Latest / Johnny's World / Episode 61-Mario Austin

Transcript

Episode 61-Mario Austin · Johnny's World

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: Coming to you live from the Johnny Packer Eyewear Studio in fabulous Dark Vegas, Mississippi, please welcome our co-host, the best iDoc this side of the Mississippi, BW.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: And now, welcome a true hero, a CF warrior, whose favorite motto in life is just keep living.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: Here's Johnny.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_03: All right, welcome back to a brand new edition of the Johnny 12 Podcast.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_03: Uh it's Johnny here with my co-host BW.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_03: What's going on, BW?
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_03: It's been a while.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_04: Not much.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_04: Dude, doing good, man.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_04: It's it's uh getting closer to the fall, getting close to football season, basketball season, all the all the stuff that we can talk about.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_04: I'm ready.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it'll be here before we know it.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_03: Uh SEC Media Days is uh going going on right now in Nashville.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_03: So I've been watching that, getting getting pumped up about football season, or I'll be here before we know it.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_03: And and then basketball come after that, and it'll be in a whole another another year.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_03: So hopefully uh we got we got some good things to look forward to in Starbucks, Mississippi this this coming season.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_04: That's right.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_04: That's right.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I forgot they moved uh SEC Media Days to Nashville.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_04: Used to be a governor man, right?
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, next year's gonna be in Dallas, I believe, so they're gonna move it around each each place.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_01: So I don't know why they won't just pick one place.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_01: Right, right.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_03: So Johnny, you want to before we before we introduce our guests, I want to get you to run through real quick about the uh the coffee.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_03: Uh I know you you said you text me.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_03: I know a friend of mine, family friend, bought some and you said you had some sales, and we've had a bunch of people from out of the country messing us, and we don't we're only shipping locally for right now, but give us an update on that.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, so uh johnnypacker.net, you can go on there and if you like coffee, we we have pretty much any kind of coffee you can think of on there.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_04: We've got uh blends that have flavors, we've got whole bean, we've got ground up, we got whatever you like, it's on there.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_04: Uh as soon as you buy it, it gets roasted that week and then it's gets shipped to you.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_04: It's there within a week, and you're drinking coffee a week after you order it.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_04: You can set us set up a subscription, you can try sample packs, there's all kinds of ways to do it.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_04: So I just encourage anybody that that likes coffee like me.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, I hate when I run out of a bag and I've and I've got to go to the grocery store and buy some, and you just look around and it's just confusing everything you see.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_04: So if you're buying from us, just put it on auto ship.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_04: You can buy it, and you know, you don't have to think about it anymore, and then you're donating to a good cause when you do that.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_04: So um we appreciate that.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_04: And uh, I started uh an Instagram and TikTok for the Johnny Packer Coffee Co.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_04: I think is what it's called.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_04: And we got a lot of followers, we got a lot of followers from other countries for some reason, and uh, lot of people messaging us and messaging you asking if we can ship coffee to Pakistan and India and all these places.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_04: So the answer is no, we can't ship international right now.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_04: But uh if there's enough demand for that, maybe so.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_04: But but for now, we're just shipping to the states.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_03: Yep.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_03: Well, awesome.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_03: Well, we really appreciate that, Brandon, your efforts uh doing that.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, like we say every time, every little bit counts uh toward uh toward raising money for for CF, you know, uh it it all counts.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_03: So if you if you're ordering coffee, you're saying, uh, I'm not gonna drink coffee, or you know, order something for your friends or family, somebody you know drinks coffee, and they'll they would be happy to get it, and you'll know it's going towards good cause.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_03: So Johnnypacker.net.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_03: Appreciate it, BW.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_04: Yes, sir.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_04: Well, you want to introduce our guests?
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, man.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, we we were talking to him before uh before he got on here.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_03: Uh uh Brandon and I were we both went to Mississippi State, as y'all know who listen to this podcast uh at the same time.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_03: And and uh Mississippi State basketball was really good when we were in college and and uh we were big followers, we're at the hump every game.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_03: And uh I told BW, I was like, can you imagine 20 years ago we're sitting there, we're gonna be talking about interviewing this guy that we have on right now.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_03: Would never have thought that.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_03: So it's good, it's kind of come for a little circle circle.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_03: So uh without further ado, I'm gonna bring him on.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_03: Everybody who knows Mississippi State bleeds Marina White, uh big basketball fan, you'll know exactly who we're I'm about to talk to.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_03: So uh so Moria Austin, Bulldog Legend.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_03: Welcome to Johnny's World.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_03: Thanks so much for joining us.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_03: Hey, thanks for having me, man.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_03: Yes, sir.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_03: Well, well, tell us a little bit about what you're up to these days, man.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_03: We hadn't heard from you in a while, so just want to know.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: Man, I'm I'm uh I'm still I'm still around.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: I um I've been living in Minnesota now for about 16 years, uh, pretty much since I left, well, a little over 16 years, a little longer than 16 years, but since I left state, um I've been here.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's been different.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Alabama kid and Minnesota, of course, with the with the snow and all that.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's it was different.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um I just needed a new, kind of like a fresh start, you know, go somewhere where nobody knows me and kind of start over.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um it came a point in my career where I had to make that change.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_01: So I needed to do that for myself in order to get where I needed to go.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: So I moved here.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, that's that's a good it's you know, they always say what you're the you're the sum of the four or five people that surround you and all that stuff, and sometimes you just gotta find some new surroundings.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, yep, yep.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_01: And that was my case.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I needed I needed to take myself out of there.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, not that it was bad, but it wasn't what I was looking for at the time.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_04: So well, is basketball very big up there, or is it is it more of like a hockey hockey place up there?
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: It's coming around.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_01: I think I think um basketball here in Minnesota, it's coming around.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I think it's been one of those like kind of like hidden gems.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you get a few players here and there, and then you find out they're from Minnesota.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: You're like, oh, Minnesota, they play hockey there.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, you know, you you got some you you got some pretty good programs around here that's um that's up and coming.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um I call I started this year at a at a high school coaching at a high school, um, that's 6'8 school that's got some pretty good athletes.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_01: So it should be fun for me.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um it's my second stint in in the basketball coaching world.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but it's been fun so far.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_01: I really enjoy it.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_04: So do you have kids that have have played their whole life when they they grow up, or is there is there kids that have done done a lot of other stuff and you got to teach them more foundations when they get to you?
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I kind of man, it's it's it's different.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_01: It's way different nowadays, man, than when I play.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um you know, when when I play, you had kids that knew how to play, but really didn't understand the game itself.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_01: So we was willing to learn.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_01: See, now these kids nowadays that they're not willing to learn, they know everything before they get to you.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um you know, and and I'm big on I'm big on teaching you the game.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: So you know, you know the entire game, and you're not just out there just being a one-dimensional player.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: And a lot of these kids, man, it's hard to get to.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_01: It's hard to get to.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: I'm learning as I continue to coach that this is probably one of the hardest jobs that that are out there.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, that that reminds me.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_04: So I do uh I'm an optometrist and I do some vision training.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_04: And so um I live outside of Memphis in Carrierville, and this uh the the Carrierville basketball coach called me a year or two ago and he said, Hey, I see that you do some work with some athletes.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, why don't you come out to the high school and and show my players how to do a couple of things?
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_04: And so so I took all my equipment over there and I do a lot of hand-eye coordination drills, and uh had some guys doing some crazy stuff with some dribbling and and uh juggling and all kinds of stuff.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_04: And so um I had a little competition going, and the seniors were in there trying to get the the freshmen to to kind of like pick up their balls for them and do all this kind of stuff.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_04: And um, one of the freshmen was really good at one of the activities I was I was doing there, and um the seniors didn't like that, and it ended up being a fight, and it was like an all-out brawl, like fist fight over some of the stuff that I started.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_04: They'll be like, man, I gotta get out of here.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_04: They're not gonna they're not gonna invite me back in here.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_04: For real.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_03: It's crazy.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_03: That is crazy, yeah.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_03: Well, did it take you a while to get used to the to the cold weather up in Minnesota?
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_03: That's a lot different than the south, I'm sure.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_03: Well, yeah, it's way different than the south.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: But uh, you know, my first I think I was I've been here for what 18, probably 19 years, 18, 19 years.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_01: My first uh what I want to say 14, 13 years, I was overseas in the wintertime.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_01: So I never really I was only here in the summertime, so it was cool for me.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_01: I come home for the summer, get a little sun, then get back over, you know, get back overseas in the wintertime.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_01: But since I've been done, since I've been done, I've been paying, man, with all the knick-knack injuries and stuff like that, man.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: It don't do well in this cold weather.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah, yeah.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_04: Well, what was it like playing overseas with the crowds?
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, I've seen some of those countries, I know they take it serious, and I mean, it's like all out people, people in there yelling and all that stuff.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_04: What is it like?
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_01: I it's super crazy, man.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_01: I I um I tell people all the time, and I said this, me and Timmy Bowers talk a lot, and we always talking about you know the the culture overseas basketball compared to the states and how they really not to say they don't appreciate it here, but it's more of like a business side here.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_01: You know, over there they just fans, they don't care about the money.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_01: Only thing they care about is being able to come to that game on a Wednesday and a Saturday and be able to root their team on.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um you got true fans here that do that, but over there, all the politics and the money are not involved.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_01: So it's it makes it that much more special.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_01: I think when you take the politics out of it, meaning it's open to whoever, no matter whether you the star or you become the star, you get a shot, you know.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um so that's what I appreciated about overseas.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that was that was my one of my main reasons for continuing to play, because they appreciated me, you know.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um and that's all you can ask for as a player, wherever you play.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: You always want somebody to appreciate what you bring to the table and what you're able to do out there.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_01: So once I got a chance to actually get in a place where somebody appreciated me for what I was and what type of player I was, it was hard for me.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_01: To be honest with you, after I got about three years in, it was hard for me to turn back and say, okay, let's go try the NBA.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: When I already know what it was.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: I had already proven myself, I'd already, you know, went in the summer league and averaged a double double and didn't get signed.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: So it was up until that point, it was no more, I it was no more I can do as a player.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_01: I wasn't growing anymore.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um I mean, of course we're gonna we're gonna get better as we play, but at that point, I wasn't, I was where I was gonna be, you know?
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I I I just think I just honestly think if I had a been 6'10, I we'll probably be having a different conversation here.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah, especially when you were coming out too.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I was coming out at a I think I came out, to be honest with you, I think I came out two years too too soon.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_01: If if I had if I could have gone back to school for another two years and came out, um, it would have been perfect because that was around the Draymond Green era.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_01: Uh you know, where everybody is running that offense through that small kind of 6'8, 6'7 center.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_01: So I would have fit right in.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I'm 6'8, I can pass, I can shoot, I can play under the hoop.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_01: So it would have been perfect for me.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_01: Like I said, I just came out a little bit too early.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_04: Well, um, I know that like I've been to so many NBA games and it feels kind of like a it's like a show, you know, it feels like it's like a product because you got the music going, even during like, you know, they're playing and they're playing music when you're playing defense, and and it just, you know, it's it's fun to go to, but it feels like over there it's just it's just more like a game, you know, and everybody's there for the game.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, over there, definitely, man.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: It it's it means more, I think.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because every game is that important.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, you hear it a lot in the NBA.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, every game is important, but you play 120 games, you know, when you're all said and done, that's with winning the championship.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_01: So, how how important is game 16 really?
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_01: You know?
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um I just think, you know, with the NBA, and this is just my personal opinion, you know, with the NBA, it's just you know, I I just think right now, I just think the NBA is in trouble.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_01: They're they're in scramble mode right now to find that next player.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, everybody talking about, yeah, the game has evolved.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, it has, but I don't think the people behind the game has evolved.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_01: You know what I'm saying?
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_01: They're not willing to give Joe Blow that nobody knows an opportunity, you know?
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_01: They pinpoint everything.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_01: We all know it.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_01: We watch sports, we we we you know, we watch it.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um but I think it hurts these kids.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_01: It hurt these kids, it hurts all these kids that are leaving school early, that don't get an opportunity to go back and play.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: It hurts them.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um but who am I?
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I can only speak from my personal experience or what I went through with it.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um none of it worked in my favor.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_01: And I was a well-established player for my college team at the time when I played in an era where it was real legit players, you know.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we didn't we didn't let hot highlights dictate what we did on the court.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_01: We actually had to go out there and play.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_01: So it was a different era, different time.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_01: I understand that, but I just think right now they're kind of sliding down a slippery slope.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, yeah.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, everybody wants to find the next Jordan, or you know, who's who's better than Jordan, who's better than LeBron.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_04: Like, you know, everybody wants to measure it on that kind of stuff.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_01: You can't, it's not fair to the person that's playing.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: Um I think it's it's so unfair to compare to compare a guy to a guy who's already established and been doing it for multiple years at a time.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_01: It's unfair.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, because we don't know what that we don't know what his role may be.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, he may have all the talent as a guy you're comparing him to, but who's to say his role is gonna go straight like the person you're talking about road went?
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_01: He may have to bend and go around the house to get to the front.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_01: You know, people don't calculate all that, and that's just called real life.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I think a lot of people miss that, especially when it comes to that sports world, because everybody just wanna, oh man, he's gonna be as great as LeBron, he's gonna be great as Kobe.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_01: He listen, those dudes, and I don't really like to get into this conversation, but those dudes they sit on a pedestal by themselves because you got you got Kobe who done had two Hall of Fame careers and two different numbers.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_01: You got LeBron, he done had four and four different jerseys.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_01: You got MJ, done had two and two different jerseys.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_01: So when you get to talking about all these guys that did it at a high level, you really can't compare this kid that comes from France and saying he's a LeBron James.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_01: Really?
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_01: He might be good.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not knocking him, he might be good, but we're comparing him to a guy who's been dominant for 20 years.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_01: And we're basing all that, we're basing all that on hope.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, like that guy for the Spurs.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_03: You have you seen that?
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_03: The guy that got drafted.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_03: That you're what you're talking about right now is making me think of that.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_03: Everybody's yes, sir.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_01: That's exactly what I'm talking about.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_03: Go ahead.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_03: I'm sorry.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_03: No, I'll just as when you were talking about that.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_03: I was thinking, I was like, you know, that guy from Spurs drafted one.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_03: I've seen his videos, like he seems like a freak, man.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_03: Just uh, but everyone's talking about that, like he's gonna be better than you know what you're just talking about.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_03: So he might be, but you know, it's it's kind of unfair to throw that out there right now and say that, you know.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, because you know, I don't know.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it it don't just start with him, you know.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_01: It's been players previous to that, you know.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_01: It's just you can't compare just because a player falls where he should be great, you can't compare him to all the players that fell in that spot.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_01: It's unfair to him, it's unfair to him, but you know, it's a doggy dog girl.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we don't we don't care about that, you know.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_01: If you fall one, then you should be great.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yep, yep.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: It is what it is.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, we have no control on it, but I like to talk about stuff like that because when it comes to sports, man, we kind of overlook that.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, but we uh you mentioned Timmy Bowers.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_03: We've had Timmy on before and D Boston before, and they were talking to us about the overseas and me and BW.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, I think one of them told us to look on uh YouTube and we watched a clip of the fans at YouTube on YouTube of Overseas.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_03: And man, I'll tell you what, it what we kind of talked about earlier.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_03: It's more it felt more like watching a college game than a pro game because you know, like you were talking about the pros, you know, music's playing, it's more like a corporate thing.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_03: These guys overseas, I mean, they were just rowdy, just and it reminded me of when the humps rocking, man.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_03: Was that that?
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_01: I was I was just about to say it's the hump time, too.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly, exactly.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_01: Because we all pack that thing with great 20,000 people, man.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_01: They beating on drums, they ringing bells, and people yelling.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm telling you, some of the loudest arenas I ever played in in my life has been overseas.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_01: And I've played in Kentucky, I played in Bud Walton Arena down there in Florida.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_01: I played in those arenas.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_01: I played in arena out in Serbia where Red Star play.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_01: That's one of the loudest arenas I ever played in in my entire life.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_01: And I played in the garden.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_01: That arena, that arena is loud, and they only seat like 15,000, but it is it is extremely loud.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_04: Well, but what at the at the hump, what is what is like one or two games you remember just being the most intense games?
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, I can think of a couple right now, but just curious, like what your what you remember from.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I got a bunch of games, man.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_01: I I used first of all, let me start off with this, man.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_01: The hump is by far one of my favorite places to play.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_01: I I love playing there.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I don't know if y'all recall recall, but my freshman year, man, I used to be running all around that thing, man, trying to get everybody up.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_01: And I used to be the crazy guy, man.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_01: But it was just, man, the excitement, man, of playing in front of that many people.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_01: Because I had never played in front of that many people.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um I hadn't played on no national scale where I played in front of 10,000 people.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_01: So when I got an opportunity to do that, I was like, man, I don't know if I'm ever gonna get to do this again.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_01: I might do this this year and I get hurt and I'm done.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_01: So I gotta enjoy it.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_01: So that's why every time I step on the floor, man, I just I tried to have fun that day every single time.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_01: And I think I I think I accomplished that, you know, just having fun and and still enjoying the game and just not letting the game itself take over.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_01: So I think I think I did a good job of with with separating the two.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I always think back, uh, when we think about our days in college, I always think back at uh the state Kentucky series, man.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_03: That was always that was Kentucky came to the hump, man.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_03: It was rocking.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_03: And same thing we went to Ruff and that game in 02, man.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_03: I remember you uh winning it with that shot, man.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_03: And uh tell us a little bit about that game.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_03: What are your thoughts on that?
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_01: Man, that was a crazy game because um we knew we was gonna win that game.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um we was riding like a I want to say like a 14 or 15 game winning streak, and we was getting no love from nobody, like we weren't even ranked at the time, but we had just ran off like 13-14 games.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um man, we we came into that game and the nerves was high because we knew either we if we win this game, we get the notoriety that we want, but if we lose, we get crucified for it.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_01: I already know this.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and going into the game, everybody, you know, everybody kind of talked about in the locker rooms like, man, listen, we just gonna come out here and we just gonna play it.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna keep it as close as possible.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, the first seven minutes didn't didn't say that we kept it as close as possible, but you know, we we just wanted to keep it as close as possible.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_01: We knew we matched up with them, you know, from every single position, and we knew we had a person, at least we we could at least go too deep to be able to contain Kentucky and stick in with them.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_01: We was the only team that really gave them trouble every single time we played them.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_01: And um man, we went into that game, man.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_01: Like the first, it probably was the worst first five minutes I ever played of basketball in my entire life.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_01: But it wasn't nothing Kentucky was doing.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_01: We was making all the mistakes, we was losing the ball, we was kicking it out, trying to do extra stuff, trying to do the stuff outside of what had got us to that point.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_01: And um Man, I just remember looking up at that clock, man.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_01: It was probably like 10 minutes off, man.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_01: And I looked up and we was down 15.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_01: I was like, man, we playing real hard, but we shouldn't be down 15 right now.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_01: We just weren't making no buckets.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_01: We was basically handing them everything at their bucket.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_01: They was putting up that little soft press, and we was just handing it to them, and they was getting layup after layup.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_01: Once we cut that down, we knew, we knew exactly, we knew exactly what was going to happen once we cut all those turnout, those turnovers out down.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_01: We knew we were going to um make a little run.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_01: Because we had at the time we had one of the best half court defenses that I think at the time we probably was ranked, we were ranked probably top 10 in the country in defense.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_01: And uh we knew we was gonna get it running, get it going.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_01: And the only thing we wanted to do is before halftime, just get it, just get it to 10.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_01: That's that was our goal, just get it to 10, and we can work from there.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_01: And I think we went in halftime, we was down what 12 or 10 or something like that.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_01: Once we did that, that was our confidence booster.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_01: But I mean everybody else in the hump probably was like, man, they did all that work and it's still down 12.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_01: And that was for us, that was great because we was like, okay, cool, we cut into this league, we get the ball coming back, we score, we're gonna put a press on, we're gonna pick it up.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_01: And man, long story short, man, we cut that thing down.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_01: And I just remember us, I think I was at the free throw line when we were down two, and I think I ended up put putting us up one.
• 23:38
  SPEAKER_01: I think, no, I think I think I either tied it up or maybe put us up one.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not sure.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_01: But I I did sync both of the free throws, and it ended up, I think we ended up tying or we win.
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I feel like you tied it.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like we I feel like we tied it.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_01: And once we tied it, it's a new ball game now.
• 23:57
  SPEAKER_01: New ball game, uh, they started slowing down a little bit.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_01: We noticed Keith Bogendam started walking the ball up.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_01: We was like, oh yeah, this plays right into our favor.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, give us time to get our defense set.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_01: They walk right into those traps.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_01: And once we made that switch and put Brandon Croft, I mean, we put Brandon um Vincent on um Tasha, that changed the floor of the game.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_01: Because he Brandon said had already said, man, look, tonight I'm just gonna focus on defense.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_01: I ain't whatever else I get is gonna be extra.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just gonna focus on defense and try to lock him down.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_01: And once he did that, it was it was it was good ridden.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_01: And if you and if you look back at that game, man, we was I don't know, we was just playing like our pants was on fire.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_01: Uh that's all that's the best way to that's the best way to put it.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_01: And then with that shot, once that once we got to the end of the game, um, that play wasn't even designed for me.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_01: Really?
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_01: No, it wasn't for me.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_01: It was for it was the play was designed for Timmy.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_01: Uh-huh.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, Derek, I took it out.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_01: I wasn't supposed to take it out, but we didn't have enough time to develop that play.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_01: I knew that going in.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_01: The play he called is a long play.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_01: And you need about roughly about 11 or 12 seconds.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_01: We only had what seven seconds?
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_01: By the time we did all that, we would have ran out of time.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_01: So when it came back to me, I wasn't even supposed to get it.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_01: Derek kind of lost his footing on the side, and I was a safety valve.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_01: Once he passed it to me, he gave it to me with three and a half seconds, and we hadn't even gotten into the play.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_01: I had uh it's either shoot or lose the game with the ball in your hand.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_01: So I just can't take the shots home with me, so I let it go.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, talking about Vincent, man.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_04: He was he was a key.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_04: I I always loved him.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_04: He was he was he was he uh uh what was he like in the locker room?
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, man, he was a great guy.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_01: I think he he bringing him in alone with Michael Gola, because he had a chance to learn from Michael Gola.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_01: Michael Gola was a key people don't really understand how how key Michael Gola was and Ontario Hopper was for our defense.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_01: Those guys right there, if yeah, we would have been good defensively, but I think if we didn't have those two guys leading the pack as far as getting out there setting an example, I think we would have been good, but we wouldn't have been that good.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_01: Because those two, those two guys weren't even starters most of the time.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_01: But they set the tone every single time.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_01: They set the tone on how we're gonna play.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um and they didn't they held everybody accountable from me on down.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_01: When I slacked on defense and didn't do what I was supposed to do, they chewing me out.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_01: And you can't do nothing but respect that because if he's gonna be the one chewing everybody out, and he's going out when he plays, you know, when he plays, he's doing his defensive thing and doing everything he's supposed to do.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_01: You can't really say much because he's doing his job.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_01: So you have to accept it to either get on the boat or get off.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_01: So we choose to get on the boat, and man, we you know, we man, we we just always say this, man.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_01: That was one of the best teams, that was the best team I ever played on, and one of the funnest teams I ever played on because nobody cared, nobody cared about who scored, who got the recognition, none of that.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_01: And teams like that are dangerous, and we was a dangerous team.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_01: We were real dangerous.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_03: Well, one more game I want to I want to talk about with you until I got you here is the is the Alabama uh championship game, SEC championship.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_03: What was it like to finally to win the SEC champion championship?
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_03: That that was that was special, I'm sure.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_01: Hey man, I always said this, and I didn't know it was gonna happen the same year.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_01: I mean a couple years from high school.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_01: I said, man, since I you know, since I pulled my name from committed being committed to Alabama, how would how would it, you know, what what would it be like to be in a championship game against them?
• 28:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, with my team.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_01: And I got that wish, my sophomore year.
• 28:14
  SPEAKER_01: It was just like for me, man, it was everything I wanted because now I got you right, I got you right where I want you.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_01: And it's me against all these guys that you already had on your team.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_01: And for me, man, it was no way, it was no way we was gonna lose that game.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_01: I would have done everything in my power for us not to lose that game.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_01: Because I had to hear about it.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_01: I had to hear about it from my family members, I had to hear about it from everybody in Alabama.
• 28:44
  SPEAKER_01: It was nowhere to this day, to this, to this very day, man.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_01: I got that.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_01: I got that under my belt, and they can't say nothing.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_01: And I'll bring it up every single time, every single time.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_04: Man, I can't imagine.
• 29:02
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, I got I just got family members want to give me a hard time about stuff, but you actually playing, you gotta you gotta really stand up with it.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_01: So oh man, it was crazy, man.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_01: What how I walk into I'm gonna tell you a little story, and people don't know this because I don't think I ever told anybody.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_01: I probably told Timmy Bowers just I walk into the SEC game, right?
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_01: And when you guys know how Alabama fans are.
• 29:25
  SPEAKER_01: When you're an Alabama fan, you're an Alabama fan.
• 29:28
  SPEAKER_01: Like it ain't no room for nobody else because they made it, this, this, and that.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_01: Like my family, I'm talking about, I ain't talking about cousins, I'm talking about sisters, brothers, nieces.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_01: I'm talking about family I stay with.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_01: I go to the SEC game, they got Alabama stuff on.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_01: Oh man.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, I'm like, what?
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_02: That's right, that's how they are.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_01: But that's how they hey, that's how they are.
• 29:53
  SPEAKER_01: I can't do nothing but respect it.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_01: They didn't change it.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_01: I couldn't do nothing but respect it, but I'm looking like, are y'all kidding me right now?
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_01: He's like, yeah, man.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, we love you, but we root for Alabama.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, okay, cool.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_01: More fuel on the fire.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_01: More fuel on the fire.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_01: So it was easy for me to go in there, man, and play as hard as I could because I had already had all those things going on before the game.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_01: So it was easy for me to go into the game and be pumped and ready to play.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_03: So, what made you uh what what what was the ultimate decision to make you come to Mississippi State rather than Alabama?
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_03: I have to ask you that.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_01: Craziest story you're probably ever gonna hear.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um I had I was committed to Alabama from my junior year of high school.
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, everybody kind of knows the story I committed.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_01: Me and Jerry Wallace were really good friends.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um kind of wanted to, we had spent those two years playing AEU, and we kind of had built a relationship, so I kind of wanted to see what it see where it would go.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_01: You know, um Alabama came in, recruited him, and uh they offered me.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_01: I thought it was a great, I thought it was a no-brainer.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_01: I'm thinking, okay, we tearing it up in AAU, we can go to college and tear it up.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, being, you know, me coming from where I came from, small town, nobody really knew anything about college and how things are run.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't really look into what Alabama already had at the time.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_01: But once I got to my senior year and kind of got around some people that kind of brought it to the forefront and kind of was like, listen, they already got Irving Dudley there.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_01: They already got Sam Hagness, they already got Reggie Rambo.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_01: That's three bigs.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_01: And and Kenny, you know, and Kenny Walker.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_01: So that's four bigs in front of me.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, how much time am I really gonna get?
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_01: I know I'm a McDonald's All-American, but how much time am I really gonna get?
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_01: So I um I backed out of it.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_01: I backed out of it.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_01: I wanted to give myself a fair shot to go somewhere where I can take my, I can take the talent that I had, right?
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_01: Introduce it to a program and not have to jump through 1,500 hoops to appease the the team or to appease the coach.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I wanted him to look at me and say, hey, we don't care about you being 6'8.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_01: You can play basketball, come play for us.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_01: And I didn't know that at the time, but I just bagged out of my commitment with no, I'm talking about with no plan, with no plan B.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_01: I just backed out.
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_01: I backed out.
• 32:29
  SPEAKER_01: I told my mom and my grandfather sitting there in their living room.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_01: I told them when I backed out, I said, the first team that called, the first school that called, that's where I'm going.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_01: And Mississippi State called 30 minutes later, and that's the story of how Mari Austin got to Mississippi State.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_04: Man, that's crazy.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_04: I I didn't know that.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I didn't know that either.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_01: That's that is crazy.
• 32:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I just wanted to play, man.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_01: I just wanted to play.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_01: That's it.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_04: Yep.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_04: Well, well, I could I could talk to you about this all day.
• 33:06
  unknown: Yeah.
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_04: But the last thing I gotta ask you is is I don't think I've ever asked anybody this.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_04: What was Stansbury like?
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_04: Was he like a disciplined guy?
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_04: Was he a was he a player's coach?
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_04: Like, what was he like in the locker room?
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_01: Stansbury, I think at the time, um I think during that era we was in, we didn't have, we had only a few player coaches.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_01: They was up on the higher, like the Mike Sheshewsky's, you know, your Rick Barnes, who was at Texas at the time.
• 33:34
  SPEAKER_01: Stansbury was more of like a here's your job, here's what you have to do.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_01: If you don't do your part, the rest of it don't go.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_01: And we understood that.
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um, coming from where he came from, we understood that.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um great guy.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_01: I just think when it came to coaching, he was just a straight, no nonsense coach, um, which was good for that bunch of guys that we had because we had guys from all different backgrounds that had played in all different places.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_01: So for him to come in and be a guy of straight, no nonsense, and kind of make us pull our big boy pants up and go play basketball.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I think I think that's what we needed at the time.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um and he was great at it.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_01: He was great at a, you know, he was great at coming to you individually and getting you ready to play.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um just an instant, you know, I just remember when I set out all those games.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_01: I want to say, was it my junior year?
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_01: I think it was my junior year when I set out like 10, 11 games.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_01: And um for some odd reason, I have no idea to this day uh why I set out a game on three years in school.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, I set out all those games and I knew I was gonna come back when we played in the garden because it was David West.
• 34:50
  SPEAKER_01: We're playing David West, Xavier, numbered what, six in the country.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_01: I think at the time we had just cracked top 25, maybe.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe we fell a little bit, maybe to like 16.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_01: But anyway, we we came in there.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, what you know, what's a better place to bring me back in the garden?
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_01: Hadn't played in 11 games, national televised game.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_01: What I think though is a lot of people didn't really understand how prepared I was.
• 35:21
  SPEAKER_01: Because that whole entire time, me, Tim, and Z, every night after practice, we getting them workouts in because I wasn't allowed to practice with the team.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_01: So I was doing all this stuff on my own.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_01: Me, you want to talk about dedicated?
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I was dedicated because I want I I didn't want to come back and not be ready because I already had watched just play and we was rolling.
• 35:41
  SPEAKER_01: Timmy was playing well, Brandon was playing well, everybody was playing well.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_01: All you had to do was just fit me in, and I was okay with that because Timmy Bowers and Derek Zimmerman was carrying the load.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_01: They did a really, really good job of of doing that.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_03: Well, uh, well, I want to get your thoughts on uh I know being in Minnesota, you probably don't make it to games, but do you ever you still keep up Mississippi State basketball?
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_03: What's going on right now with the program?
• 36:07
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_01: Most recent game.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_01: I went to the game when they played up here last year.
• 36:11
  SPEAKER_01: Um I'll try to I'll try to catch them, man.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_01: I I watch them all the time on TV.
• 36:15
  SPEAKER_01: Whenever they close in the area, I'll try to go to the game.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_01: But they actually came here last year and played.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_01: I went to the game.
• 36:20
  SPEAKER_03: Well, what's your thoughts?
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_03: I'm pretty excited about Chris James, what he's got going.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_01: I'm excited about it, man.
• 36:26
  SPEAKER_01: I'm excited about it.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_01: Um I think he got some pretty good young talent around there.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_01: I think it'll be even better this year because they had that year to grow as a unit.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_01: Uh make their mistakes, grow from them, um, win some games, still enjoy and have fun.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_01: They made the they made the tournament.
• 36:46
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, you get all those players back, along with Tolu coming back.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's the best decision.
• 36:52
  SPEAKER_01: I hope he hit it.
• 36:53
  SPEAKER_01: That is the best decision he could have ever made.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yep.
• 36:59
  SPEAKER_01: The best decision he could have ever made.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_01: Because now, yeah, they're gonna they're gonna they're gonna pick and pry at your game, but you also get an opportunity to round round your game off more.
• 37:10
  SPEAKER_01: You get a chance to sit back and watch a whole year of how the league is being ran, what they're looking for in bigs, and what they expect of bigs.
• 37:17
  SPEAKER_01: Now you get the blueprint before you actually go there.
• 37:22
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and you get a chance to work on your game.
• 37:24
  SPEAKER_01: So I applaud him for going back.
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_01: I always, you know, I didn't do that.
• 37:30
  SPEAKER_01: My situation was a lot different, but I applaud him for going back and and better than himself so he can give himself a fair shot.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I'm I'm I'm pretty excited.
• 37:41
  SPEAKER_03: Then we got that guy, uh Josh.
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_03: Um is it Josh Hubbard?
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_03: Uh I don't know, he's the Mississippi.
• 37:47
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I'm talking about the yeah, it's MRA.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, he's from MRA.
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_03: I'm excited too.
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I'm excited to see him play.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_03: And uh I think you know, making it to the tournament, that was kind of the big thing, you know.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_03: We've been we've been making NIT, NIT next year.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, they'll make it to NIT.
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_03: That's good.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_03: Next year we'll make the tournament, and we'll make it to the NIT again.
• 38:05
  SPEAKER_03: Well, finally we kind of get the monkey off our back.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_03: We get get a taste of it though.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_03: We're not we'll make you know to that play-in game, we get take, we're in it.
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_03: But now I feel like that it was a motivation the players see, look, we we got in the tournament, let's let's keep rolling, let's get let's keep going.
• 38:20
  SPEAKER_03: But uh, I feel like we got to get some shooting.
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_03: Uh the shooting issues that that kind of bothered me last year, you know, that it free throws and then the outside shooting.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_03: What once we get that improved, I think it's gonna be a lot better.
• 38:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think definitely, especially around SEC time.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_01: You can kind of get away with that, you know, you can get away with not having shooters doing that regular season.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_01: But we all know when the SEC crackdown, it's different ball game.
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_01: I I'll tell a person that in a minute.
• 38:45
  SPEAKER_01: When you play in the SEC, you got two seasons.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_01: You got regular season and you got SEC season.
• 38:51
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 38:51
  SPEAKER_01: You know, yeah.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I can sit here and try to explain to you what SEC season is.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_01: If you haven't played in it or been a part of it, nobody can explain it to you.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_01: It's way different than the regular season.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I think I think he got a great coaching staff there, man.
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_01: I think they're gonna do a good job of giving, you know, giving these kids a chance to come in.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and especially the way now, you know, now the way basketball is set up, man.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_01: These kids, all these coaches are doing is, you know, wanting these kids to do is come in and do your job.
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_01: Just do your job.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_01: You know, so you know, you get you get an opportunity to go in there and try out, or whatever it is, whatever the case may be, you go in there and you do exactly what he asked you to do.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_01: And you might find your guy gardeners who walked on when I was playing and became a starter and won an SEC championship.
• 39:39
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you get those walk-ons who are coming in and do that.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_01: I just think um they'll be good though.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_01: They'll be good.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_01: They got a lot of good talent down there.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_01: They got a lot of guys that can play.
• 39:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, they got a, like I said, they got a great coaching staff who's who's really preparing those guys.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_01: And I think Coach Brooke and Coach Dan, them, they're gonna they're gonna get they're gonna get those guys playing the way they need to play.
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and I'm I'm really excited about the hump.
• 40:06
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, we've been reading about that.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_03: They're renovations.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_03: You know, last year we played under renovation, they're supposed to be ready for this season.
• 40:12
  SPEAKER_03: And I think it's gonna be opened up.
• 40:14
  SPEAKER_03: We can see, I mean, it's gonna it's gonna be awesome.
• 40:16
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm really excited to be able to do that.
• 40:17
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I know I want to get back down there.
• 40:19
  SPEAKER_03: It's supposed to be sweet, man.
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I'm pretty fired up about that.
• 40:23
  SPEAKER_03: So uh yeah, I feel uh I'm with you, man.
• 40:26
  SPEAKER_03: I think Chris Jans and all coaches staff and players coming back, and that's what you want.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_03: Players coming back, veteran leadership on the team.
• 40:32
  SPEAKER_03: We have that with Tolu, and you know, uh it's it's gonna be fun to watch.
• 40:37
  SPEAKER_03: I hope we can we do good do good this year.
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_01: It should be good, man.
• 40:41
  SPEAKER_01: It just remind me, it just reminds me of that freshman team when I when we when we got everybody to come back.
• 40:47
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we came back, everybody was unsure.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_01: We knew it was gonna be good.
• 40:51
  SPEAKER_01: It was just about how good we was gonna be.
• 40:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um I just think as long as they don't play into what everybody says and keep it within that locker room, people don't really understand how important it is to keep it within that locker room and deal with your team problems and deal with what's going on with the team in that locker room.
• 41:09
  SPEAKER_01: And that's what we did my sophomore year.
• 41:11
  SPEAKER_01: We kept everything in the locker room, didn't let nothing get out, and we just played basketball.
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_01: We played for each other and we and we played basketball.
• 41:19
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's what they're gonna do.
• 41:20
  SPEAKER_01: They got everybody back in it.
• 41:23
  SPEAKER_01: Like I said, the situation seems like that team I played on, you know, Tolu thinking about leaving, I was thinking about leaving.
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_01: And I decided to come back, and I and I'm happy I did because I got that eluded uh you know championship that I was chasing, you know.
• 41:40
  SPEAKER_01: I got a chance to experience the SEC and what it what it's like to run through the FCC and win.
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, it felt so good that I even signed back up for a third year.
• 41:50
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, it was you know, it was it was fun, man.
• 41:54
  SPEAKER_01: It was it was fun.
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_01: I wouldn't change it.
• 41:56
  SPEAKER_01: I wouldn't change it for nothing, man.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_01: I I enjoyed those three years, man.
• 42:01
  SPEAKER_01: I grew up there.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I learned a lot from all the people that I came across there on the campus.
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_01: Just a wonderful place, man.
• 42:08
  SPEAKER_01: Especially for me, being a kid coming from a single home, single parent home, uh, small town, 1100 people.
• 42:15
  SPEAKER_01: It was just great, man.
• 42:16
  SPEAKER_01: It was great to come to an embracing situation.
• 42:20
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, we can't say anything else better than that, man.
• 42:24
  SPEAKER_04: That's uh some good stuff there.
• 42:26
  SPEAKER_04: So I know we know you got you got places to be and stuff to do.
• 42:30
  SPEAKER_04: So we really appreciate you coming on.
• 42:32
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, thanks for having me, man.
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_01: I want to do more of these, man.
• 42:35
  SPEAKER_01: I want to do more of these because I uh, you know, somebody out there needs to hear this.
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_01: Somebody, somebody, somebody listening that that's going through a lot of the same stuff that that need to hear something, man.
• 42:46
  SPEAKER_01: So I I think I'm uh I'm gonna spend a lot more time, man, just just telling my story, man, and and sitting down and getting on podcasts.
• 42:54
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, well, yeah, you you got a story to tell, and that that's so good that you're doing that because these guys are that are coming up through the college ranks and they're wanting to do something.
• 43:02
  SPEAKER_03: You have a word of advice, you've been there, you you know what, you know what to tell them, and they need to hear stuff like that, and and uh so yeah, that's that's awesome.
• 43:10
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, yeah.
• 43:11
  SPEAKER_01: It's best to have it's good to have 1500 friends than to have no friends and and not know where you're going.
• 43:17
  SPEAKER_03: That's right.
• 43:17
  SPEAKER_03: So, Brandon I have to say this real quick.
• 43:19
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you mentioned uh Stanzberg a while ago.
• 43:21
  SPEAKER_03: Did you see he's gonna be up in your neck of the woods?
• 43:23
  SPEAKER_03: Uh did you see where he got hired?
• 43:25
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, he is.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_04: I know.
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_04: He is.
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_04: Yep.
• 43:28
  SPEAKER_04: Maybe I'll see him at the grocery store.
• 43:32
  SPEAKER_01: That'll be interesting.
• 43:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that'll be interesting, man.
• 43:37
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
• 43:37
  SPEAKER_01: Uh yeah, congratulations, coach.
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah.
• 43:41
  SPEAKER_04: But uh, Mario, we'll we'll we'll uh if you ever want to come back on during basketball season, we'll we'll get you back too.
• 43:48
  SPEAKER_04: We'll we appreciate it.
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_01: Love to have you back.
• 43:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I definitely gotta, I definitely gotta make it back down there, man.
• 43:53
  SPEAKER_01: I um like I said, I just I just started this new uh coaching gig at Eaton Prairie High School.
• 43:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but definitely, I'm definitely gonna get back down, man.
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna have to find some time to get down there and check things out, man.
• 44:04
  SPEAKER_01: Because, you know, it's always good to get back, man, and let people see how you're doing, man.
• 44:09
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean I'm I'm definitely to blame for not getting back.
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um but you know, it's my situation, like I said, man, it was it was a difficult situation for me to make on both ends.
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I carry, if anybody know me, you know, uh people know I carry, I carry things with me all the time, man.
• 44:31
  SPEAKER_01: As far as you know, the way I do things.
• 44:33
  SPEAKER_01: And as as much as everybody was hurt that I left my junior year, it hurt me just as much, but I had to do what I had to do for my situation with my mom and my grandfather.
• 44:43
  SPEAKER_01: So you know, I didn't want to leave.
• 44:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I want that to be known.
• 44:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I probably haven't been hurt since I left.
• 44:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I didn't want to leave.
• 44:52
  SPEAKER_01: I wanted to come back, but my situation didn't allow me to come back.
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um so I had to grow up a lot faster than I I really wanted to.
• 45:00
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, just a tough situation, man.
• 45:03
  SPEAKER_01: We all had to make decisions and do things we don't want to do, but you know, the thing that makes it great that makes you know that makes it great is when you can sit back and and you can think about it and and be like, I would do the same thing if I had to do it all over again.
• 45:18
  SPEAKER_01: So you know, I just hope people understand.
• 45:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, the ones that have been mad for 20 years, I hope they understand.
• 45:26
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sorry, but I think I gave you three great years.
• 45:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 45:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um and I gave my all when I played.
• 45:33
  SPEAKER_01: That's all I ever tried to do.
• 45:35
  SPEAKER_02: So right, right.
• 45:36
  SPEAKER_03: That's for the basketball player, someone who gives their all as a team leader.
• 45:40
  SPEAKER_03: You were you you're you're that, you know, you that's exactly what you were.
• 45:43
  SPEAKER_03: And all boardognation, man, they they love you, man.
• 45:45
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, you're a legend at Mississippi State basketball.
• 45:48
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, we still people still talk 20 years later, more often that team.
• 45:52
  SPEAKER_03: 2002 champions.
• 45:54
  SPEAKER_03: That's what nobody can say, son.
• 45:56
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, fun times, man.
• 45:57
  SPEAKER_01: Fun time, man.
• 45:58
  SPEAKER_01: We can turn that hey, we can turn that clock back, man.
• 46:00
  SPEAKER_01: I remember when Stansbury passed them uh Rick Rowdy shirts out.
• 46:04
  SPEAKER_01: I remember that.
• 46:06
  SPEAKER_01: I remember that, man.
• 46:08
  SPEAKER_01: Those those were the days, man, because we we can all see the wheels turning, we can see things changing, man, within the program.
• 46:14
  SPEAKER_01: So it was fun, man.
• 46:16
  SPEAKER_01: Fun times.
• 46:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 46:18
  SPEAKER_03: Hopefully, we're back again.
• 46:19
  SPEAKER_03: Hopefully, that the this season will be just like that for these college students.
• 46:24
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah, we're gonna we're gonna get the flag out there in front of the house.
• 46:27
  SPEAKER_01: We get we are we reping, we're repping everywhere.
• 46:30
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
• 46:31
  SPEAKER_04: All right, well, good luck on your season this year.
• 46:34
  SPEAKER_04: And uh we really appreciate it.
• 46:36
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, thanks for having me, man.
• 46:38
  SPEAKER_01: Anytime.
• 46:39
  SPEAKER_01: All right, all right, thanks for it.
• 46:41
  SPEAKER_01: All right, y'all have a good one.
• 46:42
  SPEAKER_04: You too.
• 46:43
  SPEAKER_01: All right.