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3 Guys Before The Game - WVU Volleyball Coach Jen Greeny Visits (Episode 554) · 3 Guys Before The Game

0:10
Hey, welcome in. No One and all, thank you, thank you,
0:13
thank you so much for being with us. Yes, it's that time
0:16
for your favorite, my favorite, everybody's favorite. Three guys before the game.
0:23
One of these days, I'm gonna have to tell you about your favorite,
0:25
my favorite, everybody's favorite. That was at a bar Buffalo, New
0:29
York, had a big Roulette wheel. About four or five times during the
0:34
course of a night, bartenders would say, we hang on a second.
0:37
They'd spin a Roulet wheel, no matter what it was, no matter what
0:42
it ended up on, they would always kind of just manipulate it to free
0:48
shots of Alabama slammer. Here the Hawaii five oh song. Bartenders jump up
0:55
on top of the bar playing Hawaii five oh and people like birds waiting for
1:00
water. They're just just poor shots. Then they would say it's time for
1:06
your favorite, my favorite, everybody's favorite. Alabama slabber. It's not what
1:12
we're here to talk about. We're off the rails quickly. That's a record
1:15
about twelve seconds in. I just want to I mean just I say that
1:19
a lot. Your favorite, my favorite, that's where it stems from.
1:22
Tell you who my favorite is my favorite? Volleyball coach at West Virginia University
1:26
is here, Ladies and Gentlemen, Summer series continues, and we're delighted to
1:30
be joined by WVU volleyball coach Jen Greeney. This is gonna be fun.
1:36
We're gonna go a bunch of different directions as far as background, future,
1:42
and a whole lot more. Three Guys before the Game is brought to us
1:45
by Comac's Business Systems, keeping West Virginia's business data safe, secure and efficient
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for twenty five years. Like Gomart, get that Gomart rewards card where you
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there. Brad, did you know that I've got it. I've got the
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Gomard app. Yeah, put the Gomart app on there, and it's just
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like instantly you're saving money. Three Guys also brought to us by lou Wendell
2:15
Marine at Sales in Saint Albans. They happen to sell family fun. Visit
2:20
Lou Wendell Maarnet Sales dot com. Jen doesn't know this yet, but every
2:25
James Bond movie in which there's a pontoon, you know, there's been a
2:30
lot of James Bond movies. Uh, they get the boat from lou Wendell
2:34
Marine's that's unconfirmed kind of why it's unconfirmed. Gotta check that out. Yeah,
2:39
although it is boat weather this week, we're here, we're in the
2:42
eighties. Here we go. Yeah, you a boater at all. I
2:46
like to ride on people's boats. That's that way. I don't have to
2:49
pay for it. I have to take care of it, so you know,
2:53
correct, that's what he does. Yeah, the father in law's got
2:54
one and he he finds his way into the a moocher. Yeah, absolutely,
3:00
Yeah, boat it's fine. I mean it's good to anyway, whether
3:04
you want to mooch a pontoon or whatever way you want to do it.
3:07
Lou Wendell Marine Sales happens to be the premiere pontoon boat dealer in our state
3:10
and selection right now at a seasonal high, So check it out. Welcome
3:15
to the show. Thanks for having me. I feel privileged to be here.
3:19
I've just heard so much about three guys. Well, well you're only
3:23
privilege for about fifteen more seconds, so you understand it's not a privilege.
3:25
Yeah, she heard a lot about three guys, because last week we were
3:30
on the coach's caravan and the director of athletics and they had football coach.
3:36
I mean, I mean, I was delighted that they kept bringing it up,
3:39
but they brought it up a lot, and so they've kind of kind
3:43
of greased the skit. I mean, there was something presented in the proper
3:46
light though. No, yeah, no, those two teke it in a
3:50
different direction than what it's intent of the show is. They they tend to
3:53
think that this is some kind of a money laundering organization. I mean,
3:58
and here I am, I wish it was. I mean, I think
4:01
Neil's got in it has had that we make like between one point two and
4:04
one point three billion dollars a year on three guys before the game also unconfirmed.
4:10
I mean, so anyway, we're just, yeah, where we delighted
4:14
to have you so doing the math here almost six months not quite yet,
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six months. Hired the twentieth of December. We're recording on the twentieth of
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May, and so this has been filling the blank six months of what oh
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boy, six months of hard work. Yeah, I mean, got here,
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moved across the country, got our daughter in school, and just started
4:48
training and recruiting, so kind of drinking out of that fire hose. For
4:54
sure, not the first time that we have rebuilt and we know that to
5:00
hard work. But it's fun at the same time, and everybody around Morgantown
5:04
and West Virginia has been great so far. Yeah, So I find it
5:09
incredibly interesting because, to be quite honest with you, like I would be
5:14
a little bit like concerned if you had to come in and do this and
5:20
had never done anything like this. But you did this once before, which
5:25
begs two questions, why in the world, what's nice? What didn't you
5:33
learn the first time you did it to say like, I'm never gonna do
5:36
that again. So at Washington State and again we're gonna bounce all those places.
5:41
But when you inherited Washington State, you were very familiar with the program.
5:45
You had been a player there, you had to have been an assistant
5:46
coach there. You left, you became a head coach at a smaller school
5:50
than you come back, and they were zero to eighteen. And so obviously
5:56
the first time you did it was because you had like Washington State pride and
6:00
love. I'm gonna come back to my alma mater. You had nothing here,
6:04
You had nothing to draw you here to say like, I'm gonna go
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do that in Morgantown. So what was it that kind of flipped the switch.
6:14
Yeah. You know, Dick Bennett, if you're familiar with legendary,
6:18
legendary basketball coach, you know, built a Wisconsin basketball up, went to
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a Final four. And he did not like that part of it. He
6:30
liked the building part. You know, he was a teacher. So he
6:33
retired and then he was hired at Washington State and that's when him and his
6:39
son, Tony Bennett started coaching together. And we spent a lot of time
6:44
with Dick Bennett and he just said, you know, just being my background
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as a teacher, I love that building process. And you know we were
6:50
kind of going through that at Washington State as well, and and got to
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you know, eight straight NCAA tournaments sweet sixteen, and I think Dick is
7:02
right. You know, it's that you kind of lose that, you know,
7:06
joy of teaching and seeing people's progress and you know, that kind of
7:14
thing when you get there and you're just trying to recruit those top, top
7:16
tier players, it just becomes a lot of it seems like pressure, not
7:21
as fun and then the PAC twelve you know, dissolved and all that stuff
7:27
that we might get into, and so why I'm here, but we just
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being an educational background, that teaching part of it is really really rewarding.
7:36
So it's probably like being a female and you have a baby and you lose
7:40
your mind and think like, oh, that wasn't so bad, and though
7:43
so you can go and do it again, you're like, well that was
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dumb. So you know, just a little bit of that. But also,
7:49
yeah, just the challenge of building a program and and having people say,
7:57
oh, it can't be done, and we'll prove you're wrong. Yeah,
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that's pretty fascinating because I mean, you take a look at your run
8:03
there at Washington State. Your best year as far as wins goes, was
8:07
last year. So like you literally did do the walk off. You didn't
8:11
leave it down on the ditch. You leave the walk off. And so
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that in itself is like every reason why not to stay. I've been to
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eight straight NCAA's, I've got my most wins ever, I got this thing
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cooking, and instead you pop the move And so to me, that's kind
8:28
of that's intriguing. Yeah, you know, and timing was right. We
8:33
graduated eight seniors. Our daughter is in eighth grade, So if you're going
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to make a move like that, you know that's the time that we think
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to do it. And then the whole PAC twelve situation of you know,
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Washington State is no longer in a power for a conference and we want to
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be in the fire. We want to compete against the best and eventually go
8:56
win a national championship. So to be able to do that, we just
8:58
felt we needed to be I'm in one of these power conferences. Let's talk
9:01
about that conference stuff for just a second, because how outrageous that that happened,
9:05
right for such a proud, long standing conference that had so much success
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and has this year right as it's on its way out the door, has
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had a ton of success. As someone that's an alum spent your coaching career,
9:18
there just thoughts on that, on what that means for college athletics to
9:22
watch that conference dissolve like it did. Yeah, I mean it was incredible
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in a very bad and sad way. You know, we knew USC was
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probably behind it all, and you know, they made the move first and
9:35
UCLA followed, and we've kind of thought, Okay, we'll be fine,
9:37
you know as a conference, and then you just kind of heard rumblings and
9:43
you know, I just think, you know, leadership wise at the conference
9:46
level, it was never good and never real stable, and everybody just kind
9:52
of decided to look out for themselves, which I understand you have to do,
9:56
but yeah, one hundred and some years of tradition just down the drain,
10:01
you know, and for what I mean, it's crazy think of Stanford
10:03
and Cal being in the ACC, Like, how ridiculous? All right,
10:09
nobody is thinking about this, you know, And I don't know that the
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next five years are going to be really interesting in college athletics to see if
10:16
it, you know, if football breaks off and everybody goes back to regionality
10:20
or what happens with the ACC. But we're just glad to be here in
10:24
the Big twelve and we feel that that's pretty stable. All right. Fast
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forward to moving personally to this part of the country. It had to be
10:31
a change in a shock to the system. Never mind getting used to the
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Eastern time zone, right no, oh, my gosh sports, So yeah,
10:41
made the move. We've never lived on the East Coast. I was
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born in Chicago. My dad's from Chicago, but then he went to college
10:50
in Montana. That's where my mom's from. So they just kind of kept
10:54
moving west. And I've never moved in any time zone except that THEI spent
11:01
three hours behind our whole life. Whole life, yep, So you're exactly
11:05
right, you know, we'd be. We lived in the wonderful Residence in
11:09
for thirty days and as all of those coaches have. But yeah, same
11:16
thing. You know, NCAA basketball is going on, and we had morning
11:18
practice and I'm like, I cannot stay up to watch any more games.
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And it's a real thing that East Coast bias. So now I'm part of
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it. I feel stronger just in here. Yeah, you're better off for
11:31
it. What happened to Washington State has always been kind of one of our
11:37
fears because there are similarities just size wise between right, w v U and
11:43
w s U. Right, and I've only mixed that up once since I've
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been here. I think it's pretty good. Now. You guys go with
11:50
that a lot, a lot of w s U out, Yeah, you
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know, like even just emails, you know, like w SU dot e
11:56
d U. Yeah, yeah, now it's w VU du so again invested
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it up once, so so we always look at it like when the Big
12:03
East blew up and West Virginia made this move to the Big twelve, like
12:07
we were in some serious fear. We didn't want to become Connecticut because someone
12:13
was going to get left out. And you saw what happened to Connecticut football
12:16
three the years. It just it crushed it. So I'm sure as an
12:20
alum, you have to feel horrible right now to look back there and see
12:24
what's happening to those folks. Yeah. Absolutely, I mean, and we
12:28
still obviously know you know, everybody that's working there, and and you know,
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you go from thirty plus million a year of TV revenue to I'm hearing
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you know, four to five and like, how do you sustain that?
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And so it's really sad for sure being an alum, but we're so glad
12:48
that we're here at West Virginia. And you're exactly right. There's a lot
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of similarities, you know, the college town land grant institutions. I am
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not a city girl, so Morgan is big to me. I'm like,
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oh my gosh, all this traffic and there's multiple places to eat. I
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can't even you know how big is Pullman. It is small, like thirty
13:09
four thousand with the students. Oh well students. I mean we got a
13:13
Walmart and a couple of restaurants and that's it. So you always have been
13:18
punching above your weight class as a coach there, no matter who coaches,
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there is punching above their weight class. Yep, exactly. Yeah, so
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that kind of I talked about it, that chip on your shoulder. You
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know, you have to have that kind of attitude. And I think that's
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why West Virginia is such a great fit for us, because it's it's a
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little bit of the same thing. You know, It's it's not a volleyball
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powerhouse. You know, it's hard to get to all of those things you
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know that we're already used to. So we're just going to try and do
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what we can and take it and run with it. Jumping down in now.
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So would you consider yourself who is fueled by being an underdog throughout your
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life? Yep? Absolutely. And you know, my dad was my high
14:03
school basketball coach, track coach. I have two older brothers you know that
14:07
beat me up pretty good on the on the basketball court and you know helped
14:11
me along the way. But I think, you know, we were from
14:15
a small school. I had forty two people in my graduating class, and
14:20
we would play the big dogs, you know, we would play the big
14:22
schools and go out there and beat them. And I think it's just that
14:26
competitive nature and being that, you know, just underdog and really enjoying that
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part of it. All Right, so here comes now some matters of disclosure.
14:37
For the record, pretty good in basketball? I'm pretty Let me ask
14:41
you this, Brad. You're a basketball guy and are selling this well?
14:43
I mean, I'm just going to ask you a question. Yeah, pretty
14:46
good. It's not the right. Are you pretty good if you're the all
14:48
time leader in the state of Washington boys and girls? Very good? Are
14:54
you pretty good in basketball? If you were top five recruit in the country,
14:58
the top five national recruit in the country, I'd be considered elite.
15:01
Yeah. And instead when it was over with in high school, you went
15:05
like, not gonna play, I'm gonna go volleyball. Hold out before you
15:09
had to help the younger listeners who broke your scoring record. Yeah, Hailey
15:13
van Lyft, So I held it for I don't know, that was like
15:16
twenty three years or Something's awesome. Wow, how many points? Just go
15:20
two thousand, three thousand, two and eighty one to be exact. Yeah,
15:26
I mean if you have that record, you know the number. So
15:28
you know the number, right. So Haley van Lyft got it finally.
15:35
Yep, shed a player. She did LSU last year, formerly of Louisville.
15:39
Yeah, just imagine when you could have done an nil with what she's
15:41
doing. No. Yeah, so you're tall, you're six to two.
15:48
Tell me about your basketball game? Like, where were you scoring a three?
15:52
It was a three? Yeah? Serious? Seriously? So you handle
15:56
you could step and face the basket absolutely, jump shot yep? Oh you
16:02
were so you were up? You were difficult to handle. I was difficult.
16:04
Yeah, and we and we pressed like crazy and just ran I we
16:10
averaged like seventy three points a game. So as a as a team.
16:15
So how big was your center? She was not as you were, but
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it was your athleticism. She was probably six foot but I just you know,
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but I played on a an AAU team and that's we had a six
16:29
seven center and a six five four and yeah, four of them went to
16:34
Stanford and played. And I was a year younger than all of them,
16:40
and so you know, Tara Vanderveerson in my living room, and you know,
16:45
went to Stanford camp a couple of times. But if I was gonna
16:48
play basketball, this throws everybody off a little bit as well. If I
16:52
was gonna play basketball, North Carolina had just won it in nineteen ninety four
16:59
and they had one ship to give Sylvia Hatchell. They had one scholarship to
17:03
give, and they offered me. I had my visit all set up and
17:06
at the last second said, I think I'm going to play volleyball. So
17:08
why, oh, gosh, good question. I think I was at burnt
17:15
out of basketball, like I had just done and done and done it,
17:18
and I was like, this volleyball game is pretty fun. You know.
17:22
I played in high school, went to some camps but never played club or
17:25
anything like that. Went to Washington State camp, really enjoyed the coaches.
17:32
I ended up getting recruited by Notre Dame, Arizona, Washington State, Washington
17:37
Oregon, and Oregon State were my volleyball schools just because they were a little
17:40
more regional. So I went on those visits and then ultimately chose Washington State
17:47
close to home. They had an unbelievable atmosphere. They were winning and kind
17:52
of thought, oh, you know, I'll give this a try. You
17:56
know, I did end up playing one year of basketball at Washington State.
17:59
Your first year, my last year. Okay, did you in that interim
18:03
before you went to play basketball you missed it? Did you? Did you
18:07
regret the decision though, or you just missed it or no, absolutely didn't
18:11
regret the decision. I missed it. Huh. But then I played my
18:17
senior year and I was like, oh my god, I don't miss it
18:18
anymore because I could have played, you know, a fifty year and I
18:21
was like, no, I'm done. So that's probably good that you played
18:25
that year to get that out of your system, right, So you're not
18:26
sitting here today going well, well, yeah, I could have been a
18:30
contender. I could. I could have been a contender if I just would
18:33
have played crazy. So did you? Was there organized volleyball before high school?
18:37
Yeah? I mean there was club going on and for you for me
18:41
playing no, No, I just was just picking up. It was volleyball
18:45
season and let's play. Yep. Yeah. And you mentioned your brother You
18:49
mentioned your brothers. Yeah, they're really big. I am taller than both
18:55
of them by like we're all about the same, but I think I caught
18:57
him by about you know, half an inch or something. My mom's five
19:00
to one, he's tiny, U six seven. There you go. Yeah,
19:07
so I kind of just uh beat out the brothers a little bit.
19:12
My mom was a barrel racer in Montana. She's a feisty little bugger.
19:15
Yeah. Talk about chip on your shoulder, that is her. Yeah.
19:19
And then my my dad played at Carol College in Helen and Montana basketball.
19:25
But yeah, but my brothers, you know, both played basketball at junior
19:30
college. They both coached, so you know, I was kind of just
19:37
in a gym from the time I could, you know, breathe. So
19:41
that's really super interesting. So your dad's a coach, your mom competitive,
19:47
so you're in an environment growing up of we compete. Yes, yeah,
19:52
and and and obviously you would agree that that has that that set your course.
19:57
Yep. I knew from probably my freshman year in high school that I
20:02
wanted to coach and so young. Yeah, and so I went just I
20:07
thought it, but I thought I was going to be a teacher at a
20:11
high school coach, you know, I just was like, this is what
20:12
we do. And and so when got my elementary ed degree at Washington State.
20:19
But like was working camps from the time I could, you know,
20:26
and then all through college of course, you know, all summer working camps.
20:30
So definitely knew that that's what I wanted to do. Pretty good in
20:33
the classroom she mentioned Washington Notre Dame. You were an academic all American.
20:38
I was. I mean, I was an elementary at major. I was
20:45
a nuclear scientist. I worked hard at my billboard making scientist. You just
20:52
chose to go, just go. He's trying to make me look I mean,
21:00
how did you know that that you wanted to be a coach. Your
21:03
dad was obviously coaching, as you said, so you saw it. But
21:06
you remember a moment or you just always thought, I want to be in
21:08
charge. Is it being in charge? What was it? Not? Probably
21:12
if my husband probably said said you want to be in charge, I want
21:15
to be in charge, that's funny, But no, I just think you
21:22
know that I just liked the atmosphere of being in the gym teaching, like
21:27
the excitement of competing, Like you don't really get that when you just go
21:32
to work. You get that nine to five or whatever that is, like
21:36
you get to go compete and and you know, get those juices flowing or
21:41
whatever it is, and then just also making people better at if they're hungry
21:45
for that. It's really fun to see. No, it's in competitions intox
21:49
kidding, yes, right, yep. And I would also probably guess alive
21:55
that this is always a good coach. You look, you remember the losses
22:00
more than you remember the wins. Yep. Absolutely, No one's different on
22:03
that kid, and so you can't accept the fun part of it. You
22:07
always look, right, I know that's the thing, Like you don't know
22:12
how many wins you have, but you know how many losses you know,
22:15
So you know, I think, because that's how we want to get better.
22:21
You know, you don't want those losses. You want to knock those
22:23
out. But you know, we have celebrated some big wins as well,
22:27
but it's usually then looking onto the next pretty quick. Your coaching staff,
22:33
I'm assuming this is the only one in the country. Yes it is,
22:37
right, Okay, So one of your assistant coaches is your husband, and
22:42
your other two assistant coaches are married. I mean, am keeping it all
22:47
in the family. You talk about a maid for a reality television show.
22:52
It's called married with volleyball, and so okay, let's talk about your husband.
22:57
Yep, Burdette professional Real quick, did you tell Jen this might be
23:02
a four hour podcast. There's a lot of stuff here. Should were the
23:06
time or not? Really not? A lot of questions might be here.
23:11
She had she had recruits this weekend. Yeah, this is the off dame.
23:15
Nothing going on here, off day. Let's let's talk about your husband.
23:18
As I said, professional baseball player and as your is your right arm.
23:25
As far as coaching, where'd you guys meet? Yep? So he
23:29
played baseball at Washington State, so that's where we met. We joked like
23:33
in the weight room, you know, he was always trying to mooch you
23:37
ride home, you know, talking about mooching, you know, because our
23:41
apartments were kind of in the same area. So you know, that's how
23:45
we met. Probably an ulterior motive, yeah him, right, and he
23:47
probably just ride. Yeah, So that's that's how we met. And then
23:52
he signed into the Brewers organization, played three years minor league ball, and
23:59
then we were back in Pullman. I was an assistant coach at Washington State
24:03
for volleyball. He was working in the athletic department and you know, coaching
24:08
Legion baseball all summer. We're kind of, you know, just going in
24:11
different directions. I was pregnant with our first daughter, Lauren, and so
24:17
decided to step away from the college game for a while. Then I coached
24:22
at Pulman High School and taught for three years. And then an old baseball
24:29
coach had become the athletic director at Lewis Clark State, a small NAIA school
24:33
in Lewiston, Idaho, and he approached me twice. I turned it down.
24:38
The third time he came back, I was like, you know,
24:41
I'll take it if I can bring this guy, you know with me who
24:45
doesn't really know volleyball. But at a small school, you do everything yourself.
24:48
You know, you're your own strength coach, you're your own academic advisor.
24:52
You do everything. And so the ad because he knew him pretty well
24:57
from baseball, was like, yep, let's try it. I thought it
25:00
was maybe in a last year, and now we've been doing it together seventeen
25:03
years and he loves the recruiting part, absolutely loves it. I can take
25:11
it or leave it. I'm like, do you want to come or not?
25:12
You know, like, and he's on the phone for an hour an
25:15
hour and a half, you know, so it worked out. I taught
25:19
him volleyball. Now he's dangerous. He was a National Assistant Coach of the
25:23
Year at Washington State for the ABCA in twenty eighteen. I think, so,
25:29
no, I can't get rid of him. I've tried. That's an
25:32
unbelievable story. Yeah. So see, yeah, that's that's super interesting because
25:37
the thing you wouldn't expect is you would say, like, well, he
25:41
loves the fundamentals of the game and that's his but no, he likes to
25:44
recruit. Yep, he loves the recruiting part, and he digs in,
25:48
you know, to like blocking his kind of his specialty and serving. But
25:55
he was a pitcher, and so actually it really really is a lot of
26:00
the same mechanics in your volleyball arm swing as pitching. So it's fascinating actually
26:08
that like younger kids that are just learning volleyball, we we teach them how
26:14
to throw. You know, if they don't know, like girls, you
26:15
know, if you're not out with your dad or your brothers or whatever throwing
26:19
a baseball correctly, you know, we're going to give you a tennis ball
26:22
or baseball and you're going to be throwing the ball for your mechanics as a
26:27
hitter. So it's fascinating that it overlaps like that. Super Were you surprised
26:33
or are you surprised now? So what seventeen years you've been coaching together.
26:37
Yes, are you stunned that it's that that's the path he took as well?
26:41
Yeah, for sure. I mean we were kind of at that you
26:44
know, cross crossing point of like is he maybe going to go coach baseball
26:48
and you know, what am I going to do or whatnot? And we
26:52
just you know, thought, you know, let's try it, and didn't
26:55
really think that we would jump from an NAI school to the Package twelve and
27:00
then be here at West Virginia today obviously and have done so well. You
27:06
know, throughout the process. Your other two assistants are the Beckers. Yes,
27:10
so talk a little bit about how that tandem. Yeah. You know,
27:14
when you're looking for a new staff, you're getting recommendations all over the
27:18
place. And actually Mike Becker had been at Pitt and he's from Pennsylvania,
27:23
so we knew we wanted some East coast connections just because we hadn't lived out
27:30
here. So he was kind of the first call and as we were doing
27:33
research for like, wait, he's married and they coached together at Iowa.
27:37
Okay, this could work, and so we kind of started calling about them
27:41
separately. So Mike had been at Pitt and then was at Illinois State and
27:48
they had done really well. That coach then went to Michigan State. He
27:52
followed her. Aubrey was at Florida State and then Brown Davidson and Oral Roberts
28:00
and then Iowa. And so they ended up because they got married. You
28:04
know, they had met just out on the volleyball recruiting trail or whatnot,
28:08
and they got married, and we're both working at Iowa or like that's a
28:11
lot of just different places that they've both been with great connections and whatnot.
28:18
So separately they're fabulous. They just happened to be married as well. So
28:22
you're like, this is crazy. The state of Iowa is having a tough
28:26
census here well for West Virginia up big in the census department. Iowa has
28:30
suddenly become like the full crumb of the universe. Yes, right, defrees
28:36
that whole that group's coming. Nick Norton is coming, is coming into the
28:41
whole thing. Lead for West Virginia. Yeah, Census department. Absolutely,
28:45
is this correct. Someone sent this to me this weekend to your knowledge,
28:48
and you would know this. Has a female ever won the NCAA Volleyball Championship?
28:55
One has not. It's always been a man, Always been a man.
28:59
Yep, I know, why not? Why not? Now? Why
29:04
not? It's pretty wild? It is pretty wild. You know, Mary
29:10
Weiss has been at Florida for many years, has been to the final four
29:12
a few times, never won it. You know, Louisville has a female
29:18
head coach and they've been in the final four a couple of times. You
29:21
know, San Diego was there a couple of years ago. But just we
29:25
haven't. We haven't done it yet, so I think they're waiting for me.
29:29
Makes sense, But I think tell me absolutely, volleyball's exploding popularity wise.
29:33
We've seen that here in West Virginia with all the club sports that are
29:37
that are coming up. But that's that's nationally right, that's a it's a
29:40
sport that's exploding youth wise. But it's also along with softball. You notice
29:45
it on TV too. There's a lot more. I think people are starting
29:48
to realize what a fun sport it is to watch. People will watch it
29:51
whether live or on TV, so it's it's coming from youth and television wise.
29:55
Agree. Yeah, it's the number one participation sport for female by a
30:00
long ways in the United States right now, and it just keeps growing.
30:07
But you're exactly right. I think spectator wise, you know, I think
30:11
Nebraska with what they did, if you guys saw that, you know,
30:15
they filled ninety two thousand in their football stadium like that is unbelievable, but
30:21
so cool for the sport, and it's getting really popular. We now have
30:25
a professional league in the US. You know, they've tried a couple of
30:29
professional leagues you know, throughout the nineties and early two thousands that just haven't
30:33
stuck. I think I think this one will, or you know, some
30:40
form of it is going to stick because just people really really enjoy the sport.
30:45
It's fast paced, it's physical, super athletic, and again like a
30:52
really family oriented sport that you're always inside so you don't have to worry about
30:56
the weather. It's not too long, it's always you know, a point
31:00
happens on every play, so just you know, the rules are funky.
31:06
I have to do a good job of, you know, getting the West
31:08
Virginians to understand the sport of volleyball, because you know, some of it's
31:12
like why do you do this? Or what's happening? And sometimes I don't
31:15
even really know, but we'll do our best to try and explain it to
31:18
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32:07
the entire bag of recy products, we were just gifted. We could have
32:10
given Jen one as upstairs. We still got the big cups. Oh,
32:15
we have a coach down in Raleigh County. We were down in Raleigh County
32:17
down Beckley. Coach Montgomery that night. Gave me a big old bag.
32:21
Yeah, he didn't share it with that's his thing. All the time,
32:28
people say, hey, take this back, this is forevery he never Yep,
32:30
okay, so it's not just never. Now, the reces Cups did
32:32
make it back. Now he excluded you, but we did get something to
32:36
do. I got on the plane. I had a bag from coach Montgomery.
32:39
I put it in the aisle on the plane. I said, you
32:42
guys want some stuff. There's re season there. All I get is see
32:45
they turn it. Wren Ren especially turns it. They didn't offer us anything.
32:50
Yep, yep, you're right. Yeah. I think that's because I
32:54
know Reren would have eaten one of those. I don't know. All he
32:57
does is poor powder and a drink. That's all he does. I just
33:00
got all the he's got. He's got more electrolytes than he was to do
33:02
with Your first coaching job was was a little unique. What was it?
33:06
It was? Yeah? I did my I did my student teaching. You
33:12
know, was just like trying to figure out, Okay, I need a
33:15
job, and like I told you guys, I wanted to coach and seventh
33:20
grade boys basketball. How about that? So what's funny is Burdett was in
33:25
the minor leagues, so he was off at that time and home, so
33:29
he of course got the eighth grade boys job. You know, I'm liking
33:32
birdad here. Yeah, I'm liking birdad Here. Yeah. Was it competitive
33:37
with you? You say what? I was kind of like, why why
33:39
do you get the eighth grade job and I get the seventh grade job?
33:43
Solid point eighth grade job perceived as the better job at the time. Right
33:45
a year older, they knew what they were doing a little bit more.
33:47
Yeah, Okay, so these knuckleheads seventh grade boys, that's all they are.
33:52
Yeah, that's a perfect description all seventh grade boys. So they're all
33:55
they're not even gonna given all due respect to seventh grade boys, just aheads
34:00
in the most loving way. You know, they're like, why do we
34:02
have the girl? Like I could hear them like, oh and I'm just
34:07
off of playing basketball my year of playing, Like why do we have the
34:12
girl? You know? Whatever. I was like, oh, I see
34:15
how it is. Okay, we're going to get in and do a little
34:17
three on two, two on one, and I might as well just jump
34:21
in gym, just start, you know. I've just kind of let them,
34:28
you know, get into a little flow thinking they're pretty good, like
34:31
were we made the seventh grade boys team whatever, and so I, yeah,
34:37
this one that was kind of mouthing off like why do we have the
34:38
girl? Oh yeah, steal the ball, and they were like, yeah,
34:45
we got the girl, so we would then we scrimmaged the eighth grade
34:50
boys and you know, so I get in and predict it's in you know,
34:52
the seventh grade we won and so yeah, lined up, yep,
34:58
Yeah that's the one time. Yeah that's drung throw curveballs from the follow line.
35:02
Yeah, that's not working at all. So it's a massive difference between
35:07
where you are now and that sometimes I feel, so let's kind of talk
35:13
about both of those. The part of your coaching that is skill development versus
35:16
mental is what can you put that in a percentage? Yeah, I mean
35:22
I think we do a really really good job of the skill development because even
35:25
at Washington State, you know, we're going against Stanford, USC, UCLA.
35:30
These are volleyball powerhouses and we're not getting those recruits. We just weren't,
35:37
So we have to train better. And so that's what I think we
35:40
did. We would take maybe you know, not the blue chip, maybe
35:44
right under that or whatnot, and really developed them. But so i'd say
35:50
seventy thirty, but they're still still still have yeah, skill development, but
35:53
that mental side of it and mostly just competitiveness, you know, is but
36:00
I think and team chemistry can really put you over the top. Okay,
36:02
so how do you bring out or instill competitiveness because you can see right away
36:07
when kids have it and when they don't. How do you get that out?
36:10
What are some Do you compete every day or at everything and just force
36:14
them into situations where they have to compete. Is that the best thing to
36:16
do? Yeah? I think I think so. I mean, no matter
36:19
what we're doing, we're trying to be fast paced and you know, and
36:24
compete and have that mentality. So even if we're in the weight room,
36:30
you know or whatever that is warming up, just to have that attitude of
36:35
you know, we're going to do it better today than somebody else. Everyone's
36:38
practicing right everybody's practicing. What kind of attitude can we have going into that
36:44
that we're going to be a little bit better than somebody else. You just
36:47
unintentionally defined the success recipe for West Virginia University sports. You're never going to
36:55
you're never going to live off of five star, blue collar, blue ship
37:00
players. But we're always always had the ability to take that one person that's
37:04
got some form of a chip on their shoulder that wasn't recruited by their in
37:07
state favorite school. Oh yeah, came here and you made a living off
37:12
of those by skill development and then teaching them the blue collar attitude and putting
37:17
that chip on their shoulder, and they use it for fuel. Absolutely.
37:22
So yeah, that's why when Ren called and I was kind of like,
37:25
I don't even really know where West Virginia is. No offense, you know,
37:30
I'm just like when Ren called, just talking to him as well about
37:35
what West Virginia University is, I was like, Oh, yeah, we've
37:38
done. This is totally the same thing we've always done. So I think
37:43
it's a great fit and we love it. And you know, I talked
37:45
about this a little bit Coaches Caravan, what you had just said, we've
37:49
got really high standards in our gym and in our program, and we've kind
37:52
of taken on a little motto for West Virginia Volleyball. Yeah, I have
38:00
to this gold standard, blue collar, so you know, and I think
38:07
that fits just perfect. I mean, we've been talking to all our recruits
38:10
about that, and if that's not what they want, well then that's okay.
38:15
They can go find whatever it is that they do want. But that's
38:17
what we're going to be here at West Virginia and we want those recruits coming
38:22
in that want that as well. I love that we can't use it,
38:27
but like, who created that? Who thought a gold standard? Yeah it's
38:30
Burdette. Yeah, So again that's why I got to keep him around.
38:35
That's really good, really good, because that's if he can recruit at a
38:39
high level and bring you slogans, Yeah, slogan. But if I find
38:45
out, Burdette, that you went to Chad GPT and came up with that,
38:49
we're going to have a dog on problem. What's the biggest mistake As
38:52
you're around now and you're recruiting and you're watching and we've talked about how this
38:55
sport is growing, what's the biggest mistake youth coaches make with the younger kids.
39:01
That creates problems as they get older. Oh man, I think what
39:07
I just said like trying to get somebody to fit that doesn't really fit,
39:12
you know, just that you have to have that mentality if you're going to
39:17
be successful with us, like we're really competitive coaches, and if that's if
39:22
you're just really good and and that's just really not your style, then then
39:28
we as coaches are just gonna be frustrated, and you are going to be
39:30
frustrated with us coaches. And again that's howt you're gonna miss at times.
39:35
You know, some kids gonna say like, I'm really competitive and they get
39:37
here and you're like, no, your mom's really competitive or your dad's really
39:42
competitive. You not so much. But you know, I think it's trying
39:46
to you know, fit a round peg into a square role or or vice
39:52
versa. So we have to spend that time getting to know them and figure
39:57
out what it is they are really like. So you dig into the competitiveness
40:00
part of it as you're recruiting someone to see if they've got it yep,
40:05
and watch you know, we we also don't like to just watch off a
40:08
film. You know, somebody can put together a great highlight reel, like
40:13
we got to go see them in person. And we've done a lot of
40:15
foreign recruiting as well, And the same thing. They can't just send us
40:21
the film, like, we got to go see them with our own two
40:23
eyes and see how they react when they make mistakes, and how they treat
40:28
their parents and you know all of the above. Sure sure, the old
40:31
West Virginia saying, if you've got to teach a hunting dog how to hunt,
40:35
you don't have a hunting dog, yep. And same thing in sports,
40:37
if you've got to teach someone to compete, you got no shot,
40:40
right, yep, no shot at all. And like I said, they
40:45
have to be able to make adjustments. You know, if you're a player
40:47
that really struggles making adjustments, like I said, you know, we're not
40:52
getting those top top recruits. So we have to teach and you have to
40:55
be able to learn and make adjustments. I think that's something else that we
41:00
have realized throughout our years as well. Like and so that's a question,
41:04
now, how fast do you make adjustments? Mm hmm. Handicap the Big
41:10
the new Big twelve conference, because what's wild is for these schools you intimately
41:15
know you've been playing against them for all these years. Handicap this league as
41:20
you get ready to jump in. Oh man, you know, I'm just
41:24
I'm like you said, I'm really only familiar with those four schools. But
41:30
you know, now that Texas and Oklahoma are gone, I think at least
41:34
tech the Texas part of it is good for the conference. It it definitely
41:38
opens it up. Kansas has been great. I think Arizona State could possibly
41:44
win it this year. You know, they have our setter from Washington State.
41:49
She transferred there and she's plays starts for the Mexican national team. And
41:54
they have almost everybody back. So you know, I think our goals or
42:00
just we're just trying to get to the middle. You know, West Virginia
42:02
volleyball has been last or second to last, but we can knock some people
42:07
off, I think for sure, and our goal is just to try and
42:09
get to the middle and then just keep climbing. Recruiting wise, once you
42:15
get things set as far as get your roster and this is you're going to
42:21
do it on the quick this year. Are there enough players geographically in this
42:25
region that you'll be able to at least have the majority of your kids from
42:30
a three to four hundred mile distance, or are you going to continue to
42:34
have to go bouncing all over the place. Yeah, you know, I
42:37
think we'll probably have to continue to bounce for a while, just until we
42:42
get the West Virginia vollyball name a little more recognizable. You know, we've
42:47
we're recruiting Canada right now pretty heavily. Where's good Where's good volleyball in Canada?
42:53
Yeah? East or West East East? Yeah? Helpful for us here.
43:00
Ohio has great volleyball, but they also have a lot of schools.
43:02
Yeah, you know, we have a great setter coming in from Texas in
43:07
twenty twenty five, like comes from the number one club in the country.
43:13
And then I think we'll continue to go foreign a little bit as well.
43:15
But you know, I think Florida is really becoming a hotbed of volleyball right
43:22
now. We have the DC area that has just some tremendous athletes. So
43:27
I think for sure, comparatively at Washington State, being at West Virginia and
43:32
just the population of the East Coast is much better to be here. Stupid
43:38
question, but wouldn't be my first Like in basketball, we know what kind
43:44
of size you have to have for a team. You know, we know
43:46
you need to have a certain number of you know, six seven wings and
43:51
you need to have some size a kind of volleyball roster in your mind,
43:54
Like what sizes do you need to have success at the level you want to?
43:59
Yeah, we definitely need to get bigger and more physical. You know,
44:04
I think six three, six four for our hitters is great unless they're
44:14
a little shorter but super springy. So so we kind of go off the
44:16
jump test of the jump you know, touch test, so not necessarily how
44:22
tall they are, but how high they can till vertical verticals. Yeah,
44:25
we just got a transfer in that touches ten six. So you know,
44:30
if we can go ten three to ten eight, then then then we're going
44:37
then we're going somewhere. So and what's crazy about that? And this is
44:39
for any sport, Like, so if you're what you're looking for demographically doesn't
44:45
exist a whole lot in the world. You're looking for six three and sixty
44:50
four females and it's kind of it could jump ten plus. Yeah, Yeah,
44:52
it's kind of like offensive linemen, Like what are you looking for?
44:57
Well, we're looking for people that can be three hundred in three hundred and
45:00
ten to twenty pounds, and they need to have great you know, agility
45:06
and bounce. They don't. It's like looking for dinosaurs or they're not.
45:09
A whole lot of them are. Yes. Yeah, So that's why the
45:14
relationships I would imagine are so big at these clubs because they would have the
45:17
closest access to being able to go agen over there. Yep. Absolutely,
45:22
And uh you know people are playing club, you know, from twelve years
45:27
old, and those club coaches are going, oh, yeah, she's gonna
45:30
be tall or she's gonna be good, and and it does feel a little
45:35
bit weird when you're watching fourteen year old's play, but you can tell pretty
45:38
early on even if they don't quite have the volleyball skill because it's a very
45:44
very technical game, you know, me playing both sports. Volleyballs way harder,
45:49
way harder than basketball, how about that. And you just you can't
45:53
hide, you know, like you can't just go in and I'm just gonna
45:57
set a screen and rebound, you know, like the ball is coming to
45:59
you like they're gonna find you. They'll find you. Yeah, So you
46:02
can't hide anybody. So just those younger kids too, you know that agility
46:08
and a whippy arm and pretty tall. You can tell pretty pretty early on.
46:15
You mentioned your daughter. She's enrolled at Morgantown. She's coming. Yes,
46:20
So we have two daughters. Actually, our oldest daughter is just finished
46:25
her sophomore year at Montana State. She's on the women's golf team. I
46:30
am not a golfer. She is a really good golfer. She played volleyball
46:35
and basketball and baseball, did everything. Tore her meniscus her freshman year,
46:39
got surgery, you know, repair it. So she was out for a
46:44
while. And she comes to me in the spring and his board and is
46:46
like, Mom, can I, you know, try out for the golf
46:49
team. I'm like, oh yeah, sweetie, sure, like go for
46:52
it. I bought her Walmart clubs, like you know. Here. She
46:57
makes it to State her freshman year, like she didn't even go eighteen holes
47:00
before, like just had kind of screwed around, you know, with Bredette
47:06
or whatever. Went to State her freshman year was getting back into playing a
47:10
lot at some beach volleyball and COVID hit and so you on the West coast,
47:15
you couldn't do anything. But we lived right next to Idaho. They
47:20
had junior golf that summer she played started getting recruited for golf, and so
47:23
then we said, now you're a golfer. So you don't have a choice
47:28
because you've got a scholarship. Great parents we are. So she just was
47:34
honorable mention Big Sky her sophomore year and so that's what she's doing. But
47:38
our youngest, so she's short for our family at five eleven golfer. And
47:45
so Leah, our youngest, is at Suncrest Middle School right now. She'll
47:49
enroll at Morgantown High in the fall. But she's a little taller than me,
47:53
so six to two and a volleyballer. But Mark Kellogg keeps trying to
47:59
get her to play bass. So she's dabbling in basketball a little bit right
48:04
now. This isn't fair to do this, but okay, take your mom
48:07
hat off. She got it. Yeah, she's pretty good. She's good.
48:09
Yeah. Yeah, I'll tell you what these new coaches Kellogg brings.
48:14
Kellogg brings a hooper, Yes, Kellogg brings a hooper plus his son,
48:21
very good, good golfer. Coach devrees he's got a daughter that plays as
48:25
well. We got some athletes, you know, in the mix here football
48:30
wise. Yeah, yeah, it's kind of that. That is always kind
48:35
of a wild thing too when you mentioned like your dad, your dad,
48:39
you know, has you kids, You kids are successful athletically, now your
48:43
kids are succeeded. Just kind of right yep, yeah, so good thing.
48:46
He wasn't an accountant become accountants? Yeah, accountants. No, no,
48:53
we love accountants. Well, no, there is something wrong with accounts
48:55
when you're trying to play sports. You're just when you need athletes when you're
49:00
to play sports. That's all I'm saying. That's all I'm saying. So
49:02
she's over there, she's over at Suncrest with the Seals. She's going to
49:06
become a Mohegan Well non yeah, yeah, so far. How's that adjustment
49:09
going? Oh great? She was ready to move and take on. I
49:15
mean, I like I told you in Pullman, there wasn't a whole lot,
49:19
and I was like, you know what, there's two chick fil as
49:22
and a Target. She was sold, I did. I mean, you
49:25
can't go wrong with the Chick fil A's and Target. Yeah, I mean
49:29
she's fourteen person. Come out, hey listen, Brad, I'll attest to
49:31
this. You would be stunned. Like twenty years ago, people used to
49:36
walk openly here in the streets and just go like, why can't we get
49:40
a red lobster? Like that's all he was, how about olive guard?
49:45
And they just they came like rabbits. It's just all of a sudden,
49:49
they just went right. You remember that, Yes, I mean like we
49:52
didn't have anything, and then all of a sudden you just went everything's here,
49:54
yep, everything. Yeah, I've spent a lot of money. Spend
50:00
a lot of money in the Great Town. Yeah. So you came in
50:02
December, so you haven't seen fall yet. I have not. I mean
50:07
came. We came in December where there were no leaves on the trees.
50:10
It's gonna get better, right, No, Yeah, it's pretty, it
50:16
gets pretty. And then in the fall when all those beautiful leaves change colors,
50:20
you get the and you're going to be busy then, But at least
50:23
at some point jump out there and just kind of do a little tour,
50:27
even go to Cooper's Rock and just kind of look around there and you go
50:30
like, whoa, this is pretty. Yeah, it's been great. Yeah.
50:32
Uh. Food wise, if my memory, sir is correct from last
50:37
week, you said you don't like to cook. It's it's fine. Yeah,
50:43
okay, I mean I would rather have the invite from Tony. Yeah,
50:46
showed me pictures. I'm like, yeah, I mean I like to
50:50
have people over to the house and entertained. But I'm like, I'm busy.
50:55
Yeah, I get it. And so you guys are you guys are
50:59
almost you're getting close to finishing up a house. But you said something else
51:04
interest to me, Like You're like, I don't care, Burdett, take
51:07
care of it. Just tell me when it's done, I'll move in.
51:10
Yeah. So we've built this. This will be our fourth house. So
51:15
that's what people say, Like, yeah, the most stressful things in a
51:17
marriage are, you know, working together, building a house, moving across
51:22
the country. Yeah, we've done it all. We're doing it all.
51:25
But he kind of like with the whole like slogan, and you know,
51:30
he loves the design piece of it. I think like he really wanted to
51:34
be an architect, but he's like that's way too much math for me.
51:37
And you know, I'm a baseball guy. I'm not doing that. But
51:40
he loves the design piece of it, and so I'm just like, you
51:45
do it like I'll make sure it's in the budget. And there's a few
51:49
things that I want and like where's my wine fridge and a couple of logistical
51:55
things. But other than that, he's like, you want this tile or
51:59
this tile, and like they look the same to me. Like whatever you
52:01
know looks great, do it? So, uh, you know, we've
52:06
got to make some choices this week so that we can get that buttoned up
52:08
and move in have more topics. I want to get into three guys before
52:13
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COMAXWUV dot com. We talked about the boats earlier. We have the premiere
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pontoon boat dealer in the state of West Virginia. Hey, if you would,
53:13
Austin, show us some of those fancy boats available at lou ooh,
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lou Wendel Marine Sales. Those are the avalon boats that are try tunes and
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com. What did you take away from your stops on the mountain near Caravan,
53:58
because I think that would be quite interesting. Here's a guess if you
54:01
traveled that far in various directions in washing in the state of Washington, you
54:08
wouldn't get that kind of support, Is that right? Yeah, you're exactly
54:13
right. Well, we wouldn't. We would be in the middle of nowhere,
54:15
still in the state of Washington or Canada. But I had such a
54:22
great time. First of all, i'd have to be like, Okay,
54:23
where where am I today? What? Like, yeah, tell somebody show
54:28
me on the map where we're going and tell me about this. But it
54:31
was so great. People are amazing welcoming. And like you mentioned so state
54:38
of Washington, we had that other school, University of Washington, which we
54:43
all hated. That's what's so great about West Virginia is it's us. You
54:46
know, you'll get those Marshall fans, you know, tucked in there,
54:50
but that's fine. They don't matter. I've spoken like a true West Virginia
54:54
right, And they were so welcoming, I mean, and just you know,
55:00
maybe they don't know a whole lot about the sport of volleyball yet,
55:05
but you know they were like had read our bios and you know, said,
55:07
I'm going to come to a game and and just really really supportive and
55:14
like the nicest people. And and that's what Ren Baker, you know,
55:16
had said when we were looking at taking this job. And sometimes you don't
55:22
know if you're that person that your eight's a little full of bologney or not,
55:25
but he's he's not. And these people have been amazing. What did
55:31
you do to get background on Wren to make sure that he wasn't fibbing?
55:36
Yes? Yeah, every single person that I had talked to, whether it's
55:40
other ads, coaches that had worked for him, So kind of funny story
55:46
North Texas. The football coach that he hired at North Texas had been at
55:52
Washington State. And so small coaching is a small world, right, and
55:58
so you can find out all kinds of good or bad about about people,
56:02
and just what everybody had said was amazing. Yeah, so it made sense.
56:08
Go, Okay, I can trust this dude. Yep, you make
56:10
that move. State of Washington grows grapes, yes, sir, they grow,
56:16
they grow grapes, they make in the wine. Yes, very good
56:20
wine. Yeah, so give me, give me, give me what grapes
56:25
are they growing out there? Uh? Known for? Yeah, they're known
56:29
for their cabs. Okay, all the way up there too, yep.
56:32
Yeah, I mean a little bit of everything. But yeah, the central
56:37
part of Washington, you know, and I think part of it has to
56:40
do with Mount Saint Helens, the eruption in eighty one and just the volcanic
56:47
ash made some really really good soil, really good soil. So yeah,
56:53
so I'm a I'm a wine fan, which I now I just have to
56:58
get it shipped here. Yeah. So, once again volcanic ash being brought
57:04
up on this program, Senator, if you remember, it's gonna be a
57:06
San Marzano discussion. Thank you very much, San Marzano. Tomatoes jen in
57:09
Italy. They grow unbelievably because of the volcano there that produced that dirt.
57:16
That makes it really super tough trade though, I mean it's nice on the
57:21
back end. Volcano soil a tough deal. Yeah, it was a little
57:30
rough there at the Pompei area. But anyway, uh so, like,
57:36
give me give me a couple of bottles from Washington state that if someone enjoys
57:40
wine, what would your couple of recommendations that they may or may not know
57:45
of. Um Man, dirty sneaky little wines that people may not know about
57:51
that they you can go like this is really good. Yeah, I mean,
57:55
I'll say one that most people probably do know Chateau se Michelle, you
58:00
know, and and they've got that's pretty popular wine. But they get their
58:06
grapes from the central part of the state. So Drew bloodsoe sure a former
58:13
you know Washington State coug you know, you know, it was pretty good
58:17
player. And then that NFL before that other guy, Tom Brady you know,
58:22
took over. He's from Walla Walla, Washington, which is where all
58:25
these wineries are. And he has some tremendous wine. It's called double back
58:32
A little on the price of your side. What's the go for a bottle?
58:36
Like his cab is like one hundred and fifty But he makes it this
58:42
family wine that I actually like better and it comes in this cool bottle for
58:46
you know, it's it's more of a red blend, which I actually like
58:52
a lot. So, uh, what's what's his highest point rating on?
58:55
Like what's blood? So was he is he a ninety three, ninety four
58:58
ninety I thought, ye you when you go to recruit. You ever go
59:01
over to Italy? We have been, yes, yeah, some different tasting
59:06
wines. Love that, you know, Bretett does a lot of that sometimes,
59:09
I can, you know, sneak in. Yeah, but we I've
59:14
been to Italy probably four or five times. What's the best foreign country in
59:19
your opinion for players? Italy's definitely up there. Really, I'm stunned by
59:24
this. Yes, I've been there several several times. While you're busy eating
59:30
players, just walking around, I'm seeing Liberro's I'm not seeing many, Is
59:36
that right? Yeah? I mean but they have uh in Milan, especially
59:42
their professional teams. But they have very talented players. You know, Serbia,
59:50
Bosnia, those Balkan countries, they're great. Poland is pretty good,
59:58
Czech Republic, we've had German players. So kind of all over. Women's
1:00:04
basketball is exploding in popularity because of Kaitlyn Clark among others. I mean,
1:00:08
there's been a lot, it's been this. It's been really good players,
1:00:10
really good players, and Clark comes along and does the whole thing with the
1:00:14
points. Do you I know, as your hope, but do you ever
1:00:17
see volleyball being able to become more in that realm says we set more and
1:00:24
more people are playing. Do you ever think it can find a stronghold so
1:00:28
that it becomes watch TV? Yeah, I hope. So I think,
1:00:34
yeah, if if TV companies can throw a little more money towards the volleyball
1:00:39
and put it on a little bit more, just like you said, you
1:00:42
know, if it's on TV, people will watch it. It's coming,
1:00:46
you know. And I think volleyball's again hard sport to only have one player,
1:00:51
kind of like Kaitlyn Clark, but you might have that one team that
1:00:55
I mean Nebraska has sold out, you know, their eight thousand seat arena,
1:01:00
Like you cannot get a ticket to go watch them, Like their season
1:01:05
tickets have been sold out. And so I think just the college game is
1:01:10
just again becoming super popular. If we can get it on TV a little
1:01:14
bit more, I think that'll help. You probably need just some kind of
1:01:19
a unbelievable generational player that people go, I have to go see fill in
1:01:24
the blank to watch, right, that's normally how it starts, like you
1:01:29
got to see this girl and you go like oh, and that's kind of
1:01:32
it builds on and does an Olympic here help that though, I think for
1:01:36
sure forward a little bit. I think so for sure, because you know,
1:01:39
when beach volleyball became really popular, you know you had you know,
1:01:45
Missy May and and and Carrie Walsh and everybody was talking about that, and
1:01:50
you know they were absolutely great for the game. So yeah, I think
1:01:53
you're you're exactly right. If we can make a splash again in the olymp
1:02:00
and that's on TV a lot and get people talking about that, I think,
1:02:04
guys, I think there's no doubt again you've started to see volleyball more
1:02:07
over the last year on TV, and I think you don't have to look
1:02:08
any further. Tounny. I think you take the women's basketball Caitlyn Clark model
1:02:13
and where women's sports is now being pushed forward. Look what they did with
1:02:15
softball. Softball has been on a ton YEP this year and it's getting ratings.
1:02:21
Right what the TV networks figure out, Live sports is about the only
1:02:23
thing left on TV that's consistent. I think volleyball is the next to pop
1:02:28
here once they watch these ratings coming in from women's basketball, then softball on
1:02:32
top of it. You're already mixing in volleyball and you mentioned how it's a
1:02:36
difficult sport, but in some ways it's a pretty easy sport to follow.
1:02:38
I don't have to know all the intricacies. I did ball down ball,
1:02:43
not down point, Sure, got it, Okay. I can be entertained
1:02:45
by the athleticism I think. I think volleyball's coming fast. I encourage folks
1:02:51
when the women are home this fall on Fridays, a lot of people will
1:02:54
start their weekends for home football games. Really Thursday nights, they still trickling
1:03:00
in Friday afternoons, would be great to head over to the coliseum and watch
1:03:05
the DOUBLEV women in action. We strongly encourage you to do that. It's
1:03:08
not a matter of if they're going to win. The only variable is time.
1:03:15
Yes, when it's going to happen, it's gonna happen. Hey,
1:03:19
remind you know what else is happening. On Saturday, June the eighth,
1:03:21
three Guys is going on the road. We're raising money for Doublevu's cancer Institute
1:03:27
and at the same time having fun. So you can do this two different
1:03:30
ways. You can play golf during the day and then come in and later
1:03:36
in the afternoon and have food and our show, or you don't have to
1:03:42
play golf. I gotta make sure you use the right finger here again.
1:03:45
Problem You don't have to play golf and you can just come in and eat
1:03:49
and watch the show. I was using two fingers I have I put the
1:03:52
wrong one down. Might have been our last show anyway for information on that.
1:03:55
The money goes to a tremendous worth while cause as we raise money for
1:04:01
blood cancer disorders and the folks that need them. It's to Live like Brent
1:04:05
Comfort Fund WVU Alamu passed away from a blood disorder and these dollars go to
1:04:12
folks that are suffering from blood disorders and their families to help them when they
1:04:15
get treatment. You can sign up go to WVU Cancer Golf Classic dot com.
1:04:19
WVU Cancer Golf Classic dot com. Is our special guest still coming?
1:04:23
Or was that turned out to be an overpromise? Oh no, no,
1:04:26
no, Garrett Green's in. Garrett Green will be there. It'll be part
1:04:29
of our show. You're still comfortable with that? Yeah, he's good.
1:04:31
Good, you know Garrett. You know number six he says I'm in,
1:04:34
I'm in. He doesn't play. I'm not worried about him saying he's in.
1:04:36
I was worried about you. Jumping the game. Garrett Green will be
1:04:40
our special guest, among other things. Plus Karen and Blaine Stewart will be
1:04:44
there. We're going to dedicate a bench at the golf course in honor of
1:04:47
late WVU football coach Bill Stewart. It's a big time. We encourage you
1:04:51
to come out and check it out. What's that website? WVU Cancer wv
1:04:58
you Cancer Golf Class dot com. We WVU Cancer goolf Classic dot com?
1:05:03
How was this? Was this all right for you? This was great?
1:05:05
It had fun? I had a great time. Yeah, seriously, Well,
1:05:09
well we'll give you I heard the one guy that's the best isn't here,
1:05:12
But you know shot, that's a veteran move too. Music on fires
1:05:17
are shot. So we can't like pull it down. Tell you here's hey,
1:05:20
listen, Hopy isn't here. We know that, but here here's what
1:05:23
he would have asked you, Uh, coach, let me ask you this.
1:05:27
Do you think the geopolitical sources involving the sport of volleyball perhaps could have
1:05:32
an impact on global warming? Don't you think he'd probably be one of something
1:05:36
in that something in that realm? So I'll practice next time you come back
1:05:41
We'll make sure he's here. He comes in kind of like an eclipse,
1:05:44
like once every like that in the Cicadas, once every seventeen years. Bull,
1:05:48
We'll get him in here. Three guys before the game. Brought to
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us by Comac's Business Systems, keeping West Virginia's business data safe, secure and
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efficient for twenty five years. By Gomart Go for good times, Go for
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They are the dudes when it comes to voting in our state. Check them
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out Lou Wendelmarine at sales dot com. That'll do it for us. Special
1:06:20
thanks to WV volleyball coach Jen Greenee. We encourage you folks. It'll happen
1:06:26
here quicker than you think the season will get rolling. Get an opportunity,
1:06:30
please stop by, or if you're one of our many listeners outside of our
1:06:34
state and we just happen to be coming into your area because a lot of
1:06:40
those mountaineers are transplanted, go out there and be the loudest voice on the
1:06:44
opposing team's floor when the Mountaineers play We're out. Thanks for being with us,
1:06:48
for Brad Howe, Jen Greeney, our producer Austin Wright, three guys
1:06:51
before the game over. Out See you