAKER_03: So to answer your questions, yes, yes, I did consider it.
25:54
SPEAKER_03: And looking back, it would have been cool to join Parker Hicks over there at LCU.
25:58
SPEAKER_03: But um, because obviously you saw what he he's been doing or did.
26:02
SPEAKER_03: Um, but yeah, I I did consider it.
26:05
SPEAKER_03: But I enjoyed my experience, I don't have any regrets.
26:07
SPEAKER_04: No doubt, no doubt.
26:08
SPEAKER_04: I I think people uh have kind of a false sense of of kind of the end-of-the-bench guys, the guys that don't necessarily get a lot of playing time, they're you know cheering on the sidelines and doing all that good stuff, but you know, any normal old Joe, some guy gets a big head, thinks uh he could take one of you guys.
26:24
SPEAKER_04: You average 18 points a game in high school.
26:26
SPEAKER_04: I mean, you could have been a guy at a smaller school, man.
26:30
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, you did your you did your research, man.
26:31
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I did average 18 points in in high school.
26:34
SPEAKER_03: Uh and it's it's also fun now because I mean, I'm not playing competitively, like I'm not trying to be a professional basketball player.
26:41
SPEAKER_03: So I'll go play and pick up at the rec and play with these guys up at uh local gyms here in Lovell.
26:46
SPEAKER_03: And like when you play when you play with the guy for the first time, you're like, Oh, yeah, that's the that's the scrub that's set on the end of the bench.
26:52
SPEAKER_03: Like he's not gonna be any good.
26:53
SPEAKER_03: And they're like, Oh crap, like this guy can play.
26:55
SPEAKER_04: There he goes.
26:57
SPEAKER_03: What would you expect in college?
26:58
SPEAKER_03: Like, while you were probably studying, I was playing basketball for eight hours a day.
27:02
SPEAKER_04: But and not only that, you're playing, you're playing against future NBA players in practice.
27:07
SPEAKER_04: You're oh yeah, playing against Jared Culver.
27:09
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I'm trying to guard Jared Culver.
27:11
SPEAKER_03: Like, of course, I can guard the average Joe at the rec center.
27:14
SPEAKER_04: Oh, for sure, no doubt.
27:16
SPEAKER_04: Um, man, okay, so you were obviously a part of the most famous Texas Tech basketball team, uh, that 2019 team that went all the way to the championship game.
27:26
SPEAKER_04: What are some of your favorite moments from that year, from that team?
27:30
SPEAKER_04: It could just be just stuff that you little things that you were hanging out with the guys at a certain place, or just what are some of your favorite moments from that season?
27:38
SPEAKER_03: I would say, I mean, there's too many.
27:41
SPEAKER_03: We would have to have a four-hour-long podcast, not all the my favorite moments.
27:45
SPEAKER_03: But my favorite thing about that year is just how close we were.
27:49
SPEAKER_03: And it's not like a lot of people would think that, oh, you guys are just that close because y'all went to the final four in the national championship.
27:56
SPEAKER_03: But really, we were close before that.
27:59
SPEAKER_03: And if we would have, if we would have lost the first round, we still would have been close.
28:03
SPEAKER_03: And even to this day, like we have a final four group message where all those guys are like checking in on each other.
28:10
SPEAKER_03: And even at my bachelor party, most of the guys showed up.
28:13
SPEAKER_03: And so we just have a bond that's really close.
28:16
SPEAKER_03: And you know, of course, we all get together occasionally now, and uh it doesn't matter what we're talking about.
28:24
SPEAKER_03: Eventually, the topic of the Virginia game comes up, and one way or another, somebody starts running their mouth.
28:30
SPEAKER_03: And that that's those memories are always fun sitting around a table eating dinner or whatever, and then guys are like, Jared, why didn't you why don't you just stay on your man in the corner and then guys start chirping back and forth?
28:40
SPEAKER_03: And so that that stuff's fun.
28:42
SPEAKER_03: Um, but obviously the final four experience was unlike anything else.
28:46
SPEAKER_03: And so I would say obviously the final four was the my my favorite moment, just playing, or even for me, warming up in front of 70,000 plus and then like 19 million people watching it on TV.
28:59
SPEAKER_03: I mean, it's a pretty cool experience.
29:00
SPEAKER_03: There's not there's not really a bigger stage in basketball.
29:04
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I'm still trying to see which was my my favorite of the shots.
29:08
SPEAKER_04: It was either yours, your three-pointer against UT there on senior night, uh bank in three-pointer, or Jared Culver's uh uh step in three-pointer against Michigan State to uh put us in the change.
29:20
SPEAKER_03: I call I call glass, by the way.
29:22
SPEAKER_04: I believe it 100%.
29:25
SPEAKER_03: Senior night, yeah, that that was a funny moment.
29:27
SPEAKER_03: Um, okay, because it's senior night, and I know just with beard and the kind of guy he is, he's gonna throw me in there at the end of the game, especially if the game's uh not in doubt or already, like we already know who's gonna win.
29:39
SPEAKER_03: And so, of course, we're we're up 15 to 20 points, and he calls timeout, puts me in at senior night, and he draws up a play.
29:46
SPEAKER_03: And really, it wasn't even a complex play.
29:49
SPEAKER_03: It was actually very uh it was a very lazy play, in my opinion.
29:53
SPEAKER_03: I'm like, coach, it's my senior night, and this is the player drawing up.
29:56
SPEAKER_03: You want to go go screen for Matt, and then just catch the ball and go one-on-one against a really good Big 12 defender.
30:02
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and you got like Jackson Hayes waiting on me at the rim.
30:04
SPEAKER_03: I'm like, all right, thanks.
30:06
SPEAKER_03: And so I just had in my mind if you know when I touch the ball, I don't I don't care what I'm shooting the ball.
30:11
SPEAKER_03: I don't care how tight they're guarding me, I'm gonna elevate and just shoot.
30:14
SPEAKER_03: And that's kind of what I did banked in, and of course the crowd went crazy.
30:18
SPEAKER_03: So it was a fun moment, but but yeah, that that play that he drew up was kind of weak, in my opinion.
30:24
SPEAKER_04: Well, you made it work, man.
30:25
SPEAKER_04: You made it work.
30:26
SPEAKER_04: Uh but hey, you know, you were you were fun to watch every time you came off the bench, all the crowd goes crazy.
30:32
SPEAKER_04: It happens uh with everybody these days.
30:34
SPEAKER_04: But uh, you know, you mentioned you mentioned Chris Beard, and it's a touchy subject for a lot of Texas Tech fans, uh, especially now that he's over at that school in Austin.
30:43
SPEAKER_04: Um, for you as a former player, as a guy who played under Beard, you mentioned all the good stuff he's done for you in the past.
30:50
SPEAKER_04: Um, what are your kind of thoughts on the whole thing, him him leaving for UT?
30:54
SPEAKER_04: Did you see it coming?
30:55
SPEAKER_04: Um, you know, what what are your thoughts now as we see a year later?
31:00
SPEAKER_03: Uh, I guess I'm not shocked now.
31:03
SPEAKER_03: I mean, I mean, just realizing that he went to school there.
31:06
SPEAKER_03: I'm not, you know, we shouldn't be surprised that that's ultimately in the back of his mind where he wanted to end up.
31:12
SPEAKER_03: Um, but still leading up to that moment, April 1st of last year, it was just weird that like nobody, there was a small amount of people that knew what was going down.
31:25
SPEAKER_03: And like you would figure a situation like that, and with the way coaches talk, they kind of talk like middle school girls, like everybody has all the information and the scoop and and all that.
31:35
SPEAKER_03: And uh, we just didn't really see it coming, and then it happened.
31:40
SPEAKER_03: And you know, come to realize, like, I don't even think Beard knew exactly that he wanted to do that, and maybe he did, but um, he was just you know, he felt that was the decision that was best for him, and and that's fine.
31:54
SPEAKER_03: I think two things can be true at the same time.
31:56
SPEAKER_03: Obviously, he's my coach and done and has done a lot for me, but I'm not gonna sit here and applaud him for going back to his alma mater.
32:02
SPEAKER_03: Like, I mean, I'm a Texas tech guy, that's where I got my degree, and that's who I'm loyal to.
32:06
SPEAKER_03: Um, I love Beard, but I don't, you know, I don't r I don't like that he went to UT.
32:12
SPEAKER_03: Um, and I hate the Longhorns, it doesn't change anything like that.
32:16
SPEAKER_03: But um, you know, it it's it was just weird in state in conference.
32:20
SPEAKER_03: It's just I don't know that it's happened before.
32:23
SPEAKER_03: And um, but yeah, my thoughts there, you know, we're still a great program.
32:28
SPEAKER_03: He helped build the program, no doubt.
32:30
SPEAKER_03: Tubby Smith helped build the program.
32:32
SPEAKER_03: There's a lot of former coaches that went into this process.
32:35
SPEAKER_03: Uh Beard really helped uh the fan base and spark that.
32:39
SPEAKER_03: And uh now, I mean, we're in we're in good hands.
32:42
SPEAKER_03: We're in good hands with Coach Adams.
32:43
SPEAKER_03: Coach Adams obviously knows what he was doing.
32:45
SPEAKER_03: I think there was a lot of people that had their hidden doubts, but I mean, he's shown people that he was more than just like a guy, an assistant sitting on the bench behind Beard.
32:54
SPEAKER_03: Like he he knew what was going on and he was ready to be a head coach.
32:58
SPEAKER_03: Um, but yeah, I also I'm not the guy that gets offended when you know I see all these bad tweets about Beard online from tech fans.
33:06
SPEAKER_03: Tech fans can be mad, they have a right to be mad, and especially like if if I were a tech fan and I didn't have a relationship with Coach Beard, I'd be extremely mad too.
33:14
SPEAKER_03: And I'd be you know tweeting, I might be tweeting some bad stuff, but you know, I have a relationship with Coach Beard.
33:19
SPEAKER_03: I appreciate what he's done.
33:21
SPEAKER_03: And but like I said, two things can be true at the same time.
33:24
SPEAKER_03: We can be mad, but we can also slightly, you know, understand and move on.
33:29
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, for sure.
33:30
SPEAKER_04: I I think a lot of people struggle with the uh idea that two things can be true when it comes to this stuff.
33:35
SPEAKER_04: Obviously, you having a prior relationship with him and everything, you know, you're allowed to feel the way that you feel.
33:40
SPEAKER_04: I think a lot of tech fans on Twitter want all of his former players to go out against him and say, Oh, you're the worst guy in the world, this and that.
33:48
SPEAKER_04: But uh, you know, completely understand that you don't want to go and do that because that's not how you feel.
33:53
SPEAKER_03: Right.
33:53
SPEAKER_03: And you wouldn't do that if you're you know, if you're working with one of your buddies that you develop a relationship with at work for 10 plus years or however long, and they decide to take a new job that they think is a better fit for them and their family.
34:05
SPEAKER_03: I mean, you're you can say, Well, I hate that you're doing that.
34:07
SPEAKER_03: I don't like that you're going to that company, especially if it's our rival company, but you know, we still built that doesn't take away from our relationship, what we built while we were here.
34:15
SPEAKER_03: So that's my that's my view.
34:17
SPEAKER_04: Sure.
34:18
SPEAKER_04: Um, and now that's the coach side of things, you know.
34:20
SPEAKER_04: Coaches, they make a ton of money.
34:22
SPEAKER_04: And now with NIL and stuff like that, we you know, but yeah, but the whole Kevin McCullough situation here, you you actually played with Kevin, correct?
34:32
SPEAKER_04: He was uh he was a redshirt your your last year at tech.
34:35
SPEAKER_03: That's correct.
34:36
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
34:37
SPEAKER_04: Okay.
34:37
SPEAKER_04: So so Kevin, I I know this is this is obviously the the thing that's kind of splitting the fan base right now.
34:44
SPEAKER_04: Um Kevin McCullough announces he's going to Kansas for his uh final year, or maybe he's got two years of eligibility.
34:50
SPEAKER_04: I don't know, but he's transferring to Kansas.
34:51
SPEAKER_04: Uh a lot of people felt spurned by that.
34:54
SPEAKER_04: A lot of Texas Tech fans did.
34:56
SPEAKER_04: Um, your thoughts on a player transferring in conference, uh, you know, with the role that Kevin had at Texas Tech already.
35:05
SPEAKER_04: Uh, what are your kind of thoughts on that whole situation?
35:08
SPEAKER_03: Uh well, first of all, so Kevin's my friend.
35:10
SPEAKER_03: Like you said, he's the one guy that was on last year's roster that I did play with.
35:14
SPEAKER_03: He was a part of that final four run.
35:16
SPEAKER_03: And and Kevin's he's a really good friend.
35:18
SPEAKER_03: He was actually at my wedding this past August.
35:21
SPEAKER_03: He's a good dude.
35:22
SPEAKER_03: Uh, I'm not gonna say anything bad about him as a person because there's not anything bad to say.
35:26
SPEAKER_03: Um, but yeah, going to Kansas, that's weird.
35:28
SPEAKER_03: I mean, it is, but I can't blame, like, I don't blame Kevin um necessarily as much as I blame the system.
35:36
SPEAKER_03: Like, if you can transfer and not sit out, and your ultimate goal is to play in the NBA, and you think that you can go have more of an offensive output and increase your draft stock at a different school.
35:47
SPEAKER_03: Like, yeah, I can hate that for Texas Tech and selfishly hate it like for me, because I'm a Texas Te guy, I have nothing to do with Kansas.
35:55
SPEAKER_03: In fact, I do have something to do with Kansas because we play them twice a year, so I don't want them to be good, and now he's making them better.
36:00
SPEAKER_03: Like, so I don't like that.
36:02
SPEAKER_03: Um, but I don't know, man.
36:05
SPEAKER_03: There's like I kind of have a philosophy with all this stuff that everybody can have their opinion, but there's a lot of people that if they were in um, you know, if they were in that person's shoes, that they might consider it also.
36:20
SPEAKER_03: Like if I were Kevin, and you know, and I'm not saying he should have that he should leave Texas Tech, Texas Tech was definitely a great situation for him, but you know, and he gave four great years to to tech.
36:33
SPEAKER_03: But if he if his ultimate goal strictly is to make the NBA and he wants to go to a school that's more offensive minded and he thinks that's the best thing for him, then you can't blame him for making that decision.
36:44
SPEAKER_03: Whether he's right or wrong, time will tell.
36:47
SPEAKER_03: But um, like if he goes to Kansas and he's in a situation that he averages you know good numbers and ends up getting drafted, well, then we'll look back and say, well, you know, Kevin was right.
36:56
SPEAKER_03: But if he goes to Kansas and um, you know, the culture just doesn't fit him well, he doesn't end up playing as much as he thought he would, then we'll say, Yeah, Kevin, we told you you should have just stayed at tech.
37:05
SPEAKER_03: But but yeah, that's my view there.
37:07
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I think you know, hate comes from love ultimately.
37:11
SPEAKER_04: We we loved Kevin when he was here, he was a great player by all means, but we've stuck to our guns with this.
37:17
SPEAKER_04: Uh, you know, we're gonna boo the crap out of him when it comes to Lubbock, uh, but we still do exactly.
37:22
SPEAKER_03: And that's yeah, and that's even like if if if I were talking to Kevin today, I would tell him the same thing.
37:27
SPEAKER_03: Like, I know all these like all these people are coming out, like, oh, you know, respect his decision, all that.
37:32
SPEAKER_03: Like, if you're a true red raider, like if I left tech to go work for a different university because I work at tech right now in the athletic department, like I would like I know tech fans are passionate, and I know I'm like an employee, not a Kevin McCullough on the basketball court.
37:47
SPEAKER_03: But like, what what what what should I expect?
37:50
SPEAKER_03: Like, if they're a passionate fan base, they should be mad.
37:53
SPEAKER_03: And that's almost like you said, a love and hate deal.
37:55
SPEAKER_03: You love the university, and all of a sudden you you uh go to a different school and conference, of course.
38:00
SPEAKER_03: Like that's you should expect that.
38:02
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, no doubt.
38:03
SPEAKER_04: So uh it's good to hear your thoughts on that, you know, just hearing from former players, hearing from guys that actually, you know, played with Kevin, played under Coach Beard.
38:12
SPEAKER_04: Uh, you had some great, uh, great perspective on that kind of stuff.
38:15
SPEAKER_04: Um, yeah.
38:16
SPEAKER_04: But you know, thoughts.
38:18
SPEAKER_04: I want to, you know, the easy thing for a Texas Tech fan is understanding that we have a good program despite these guys leaving.
38:27
SPEAKER_04: You know, you mentioned it earlier.
38:28
SPEAKER_04: Mark Adams, great leader.
38:30
SPEAKER_04: You know, despite Beard leaving, we're still in a great spot.
38:33
SPEAKER_04: Kevin McCullough leads for Kansas.
38:35
SPEAKER_04: Despite that, we're still in a great spot.
38:37
SPEAKER_04: For this coming year's team, a lot of transfers, a lot of young guys.
38:42
SPEAKER_04: What are your kind of initial thoughts on how this roster's coming together and how uh next year's team is gonna look?
38:49
SPEAKER_03: Well, I think it's hilarious, just with this this whole transfer portal, NIL, all this.
38:54
SPEAKER_03: College basketball is weird now.
38:56
SPEAKER_03: The landscape has changed dramatically.
38:58
SPEAKER_03: And so everybody's panicking.
39:00
SPEAKER_03: Oh, TJ's leaving, Kevin's leaving, you know, Clarence is thinking about leaving, Malik Wilson's in the transfer portal, he's leaving.
39:06
SPEAKER_03: And it's like, well, that's like five years ago, that'd be something, or three years ago, even that'd be something to panic about.
39:12
SPEAKER_03: But now it's like, well, this is we rebuild every year.
39:15
SPEAKER_03: That's just the nature of the game now.
39:17
SPEAKER_03: Um, and the roster Coach Adams is putting together and that coaching staff, we're we're in really good shape.
39:22
SPEAKER_03: Elijah Fisher is a great player.
39:24
SPEAKER_03: I think we have potential to be better this year than we were last year.
39:27
SPEAKER_03: And one thing with Coach Adams, like, I trust his ability to recruit the right guys.
39:33
SPEAKER_03: And we have a program that recruits itself just with the Womble facility and our fan base.
39:39
SPEAKER_03: Guys want to be a part of it.
39:40
SPEAKER_03: So it's easy to sell.
39:42
SPEAKER_03: Um, but Coach Adams, he has a unique recruiting, not a unique recruiting style.
39:46
SPEAKER_03: I'd say it's a smart recruiting style.
39:48
SPEAKER_03: He's not just looking at the ESPN top 100 list and saying, all right, let's go for the best, you know, who has the highest number of stars?
39:55
SPEAKER_03: Let's go for them.
39:56
SPEAKER_03: Who has the most notoriety?
39:57
SPEAKER_03: Let's go for that guy.
39:58
SPEAKER_03: He's creating a puzzle.
40:00
SPEAKER_03: He understands that he can't have five scores or, you know, he wants to have guys that fit his style of play.
40:08
SPEAKER_03: And that's what I respect.
40:09
SPEAKER_03: And so I trust him.
40:10
SPEAKER_03: Like I always think I don't, you know, I don't even have to look at the names or the highlight videos of all the guys we're bringing in.
40:16
SPEAKER_03: I trust Coach Adams to bring in the right guys because he knows what to do.
40:19
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, it's fun to see Texas Tech on those lists of, I don't know, Jeff Goodman will make or Ross Steen will make that says, hey, this is the number one transfer class.
40:28
SPEAKER_04: But ultimately, you know, nobody had their radar on Adonis Arms.
40:32
SPEAKER_04: Nobody had their radar on Davion Warren, uh, on Demorian Williams coming onto this year's team.
40:39
SPEAKER_04: Nobody knew who these guys were.
40:41
SPEAKER_04: And in in terms of Adonis and Davion, I mean, those guys were fantastic red raiders, and the fan base fell in love with them.
40:48
SPEAKER_04: So I agree with you 100%.
40:50
SPEAKER_04: Trust in Mark Adams.
40:51
SPEAKER_04: This guy knows what he's doing.
40:53
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, exactly.
40:54
SPEAKER_03: He didn't he doesn't miss very often on uh as far as evaluating talent.
40:58
SPEAKER_03: He knows what he's doing.
40:59
SPEAKER_04: For sure, for sure.
41:00
SPEAKER_04: Well, Andrew, this has been a lot of fun talking TVT, talking Texas Tech, getting your thoughts on some things.
41:06
SPEAKER_04: I'm sure the people are going to enjoy it.
41:07
SPEAKER_04: But what we do here on the Talk and Tech Podcast at the end of every podcast, we do some, you know, something for the people.
41:13
SPEAKER_04: A song of the week, yeah, recommendation, uh, just something you've been listening to lately.
41:18
SPEAKER_04: Maybe it's one of your all-time favorite songs that you want the people to go listen to, of course, after they listen to this podcast.
41:24
SPEAKER_04: For you, Andrew, I asked you, bring the song of the week.
41:27
SPEAKER_04: What is your song of the week?
41:29
SPEAKER_03: My song of the week is uh Young Man's Blues.
41:31
SPEAKER_03: It's uh by Parker McCollin.
41:33
SPEAKER_03: I know most people know it, and it's a popular song.
41:36
SPEAKER_03: It's one of those uh big hits, but I like it.
41:40
SPEAKER_03: I've been, you know, I'm more of a podcaster.
41:42
SPEAKER_03: When I get in the car, I'm not jamming out.
41:44
SPEAKER_03: I'm normally listening to podcasts.
41:45
SPEAKER_03: There's just so much great content out there, including this podcast.
41:49
SPEAKER_03: Uh but yeah, my song of the week is Young Man in the Blues, simply because um, you know, I'm 25, just got married.
41:56
SPEAKER_03: Um, now I'm a full-time employee, and you know, I have a lot of great memories from from college and my childhood.
42:03
SPEAKER_03: And that's kind of what Parker McCollum's alluding to in his song.
42:06
SPEAKER_03: Is just he's just kind of like contending with himself, grappling with the fact of that he's growing up, but he wants to hang on to all those memories that he had as a youth.
42:15
SPEAKER_03: But anyways, it's my song of the week, and I like Parker McCollum.
42:18
SPEAKER_03: That guy can sing his tail off.
42:20
SPEAKER_04: Just like that's a that's a great choice.
42:36
SPEAKER_04: I love that song.
42:37
SPEAKER_04: Parker McCollum really has come on lately as one of the bigger artists, I think, in the in the Texas music scene.
42:43
SPEAKER_04: Um, what's what's kind of your normal uh, you know, when you are putting on some music?
42:47
SPEAKER_04: You a country guy, you like a little bit of everything?
42:49
SPEAKER_04: What's your music taste?
42:50
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah, I'm definitely country.
42:52
SPEAKER_03: And of course, you know, I was playing basketball at tech.
42:55
SPEAKER_03: Um, coach well, Coach Beard had a rule actually that it was one country song to every three hip-hop songs.
43:02
SPEAKER_03: And it wasn't like hip-hop, it wasn't that that wasn't the actual ratio, but it was it was the fact that um the players got to pick three songs to beards every one, beard like country, those guys liked hip-hop, so that's kind of the way it went.
43:16
SPEAKER_03: But uh, yeah, it'd say I've I've listened to a lot less hip-hop since I graduated, but yeah, I'm more of a country guy, but mainly a podcast guy.
43:24
SPEAKER_04: Oh, yeah, no doubt.
43:25
SPEAKER_04: Uh, if if Tristan was here, he would be absolutely saluting that choice.
43:29
SPEAKER_04: He's a big Texas country red dirt type type of guy.
43:33
SPEAKER_04: I mean, that guy listens to nothing but country music.
43:36
SPEAKER_03: What about you, Steven?
43:37
SPEAKER_03: What's your go-to?
43:38
SPEAKER_04: I like I like everything.
43:40
SPEAKER_04: I I am I know you a lot of people say they like everything they enjoy.
43:44
SPEAKER_04: I truly do.
43:45
SPEAKER_04: I can see a lot of good stuff from all sorts of different genres.
43:48
SPEAKER_04: I do, I would probably put country music at the top there.
43:51
SPEAKER_04: Uh the lyricism alone really gets me.
43:54
SPEAKER_04: I mean, it it puts you in the shoes of certain artists at certain ages that you just can't find.
44:00
SPEAKER_04: In a lot of different genres of music.
44:01
SPEAKER_04: And I love that about country.
44:03
SPEAKER_04: I actually brought a country music as a country music song as well for my song of the week.
44:08
SPEAKER_04: I'm a big Kenny Chesney guy.
44:10
SPEAKER_04: Love the beachy kind of vibe.
44:12
SPEAKER_04: We're getting into summer here.
44:13
SPEAKER_04: So you know we're ready to go on the lake, go to the beach.
44:16
SPEAKER_04: My song of the week, you and tequila, Kenny Chesney featuring Grace Potter.
44:20
SPEAKER_04: I like it.
44:21
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, man.
44:22
SPEAKER_04: Just an absolutely uh fantastic song.
44:25
SPEAKER_04: Anything Kenny puts out on there.
44:26
SPEAKER_04: I know a lot of it sounds pretty similar, but I'm absolutely there for it.
44:31
SPEAKER_01: You and tequila make me crazy.
44:43
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I feel the same way.
44:45
SPEAKER_03: And that's kind of why I picked uh Young Man's Blues.
44:48
SPEAKER_03: It's just like, well, I'm I'm sitting here, I'm just finishing up work, and uh, but then tomorrow I'm going to Parker Hicks.
44:54
SPEAKER_03: He played on the Final Four team, then went and played at LCU, and he's got he's getting married in a couple weeks.
44:59
SPEAKER_03: So this weekend we're going down the lake for his bachelor party.
45:02
SPEAKER_03: And so it's like, hey, I get to be young again.
45:04
unknown: You know what I mean?
45:06
SPEAKER_04: You get to go be with the boys one last time, get away from the wife.
45:09
SPEAKER_03: Exactly.
45:10
unknown: Exactly.
45:11
SPEAKER_03: Awesome, man.
45:12
SPEAKER_04: Uh tell me a little about the Red Raider Club and what y'all do.
45:17
SPEAKER_03: So the Red Raider Club, we raise money just for all aspects of Texas Tech Athletics.
45:22
SPEAKER_03: We provide scholarships for student athletes as far as uh also the facilities, all the nice facilities you've seen, like the Womble.
45:29
SPEAKER_03: Obviously, we're building a new football training facility.
45:32
SPEAKER_03: And we're gonna do a south end zone renovation uh here at the end of this next football season.
45:37
SPEAKER_03: We're gonna completely tear down the south side of the end zone uh and rebuild.
45:41
SPEAKER_03: But yeah, so we're always raising money.
45:43
SPEAKER_03: We're raising money for facilities, scholarships, nutrition.
45:48
SPEAKER_03: All the resources that student athletes get comes from the Red Raider Club.
45:52
SPEAKER_03: Um, and of course, right now with with NIL, there's a lot of donors kind of stretched thin, stretched thin, just uh with all the giving opportunities.
46:00
SPEAKER_03: And so we need guys to step up.
46:02
SPEAKER_03: And anybody that's listening to this podcast that's not a Red Raider Club member, you you should become one.
46:07
SPEAKER_03: It's only$50 to become one.
46:09
SPEAKER_03: And uh we need everybody's support because we need we need all we need all the resources we can get.
46:14
SPEAKER_03: I mean, this is uh as far as competing with all the different schools around the country, we want to be up there with the best, and we need to have the best resources to to do that.
46:24
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, no doubt.
46:25
SPEAKER_04: And the you know, with with UT and tech or UT and OU both leaving for the SEC, I think this puts tech in a great position to really go up there and be top dog in the Big 12.
46:35
SPEAKER_04: And it starts with this type of stuff, you know, re-re-renovating facilities, getting new stuff in there, renovating the South End Zone, getting more upgrading these venues to get more people in, sell more season tickets.
46:48
SPEAKER_04: So it's a great thing that y'all do over at the Red Raider Club.
46:51
SPEAKER_03: Yep.
46:53
SPEAKER_04: No doubt.
46:54
SPEAKER_04: But um, yeah, so uh any what's what's the easiest way kind of to go donate?
46:58
SPEAKER_04: If you maybe somebody just has 20 bucks or something that they want to give to the Red Raider Club, what's the best?
47:03
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, Red RaiderClub.com.
47:04
SPEAKER_03: Just go on, go on there, and I think the main tab, obviously, strategically, there's like one tab, I think, when you go to the website and it says give now.
47:11
SPEAKER_03: And you just click that button and you fill out your information, and we'll send you a card in the mail with like a Red Raider Club sticker you can put on your car, and it's just good.
47:19
SPEAKER_03: Like, it's it's something we all need to be a part of.
47:21
SPEAKER_03: It is Red Raider Nation.
47:23
SPEAKER_03: Like, we need to do that, especially like now's the most important time.
47:26
SPEAKER_03: I'm not just saying this because I work there, but like we with this NIL deal and with football, we got a new coach, we got the guy that we want, and we're trying to build a new football training facility.
47:37
SPEAKER_03: And like we have baseball going, we have basketball going, we need to get football going, and now's the time for everybody to step up.
47:43
SPEAKER_03: And so, yeah, I encourage everyone to give.
47:46
SPEAKER_04: Yeah, Texas Tech's in a great spot in a lot of different sports right now.
47:50
SPEAKER_04: We have a lot of great programs going, so please, if you can, donate to the Red Raider Club, help everybody out here and help us root for some good teams in the future.
47:57
SPEAKER_04: Uh, but Andrew, man, we really appreciate you coming on the pod here.
48:00
SPEAKER_04: Had a great time with it.
48:02
SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it was awesome, Steven.
48:03
SPEAKER_03: Thanks for having me.
48:07
SPEAKER_04: All right, that was a really fun interview with Andrew Sorrels.
48:09
SPEAKER_04: Um, couldn't have been a nicer guy.
48:12
SPEAKER_04: Um, really, really informative with some of this stuff.
48:15
SPEAKER_04: Love to get his perspective on uh, you know, the beard and the McCullough situations and also um just his perspective on on Mark Adams and how he's running the program.
48:25
SPEAKER_04: And um, you know, all the Red Raider Club stuff was awesome.
48:28
SPEAKER_04: Uh, please, if you can go donate and give some money because uh, you know, Texas Tech wants to stay competitive in the future of college sports and uh giving money and and doing what we can to upgrade facilities and maintain this kind of stuff um goes a long way.
48:43
SPEAKER_04: So um awesome interview.
48:44
SPEAKER_04: Hope you all enjoyed it.
48:45
SPEAKER_04: Uh, but we're gonna end off with some plugs like we always do here on the talk and tech podcast.
48:51
SPEAKER_04: You can follow both me and Tristan on Twitter.
48:53
SPEAKER_04: Tristan's at Tristy Mick, I am at L underscore S underscore Rodriguez.
48:56
SPEAKER_04: Follow the pod on Twitter at Talk and Tech Pod.
48:59
SPEAKER_04: You can follow our Songs of the Week playlist there on Spotify and Apple Music.
49:02
SPEAKER_04: Follow Guns Up Nation for everything they put out.
49:04
SPEAKER_04: Great articles coming out about the baseball team and uh just keep up with all the other podcasts, Ramlin Raiders, Sons Up, Guns Up, and the flagship pod.
49:12
SPEAKER_04: Awesome group that we have here at Guns Up Nation.
49:15
SPEAKER_04: Um, you if you could like, rate, review, and subscribe to the podcast.
49:20
SPEAKER_04: We're on all platforms, Apple, Spotify, everything like that.
49:23
SPEAKER_04: Um, so you know, leave leave a comment.
49:25
SPEAKER_04: Let us know what we're doing right, let us know what we're doing wrong and what you'd like to see improved.
49:29
SPEAKER_04: Uh, let us know if you want to see more interviews like this.
49:31
SPEAKER_04: And uh um, you know, just we appreciate y'all listening.
49:35
SPEAKER_04: We really do.
49:35
SPEAKER_04: Always recomm tech.
49:38
SPEAKER_02: Uh wow.
49:39
SPEAKER_02: First of all, uh got a lot of respect for Steven and Tristan.
49:44
SPEAKER_02: Uh their program, tough guys, just uh a lot of fun.
49:48
SPEAKER_00: I love the game of basketball, but also love West Texas.
49:51
SPEAKER_01: And I love Steven and Tristan.
49:54
SPEAKER_00: I'm extremely proud.
49:55
SPEAKER_00: I don't know where we go from here.
49:56
SPEAKER_00: I'm thinking I'm just gonna sit back down.
49:58
SPEAKER_00: It's just not getting better than this.
50:00
SPEAKER_01: I would like to thank uh Steven and Tristan.
50:03
SPEAKER_01: This is incredible.
50:05
SPEAKER_04: These guys have a passion and a love for this school.