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Texas Basketball coach Rodney Terry from SEC Media Days · The Craig Way Show

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  Speaker 1: It's the Craig Way Show with a voice of the
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  Texas Longhorns and Hall of Fame broadcaster Craig Way.
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  Speaker 2: Thursday afternoon. Then you're ready for a weekend of football.
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  Speaker 3: That's why we're about bringing some basketball conversation and also
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  to let you know that the Yankees have just taken
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  the lead on the Cleveland Guardians with an RBI single
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  in the top of a second and they have runners
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  on the corners with one out, so New York is
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  up one to nothing in the top half of the
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  second inning. And again, of course, the Yankees have a
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  two games to none lead in that best of seven series.
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  All right, just as was the case when we heard
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  last hour, Texas women's head coach Vic Schaeffer from SEC
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  Basketball Media days same story for the man Long Oraon's
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  head coach Rodney Terry was there as well. Some thoughts
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  from coach Terry, starting off with his opening comments, it's.
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  Speaker 4: A great day to be alive. I said that to
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  my guys this morning. We practice every morning, and it's
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  the first thing I say that, guys, because it truly
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  is a great data to be alive every day, to
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  get a chance to do what we have a passion
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  to do in terms of myself coaching them, getting a
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  chance to play, continue to educate themselves and be a
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  more well rounded person. So it is truly a great
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  day to be alive. We're excited about joining the SEC.
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  I mean, it's a league that I know our fan
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  base is super excited about. I'll be remissed though, not
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  to think the Big Twelve for our twenty eight years.
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  Speaker 2: I was a part of the first year UH of.
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  Speaker 4: The Big Twelve as an assistant at Baylor University.
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  Speaker 2: You know, we had some great years in that league.
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  Speaker 4: But but we're excited about where we're going and what
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  we're doing as we embark on a new journey in
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  terms of UH our basketball UH slate in the SEC.
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  You know, have a tremendous amount of respect for garth
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  And and Commissioner Sankie. They've done an incredible job with
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  their leadership building the premiere we think basketball league in
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  the country. So getting the chance to compete UH in
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  this league from top to bottom leaving the Big Twelve,
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  they're gonna it's not gonna be not gonna be any
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  kind of drop off. I mean, uh, you know, we
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  have great coaches, we have great players, We have great.
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  Speaker 2: Venues in this league.
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  Speaker 4: Uh, and uh, we're super excited about being a part
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  of it. I think in terms of the media, you know,
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  I like to think that we're gonna have a program
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  that's very accessible to myself, being very sexileble to you guys,
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  my players, being accessible to you guys on a regular basis,
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  and again just trying to be very uh, you know,
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  very forefront in terms of what we bring to the
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  table every day and having a lot of integrity with
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  what we do and how we do it.
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  Speaker 3: I hope that fore for any questions from that point.
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  All right, let's get to the questions. And right out
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  of the gate, you knew this was coming. Being in
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  the SEC means playing old Miss. Playing old Mess means
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  matching up with his old boss and friend, Chris Beard,
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  the former Texas coach who is now at ole Miss.
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  And he was asked about that dynamic going up against
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  coach Beard and Ole Miss the season.
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  Speaker 4: Chris Beard, and now I go way way back. You're talking
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  about twenty five years of friendship one of my really
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  really close friends in the business. You know, I wouldn't
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  have this opportunity here at Texas.
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  Speaker 3: Uh.
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  Speaker 2: You know if he wasn't kind enough to bring me
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  back to Texas.
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  Speaker 4: I mean previously I was with Rick Barnes for nine
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  years at Texas and uh got a chance to come
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  back and uh embark on a on a second stint
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  at Texas and uh with the hope that we're gonna
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  get a chance to build a national championship team, a
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  team that played gets a chance to play on Monday night. Uh.
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  And uh, but but he and our friendship, you know,
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  we're still really close right now. We're still talking, communicate
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  at a high level, talk about other opponents, you know,
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  other than ourselves, uh and things of that nature. But uh,
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  uh do you talk about a great person and a
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  great coach Chris Berce, Chris Berchon that kind of guy. Uh.
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  Speaker 3: He was also asked about trying to lay the foundation
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  for his program in year one in the SEC.
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  Speaker 4: You know this league, you know, I think again, you
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  know we're built for it in terms of our culture.
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  Uh think that the league again that uh, you know,
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  they're gonna be nights where you have to be really physical.
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  There mean nights where you're gonna have to really try
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  to score the basketball.
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  Speaker 2: They're gonna be nights where you have.
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  Speaker 4: To really take care of the basket ketball and from
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  top to bottom. There're no nights off in this league.
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  I alluded to the fact earlier that they're great coaches,
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  coaches that have taken their teams to the final four.
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  And there's been great players in this league. And I've
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  seen a lot of really good intimate environments to play
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  in that'll be great venues.
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  Speaker 3: And then he was asked about some of the specifics
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  with regard to his players, starting with the addition of
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  Tremon Mark, who had been at Arkansas and what he
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  adds to his program.
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  Speaker 4: Well, my native Texans, So, I mean, I've seen Treymond
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  play a long time. I remember when he when he
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  was in the eighth grade and he was coming up
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  and my dad coached at his high school that he
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  played in that year his high school years.
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  Speaker 2: But my dad got fired from that.
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  Speaker 4: Job and didn't get a chance to coach Tremont. But
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  he was a really good young talent coming uh. So
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  I've seen him for a very very long time. He's
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  a youngster who has tremendous sized athleticism. He can go
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  create his own shot, he could create for his teammates, very.
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  Speaker 2: Good high IQ basketball player.
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  Speaker 4: He's had a chance to compete be coached by some
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  really good coaches.
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  Speaker 2: So he's been coached very well.
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  Speaker 4: He's had a chance to start on the Final fourteen
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  at the University of Houston. So he's a guy that,
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  you know, we look to bring a lot of a
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  lot of.
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  Speaker 2: Experience, a guy that plays on both ends of the floor.
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  Speaker 4: He's a really good offensive player, but he's also a
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  really good defensive player as well. So you talk about
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  a guy that you know, we like to think that's
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  gonna be a.
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  Speaker 2: Great two way player for us. All right.
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  Speaker 3: Then he was asked about his two Indiana State transfers.
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  Jason Kent, the six to eight forward transferring in, and
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  then Julian Larry, who can run the point and can
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  play it can be very very versati with the guard spot.
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  So the two former Indiana State Sycamores you managed to
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  get all the way to the n i T Finals
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  a year ago.
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  Speaker 4: We're a team that returns six, you know, returners from
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  last year, so we got a little bit of continuity
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  from last year. We have six new guys from the
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  portal and we have four freshmen. Uh so we've got
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  a great blend great mix. Uh, and adding the two
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  guys from in there the state. Talk about two guys
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  that have played Jason played there two years Uh, Junior
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  got a chance to play four years there.
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  Speaker 2: Uh.
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  Speaker 4: You talk about two guys that are really really familiar
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  with each other and when they're on the floor, that
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  are really in sync together all the time, whether it
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  be from an offensive.
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  Speaker 2: Standpoint defensive standpoint.
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  Speaker 4: But I think there are two guys too that that
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  that come into this season with a little bit of
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  a chip on their shoulder. They didn't get a chance
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  to compete in the NCAA Tournament a year ago. They
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  went and had a deep run in then n I
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  T where they played in the finals and lost in
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  n I T. You know, I think again, two guys
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  that are getting a chance to play at this level
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  for the first time. They're not entitled. They're excited about
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  every day. They're excited about competing on this on this stage,
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  showing people that they can compete at the highest level. So,
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  you know, I'm excited about what those guys bringing to
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  the table. Julior Lewis is a guy who Julia Larry
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  is a guy who who comes in and uh, he
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  brings a lot of energy and a lot of joy
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  uh to our team every day with just his uh,
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  his uh, his energy and presence.
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  Speaker 2: On both ends of the floor. He's a guy.
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  Speaker 4: That's gonna be an initiate offense. He's gonna be a
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  play defense at a high level.
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  Speaker 2: Force.
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  Speaker 4: Uh you talk about you know, Jason is a guy
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  who's to be one of the elite cutters in all
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  the college basketball great instincts. Uh. He's a guy that
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  also should be a really good rebounded force and he
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  could stretch the floor from the four or forward position
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  force as well.
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  Speaker 3: And then finally one other thing comment from him this
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  about the highly heralded freshman guard Trey Johnson, of course
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  was from Garland, actually played at Lake Highlands, then finished
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  up the prep school at Link Academy and Missouri preseason
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  freshmen of the Year in the SEC. And he was
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  asked what Trey Johnson will supply and provide this year?
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  Speaker 4: Trey, Uh, you know, again, I allude to the fact
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  that we have six returners and you know, six uh,
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  six guys from the portal four freshmen, so we got
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  ten new players and again a blend of old and
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  a blend of new and young and Uh. You know,
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  he being one of the young guys. Uh, and a
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  guy that I think again, you know, media wants to
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  get familiar with. He's he's a guy that's deserving of
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  being here today.
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  Speaker 2: Uh.
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  Speaker 4: He's an extremely talented player. He's a Tip five player
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  in the country last year in his class. He's been
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  the best player in his class. Uh, in the state
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  of Texas his entire career. He's a guy that we
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  think fits our culture at a very high level in
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  terms of what he brings to the table. Super competitive,
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  a kid that wants to get better every day.
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  Speaker 2: He's proud of.
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  Speaker 4: Being from the state of Texas and representing Uh. Uh
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  you know Texas at the flagship program and uh, he's
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  a super competitor. I got a chance to coach Kevin
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  Durant for one year at Texas and uh, he and
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  Kevin a lot have a lot of things that kind
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  of come from the same cloth in terms of incredible
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  work ethic. Is a guy that we have to literally
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  push him out of the gym. He's in the gym
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  twenty four to seven, much like Kevin was.
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  Speaker 2: And he's he's a super competitive kid.
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  Speaker 4: You put the scoreboard on and uh, he's competing at
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  another level in terms of really one to win and
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  compete at a very high level. So he's a guy
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  that will count on this year, that have a big
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  year and do big things in Austin.
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  Speaker 3: All right, long words, head coach Rodney tearing uh and
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  and there's a couple more things from him, and we're
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  gonna play those two tomorrow because one is kind of
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  a humorous moment on that. We'll do that tomorrow on
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  the program. But when we back to wrap up today's
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  program here on sport tradingo AM thirteen hunderd the zone
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  of the iHeart Radio app