Perspective On March Madness and Fran McCaffery with Nicholas Baer | WUW 588

Join us for an engaging conversation with former Iowa Basketball player Nicholas Baer. Nick makes his second appearance on the show to help us with Peak Basketball season this year. We cover his transition from professional basketball to men's leagues, the impact of NIL on athletes, and the emotional departure of Coach Fran McCaffery from Iowa. Nicholas also shares his insights on March Madness, upcoming matchups, and thoughts on the future of Iowa Basketball. Get an inside look at the life of a former college athlete and his new ventures. Don't forget to check out Nicholas's own podcast, Three Points Pod!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I've had this guy on the show before. Nicholas Behar

(00:02):
joins us former Iowa men's basketball player under coach Fran McCaffrey,
and we talk about coach Fran today, Nick's relationship with him,
what he means to Nick's career in his life now
as an adult, as well as playing in March Madness,
the perspective of being in the tournament, Why is it special?
Why can teams that are not as highly rated suddenly
find the magic in March? All of this and more,
Grab the popcorn, sit back, relax, have a day.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Let's go back again.

Speaker 1 (00:52):
Informal intro, Nicholas Bhar joins the show once again had
him on the podcast. Got a long time ago. What
year did you graduate? Nick?

Speaker 3 (01:00):
I graduated in two thousand nineteen, so I think we
were talking when I was playing professionally with the Roperds
tinle five.

Speaker 4 (01:06):
But since then I have now deult a.

Speaker 3 (01:07):
True washed up, washed up walk on like I'm truly
made that evolution now into just playing in men's leagues
and done playing professionally. So it's nice to be part
of the brotherhood to.

Speaker 5 (01:17):
Do are you just falling in those men's leagues or
what are you just dominating?

Speaker 4 (01:21):
I enjoy it.

Speaker 3 (01:22):
Yeah. We So I play with Austin Ash as well,
so we're both here in Des Moines and we play
in men's leagues here. So it's it's been a good time.
There's actually some previously competition here in Des Moin But yeah,
good Cardio, and I'd rather do that than get out
of treadmill and run it any day.

Speaker 4 (01:36):
Probably.

Speaker 5 (01:36):
Yeah, I just got to know, is this team just
running it up like back to back, back to back
men's league champs or what?

Speaker 3 (01:43):
We So this is a recent team. It's our second
season one one tournament title. Now we have the final
this upcoming Wednesday, so we will make sure to keep
everybody informed. Obviously, is the highlight of our weeks coming
up here. So but no, it's been a good time.

Speaker 4 (01:59):
Keev.

Speaker 1 (01:59):
Can you did you just walk you walk in like
I want to play some pickup today?

Speaker 5 (02:03):
You know, well I'm bad, But just imagine if there's
like men's league football teams and you just like, you know,
we just got like a couple of our dudes that
you know, we're twenty five, We just finished playing and uh,
you know what, we're just going to strap it up
against some dudes that haven't played since high school and
just see how it goes.

Speaker 1 (02:21):
That would be rough.

Speaker 4 (02:22):
Yeah, aw, he lets it loose. He'll he pulls up
and anybody who's watched out of ostball in the past, yeah,
it's not shy.

Speaker 5 (02:29):
So he electric. When Austin Ash was just firing in
from downtown.

Speaker 1 (02:34):
I don't think I've ever had more fun than watching
Ash play.

Speaker 4 (02:36):
He's so much fun too. He's chucking.

Speaker 1 (02:40):
The other guys, the other guys on the other team.

Speaker 5 (02:42):
You're just like, what do we do?

Speaker 3 (02:43):
I know it takes like five ten minutes. People like, oh,
he's actually gonna pull up from this far.

Speaker 1 (02:48):
This is Caitlyn's in the building.

Speaker 4 (02:50):
Yuh.

Speaker 1 (02:52):
The time of year is probably an exciting one for you.
And it's like you said, you're you're you're part of
the brother have watched up athletes now, so it probably
feels a little bit different. But do you still get
you still get that amped feeling on Thursday morning of
the tournament is it? Does it feel the same still?

Speaker 4 (03:09):
I was texting my buddies Charlie Rosebrady on Sion and
I text him was like, it feels.

Speaker 3 (03:13):
Like I'm waking no on Christmas morning, Thursday, Thursday morning.
It still feels that way. It felt that way even
before I played. I had a chance of playing the tournament.
Like we grow up going to the most the closest
regional site here in Iowa, wherever that was, whether it
was Oha, Milwaukee, would travel and try to go to
that first round of game.

Speaker 4 (03:28):
So still definitely does.

Speaker 3 (03:30):
I'll usually go back and look like some more like
previous games against that we had a chance to play
in the tournament. But but yeah, it's special, best best
time of the year always do we get a chance
to watch games and still obviously big college basketball junkie
with my buddies, So it's a good time.

Speaker 5 (03:45):
What's the Nicholas Bear bracket looking like right now?

Speaker 3 (03:48):
Oh god, I regret to inform it's like bottom twenty
six percent. My wife's doing well though, you guys will
be thrilled. Then my wife's doing well. So I have
I have Duke winning it all still, so that part's
that part. I still have that going for me. But
I made the mistake of picking too many upsets and
a tournament of chalk, so that's it's not gonna help.

Speaker 1 (04:07):
I had Creighton, I had gone Zaga, yep I had
it all. Yeah, I do have Dukes as the champion
as well. There's your champ. Who's your champ?

Speaker 5 (04:16):
Cuff I picked Houston? Okay, okay, this.

Speaker 1 (04:20):
Year got to play in several What what you can
tell when these guys step on the court that it's
there's just something there's it's another level, right, Like is
it just the magic of the tournament that's unexplainable, where
like you're it's like anything can happen. Everyone feels like
they have a chance. Why can you explain in any

(04:42):
sort of way why it's different when when it's the tournament.

Speaker 3 (04:45):
The best way I can really explain it is like
just the magic and wonder if like a one off
game like this, like you can be you can have
like a you know, crap season or like you know,
crawl your way into the tournament, make it and like
playing against the team is playing really well, but if
you just shoot.

Speaker 4 (04:59):
Lights out, team comes out cold. Like you can get
teams on there on their heels. You can get teams
to play tight, which is happened a couple of times
here in this tournament. But I think that's what it's
all about.

Speaker 3 (05:07):
Obviously, anybody who was really strive to play college basketball
high level, Like this is the reward, This is what
you want to play on. You want to be playing
on CBS with you know, these big time announcers making calls.
Yet you hear that Marx Madis music. That's what makes
it so special. So I think that's the best way
I can explain it is just like also like my
senior like knowing like this gonna be like the end
of your career too, you know, like it's kind of

(05:28):
a unique emotion like to go through of hey, like
this could be like the greatest day of my life
where this is absolutely stuck and after two hours we're
gonna know.

Speaker 4 (05:37):
So that's that's the best way I can kind of
put it.

Speaker 5 (05:39):
After Yeah, I mean, it's it's it's different because like
in football, and you know, it's obviously it's changed in
the last year in the playoffs, but like you pretty
much always knew when your last game was going to
be unless you're fighting for like your six or five
and six and you needed to win to get to
the bowl game or whatever. But yeah, being excited being
I mean, it's gotta make you a little bit extra

(06:00):
nervous now like you know.

Speaker 3 (06:01):
A little yeah, I mean it's more so before, like
kind of once you're in it, and like it's kind
of like anybody else now. I feel I felt this
way after graduate. I'm more nervous watching these guys play
than I was ever. Actually, I'm sure you guys kind
of feel that way too, Like it's way more nerve
wracking to watch than it is to play. There's a
bunch of pliants, like you have the drenaline pump and
you're just you know, you muscle memory and everything like that.

Speaker 4 (06:20):
So definitely nervous kind of before the game.

Speaker 3 (06:23):
But like I think back to some of those runs
we had in the tournament, like Adam would Berry hitting
a game winner play against Temple, like that was sweet.
Making coming back from twenty five against Tennessee in that
run and just kind of having that magic of March,
you know, be part something like that was was pretty special.

Speaker 4 (06:37):
So those are the kind of moments they always look
back on fondly. For sure.

Speaker 1 (06:40):
I do relate to that kel I for for a
few years there, it was like really bad because it
felt like when there were still guys in the program
that you played with, you still that really gave you
the sense of ownership of the program, like.

Speaker 5 (06:55):
It's it's definitely the worst the first year you're out.

Speaker 1 (06:58):
Yeah, yes, you're like you're like, this is this is
how I left the program, right, I have I have
like this is the most I'll ever have of my
hands still in the cookie jar of like this is
a representation of me. But now I don't have any
zero percent of like say, and it wasn't like I
had a lot of, say anyway, playing seven snaps a game,

(07:19):
but like it was still more than nothing, right, So
like when you know everybody on the roster, you're just like.

Speaker 3 (07:23):
Oh, I well, also, I'm sure you guys do this too,
Like I mean, I like my first year, I saw
my brother on the team. I saw like really like
my close rounds are on the team and want them
to do well. But also on the flip sid like
if the game went wrong, it's like, man, I know
that film sessions can be rough to brow and I
know what that's like, and I just already feel bad.
But like those kind of things as well, you know.
So yeah, as we've kind of gotten older a little

(07:44):
bit further away from the room, it's not not quite
as bad. But still still pretty invested as well.

Speaker 1 (07:49):
How does film work for a basketball team? Like there's
such quick turnarounds, right, so much different than football. Like,
let's say you make it too, Like, let's just say
this first weekend at the tournament, as we record this, this
is actually going to come out a little later in
the week, So this is going to be right before
the second weekend starts. We're recording this as the first

(08:09):
weekend of the men's side at least has almost finished up.
We're close to getting our sweet sixteen here Sunday evening.
Let's say you win that first game on Thursday, what's
the forty eight hours look like from Thursday to Saturday.

Speaker 4 (08:24):
General, Yeah, so I chance to playing a tournment.

Speaker 3 (08:27):
Twice we won the first game each time, and in
my experience, it was pretty much like, all right, hey,
nice job.

Speaker 4 (08:32):
Let's get ready for Tennessee. And it's like, all right,
we have some.

Speaker 3 (08:35):
Scouting reports, our assistant coaches have already had them fully scouted.
They pretty much go through like a tentative game plan.
A lot of it kind of depends what time our
first game ended. So a couple times, like we played
that first game, so we kind of had that full
afternoon to do a full prep and walk through type
of thing. There's other times where we played like late games. Okay,
you get down at like ten thirty a night and
it's like, all right, do we decide, like what's more important,

(08:56):
should we walk through just a brief film session or
should we just get sleeping kid in the morning. So
sometimes we just do a brief film session. But the
turnaround's more so like mental it's like, all right, we're
not gonna go full speed on any of this stuff.
But it's a team we really don't know that well,
it's from another conference we haven't played before.

Speaker 4 (09:12):
The good news is they haven't played us. So all
of our sets that all everybody in conferences is sea
outed for us for like ten years. Maybe we can
get like a couple of easy ones, but obviously we
have the same disadvantage as well, So a lot more
film sessions kind of like brief quick ones, player personnel,
overall team scheme, and then yeah, kind of before you know,
it's all right, game time, we're playing planning, got to

(09:32):
turn around and get going. So that's the best way
I would describe it.

Speaker 5 (09:37):
It's just like you know that that day in between
is like just you just have so much going on
from a preparation standpoint that you just don't even kind
of let the the nerves get to you that like,
you know, you just won the game. You know, maybe
it's close, maybe it was emotional, maybe it was like
you know, you know, like you said, it's it's winn
or go home, and you got twenty four hours to

(09:58):
process that, get out of the ne team and prepare,
and it's like do you even have time to be
like in your head or well.

Speaker 3 (10:06):
Part of it too is you feel a little relieved
that you're staying the weekend. You know, you don't want
to go home first week, like that's the big one.
But it's also kind of like I don't want to
like compare it to like a near death experience. But
you know, like all right, like I was almost done,
but now we're back, we have a chance to do
it against like the things you kind of took for granted,
Like all right, hey, you know what, I gotta play
cards my buddies the night after we do this film session,
and like we canna do like we can go on
the bus together again and we get like to do

(10:26):
all this stuff together. For like at least you know,
forty eight more hours type of thing. So that kind
of stuff I definitely think about. But also it's kind
of fun, like you got games going on, like you
can see other teams how they're doing what, Like there
is enough downtime where you can still watch games.

Speaker 4 (10:40):
And check things out. But I think also like it's
more like the anticipation and excitement about, you know, get
a chance to play on stage again.

Speaker 1 (10:48):
I was I was gonna say, I mean you've got
that that. I mean, the Thursday through Sunday slate of
games is is like maybe some of the best hours
of sports. Yeah, it's just like even I'm not even
a basketball guy. I watched very little basketball during the
regular season, but then it's just constant from Thursday through
Monday because the girls will finish tomorrow their first round
and especially with the growth of their game and like

(11:10):
the popularity you know, teams, you know players, it's fun
to watch women's basketball more than it used to be.
It do you do you have time to actually kind
of sit down and like, all right, I'll put the
the personnel report down, like I think I've got I
got an idea who I'm gonna guard tomorrow. Let me
catch an hour of like the you know, the fourteen

(11:30):
to three game here going on, Like can I right?

Speaker 3 (11:33):
And so it's kind of like how our day structure too,
Like we'll have like a walk through like in that
in between day, which is fine, but like there's definitely
like a downtime of like two or three hours where
it's like, all right, at a certain point, you kind
of know who they are, you know what you're gonna do,
you know what your responsibilities are. Like I could look
into the scouty report for ten hours, you know, all
all day and all night, but like it's kind of
best that they get your mind off of something and
get chanced to return, like just enjoy something too, you know.

Speaker 1 (11:56):
So yeah, the as you get further away from it
and you're just the men the men's league guy now
with me, is there any are there any perspective shifts
like as you've gotten older and you've gotten further away
from the game at that level that you are able
to see clearer now or in a different way than

(12:17):
when you were playing.

Speaker 3 (12:19):
I think, well, the first one is kind of like
gratitude for having the experience that I had, like always
like super thankful for where are they able to experience
at the university IYO and being part of the program.
I think on a physical level now that I've gotten older,
like I look back and I thought I was slow,
and now I'm really slow, and it's like looking back,
I like, man, dude, I could like really jump right.
I like didn't really have a super quick first step,
but it's way quicker than I gotten now type of thing.

(12:39):
So I think I look at the game now and
I see from like a physical standpoint, like just how
big these guys are, how athletic they are. Like that's
the part where it's a little bit more staggering to
me then when I was playing. It's like, oh, that's
just you know, just a big guy, like you know,
go against that every you know, every night to everything.
But it's that's probably the part that I've noticed the most,
is just like how like high wat lenses and how

(13:00):
that's changed a little bit.

Speaker 1 (13:02):
I think, keV I have similar moments when I'm watching
the NFL really, but like even college ball sometimes I'm like, dude,
somehow I was running down the field with that guy right, yes,
And I don't know, I don't know how certainly didn't
look great at the time, but it looked it didn't
look bad, it was okay.

Speaker 5 (13:23):
Yeah, I would also say, to Nick's point a little bit,
eighteen year olds are more built than eighteen year olds
were even.

Speaker 4 (13:30):
Just ten years That's true.

Speaker 1 (13:33):
Yeah, it's crazy what's going on, which is a good thing.

Speaker 5 (13:35):
I think, Like you know, we've talked about before, like
strength conditioning at the high school level is getting much better.

Speaker 4 (13:42):
Yep.

Speaker 5 (13:43):
Yeah, even like athletes in a more safe and more
effective way at a younger age.

Speaker 1 (13:47):
Yeah, I mean even like the Cooper flag kid for Duke,
you can tell you just like look at him and
he's like, you're not he's not developed, Like he really.

Speaker 5 (13:57):
Isn't well, he's uh, correct me if I'm wrong. He reclassified.
He should still be in high school now.

Speaker 3 (14:03):
He's pretty young. Yeah, he's gonna be like I think
he's turned. I'm not sure his exact birthday, but he
could have held back here, but he's classified. So some
thing to like you look at that guy, like, I
mean I was watching him today, I had a great
game to day, and like I've watched him atle bit
the season, but like, I mean, he got like he
looks like a kid kind of like he's still got
like some zits, like stuff that looks like you have
like on face level, like you should be in high school.

(14:23):
And then he's just absolutely sunking all over everybody.

Speaker 1 (14:26):
That's what That's what I'm saying, is like you look
at me in the face, and you kind of look
at his arms and his undershirt he's wearing like a
T shirt. It looks like it. He looks like a
ninth grader. Like his there's the muscle mass is very
like kid like you're like, and then you watch him
and he he elevates and will just hammer on people
and you're like, oh god.

Speaker 3 (14:46):
Which is which is scary because like he's still gonna
get grow into his body and be like he's so much.

Speaker 5 (14:51):
So I got this question for you. I mean, he's
going to be an NFL NBA draft pick, but he's
probably not gonna peak as an fleet as a basketball
player for like seven more years.

Speaker 4 (15:02):
Like that's what's always so weird, Like you.

Speaker 5 (15:05):
Even like you know, like I mean, I guess you
have the best chance to re sign him if you
draft him, but like, yeah.

Speaker 3 (15:12):
You know that's a good question because I know, like
I feel like the peak age for like all these
NBA guys is like twenty five to twenty eight kind
of like that's where you like you reach your peak athleticism,
Like you played for seven years, you played however many
hundreds of games now, like that's kind of your peak years.
But still like a raw talent level, he's gonna be
able to be inserted in the NBA, no problem type
of thing. So that's what's interesting because feel like on

(15:34):
the flip side of that, all of guys like, oh,
that guy got drafted in the first round like four
years ago. It's like, dude, that guy's gotta be washed.
And you see he's like twenty two. It's like, who
on twenty two year old? Like in a different perspective,
it's like twenty two, you got your whole life ahead
of you. But and then the it's kind of like, yeah,
you know, we've seen enough tape everything, which is.

Speaker 1 (15:50):
I feel like football, baseball, and basketball are all so
different in that you see, like guys in baseball it
takes it takes seven years just to get to the majors,
like congratulations.

Speaker 5 (15:59):
Yeah, after they did a full four years.

Speaker 1 (16:00):
And in college, well especially especially if some of these
guys who are like huge prospects out of high school,
they get drafted out of high school. You do five
six years I have I have a couple of guys
that I know who are in the in the farm
system from like Marshalltown or or just like just a
somehow I know them through family. And it's like six

(16:22):
years later getting a shot. You know, it's not Brodie Bret, right,
you don't just like or Paul Skeins, like, you're not
just the guy there's you hear about these guys like
twenty seven years old getting his first major league start
here on opening day for the Cardinal. It's like there's
literally been guys in the NBA for almost a decade, right,
or almost the same age.

Speaker 5 (16:44):
Yeah, Like football players are like lucky to make it
to twenty seven, right.

Speaker 1 (16:48):
Like football, your peak age is probably like your senior
year of college. If you run like a four or
five year race, or like you're twenty three or four
in the league. There you go. You know, like windows,
you got three years. I mean, you're not getting hit
like you are in football. In the other sports, that's
why it's so so much shorter. You're staying injury free
in the men's league over there.

Speaker 4 (17:08):
Am so I'm knock on woods. So far, so good.

Speaker 3 (17:10):
But yeah, injury free, I think partially because I just
don't accelerate as fast as I would potentially break anything.
So if you don't accelerate too fast, can't get too hurt.
And now I'm just I'm pretty much just spotting up
from three pick and pop rebound fleck shots.

Speaker 4 (17:24):
Do what I can. But yeah, hopefully more of the same.

Speaker 5 (17:28):
Gotta watch out these achilles when those uh stretched that.

Speaker 4 (17:32):
So much, like the only that's the main thing I
stretched when number one.

Speaker 1 (17:35):
Fear number one fear. Yeah, some kid just busted it
yesterday two days ago, Carol Uh Kansas, Kansas Are.

Speaker 4 (17:45):
I think I did see that.

Speaker 1 (17:46):
Yeah, And it wasn't like some crazy like going up
for a dunk or coming down with a rebound like
he was literally just like he got he got eight
inches off the ground and came down weird. And you
just see that like non contact, You're like, oh.

Speaker 3 (17:57):
No, what's the thing is, Like you've like those guys
have made that jump thousands and thousands of times. Yeah,
and for some reason, just that one jump, like that's
that's why I go it is why snaff.

Speaker 1 (18:07):
So that's what scares me too, is like you got
Division one athletes snapping their achilles on like a on
a just a routine play, like just running up the court,
Like okay, So at thirty, I do a lot of
athletic stuff, a lot of working out, do a lot
of box jumps. When is my time coming? Right?

Speaker 4 (18:25):
That's it.

Speaker 5 (18:28):
These guys that, these poor guys that Nick's playing against,
like they probably don't do any pliometric work. They jump
once a week when they come to play at the Yeah,
poor achilles is hanging on by a thread.

Speaker 1 (18:42):
Nick, you gotta you got a podcast to your own?

Speaker 3 (18:44):
No, yeah, I do? You have three points podcasts? I
do it with myself my two best friends, Charlie Rose
Brady Ellenson. Kind of a mixed We talked a lot
of Iowa basketball, for sure, and then we also talked
to some Premier League and Champions League soccer. We're all
big soccer fans, so we talked quite a bit of soccer,
and then outside of.

Speaker 4 (19:00):
That, we're all big college basketball junkies.

Speaker 3 (19:02):
So we did kind of a podcast previewing the the
tournament here this upcoming week, we'll probably reconnect here. God
discussed the first round of games as well, but definitely
a passion project someone I enjoyed doing. On the side,
it's been a kind of I think you guys might
relate this as well. Like I think the biggest thing
I enjoyed out of it is just like get to
hang out with my friends kind of like so like

(19:24):
the content itself is like fun, it's fine, but like
it's more so like just getting a way to connect
with my friends outside of just like talk on the
phone every now and then.

Speaker 5 (19:31):
Yeah, I say this to my wife lists all the time.
Is like, you know, my favorite thing about this is like, yeah,
we have fun guests on and we get to do
some fun events every now and then. But it just
like almost forces you to talk to your friends a
couple times a week just ye in an hour and
just chit chat about some nonsense and yeah, it's it's
it's fun.

Speaker 1 (19:50):
I think I've probably taken that for granted more than
you and Drake have. Drake for a very long time.
Drake not here, by the way, Nick, he probably was
the last time we talked to you.

Speaker 4 (19:58):
I know I was keeping an eye for him, hoping
he make a late appearance.

Speaker 5 (20:02):
We all keep an eye out for him. Just heart
is still ticking.

Speaker 1 (20:06):
You kind of know, you kind of know who Drake is.
It's it's sort of just every day we wake up,
is he alive? Is he not? We're not sure. He'll
HiPE in every once.

Speaker 5 (20:14):
In a while.

Speaker 1 (20:15):
Uh, he's off doing his own thing. But yeah, it's
he would always say, like after we got a couple
dozen episodes into this, he's like, I just get on
here to talk to you guys. I don't really Yeah,
and Kevin has mentioned it a couple of times. I've
never really sat like sat down and really thought about, like,
if we didn't have the podcast, yes, we would still

(20:36):
have similar to I'm sure you do. You have a
text you know, your text spread with all your former
teammates or the guys you lived with in college, and
that goes pretty much every day. You're sending each other memes,
you know, videos, funny stuff that you know there's always
action in there. But like, how much would I actually
talk to Kevin face to face?

Speaker 4 (20:52):
Exactly?

Speaker 1 (20:53):
I guarantee you.

Speaker 5 (20:54):
I mean, how much do you talk to the other
guys in that group ship that aren't on this podcast
face to face?

Speaker 1 (20:59):
None? None and it's sad like and that's sad.

Speaker 3 (21:04):
It sounds like you're campaigning for everybody to do their
own podcast. Be more of a saturated podcast.

Speaker 5 (21:10):
We're all about saturating face.

Speaker 1 (21:13):
Saturate the market man, the market all.

Speaker 5 (21:16):
Then we basically, yeah, we all come on each other's podcasts.
No one's even watching it anymore, Like it's just four
face timing each other.

Speaker 4 (21:23):
So it is putting out to.

Speaker 5 (21:24):
The Internet for everyone to look at that going to
I mean.

Speaker 1 (21:28):
It's like any other form of social media. Everybody has
an Instagram, everybody have a podcast. I mean, I think
most people's general thing is like the joke is when
you see a podcast clip that's just like you're so stupid.
They're just like, wow, podcast microphones are way too cheap.

Speaker 4 (21:42):
The consensus. Yeah. Sure.

Speaker 1 (21:44):
Fortunately we've been able to like kind of elevate above that.
You're going to be episode like five hundred and eighty
nice eight. We're closing it on episode number six hundred
very fast.

Speaker 3 (21:56):
Fun fact, did you guys know that ninety podcasts don't
get more than episodes?

Speaker 1 (22:00):
That's what they say, really, that's what they say. So
big outlay.

Speaker 4 (22:05):
Pushing six hundred you guys got to be in the
top point one percent. There you go.

Speaker 1 (22:08):
You'd think, yeah, we call that numbies.

Speaker 4 (22:10):
Around here, numbies, that's right numbers, But.

Speaker 1 (22:14):
Yeah, it is. It is a passion project. I mean,
the same same thing we started this thing. I think
we got super lucky in a lot of different ways,
but like it still is probably more so than anything. Uh, yeah,
it's a hobby. Yeah, we do get to have some
sick interviews, have guys like you on Talk Talk Guy
with sports. We've had some legends on, made a little

(22:37):
bit of money off of it, but like most of it,
most of it's just like, yeah, let's get on and
shoot the ship. Because because I don't have a lot
of I don't really have friends.

Speaker 3 (22:46):
There you go, Well, I the thing too is just
like kind of you mentioned, like just getting on and
have friends, like to talk to your friends. But also
like kind of like you mentioned, guys get some guests on,
like new perspectives and everything like that makes it fun too.

Speaker 5 (22:55):
You are some fun stories, for sure, There's been some
good laughs over the years. So what was the uh
you know, you can you can send the fans over
to your podcast to get the full recap. But I
want to what was your expectations on your on your
podcast coming into this tournament. What were were some major
themes we were looking for.

Speaker 3 (23:11):
Yeah, so I kind of created a like a manifesto
essentially like rules like as you like filling out your bracket,
kind of like good things to take a look at
and evaluate.

Speaker 5 (23:19):
So we were there for a quick second we said
manifesto that that was.

Speaker 4 (23:24):
A little that's a little hooks of people weren't really listening, like, oh,
we got a manifesto, boom, let's let's let's see.

Speaker 1 (23:29):
This guy's three points pod. Fire it up.

Speaker 3 (23:31):
That's it, that's it, fire it up. But but I
just kind of like, for me, I was fade in
the Mountain West for the most part, just because I
thought as a whole, they've really underperformed in the tournament.

Speaker 4 (23:42):
We talked.

Speaker 3 (23:43):
The biggest thing to pat ourselves on the back that
we kind of called out was like, we think this
is going to be a pretty chalky tournament on the whole,
like these one seeds, two seeds, three season. We think,
for the most part, these guys are going to advance.
And I've seen a lot of kind of commentary about
the tournament so far be Oh, we haven't had a
lot of ops, that's for all man, Like these games
this term has kind of been disappointing from an upset perspective,

(24:03):
but I think it's really set us up for some
pretty incredible.

Speaker 4 (24:06):
Matchups in the sweet sixteen. Lead eight or like everything's
going to be.

Speaker 3 (24:10):
Like I'm already taking a look here at somebody's matchups
in the sweet sixteen and lick my chops and just
the good basketball's going to be played here. So that's
my thought. But that's kind of a few of the
different things that we talked about on our podcast. But
I'm really looking forward to kind of these next next
round of games being some high level basketball.

Speaker 5 (24:27):
Yeah, how about the Big Ten showing up? I mean,
Illinois just dropped the first game for the conference. Uh,
just I saw that Wisconsin Wisconsin last night. Oh Wisconsin,
did you're right?

Speaker 4 (24:38):
You're right? Yeah, let's not forget the time to make
sure we mentioned that Wisconsin loss.

Speaker 3 (24:41):
Let's make yeah, yes, blew it for ever it came back.
They almost almost made it. But yeah, it's I saw
leading up to that game before that was constin game,
I think the Big Ten was ten and zero straight
up and ten and against the spread for any better's out.

Speaker 1 (24:53):
There, which is nuts.

Speaker 4 (24:54):
Great team cover, right, great teams cover.

Speaker 1 (24:57):
So I love actually hold on hold because that speaks
to something because everybody this year is talking about the
whole narrative. Was the SEC deepest conference in the history
of the sport? What are your opinions on that.

Speaker 3 (25:09):
I watched a lot of SEC this year. I think
it's very top heavy, like you look at I mean,
obviously like the Florida Florida's of the world, Auburns of
the world, Kentucky just advance. But I do think there
was a little SEC buyas maybe ESPN did a pretty
good job of propping up that conference for some of
their own, you know, business reasons.

Speaker 4 (25:27):
But I think towards like you look at some of
those teams that.

Speaker 3 (25:30):
May be underperformed, like like you know, the Georgias of
the world, some of those like Vanderbilt, some of those
teams that maybe didn't perform as well, but in the
tournament we played, you know, in tough conference and got
the benefit of the doubts. So I think definitely those
top end teams are going to be making deep runs
and I'm excited to watch I mean the Walter Clayton
today like completely brought them back against Yukon. Like I'm

(25:50):
looking forward to watching those kind of players. But yeah,
definitely a tough conference. I think definitely the best conference
in the nation. But I mean, for I think they
went for team teams in or thirteen teams in fourteen. Yeah,
that's that's a bit rich for me, especial leaving now
a couple of other teams. So I'm surprised Oklahoma got

(26:10):
a nine. They were ninety and they went seven to
thirteen in conference. That's where I kind of like have
like a bit of an issue teams, they kind of
getting that much benefit of the doubt. But the top
en teams are definitely playing well.

Speaker 1 (26:21):
I think Drake's a great example of Like they lost
three games I get there in the Missouri Valley three
games one. They're if they don't win their conference championship,
there's a there's a chance they don't get in the tournament.

Speaker 3 (26:33):
Right, Like they could rather have a thirty win team
in the tournament than a team that went.

Speaker 1 (26:36):
So some something's got to change there where like if
they don't win that conference championship, but they still have
that same resume, like that's a tournament team and we
got to figure out a way to like get them
in instead of the fourteenth best SEC team.

Speaker 3 (26:51):
It's just like and or I mean also, like we
talked to this on our podcast too, like North Carolina
getting in was an absolute joke, but like their athletic
directors on the board of the committee, like maybe we
probably need to diversify who's the valuay and get into
the committee or like who makes the decisions to get
into the field type of thing.

Speaker 4 (27:09):
So lots of discussion, lots of controversy.

Speaker 5 (27:12):
They made like a crazy comeback. They're like down on
like twenty points and then I think they tied it
up late and then just kind of bad in the
last two minutes of the game. But I'm curious, what
are your thoughts on like the first flour and like,
you know, we keep expanding ways to like you know,
start with sixty four teams. Apparently that's not enough. We
go to sixty eight. There's talk of maybe adding more
play in teams, like it's sixty four enough or or

(27:35):
why are you a fan.

Speaker 3 (27:36):
Of the there is to me, there's no need to
add to the field. I mean, you look at like
UNC lost first rounds. They ever lost first round Like,
to me, adding to the field is just to get
more games, to get more money, to get more TV.

Speaker 4 (27:47):
Let's really the extent of it.

Speaker 3 (27:49):
Which would I be shocked if the NCAA or TV
broadcasting rights decided to do that. No, but I don't
think it would benefit college basketbal as a whole. I
don't think there's a national champion lurking in the first four,
or if it would be the first eight, or for sixteen,
whenever they decide to do type of thing. So I
think it's good the way it is. I don't mind
the first four. It's just kind of like a little
appetizer for like Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. But but I'm

(28:11):
against expanded the teams. I look at some of the
teams who didn't make it either. It's like outside of
West Virginia, I didn't really think there was really strong teams.
Like if Andyana got intot like seventeen fifteen or whatever.

Speaker 4 (28:22):
Like, what are we doing? That's nine team that really
deserve to get them.

Speaker 1 (28:25):
I mean the highest, the highest or I guess lowest seed,
whatever way you want to classify it as like the
Yukon team that was a seven won it. Yeah, I believe. Yeah,
so like any seven seed or better, every single year
they're getting in the tournament, like they're not close to
missing the tournament, correct, And you want to find the
team who's going to win the tournament, and so theoretically

(28:45):
you could claim they found that team every year.

Speaker 3 (28:47):
So yeah, And I'm not saying like everybody in the
first woard like if they're not gonna be a national.

Speaker 4 (28:51):
Champ of why they turn in.

Speaker 3 (28:53):
But at the same point, like I don't think there's
a missing market for additional games to.

Speaker 4 (29:00):
Be at it.

Speaker 1 (29:00):
I do think I saw this. I think an easy
change would be, don't make the first four. Have any
of those sixteen seeds that won their conference championships.

Speaker 4 (29:09):
Yes, so I've seen that.

Speaker 3 (29:11):
I also saw like those sixteen seeds though, if they
win that game, they get paid out like a full
game's worth of money for their conference, which that part's
kind of cool, like obviously for their conference, but I
mean for those guys, like I feel like I'd be
in a pap position, like dude, I like, we just
want our conference tournament. Let's play on Thursday, let's plan
on Friday, I have to be like competing in Dayton's conference.

Speaker 1 (29:31):
Yeah, That's sort of what I was getting at, is
like you want to feel the full experience of it, yep.
And like so you want to be on that opening
day and if you're then like, oh, we play Wednesday
night to maybe play for Friday, it doesn't you might
walk away from that feeling like you didn't really get
the tournament feel. So I don't know, but I do
understand the money thing, because that's big for those small schools.

(29:52):
This is a fun question that Kevin and I and
Drake and a lot of guys have talked about on
the podcast, like who would we want to play that
we never got to play, And it's all it's like
Alabama or you know somebody that you know, we nearly
had a shot in twenty fifteen if we would have
made the College Football Playoff? Do you ever? And the
tournament provides some of those really fun matchups, like you

(30:12):
get to see the Big East versus a Big Ten
team that like just wouldn't you know they didn't play
your schedule each other in the non conference and so
they you know, all of a sudden, Creighton's matched up
with Purdue, and it's like, oh, this is sick, right.
Who comes to mind? You know, you had a four
five year career at Iowa. Who did who did you
not get to play? That would have been fun, man,

(30:32):
I tell you what.

Speaker 3 (30:33):
The first team that comes to mind. My senior year
was Zion's year at Duke. We So we had that
senior we were a ten seed, and we thought, like,
you know what, we might get like an eight to nine,
and if we get an eight nine, we could be
on a one line with Zion in the book essentially,
So that's the one that jumps out to me, is like,
I mean, get a chance to play against those guys

(30:55):
and like, cuse, remember, I don't think I've seen a
team since that like had that much like of an
influencer power or like hype around them since then. So
even like, obviously imagine me trying to guard Zion like
that probably is not going to end up well for me,
but like, still, I get a chance to play those
guys and play at that level on like a Marque
matchup would have been pretty cool. So that's which obviously

(31:16):
is prettyasily. Oh dude, you want to play Duke real
real creative take there. But those guys like at that
time were like Musty TV. I mean they had Obama
go into games and like everybody like presidents, no stars.
There was like you know, celebrity row there, so that
that part would have been cool.

Speaker 5 (31:32):
I think if you just had like a pizza slice
in your hand, you could have guarded Zion.

Speaker 4 (31:36):
Just there you go, that's.

Speaker 1 (31:39):
The guy just throws the ball to the defense. Give
me that slices.

Speaker 4 (31:45):
Hey.

Speaker 1 (31:45):
I think I think he's slimmed down a little bit
now he's trying to get back into it. I don't
I see stuff all the time about it, and I
hope he has a shoe the right shoes on too.
He might blow out the soul. Yeah, quickly before we
move on. I don't know if you can see that, Nick,
but down on the bottom of the screen. Presented by
the Iowa Egg Counseil no better sponsor for this podcast.
I'm not sure. If you're a big egg guy, probably
had plenty of protein sources when you're at Iowa. How's

(32:07):
the diet nowadays?

Speaker 4 (32:08):
Three eggs every morning? I have to go. That's why
I'm not even plugging here.

Speaker 3 (32:12):
Just you know, I tell I know you kind of
tweet out different like health kind of stuff, but like
starting your day with some protein, like I'll have like
some eggs either like some chicken sausage something, but like
for me, it's more like figuring out how to mix
up my eggs, like all right, scrambled, y're like if
I'm in a roster, just over easy. Recently I've gotten
into like some egg bake, So I don't wanna like

(32:33):
toot my horn as an egg connoissewer here, but I'm
a I'm a frequent egg eater, so you.

Speaker 5 (32:37):
Do like an egg bacon and then sorry, egg bake
for like a meal, prep for the whole week type
of guy.

Speaker 3 (32:42):
Yeah, like Sunday night, get a whole tray of egg bake,
cut it up, go work out in the morning, come back, eat,
get to work, and it's just easy peasy, dude.

Speaker 1 (32:51):
If I'm telling you, if you like eggs, and you
really should, if you're listening to the podcast and you
haven't gotten on the egg train, I know they were expensive.
I think the prices are coming back down. In fact,
I thought about Kevin the last episode we recorded. He
goes past your raised only brown eggs, picked up a
picked up some Nellies, brown eggs at the fairway, the
local fairway. You make a little egg bake, throw some
bacon in there, some veggies, some cheese. Bro There's no

(33:14):
better way to start the morning. And then you also like,
I don't understand how people can start their morning with
the like the super sugary coffees or the doughnut, Like
you just automatically start your day fuzzy, just carb overload.
You're already tired at nine am. Get yourself some eggs.
Iowa Egg Council. Iowa was the number one producing state
of eggs in the country.

Speaker 5 (33:34):
Is that right?

Speaker 4 (33:35):
Oh? Yeah?

Speaker 1 (33:36):
Number one, forty five million laying hens fifteen billion eggs
a year coming out of yours state of Iowa.

Speaker 5 (33:45):
I did not know that our egg game was like that.
I knew, I knew we had the pork game. I
knew we obviously had the corn game. I didn't know
our egg game was like that.

Speaker 1 (33:53):
Egg Games on top, baby damn.

Speaker 4 (33:54):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (33:55):
Shout out to the don't make that mistake again, man,
all right, our egg game is top here apparently.

Speaker 1 (34:00):
Shout out to him for sponsoring the show. So a
bit of a crazy week, and I this is where
I really want to go and get the real juicy stuff, Nick,
because as a former player, we deal with a lot
of this stuff too, when people comfort, you know, coach
Farrence's head on social media and it just just daggers
and I would like to get in an argument with

(34:21):
every single troll on Twitter, but I refrain, right obviously
that we're recording this.

Speaker 4 (34:26):
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (34:26):
A week or so after Iowa and coach Fran McCaffrey
parted ways, big figure in your life. I'd love to
hear your own words about Coach Ran McCaffrey and who
he was as a person, what he means to you.
But uh, you know, kind of a end of an
era of course, right, and like how how does how
do you process that as a former guy someone who

(34:47):
cares Obviously you you know, a couple of tweets on
Twitter responding back and forth, been in some conversations. What
is this all like for you?

Speaker 4 (34:54):
Yeah? I was.

Speaker 3 (34:57):
Just in terms of like coach Jaffery Jenell, like that's
my guy, like brought me in, you know, offer me
a walk on spot, someone who kind of gave me
an opportunity every chance I turned, every place I turned,
and someone I'm always super super.

Speaker 4 (35:08):
Grateful for that I have my life. Was at my
wedding last year.

Speaker 3 (35:11):
You're always a guy who's going to be, you know,
really close and really special to me. And yeah, I
mean obviously you know boomer of a season, you know,
this past year. But I took to Twitter a couple
of times. I just like you, Tyler, I try not to,
but sometimes it just got the better of me and
I did. But now I think, just in terms of
where coach Kafrey like stands in my life, always some

(35:33):
one that's going to be super super important to me,
and I feel sometimes like the program is not really
going to have an opportunity to defend itself. And sometimes
as like a foreign player, someone who's connected to the program,
someone who like knows enough about the ins and outs
without being too much in the details, like I can
kind of provide a perspective and sometimes stand up for
a program when it's easy to.

Speaker 4 (35:51):
Bash on or that's kind of the popular thing on
social media.

Speaker 3 (35:54):
So definitely, you know, at the end of an air,
I know it kind of felt like there was someone
right on the wall, for sure, But I'm still really
boned when I saw the news, for sure, and I
think I mean, I'm no hope.

Speaker 4 (36:04):
I imagine you guys might be able.

Speaker 3 (36:06):
To relate this to this eventually, but obviously bump for
coach with caprias like on a personal level, but also
just like what it means for me and like my
experience the program too. It's like, Okay, hey, you know what,
I know what that experience is like going from like
the travels like or I know, like you know, get
a chance to going like to locker room and like
meet the guys and like having that kind.

Speaker 4 (36:23):
Of close connection with the program.

Speaker 3 (36:24):
And you know, that part is kind of the number two,
not that I you know, whoever the next coach is
so likely to connect with the alumni, but kind of
having on a more personal level of that relationship with
this app and everything.

Speaker 4 (36:33):
So yeah, it's it's different.

Speaker 3 (36:35):
I know, they still haven't announced anybody officially yet, so
definitely a kind of an interesting spot for I with basketball.

Speaker 1 (36:43):
The latter part that you mentioned there is something that
I think about often and something we've talked about with
this podcast, because this podcast is obviously you know, we
bring you on. We're doing basketball show tonight. No football talk, right,
but very heavy football show, very heavily connected to the
program that still is right now in Iowa City. We have,

(37:03):
I mean that coaching staff. The tenure there is so
long and deep that most of that staff is the
staff that we had many guys, you know, from head
coach to assistants all around. So it still feels a
lot like our program, right And I've always wondered, and
I think I've had the conversation with Kevin and Drake before.
We've joked about it on air. Drake has always said this,

(37:26):
but like when coach Ferrence retires, like he's never jumping
on a podcast again because he just doesn't care. Right,
And to some extent it's funny, it's comedy, but in
some way it's true. There will be a large cord
of disconnect when that happens, right when Coach Farance is
no longer the head coach. Even from my perspective, even

(37:46):
if this is like now my job and it's not
just a passion project, but it's like, hey, you're just
doing this, like because it brings in some income, some
of that passion to do the show and talk about
Iowa football, it's going to get lessened to some extent
because it feels like it's not my program anymore. And
so that's always something that I felt and I don't
look forward to. It's going to come regardless. Coach Ferrence

(38:08):
deserves to you know, retire or move on at some
point and live his life, and that he is. He
owes nothing to us. He's done plenty for us. But
it is interesting that it you know, this this happens,
and it almost probably feels like it distances you even
a little bit further in a way.

Speaker 3 (38:25):
Yeah, And that's the thing too, is you kind of
mentioned it like kind of like the sense of identity
that you have with the program, right, especially like growing
in like growing up, like through those formative years in college,
like kind of having that connection with the program. And
as we've kind of gotten older obviously, like you know,
you grow in your life and you add different parts
of your identity too. But that partly, I'm always going
to be like connected to the IO basketball program in

(38:45):
some passion, which is a great blessing for me. And
that's definitely gonna be different now that coach McCaffrey is gone.
But obviously still want the program to to do well
and be successful. But yes, that part is going to
be a little bit different.

Speaker 5 (38:57):
Yeah, I mean it's it's it's incredible because like it's
such a profound experience in a very formative part of
your life that you get a lot of your identity
as from going from a young boy to a young man,
from your from your year spent there, and.

Speaker 1 (39:18):
You know.

Speaker 5 (39:20):
How you did things, how how you treated yourself, how
you treated the people around you. It's like a lot
of it can you come back to, you know, how
you guys did things that were the basis of your program.
So yeah, it's I'm sure it's tough, and like Klever said,
I'm not looking forward to the day where that court
kind of gets cut with us. My question for you
is where do you Where do you hope the program

(39:40):
goes from here?

Speaker 4 (39:42):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (39:43):
I know they like in terms of whoever they decide
to bring in, I know, like coach mem McCollum has
been like the rumored person that is likely to be
joining the program, but nothing official yet.

Speaker 4 (39:52):
If that's the direction they do decide to go on,
i'd be excited about it. I think we'll kind of
mention this on our podcast too.

Speaker 3 (39:58):
But then mccalluck to recruit Hi at a high school,
so he was the only coach to offer me a scholarship.

Speaker 4 (40:04):
Out of high school.

Speaker 1 (40:05):
So, oh that's funny.

Speaker 4 (40:06):
Yeah. So Ben McCollums talent ID in my books, ten
of he is.

Speaker 1 (40:10):
He's a plus man.

Speaker 3 (40:12):
Yeah, but no, he recruited me when he's at Northwest
Missouri State offered me a scholarship.

Speaker 4 (40:16):
I had a chance. I likely was going to go there,
but coach.

Speaker 3 (40:19):
Cafrick kind of came in and offered a walk on spout,
which is what I always wanted to be. And I
remember talking with kind of Ben about it and he's like, hey, man,
I get it, Like I completely understand. And I think,
just looking at the way he's going to run programs,
i'd be excited about that. I know it's it would
be a bit of a change in terms of style
and pace, but I think how he runs a program
from a character standpoint and running things at a high

(40:39):
level I think would be pretty similar as well. So
obviously some things still you have to get done though
nothing official yet, but where they decided to go, I
hope it's still you know, bringing somebody a new kind
of prioritizes some of the same things coach Caffrey did
around and bringing a high character people. Obviously the NIL
portals changed a lot of that, but regardless, still kind
of having some of that.

Speaker 4 (40:59):
I with that or too.

Speaker 1 (41:01):
The It's interesting because and I don't want to dwell
on it too much, but I do want your perspective
on it. It's especially as you've gotten older, because as
the further further you get from it. I think I've
found this with the football program, you can be a
little bit less biased towards you know, those are my guys, right,
and you can you can be more objective. You mentioned

(41:23):
the writing on the wall and sort of how you
know the I don't know the fatigue of FRAN has
crept in or just the program in general. You see
it all the time on Twitter, people complaining about empty
stadium and well, the girls fill the stadium and if
the Ben's program was just as exciting they'd be able
to as well. Do you see objectively some some valid

(41:47):
concerns with with the excitement around the program as far
as filling seats, any object or criticisms of Fran that
you could be like, yeah, that those kind of makes sense,
Like how do how do you view that stuff? Because
obviously there was something to it, right, there's he doesn't
they don't part ways for no reason.

Speaker 5 (42:07):
Fee himself tell me to.

Speaker 1 (42:10):
Go fuck myself. I'm curious for a player because when
I see criticisms of KF in the program, it's like
the initial reaction is like it's tugging on your heart, right,
I'm like, no, fuck you, that's wrong. Right, you're wrong.
But KF isn't a perfect isn't a perfect guy, right?
He could probably be a little bit more modern on
the offensive side of the ball. And it only took
him twenty five years to get there. Maybe we're getting

(42:31):
there with Tim Lester and so same thing. Fran's not
a perfect coach, not a perfect guy. Maybe there's some
things he could have done better, And I just I
just it's an interesting That's that's what pops to my
head as a former player, Like how you view should
there have been writing on the wall? What would have
given him a better chance to stay? What could he
have done better to to maybe get him out of this?

(42:52):
I personally feel like Caitlyn killed the men's program. She
just everyone cares about the women's program now and grant
our our producer on the show, former student that just
graduated from Iowa. He's like, no, dude, if the men's
I was like, dude, I don't know. I think Caitlyn
literally murdered the men's program and they couldn't have done
anything about it. It's just that Caitlyn clerk. I don't
know unintentionally, But what are your thoughts on that?

Speaker 4 (43:14):
Sure?

Speaker 3 (43:14):
You know, I think and you guys, guys kind of
bring up a point like I don't think everything about
kind of how this program went can be evaluated a vacuum.
I think it's always people want to kind of like
view someone say, oh, hey, this is like the sole
reason it's like, well, like there's you know, some just
some context there where I can say, like objectively, yeah,
I saw I had a chance to go a few
games this year, like definitely from a crowded ten and
the standpoint wasn't where the program.

Speaker 4 (43:35):
Wants to be and not where it should be.

Speaker 3 (43:38):
I would caution against like fully one hundred percent blaming you,
like coach kf for the program in general. I thought, like,
looking back on it, even like my time there, like
we had a pretty bad season like fourteen nineteen, one
of the worst seasons during his tenure, and so for
the most part, Tenant's pretty decent, like still attractive brand
of basketball. I think when you look at the perfect
storm of post COVID, you know, obviously the success and

(43:59):
rise of Woman's program, and then this team kind of
having you know, a disappointing year, maybe you know, two
years lumped in there, Like, I think that's kind of
the storm where there's a little bit of lack of
fan engagement. So as much as I'd love to, you know,
stand up here and say, you know, coach Cavy's the
perfect person, I don't even think you'd go that far.
But there's definitely some areas where some of that definitely

(44:20):
didn't benefit the program. I think also just like the
landscapes really changed in college basketball the last couple of
years too, which for better or worse, especially around like NIL,
I think it's been an issue that's been tough for
the program to kind of what we've come with not
having as deep a pockets of some of our competitors.
But but I recognize from an objective lens, if I

(44:41):
take off my Iowa hoops, you know, career knowledge, like
taking off of those glasses, I definitely can see there's
some areas where the program was a little bit stagnant, but.

Speaker 4 (44:53):
I just think the bummers.

Speaker 3 (44:54):
I think for the most part, the same things that
made it stagnant were also made it successful, Like the
same like attrack random basketball that brought people in is
also kind of you know, maybe what didyly to some
attendants as well, But nothing to be viewed in a actum,
I suppose. So that's my very long winded answer for you, Tyler.

Speaker 4 (45:09):
I hope that provide a.

Speaker 1 (45:10):
Little It's great. I think the main point there of
it being multi factorial, Like it's not just frans job,
it's not just the player's job, best's job, the mixture
of the women's program, on the rise, COVID stuff like,
there are quite literally one hundred million factors that all
play a role, and sometimes it's just a perfect storm.

(45:32):
I think two like and maybe it's part of that
the fans had the women's program to attach to, so
so on the on the men's side, I think that
the fans aren't totally out of the loop on that either,
like they don't have and this will people love this
because I always talk about the fans, like because they

(45:54):
think I hate the fans, but like the reality is
is like I think patience levels for humans these days
isn't They're not high, right, and we get everything is
right now. Open up your phone, you can go to Twitter.
You can get the news right now. Right, you go
to the corner. You can get your fast food right now.

(46:14):
Your coffee is right around the corner. Order it, walk in,
grab it right off the shelf. There's just not a
lot of patients. And especially like you said, with the
nil and the portal era and you see teams turn
around someone it's like, all right, bang, you can go
to Ben McCollum walks into Drake after brings it a
whole new team. They make the round to thirty two

(46:35):
and year one right with a coach from D two.
It's like, okay, so now why can't any Division one
program with more money, more recent sources do the same
thing with another coach. And that's what fans see. Frankly,
I think that's what athletic departments and ads see, and
they're like, yeah, we're just gonna do that, especially if
we have a lot of money. And so I think
literally some of it is just like we've had Fran

(46:58):
for fifteen years, let's just get somebody else. And the
unfortunate side of that is there is a human Fran
McCaffrey on the other side of that that has to
that has to to bear the brunt of I'm the
one who's now out. I'm the one who's now like
kicked to the curb after this fifteen everything I've given
to the University of Iowa, and then people like you
who are connected have relationships were his players. That hurts.

(47:21):
But from the other side, it's like it's it's not
even personal almost, it's just the way that it is.
And so it's really unfortunate. But I don't know, man,
it's it's a it's it's crazy.

Speaker 3 (47:31):
I think what it's gonna be interesting for me is
like if some of these same reasons or kind of
like n excuse me, but more like reasons for lack
of engagement still persist with a new coach or not.
Like I think, obviously there's gonna be some new buzz
bringing a new coach no matter you know what program.
It is, like, there's gonna be some of that. I
think the number one area in fact that I'm looking
at to see if Iomen's baskets gonna be successful is

(47:52):
if the afflic department size, they're invest in it more
substantially than in past years. I think, like I saw
from basically from my experience anecdotally with the program, but
also just in general with a nil era, like not
to lay everything at nil, but it's really hard to
win if you have some pretty low coffers, and with
kind of the new rev sharing, you know, opportunities that

(48:13):
be coming here you have to settlement gets passed like
there is gonna be more investment in the program hopefully,
but I kind of start obviously bringing a coach, giving
them some funds to bring in the right guys, and
from there I think we'll be able to kind of
tell if this program is going to be invested in substantially.

Speaker 4 (48:30):
So that's kind of what I'm looking at. I'm as
someoney who played for the Basketall program and it's been
a lifelong fan. I sure hope it happens that there's
kind of that proper level of investment to compete at
a high level. I'm optimisty it can happen, but that's
where I feel a little bit bummed, as kind of
like fans being upset that this team wasn't where they
wanted it to be, but also there wasn't kind of
a level of investment from like I'm not asking Joe

(48:52):
she WoT to commit like twenty more dollars to Iomen's basketball,
but just from like a high level, like from an
nil standpoint thing, we were caught on our heels a
little bit, and I hope that changes here.

Speaker 5 (49:02):
Yeah, I mean the report is that as far as
basketball goes, like we're in the bottom third of the
Big Ten, right.

Speaker 3 (49:08):
And yeah, I would say I saw like someone on Twitter,
which is always funny, I'm sure you guys relate to
this now like iow basketball and like the bottom third
of the Big Ten.

Speaker 4 (49:18):
They're only paying their guys three hundred grand a year.
As I was like, like.

Speaker 1 (49:24):
God, damn, I love grand a year, man, I know, no.

Speaker 3 (49:27):
Kidding, which, like that part's funny in itself of like
just how much has changed was we graduate, But also
like that number wasn't accurate either, like I would say,
like that's definitely below that as well on like the
high end and kind of what I know from what
guys are getting offered from these other schools with deeper pockets,
like it was almost kind of incredible that we able
to maintain the team that we had based on the
level of conference that we had, so.

Speaker 4 (49:47):
Hopefully that changes. But but yeah, three hundred grand mean
being considered on the low end and does sound like
a bad gig.

Speaker 5 (49:55):
So no, it's a that's a pretty damn good gig
to go to school and play bass.

Speaker 1 (50:00):
Bro. Could you nick? What would you have done with
three hundred g's?

Speaker 4 (50:03):
Dude, what I've done?

Speaker 3 (50:06):
I would have been smart, definitely put it, put some,
put some away for a rainy day fund. I'm invest
Outside of that, dude, I probablyould have taken answer.

Speaker 4 (50:16):
I would have taken a crazy trip for sure. It's funny.

Speaker 3 (50:20):
I'm planning a trip now over to Europe with my
wife and just like looking back on that, like if
we had a chance to do as part of the
part we did a foreign trip once every four years,
moving over to Europe and had a chance like and
looking back on that experience, like get a chance to
go over to Europe with all my buddies for like
nine to ten days when someone else's dime, Like, that's
about all the nle I would have thought I would
ever needed, like get a chance like have all that

(50:40):
kind of experience. So but no, well, question for you guys.
If you guys had three hundred grand a year for
being a long snapper, what's what are you running up?

Speaker 4 (50:49):
Same thing?

Speaker 1 (50:50):
I'm going right into the invesco QQQ, dude, give me this,
give me VT I uh, you know, the just then
of it right into the stock market, and then uh,
I don't know. Me and Kevin would have just we
would have been we would have had so much, so
much more poncheros than we already had.

Speaker 4 (51:08):
Not like.

Speaker 1 (51:10):
Dumbest, dumbest, most boring clover answer.

Speaker 5 (51:13):
For anybody who's who's But I'm honestly, dude, you're eighteen
to twenty two. If that's not what you're doing, it's
inherently the wrong choice. But at the same time, you
got to think it depends for each guy. Like if
you're like going definitely going to go to the NBA,
like you're gonna make so much more money, go ahead
and spend it right now, all right half the time
of your life, go crazy.

Speaker 4 (51:34):
I don't.

Speaker 1 (51:34):
Yeah, But even then like injury, like you can't you
got to put some of it away. I mean, Kevin
and I would have I already tried with like so
every year when we went to a bowl game. We
got like four hundred bucks.

Speaker 4 (51:43):
Liked, what no for Drake?

Speaker 5 (51:47):
What's the local casino at the.

Speaker 1 (51:49):
Bum for Drake? It did for me every year because
I'm like a workout CrossFit junkie, I'd like buy four
hundred dollars worth of more equipment, like a barbell, you know,
some like a pull up ball, are some weights. And
now to the point where like started literally in twenty
fourteen with our first bowl money and now for the
last ten eleven years, I've built into my now home

(52:10):
gym that's like pretty damn good, full of equipment and stuff.
But that's the only thing I would have spent it on.

Speaker 5 (52:16):
Here's what I'm kind of curious about is back in college,
we paid correct me from Roncouver three hundred and thirty
dollars a month for rent.

Speaker 1 (52:26):
I think it was it might have started there, I
think we I think we finished around like three eighty
and then and then utilities on top of that.

Speaker 5 (52:33):
Yeah, it was pretty It's pretty ridiculously cheap. These guys
are getting paid in set. Where are they living in
Iowa City? Like are they just all posted up in
the Chauncy downtown or like, where are these guys deciding
to live now that.

Speaker 3 (52:45):
I related to you guys, my my rent was three
or ninety two dollars a month and I lived on
the basement floor of an apartment right outside Carver Hockey Arena.

Speaker 4 (52:53):
Got flooded twice. But I would meet another walk on.

Speaker 3 (52:57):
Family friends it was like, yeah, we're not, like, you know,
going crazy, but I would imagine I think I don't
obviously I don't have these guys out just anything. But
I think they're probably living a little bit better than
I was living, which is good. I'm glad, you know
it is good. That's the thing too. It's like I
don't think people. I don't want people to think I'm
just like you raised my fist the sky, like, ah, no,
how dare these guys? Like No, I'm glad that people

(53:18):
are having this experience in that. It's always so funny
because like what I was always told in college was
like no one would ever pay you that, like there's
no market for that, so like, don't even bother and
like now that has just been blown to s Miller.

Speaker 1 (53:29):
Hey, but hey, you get Hey, did you get in
on this nil compensation thing on the back?

Speaker 5 (53:33):
Did absolutely?

Speaker 4 (53:34):
And I don't.

Speaker 5 (53:35):
Yeah, okay, what do we We're like two weeks away
from a final decision on that April seventh or seventh
April seventh.

Speaker 4 (53:42):
Were you able to get.

Speaker 3 (53:43):
Your calendar for anything, any specific reason, Tyler, or just
just curious out of.

Speaker 1 (53:47):
I would I want forty grand from the ncl A.
That's why I got it on my fucking calendar. Yeah, right,
And so it came to mind, I was like, oh,
Nick's definitely a part of that. He's got he's got
a some ears on that as well, So it should
be interesting to see what happens. I really hope that nothing,
like there's no hiccups and they're like, oh, there's.

Speaker 5 (54:07):
A lot of people that are pissed off of this ruling,
so well, it's very possible the judge does not allow
this ruin to go through.

Speaker 1 (54:13):
But it's very sad.

Speaker 4 (54:14):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (54:14):
If you thought there was an NCAA settlement and Jordan
Bohannon wouldn't have let me known about it, that's you.

Speaker 1 (54:20):
That's I had me well well informed there, which will
probably say you all a PowerPoint like.

Speaker 3 (54:27):
He filled me in with as much information as like
ever possibly need, probably.

Speaker 4 (54:31):
More than that.

Speaker 5 (54:31):
Speaking of speaking of not getting in on it are
former third co straight did. It's like two days after
the deadline to sign up.

Speaker 1 (54:42):
He's like, Hey, when did I have to sign up
for that?

Speaker 5 (54:46):
I texted all these guys like a month before, Hey, hey,
get in on this all right and do it? And
he's just like, man, I forgot, Like, Bro, you don't
have a job. What are you so busy with?

Speaker 4 (54:57):
You? Dude?

Speaker 5 (54:58):
Minutes?

Speaker 1 (54:58):
Probably the biggest bag FuMB I've ever seen in my life. Yeah,
that's that's tough. It is funny though, the nil stuff.
I just you can relate because you're a guy that
was just like us, Like, literally, give me an extra
four thousand dollars a month and I am going to
feel like I am Jeff Bezos okay, and like I

(55:21):
can do anything now. I am God. I have all
of the money. Four thousand dollars a month, Give me
less than fifty a year.

Speaker 4 (55:29):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (55:29):
As a twenty year old kid, you know you're still
going to school full time, You're still spending so much
time with your athletics, You're getting all your food for free.
I don't even know, like how I would have spent
for it.

Speaker 1 (55:42):
Well, I was gonna say, you guys were a big golfers.
Did you golf a lot?

Speaker 5 (55:45):
Nick?

Speaker 3 (55:45):
I did not start golf until posts college, but golf
quite a bit now. But I would if our team
had the kind of money that you know the market
has now, I would shudder to think the bills we
would run up at Summit or any of these bars
and downtown i City, Like I would shudder to think
where that money would have gone.

Speaker 4 (56:02):
But hey, you go back to the Iowa City community,
you know, just you know, getting that cat right right
back into the community. That's how we reinvest.

Speaker 5 (56:09):
So yeah, local economy.

Speaker 1 (56:13):
I'm just I'm just here to support my local businesses.

Speaker 4 (56:17):
Man. That's it.

Speaker 1 (56:18):
With my nil dollars. I would have loved to see
Nicholas bear on a on a on a couple of
advertisements around town. That would have been fantastic.

Speaker 3 (56:24):
If you guys had a If you guys could have
had one when you were in college. Is there only
like one that stands out to you.

Speaker 4 (56:29):
Like, oh, man, I would have from Iowa City or
just like yeah, it's like so and so business or organization.
I was citty reached out to you.

Speaker 5 (56:36):
I've got a little ponchero saying that back.

Speaker 1 (56:39):
In the day, What was it, Kluve, Well, yeah, one's
a snack, two's a meal is Kevin's big saying with burritos,
so like that, I probably would.

Speaker 5 (56:48):
I would have loved to have a little little deal
with Ponchero's with that saying.

Speaker 1 (56:51):
I still to this day think that we're going to
get a sponsorship or do a little like advertising for
Dane's Dairy. Yeah, or Heinze ice cream, which is what
bo introduced us, so a big ice cream guy. The
one that comes to mind actually first though, is not
for me, keV. It was for Josie and bo At

(57:13):
Finn and Feather.

Speaker 4 (57:15):
Yeah, that would have custom made.

Speaker 1 (57:17):
Yeah they would. They could have just done some amazing
stuff for them. I mean it would have been great.

Speaker 5 (57:23):
So going there like every other day, I gotta go
to Finn Feather gets more, gets more something something, you know.

Speaker 1 (57:31):
I remember we went in there one time. We wasted.
I still have a picture in my phone. We wasted
like ninety minutes or two hours. We didn't buy a
single thing, but we just walked around the entire store
and just like took it off the shelves like it was.
It was hilarious.

Speaker 5 (57:43):
It was I think Josie spent about ten times as
much time at finn Feather than you did fishing our
entire four You.

Speaker 1 (57:51):
Probably yeah, yeah, cool, Well, Nick Barrett, thanks for joining
the show. Uh, the tournament is going to work its
way down. Who you had duke winning? Right?

Speaker 4 (58:04):
I duke winning.

Speaker 3 (58:06):
I think it's gonna be relatively chalky here going through.
If I had to pick a team where I'm like, hey,
this team potentially make a run or at least fun
to watch. Is this BYU team? I'm sure everybody had
a chance to watch them last night or yeah, previous night.
But like they have shooters, they have incredible athletes. This
guy Kayakada is sixty eight two thirty rebounds everything, just

(58:28):
don't everything rebounds everything, something that I really enjoyed getting
chance to watch and enjoyed them being Wisconsin last night, so.

Speaker 4 (58:35):
They can make a deep runs like a sixteed potentially.

Speaker 3 (58:37):
I know they're running the duke eventually, but I don't
have a round of kind of the nightcap here later
here on Sunday night. But but yeah, it should be
another good couple weeks of basketball here.

Speaker 1 (58:48):
The fans will hear this after this game has concluded.
But Iowa women will play Oklahoma in a six to
three matchup tomorrow as we record this. Have you got
a chance to watch a lot of women this year
at all? And and how do we feel about their chances?
I feel like they're a dangerous team. They could they
could make the second weekend here.

Speaker 3 (59:05):
Yeah, a little bit. I've had a chance to watch
them a little bit. So they ran Murray State right
off the road there. I just saw everybody score, which
is great. I mean, that's pretty cool experience for everybody
to get in. So I think I will profess I
haven't watched a whole lot of Oklahoma women's basketball this year,
so I am not as well versed on their team,
but on the whole, I've been pretty impressed with this.
I a women's team, how they can continue to make

(59:27):
a run, and it's kind of what they do in March.
So looking forward to it.

Speaker 1 (59:30):
I have you conn as my champion and the women's bracket.
But currently I am I'll just tell you, I yeah,
I'm like you, nick I again with those upsets I
was picking I. This is quite literally the worst year
of the brackets that I've ever done. I'm currently in
the seventeenth percentile. I'm ranked twenty one millions. And yeah,
I'm just I'm horrible.

Speaker 5 (59:51):
I'm just horrible.

Speaker 4 (59:52):
I think I'm in twenty two percent.

Speaker 1 (59:54):
So we have a walk we have a Walk on
Army bracket. So like some of our best listeners of
the podcast, patrons, subscrib we did a bracket. There's fifty
fifty four total people. I am fifty I'm fifty third
of fifty four.

Speaker 4 (01:00:10):
So there's room for improvement. And that's that's why I'm
hearing there's any for growth there, Tyler.

Speaker 1 (01:00:14):
There's a lot of there's a lot of room for growth.
I'm just it's it's a tough year. I did I
wanted one of our listeners to win. I'm just going
to go with that. I let them, I let them
be a part of it. So, my man, thank you
for coming on, give us a little perspective, a little
basketball talk. This is uh probably any This is better
than anything we could have done as far as just

(01:00:34):
me and Kevin talking tonight. So we appreciate it.

Speaker 4 (01:00:37):
Well appreciate you guys having me on. So I think
you's had eat your eggs.

Speaker 1 (01:00:41):
We'll talk to you next time.

Speaker 5 (01:00:42):
Until then, we check out the plug. The show one
last time my friend.

Speaker 4 (01:00:45):
Yeah, yeah, Three Points Podcasts. I put a tweet out
every episode.

Speaker 3 (01:00:49):
Feel free to follow me on Twitter, Nicolas Fair, but
we're a bit on Spotify Apple. Yeah, title is three
Points Podcasts. We'll probably ge an episode out here following
this round of games, so likely two there wins. But yeah,
I appreciate you guys having me on. Always a pleasure.

Speaker 1 (01:01:04):
Here you go worldwide, see you then, Hey, thanks for
listening to the show. If you want more, you can
check us out on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube by
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(01:01:24):
benefits the kids at UI Children's Hospital. We'll see you
next time hawks. Buy a million