Latest / Coaches Corner / MBB GM Tom Moore Zoom May 4 2025

Transcript

MBB GM Tom Moore Zoom May 4 2025 · Coaches Corner

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Coach more will take questions about general manager things. Use
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: your hand, raise you ten for questions as usual. All right,
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: coach Floorsiers.
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I guess the welcome everybody, and thank you for
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: being on the on the on the zoom today.
• 0:19
  Speaker 3: I really appreciate your time. What we wanted to do
• 0:23
  Speaker 3: is talk about the.
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: Recruiting and where we're going right now from this point
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: as we try to fill out the back end of
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: our roster. Coach Hurley is is very excited about the
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: ten guys that we have in the fold right now.
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  Speaker 2: Really loves the makeup of the ten guys, how everything
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: is fallen to this point, both with the ink, the
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: freshman incoming, the transfers incoming, and the guys that we
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: have returning. He likes how the pieces fit and how
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: the roster has been put together. We're really trying to
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: be strategic and creative with how we put together the.
• 1:11
  Speaker 3: Rest of the roster.
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  Speaker 2: We are targeting probably fourteen fifteen roster spots, and you know,
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  Speaker 2: we'll be looking basically for depth at every position with
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  Speaker 2: these last four or five spots on the roster. Obviously
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: a third string center is something will be will be targeting.
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: We looking for another wing, another combo guard, possibly a
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: combo forward.
• 1:46
  Speaker 3: But we're trying.
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: To be as strategic in this new age of potential
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: revenue sharing with finding people who are maybe overlooked in
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: the high school ranked foreign players and then maybe under
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: recruited transfers that is still in the portal.
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: So with that said, they don't put it up to questions.
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: David and Joe.
• 2:20
  Speaker 4: Yeah, Tom, how tricky is it to bring in those
• 2:25
  Speaker 4: type of players you just mentioned to kind of fill
• 2:27
  Speaker 4: out the roster when you know, like you said, you
• 2:31
  Speaker 4: guys are really happy with kind of the ten guys
• 2:32
  Speaker 4: you got now, I know, the backup kind of center
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  Speaker 4: guy will sort of be number eleven, I would assume.
• 2:38
  Speaker 4: But to bring in guys who it would seem both
• 2:44
  Speaker 4: parties would kind of probably understand there wouldn't be a
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  Speaker 4: whole lot of playing kind of at least first right
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  Speaker 4: off the bat, How do you kind of sell that
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  Speaker 4: to some of these guys, or I mean, is that
• 2:52
  Speaker 4: an accurate statement to say what they probably You're probably
• 2:56
  Speaker 4: looking for guys who are more or less not going
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  Speaker 4: to play too much this year.
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: You hate to really limit somebody like that, Dave, Like
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  Speaker 2: right out of the Chuot. You hope that you see
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: something in them where that if things break correctly for
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  Speaker 2: the for that person, that they'd be able to find
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  Speaker 2: a role. Sometimes, unfortunately things like that happen with an injury,
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: and you don't you don't ever want that, obviously.
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: But.
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  Speaker 2: You know, we're looking at these guys as potential people
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  Speaker 2: to help us, initially to your point, in practice to
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  Speaker 2: make sure we have a high level practice on a
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  Speaker 2: day in and day out basis, but then also potentially
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: helping us down the roads as upside guys, as somebody
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: who could maybe hit for us in year two or
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: year three. That was one of the things that hurt
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: us a little bit this year is we were a
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  Speaker 2: little thin in terms of the depth past our top
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: nine or so, and especially in the five week period
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: where Liam was out of games and practices it it
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  Speaker 2: didn't allow us to give a lot of practice reps
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  Speaker 2: off from our heavy minute guys. So has had a
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  Speaker 2: lot of minutes and Taris had a lot of reps
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  Speaker 2: and Alex in particular had a lot.
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: Of reps during that time.
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  Speaker 2: And we're hopeful that if we can get this thing
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  Speaker 2: to fourteen or fifteen with really athletic and and some
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  Speaker 2: you know, bring some athleticism and some length and some
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  Speaker 2: you know energy into that. It can it could help
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  Speaker 2: alleviate some of the high minute guys too as well
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  Speaker 2: and eliminate some of the wear and tear that they
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  Speaker 2: accrue during the course of the season.
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  Speaker 4: When you say the fourteen fifteen, I know the limit
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  Speaker 4: is most likely going to get up to fifteen this year.
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  Speaker 4: You're talking about scholarship guys, Well, you're not talking about
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  Speaker 4: walk on.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it'll be I think it'll either be thirteen scholarships
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  Speaker 2: or you know, depending on what the settlement settles on
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  Speaker 2: roster size, it.
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  Speaker 3: Could get up to fifteen.
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  Speaker 2: But yeah, and even in the walk on spots, Dave,
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  Speaker 2: you're always trying to that's a huge challenge, but you're
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  Speaker 2: always trying to find someone who athletically and competitively can
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  Speaker 2: like not only add to your practices, but also be
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  Speaker 2: well liked and respected in the locker room too as well.
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  Speaker 5: Mch Hey, Tom is my mic working this time?
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  Speaker 3: Yep? I can hear you.
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  Speaker 6: John.
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  Speaker 5: When we talked to Dan right after the season ended,
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  Speaker 5: he seemed, you know, he seemed really unsure about how
• 5:35
  Speaker 5: many players he was going to be able to bring
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  Speaker 5: back and retain. Do you feel like you guys did
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  Speaker 5: as you were expecting with retaining players and how that went,
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  Speaker 5: and then also just going into the portal now how
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  Speaker 5: I guess I'll just go with that one first.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'd say Joe ovally happy with who came back.
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  Speaker 2: I don't think we could have scripted it any better
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  Speaker 2: in terms of the return and guys that we would
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  Speaker 2: have wanted back. I mean, if you just said, you
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: know which, right, which?
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  Speaker 3: What do we have five coming back?
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: Solo Stewie, Alex, Jay Ross and Taris like that, that
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  Speaker 2: would have been exactly how we would have wanted it
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  Speaker 2: to unfold. So we're thrilled with those guys coming back.
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  Speaker 2: Not only are they terrific players, but they're terrific kids,
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  Speaker 2: and they've they've tasted winning all but uh, the Tariffs
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  Speaker 2: has a national championship here, so that that culture stays
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  Speaker 2: tight and that that winning attitude stays tight. And so yeah,
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  Speaker 2: we're thrilled with thrilled that they saw enough in us,
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  Speaker 2: and they saw enough and and what was going on
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  Speaker 2: here too, uh and and how special place Yukon is
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  Speaker 2: that they wanted to come back.
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  Speaker 5: And when you when you went into the portal. It
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  Speaker 5: seemed like you got kind of the main priorities out
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  Speaker 5: of the way pretty early. I guess I wonder about
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  Speaker 5: the NIL aspect of it with those guys. Was that
• 7:02
  Speaker 5: really not much of a factor with them, And how
• 7:05
  Speaker 5: difficult is it to navigate that with all the rules
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  Speaker 5: that could be changing or could not be changing, or
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  Speaker 5: whatever whatever's going on.
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: The n i L aspect to what guys Joe, which
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: which guys are returning guys to?
• 7:16
  Speaker 5: Yeah, the returning guys, and then just getting those two
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  Speaker 5: guards off the portal, Yeah.
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, Well n i L is a huge part
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  Speaker 2: of it of every decision right now, the incoming freshmen,
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  Speaker 2: the transfers, and the returning players. This was really the
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: first off season where it because of revenue sharing, everybody
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  Speaker 2: will be contracted next year if the rev sharing settlement
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  Speaker 2: goes through like everyone expects it too, it'll be contracted
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  Speaker 2: by the athletic department. So this was a fascinating recruiting spring,
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  Speaker 2: I'd say because because of that and the discussion just
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  Speaker 2: you know, having the n i L be not at
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  Speaker 2: the forefront of every discussion, but but a part of
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: every discussion. With with kids, it adds another layer obviously
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  Speaker 2: to our decision, you know, on on on how we
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  Speaker 2: want the roster to look, but also every every recruits
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  Speaker 2: decision too, Every recruit and his family have to make
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  Speaker 2: a make a value judgment on on how much is
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  Speaker 2: is n I L opportunity going to impact how I
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  Speaker 2: you know, which way I want to go.
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  Speaker 3: So it's it's.
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  Speaker 2: Certainly tricky, and it's like I said, it's just another
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  Speaker 2: element that you have to navigate. And you know, Joe,
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  Speaker 2: you have to navigate it well too, right, You have
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  Speaker 2: to do your research, you have to have a lot
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  Speaker 2: of communication you have as a staff, and then you
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  Speaker 2: have to also have a lot of communication with your
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  Speaker 2: athletic department.
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  Speaker 3: Now and I can't.
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  Speaker 2: Say enough of how supportive Dave Benedict and Jason Beattiekofer
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  Speaker 2: have been when it comes to that. We're we're we're
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  Speaker 2: discussing cruits with them on a daily, if not hourly
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  Speaker 2: basis at times, and they've been tremendously supportive as well.
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  Speaker 2: We're gonna go Mike then Mark, Hey, Tom, Mike, how
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  Speaker 2: are you good?
• 9:18
  Speaker 3: How you doing good? What's that hat you get on?
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  Speaker 3: We used? Oh?
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  Speaker 7: Okay, Pinehurst, I went and spread the ball all over
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  Speaker 7: that place last last year.
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  Speaker 3: I was going to say, I didn't expect you to
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  Speaker 3: take that down that track down, So no, no.
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  Speaker 7: I'm not ready for that. I'm not ready to do that.
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  Speaker 3: That's fine.
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  Speaker 7: I just wanted to pick your brain on like the
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  Speaker 7: wild nature of working in college athletics and you know
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  Speaker 7: you have this unique position within a with an elite program.
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  Speaker 7: Could you go into a little bit more about just
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  Speaker 7: the scope of your job year round? Obviously a lot
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  Speaker 7: of today's discussion is very specific to roster building, but
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  Speaker 7: you know the rev share angle. You you're kind of
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  Speaker 7: at the intersection of basketball and business, it seems in
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  Speaker 7: a lot of ways. Just wondering how in this role
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  Speaker 7: you you hope to distinguish yourself and if you could
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  Speaker 7: just explain all that's packed into it.
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  Speaker 4: Some of it.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, good question, multi layered question.
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  Speaker 2: I've been I've been spending probably half of my time
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  Speaker 2: in an assistant coaching role, in probably half my time
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  Speaker 2: in a quasi GM position over the last three years.
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  Speaker 2: Dan and I really saw we like to say, I
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  Speaker 2: think we saw the need to it.
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  Speaker 3: It sort of smacked us all.
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  Speaker 2: In the face at the spring in the spring of
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  Speaker 2: twenty twenty two when Tyreese Martin and RJ. Cole had
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  Speaker 2: another year left of eligibility, but the r NIL wasn't
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  Speaker 2: really a thing in the twenty one to twenty two season,
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  Speaker 2: so they really didn't make any money off NIL, any
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: any sizeable amount of money, and they both turned down
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  Speaker 2: and opportunity to come back because they had to just
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: start earning money as as as basketball players, because they
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  Speaker 2: only have a finite amount of years all of these
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  Speaker 2: kids in order to you know, earn money. So it
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  Speaker 2: was then when I think Dan and me and Kamani
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  Speaker 2: and Luke at the time were just like, we have
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  Speaker 2: to start doing something with this. So my job in
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  Speaker 2: the last couple of years has really been about donor
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  Speaker 2: outreach and donor education to try to get our collective
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  Speaker 2: to help in any way that I could get the
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  Speaker 2: collective up and running and operational and flourishing. And it's
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  Speaker 2: been mostly a fundraising job for me. In the GM
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  Speaker 2: aspects of it, there are a lot of different ways
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  Speaker 2: people are using the position, and some of you guys
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  Speaker 2: on the call have have probably seen some colleges are
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: going with an NBA general manager or assistant general manager.
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  Speaker 2: I know Cincinnati has done that. LSU has done that. Recently,
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: North Carolina hired an agent as you know, Saint Bonaventure
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  Speaker 2: hired Woje. There's other places. NC State recently hired a
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: recruiting uh guy from the NBA who was a scout
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  Speaker 2: in the NBA but used to be a sort of
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  Speaker 2: a high school grassroots recruiting expert. You can, you can
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  Speaker 2: use the position in a lot of different ways. And
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  Speaker 2: I think uh Dan is so smart and and so
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  Speaker 2: calculated and so ahead of the curve that he's got
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  Speaker 2: a lot of things on his mind with how he
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: thinks this thing can look as we go forward. He
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  Speaker 2: and I have talked quite a bit about how it
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  Speaker 2: will be best served here.
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  Speaker 3: At Yukon and and what the role will look like.
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: And we're trying to make sure we figure out that
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  Speaker 2: am I is this something that that fits me the best?
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  Speaker 3: Too? And am I am I the best person for it?
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  Speaker 3: You know, to be honest with you, So right.
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  Speaker 2: Now, the thing here entails a lot of fundraising, donor outreach,
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  Speaker 2: a lot of scheduling, game scheduling, both high major games
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  Speaker 2: in the by games, some roster you know, roster sort
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  Speaker 2: of construction, a lot of talk between the athletic you know,
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  Speaker 2: a sort of a goal between between our staff and
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: the athletic department. It's sort of a catch all, and
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: I think Dan and I are thinking about the position
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  Speaker 2: as we sort of go through it and what we
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: think is essential and what we think isn't.
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  Speaker 3: One of the fascinating parts of it is.
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  Speaker 2: Trying to figure out, you know, is the generalman like
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: in some places, what they're doing with this thing is
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: the general managers are starting to run it or trying
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: to run it like a pro sports organization where their
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: office is also responsible for bringing in the talent and
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: basically the coaching staff is tasked with coaching the talent
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: that's brought in. Now that that is not the way
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  Speaker 2: it's gonna look here. You know, obviously with Dan Hurley,
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: who's I think one of the best evaluators of talent
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  Speaker 2: and one of the best constructor you know, roster construction
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: head coaches I've ever seen, and then with two recruiting
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: assistants like Kamani Young and Luke Murray, I mean that
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  Speaker 2: that thing is is on lock, so we don't have
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: to really worry about that. So you know, we're looking
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  Speaker 2: at it from a different angle and a different lens
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  Speaker 2: right now where we sort of see the position as
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: a it's more of a like I said, a donor education,
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  Speaker 2: a donor outreach, game scheduling, uh, dealings with the Big
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: East Conference on day to day issues there, and then
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: some oversight in our own basketball support staff, working with
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: our strength coach and trainer and medical team and academics
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: and sports information. And although Bobby's tough, I mean I
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: I can't really I can't really control Bobby. He's he's
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: tough for me to handle. He's tough because of the Mets.
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: He brings up the Mets all the time now that
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: they are on a roll. So uh, it's it's hard
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: to hard to get.
• 15:25
  Speaker 3: Him get them back.
• 15:26
  Speaker 4: Sorry did you say my name?
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: But anyway, So yeah, that's that's the thing, Mike.
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: It's it's sort of evolving and it's it's it's something
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: that again Dan and I are sort of discussing, feels like,
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: on a weekly basis on how we want the thing
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: to look.
• 15:43
  Speaker 6: Yeah, excellent, thanks for sharing all.
• 15:45
  Speaker 8: That, No problem, Hey, Tom Marcseno Biggie s Energy. Considering
• 15:52
  Speaker 8: Yukon's multifaceted recruiting strategy, are you guys exploring the possibility
• 15:55
  Speaker 8: of targeting players currently in the NBA draft process who
• 15:59
  Speaker 8: may withdraw and return to college, and how does that
• 16:01
  Speaker 8: potential avenue fit into what you discussed today for finalizing
• 16:04
  Speaker 8: the roster.
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: H good question, Mark, No, I don't I don't see
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: that anymore.
• 16:11
  Speaker 3: We we've.
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: Uh, those young men that are in still in the
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: draft process and make them back to college will probably
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: command an extremely high nil value and we're not We're
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: not in that in that market anymore for the rest
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: of this you know, twenty five, twenty six rosters.
• 16:34
  Speaker 3: So these these.
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: Guys, I think our fans need to understand, uh, these
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: next four or five people that we bring in uh.
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: And I've been thinking a lot about this this weekend
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: in advance to this call. They're going to look drastically
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: different than maybe any other recruits that have come through
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  Speaker 2: Yukon in the terms of who they're being recruited by
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: and what their profile is it. You know, you can
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: make a case that pretty much every kid who's come
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: in on scholarship in the last thirty forty years has
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: been probably recruited by a lot of high major schools,
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: and it's been an intense recruiting battle for us to
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: try to win. Even for the guys who ended up
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: falling into eleven, twelve or thirteenth man role and only
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: lasting a year or two and then transfer on the
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: way in, it was a fight.
• 17:27
  Speaker 3: Now, what we're seeing is a lot of the.
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: High major schools who pretty much have their roster set
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: in terms of the finances after eight, nine or ten,
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: guys have to really get creative with how they want.
• 17:42
  Speaker 3: The bottom of the roster to look.
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: So the profile coming in of these next three or
• 17:47
  Speaker 2: four guys may be really different than the profile of.
• 17:52
  Speaker 3: Guys we've had over the years.
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  Speaker 2: So I don't expect, you know, for us to bring
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: in somebody who's put his name in the draft process
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: right now. That would be a huge splash. And that's
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: not where where we're looking right now.
• 18:08
  Speaker 8: Thanks, thank you, Tom.
• 18:10
  Speaker 4: No problem, Mark, We'll go uh a few more quick ones.
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: See Anthony Jaden.
• 18:16
  Speaker 6: Eric wrap it up, Hey, coach, tell you Tom. Question
• 18:22
  Speaker 6: for you talking a lot about roster construction, but in
• 18:26
  Speaker 6: terms of roster management, what happened with Darius Adams. Are
• 18:29
  Speaker 6: we going to see more players? Are we gonna see
• 18:34
  Speaker 6: fewer freshmen that actually get a lot of playing time
• 18:37
  Speaker 6: unless they're want and done.
• 18:41
  Speaker 3: That's a that's a great question to Anthony it boy.
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: I mean when I speak on this, I'm speaking for Ukon,
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: so I don't really want to speak for high.
• 18:50
  Speaker 3: Made all speak for coaches in general.
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: But the way we see it, it does feel like, well,
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: we we may get away from bringing in huge freshman classes.
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: I think the uh Dan and Luther mclinny fee like
• 19:10
  Speaker 2: they're gonna targeting probably a few more elite high school
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: prospects that have the potential to be one and done
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: and maybe less guys that will, you know, fill out
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: a class so we can sort of reevaluate at the
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: end of a year and maybe take one extra transfer.
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: So to your point, yeah, I mean I think you
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: may see us go all in on a one and
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: done or a few one and dons guys that we
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: see immediate impact guys, because let's face it, anyone who's
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: an immediate impact guy at at at a Yukon as
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: a freshman is probably going to be considered a one
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: and done type of player, like Steph and like Liam
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: and what Donovan could have done.
• 19:55
  Speaker 3: You know, a couple of years ago.
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: So yeah, I see us taking swing is that a
• 20:00
  Speaker 2: few more of those guys and trying to land one
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: and maybe not extending the classes deep year in and
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: year out as we have in the last couple classes.
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: So just because it seems like the portal and having
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: roster flexibility in the spring is more important than being
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: overloaded with numbers in an incoming freshman class.
• 20:27
  Speaker 6: And just to just a quick follow up, how do
• 20:29
  Speaker 6: you manage expectations of these players? Because all of them
• 20:31
  Speaker 6: are very talented players, how do you manage those expectations?
• 20:34
  Speaker 6: I know that goes over to Coach Hurley's job, but
• 20:37
  Speaker 6: how do you manage them because you're helping bring them
• 20:39
  Speaker 6: in the front door, so to speak.
• 20:40
  Speaker 3: Yeah, coach does a great job of being honest.
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: I've never been around to you know, anyone who's gets
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: the heart of a matter with a recruit as well
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: as he does, and as tactfully as he does, and
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: as honestly as he does. He has very specific ideas
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: in mind as to how he wants the rush to
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: look and how he wants to use each of these
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: roster spots. So when he's sitting in front of a
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: kid and his parents, he's telling them exactly how he
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: sees the young man fitting. What can be tricky is
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: is you know, you're trying to secure a commitment from
• 21:16
  Speaker 2: a high school kid in June, July, August, September of
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: their senior year, and you have to project what the
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: roster is going to look like in the spring after
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: a season, and that can be tricky because when we're
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: sitting there talking to them in August to September and
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: we're trying to secure the commitment, we have an idea
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: in mind as to how all of our returning players
• 21:40
  Speaker 2: are going to play, and it's always generally positive that
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: it's going to be an upward trajectory for all of them.
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: This year, what happened in a couple of spots is
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: guys didn't progress like we thought and maybe weren't what
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: we thought, and they ended up transferring. And now we
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: have two open spots that we have to three open
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: spots that we have to now go get in the
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: portal that we didn't anticipate having to get when we
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: were talking to these kids last July and August.
• 22:09
  Speaker 3: So it does become tricky.
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: You need people who are who are in it for
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: like I said, not L I L, not nil centric,
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: not just bottom line dollar highest dollar amount centric and
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: people who are understanding that the roster may look one
• 22:26
  Speaker 2: way in July and August, and then it's going to
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: look different depending on how kids do during the year
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: in March and April.
• 22:35
  Speaker 3: Thank you, no problem, Tony, Tom.
• 22:38
  Speaker 9: How are you my friends good?
• 22:40
  Speaker 3: What's up? Jaden?
• 22:41
  Speaker 9: Nothing much? Not the much question for you now going
• 22:44
  Speaker 9: into this role full time after coming off the road
• 22:48
  Speaker 9: and being an assistant and doing double duty for the
• 22:50
  Speaker 9: last couple of years. How's the transition process been for
• 22:54
  Speaker 9: you the past couple of weeks month or so since
• 22:57
  Speaker 9: the season ended and Mike Narty came up on board,
• 23:00
  Speaker 9: And also to follow up, how much of a role
• 23:02
  Speaker 9: of you played with integrating Mic into the.
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: It's been It's it's been interesting, still trying to figure
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: it out, and I'm still trying to get comfortable with it.
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: It's I'm trying to find that the challenges and and
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: and then get excited about the challenges and uh, it's
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: much more right now. Uh, Jayden, I'm heavily invested in
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: working out the buy games on the non conference schedule
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: and finalizing some of the other games in the in
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: the non conference schedule. We're finishing up all the nil
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: commitments to the guys on the twenty four to twenty
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: five roster and working through with agents and compact guys
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: in the twenty five twenty six roster. Trying again to
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: get better at everything, trying to grow, trying to expand,
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: and it's been uh it's not as much uh time
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: with with Dan Camani.
• 24:09
  Speaker 3: Luke and and Mike around.
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: The conference table as it is, you know, being in
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: my office and and doing other work, you know, more
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: as an individual. So I'm I'm getting used to that.
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: I see them in the morning, I see them throughout
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: the day, I see them at night. We talk constantly.
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: I'm through there all the time. But it's it's a
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: different perspective for sure. I haven't had a chance yet
• 24:34
  Speaker 2: with Mike. He's been here like a week. I haven't
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: had a chance yet with Mike to like really sit
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: down and go over a lot of stuff. But I
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: plan to and will very soon. But I'm excited about
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: his addition to the staff. I think he's been someone
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: who everyone in our organization has always held in really
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: really high esteem since he was running around for Kevin
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: Boyle at Saint Patrick's as a player and throughout his
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: college playing career, and then every interaction we've had with
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: him as on the road and when we've played Villanova
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: as an assistant coach has been nothing but first class
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: and professionals. So we think he's going to bring a
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: lot to the table.
• 25:15
  Speaker 6: Sounds good.
• 25:16
  Speaker 9: Thanks, So I'm always pleasure.
• 25:17
  Speaker 3: Same, Jaden, Tom, Eric Dobrats.
• 25:20
  Speaker 10: How are you, Bud?
• 25:21
  Speaker 3: What's up?
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: Eric?
• 25:22
  Speaker 5: Hey?
• 25:23
  Speaker 10: Quick question for you? How hard was it to give
• 25:26
  Speaker 10: up the whistle? We all know you for being on
• 25:28
  Speaker 10: the sidelines, you know, on the bench. You've been a
• 25:31
  Speaker 10: coach your whole life. I mean, I'm sure your family
• 25:33
  Speaker 10: was involved. Like, just take me through the process if
• 25:35
  Speaker 10: you could have of walking away from being a coach
• 25:37
  Speaker 10: something you've known your whole life.
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's interesting, Eric, It's it's sort of.
• 25:46
  Speaker 3: You know, the last couple of years.
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: As I've been doing both, Dan and I have talked
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: a lot about like should I just commit totally to one?
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: And the one I was leaning to that seemed to
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: sort of demand or demand more of my attention was
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: the GM duties. So it hasn't been a drastic cut off,
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: you know, emotionally for me, where it's just like all
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: of a sudden it's over. It's been something that I've
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: been gradually weaned off in the last couple of years.
• 26:18
  Speaker 2: So I think with Dan being such a strong head
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: coach in all aspects of the head coach seat and
• 26:25
  Speaker 2: what a great job he does on a day in
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: and day out basis, and then having Kamani and Luke
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: also there, I mean, you have is the best three
• 26:33
  Speaker 2: person combination you could have in those three spots in
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: the country. So it allowed me to feel pretty good
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: about committing more of my time and energies towards the
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: GM thing. So I was as you as you said.
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: I was at every practice, I was on the bench
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: every game. You know, I was still you know, I
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: felt okay with putting my focus and my energies on
• 26:57
  Speaker 2: the GM duties. So it's been okay. Yeah, it's been
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: all right. It's been something that I think is uh
• 27:04
  Speaker 2: is bad in a way, but it's also the same
• 27:09
  Speaker 2: time and it's I'm blessed to be a part to
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: be back here at Yukon, you know, and have it
• 27:15
  Speaker 2: come full circle because the place means so much to me, so.
• 27:20
  Speaker 3: Thank you.
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: I think Mike had one last one and then We'll
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: let Tom go back to time. The Rangers play already
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: an action coach.
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: We scored more than one run today, Bobby, so the
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: gram was on the hill too, so.
• 27:34
  Speaker 4: That's more run support than he's used to. Yes, were
• 27:37
  Speaker 4: Rangers over the marriage right now?
• 27:40
  Speaker 3: Okay, yeah, it was.
• 27:41
  Speaker 2: It was six to one when I when I jumped
• 27:43
  Speaker 2: on here. So we haven't scored six runs in about
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: three weeks total, so we'll take it.
• 27:50
  Speaker 7: Actually, Tom, the question I had remaining was just pretty
• 27:53
  Speaker 7: much asked by Eric, So I don't I don't need
• 27:56
  Speaker 7: to bug you too much.
• 27:57
  Speaker 3: I am curious.
• 27:58
  Speaker 7: Where will you be during games now?
• 28:01
  Speaker 3: I'm not sure yet.
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: I'm not sure, and I have there's a couple more
• 28:04
  Speaker 2: things we probably will discuss over the course of the
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: summer because we're both sort of exchanging ideas and and
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: and to see where what he wants it to look like,
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: you know exactly what he wants it to look like.
• 28:17
  Speaker 2: There's there's a lot of ways that you know, there's
• 28:20
  Speaker 2: there's a lot.
• 28:21
  Speaker 3: Of ways we can go with the thing.
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: So well, there's still some questions out there that that
• 28:27
  Speaker 2: remain to be like sort of work through, but we'll
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: get there.