The "Gators Win It" Edition

Florida basketball takes a late lead over Houston to win the National Title in San Antonio.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Each time or Clipson Sports Talk with Lawton Swan.

Speaker 2 (00:42):
Finally, Clemson Sports Talk has come back to drive time.
Hell everybody long, the Swan back in the saddle once again.
It is the show that shakes the south Land. Clemson
Sports Tal for you each and every afternoon as you
make your way around the great state of South Carolina
and beyond, listening to us on incredible radio stations like

(01:04):
Fox Sports Radio fourteen hundred the Midlands, heard around the
world on the iHeartRadio application downloaded today, It's free the website.
Put the dot com on it, dog on it. That's
Clemson Sports Talk dot com eight O three four five
zero zero eighty six text line, phone line. And again

(01:27):
the show that shakes the South Lane brought to you
in part by our good friends over at Mets Plumbing
seven three to two Drip, Drip drip. You know the
jingle seven three to two drip Also Mets Plumbing, mets
Plumbing dot com. Also I've also picked up that little
jingle as well. Last night in the National Championship Game,

(01:52):
it was heartbreak for the Houston Cougars as they led
for or basically the entirety of the ball game. I
think Florida's last lead before they took their final lead
was eight to six with fifteen thirty seven remaining in

(02:15):
the first half. They would take the lead with just
forty six seconds remaining, I think they said on the broadcast.
At that point, Florida had led for a grand total
of seventeen seconds somewhere along that range.

Speaker 3 (02:34):
Add to that.

Speaker 2 (02:35):
The forty six that they would lead in the final moments,
and the Gators are your twenty twenty five national champions,
sixty five sixty three, leading for a minute and what
three seconds in the ballgame?

Speaker 3 (02:54):
And it wasn't.

Speaker 2 (02:55):
It did not play out the way that I projected
or thought it would. I thought Walter Clayton would have
a big night.

Speaker 3 (03:02):
He didn't.

Speaker 2 (03:02):
He was still the mop, the mop, the most outstanding player,
far from perfect in this ballgame. As a matter of fact,
when Houston ballooned their lead up to I think twelve
points with sixteen to twenty four remaining in the second half,

(03:25):
the Gators went away from their star. They put him
on the bench for a few minutes, let Walter Clayton
settle in, and then the comeback began to the tune
of where Florida pulled with him one point with seven
minutes and fifty four seconds left, when Clayton came back in,
they ran a little wheel route for him, basically.

Speaker 3 (03:48):
Hit him in the paint for a layup. Forty eight.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
Forty seven was to score at that point. The two
teams went back and forth, but Florida could never gain
the lead until the waning again with forty seven seconds left.
I believe it was the forty six seconds left when
Elijah Martin hit a couple of free throws that put
the Gators in front sixty four sixty three, and they

(04:16):
would hold on over the final forty six seconds to
get the victory and hoist their third national championship. Houston
left to wait and watch. Kelvin Sampson, aging in his career,
had a team that was certainly good enough to win

(04:38):
the national championship, but could not finish and on the
final play, ironically, it was Walter Payton Junior's defense.

Speaker 3 (04:51):
That would give the Gators the victory.

Speaker 2 (04:55):
As Houston attempted to win, I thought that was a
questionable call, Like, if we're gonna question anything about that game,
maybe opting to go for the three pointer at the
end instead of maybe trying to drive and get foul.
Maybe get a tying bucket and go to overtime.

Speaker 3 (05:17):
Instead.

Speaker 2 (05:18):
Walter Clayton rotates out just as a manual. Sharp for
Houston is in the middle of his shooting motion, and
who knows, maybe if he shoots it, maybe he gets
it off. But he made one of the fatal mistakes
that players can make when they leave their feet in

(05:38):
the game.

Speaker 3 (05:40):
Even if he.

Speaker 2 (05:42):
Has not dribbled at that point, you cannot begin to dribble.
Sharp pushed the ball down towards the ground, then tried
to shield off his man to give another Houston player
an opportunity to get his hands on the ball, and
they could not, and the game would end. And for

(06:05):
Kelvin Sampson, all he could do was stand on the sidelines.
He didn't move the whole possession, that final possession. Kelvin
Sampson just watched as a national championship opportunity slipped through
his fingers last night out in San Antonio, sixty five

(06:25):
to sixty three the final. It was the first national
championship in hoops for the SEC, who had a record
setting fourteen teams in the NCAA tournament since Kentucky won
the title back in twenty twelve. By the way, speaking
of the Wildcats, my buddy Brad called me today. The

(06:47):
scoreboard lights in San Antonio haven't completely cooled down yet
from last night's national championship, and my buddy Brad called
me and said, Swane, my Wildcats brought in a couple
of really good plays out of the portal. Keep your
eyes on them, so we'll see if indeed we hear
a little string music from Lexington Ky next season in

(07:11):
college hoops. But today is about the national champions and
that's the Florida Gators. They finished the season thirty six
and four.

Speaker 3 (07:21):
And maybe.

Speaker 2 (07:26):
More impressively or maybe more concerning for the fans around
the country with this whole nil era, is what Todd
Golden winning a national title, being the youngest coach at

(07:47):
just age thirty nine to win a championship, the youngest
coach that's nineteen eighty three, when Jimmy v Jim Valvano
in NC State won the title over ironically Houston. What
something like this could mean for a guy who was
in just his third year at a program in this
era of college basketball, the significance of bringing home a

(08:11):
championship in Gainesville. And furthermore, I'm not gonna try to
pretend that the Florida Gators are going to abandon ship
when it comes down to football by any means.

Speaker 1 (08:28):
Your fella's been doing a bit of boozing.

Speaker 4 (08:30):
Have you sucking back on Grandpa's old cough medicine?

Speaker 2 (08:34):
But it is hard to imagine that in the NIL era,
in the Southeastern Conference, where money flows of plenty, that
you wouldn't as a program say, you know what, let's
take this and push.

Speaker 3 (08:53):
It even further.

Speaker 2 (08:55):
We've got a young coach, We've got a bank roll.
We're in a power league, and a league that is
obviously with fourteen teams in whether you and I thought
there should have been, it's a league disrespected by those
that are putting teams into the tournament. Let's do it again.

(09:20):
Let's win another national championship. Let's sow the seeds of
success on the hardwood in Gainesville. It was the fourth
comeback in six NCAA Tournament games for the Gators this year.

Speaker 3 (09:36):
They led.

Speaker 2 (09:36):
As I mentioned, I see the number now. I did
the math earlier while I'm on the air. That's one
thing you'll learn pretty quickly here in this sport is
or in this business is do not do math on
the air.

Speaker 5 (09:49):
Dumb, you know how to get mad.

Speaker 2 (09:51):
I call you a dumb because the math inn doesn't
always math. The Gators led a total of sixty four seconds,
including the final fourty, So what I missed it by
a second? I mean, I'll give myself. I give myself
a little leeway here. I think I thought they led
seventeen seconds. I guess it was eighteen before the break,

(10:14):
if that math is even right. So that's how I'm
feeling about it. Kelvin Sampson after the game called it
incomprehensible that the Cougars could not get a shot off
on either of their last two possessions. Samson saying of
Walter Clayton Jr. Clayton made a great play, but that's

(10:37):
why you've got a shot fake and get.

Speaker 3 (10:39):
Into the paint.

Speaker 2 (10:40):
Two is fine, and therein lies I guess the answer
to sort of the question that I ran through earlier,
like the decision making there to go for the three,
to go for the win versus dribble, dry penetrate, kick
all of the positives.

Speaker 3 (10:59):
But in that.

Speaker 2 (11:02):
As the clock is winding down, I don't care how
many games you've played in. I don't care how big
the stage is. When that clock is against you, you
feel it. And I think Houston began to feel the
waning moments of that game. I mentioned Walter Clayton Junior

(11:26):
being the most outstanding player. He did finish with eleven points,
just three of ten shooting one of seven from the field.
Will Richard had eighteen in the game. Somebody said his
dad played at Clemson. I think I saw that on
social Media's dad was an alignment on the offensive line
back in the day, or maybe on the defensive line

(11:48):
back in the day. Alex Condon for the Gators had twelve.
The biggest thing that surprised me the Gators' length didn't
really do a whole lot to intimidate Houston. And credit
the Cougars. They sort of played their game, you know,
kind of scrabble ball, just out there making plays all

(12:12):
over the place, being aggressive, defensively, switching out, causing a
little havoc, and you know, they controlled that game. And
credit to Florida for in the waning moments, you know,

(12:33):
when you're down four or five points, for being resilient
and continuing to battle. I mean they were down by
what five points with nine h seven left, and I
guess they pulled it pretty tight, and you had a
little back and forth for the final seven minutes or so.
But I mean, there was there was no reason that

(12:58):
Houston didn't close that game out. When they got a twelve,
the Cougars were in control. Florida was on the ropes,
and you know, to have that game come down to
the final few possessions the way it did, not to
mention just when the Gators got back into the thick

(13:20):
of things. You may recall this moment one of the
players from Houston drives to the basket. I can't remember
who that was right now, but there was a foul
called on Ruben Chinnelu and he slams the ball to
the ground, gets a technical foul. Houston makes I think

(13:45):
three of the four free throws in that moment to.

Speaker 3 (13:47):
Take the lead.

Speaker 2 (13:50):
But credit the older guys like Elijah Martin and Walter Clayton, etc.
For going over and talking to Chinelu and saying, hey,
can't do that, and Chinlelu came out of the game.
But you know, I think being and look, it's it's
not as if Houston was young either that's a big,

(14:12):
very mature squad, but to have guys out there to
pull him over, to not let that moment blow up,
the momentum that Florida had late in that ball game,
that was key. The other thing too, that I wondered

(14:33):
about watching Chinley play, and maybe this has been all season,
but you know, guys can't play with like ear rings in.
You can't play with a nose ring in. He had
sea shells. He had some of those shells in his hair.

(14:56):
I don't I don't have a problem with people, you know,
having like ornamental items in their hair. I was shocked though,
that chin Alou was allowed to have those seashells in
his hair during the game. When you can't have you

(15:16):
can't wear a watch, you can't wear ear rings. I'm
pretty sure some of these guys that play in college
basketball probably have the hoops in their ears. I don't
really know what you call those. I had a roommate
in college that had them.

Speaker 3 (15:33):
What did he call those things? Not spacers? It doesn't matter,
but you.

Speaker 2 (15:40):
Know what I mean, like where they make the little
the circles in your ear. I don't think you can
play with those in.

Speaker 3 (15:47):
He had the little.

Speaker 2 (15:50):
I don't know what kind of seashell is, but he
had a little seashell, maybe just one or two in
his hair, and I was like, hold up, you can't
have seashells in your hair and be on the court,
can you.

Speaker 3 (16:07):
I mean, maybe you can. And I just didn't know it.

Speaker 6 (16:11):
I guess we both learned a little something about each
other today, didn't we.

Speaker 3 (16:14):
Yeah, I didn't know that I learned something, so did you.

Speaker 2 (16:19):
I don't have a real problem with it, but I
do find it peculiar that you can't wear ear rings.
I mean, obviously you can wear rec specs or glasses.
There was a kid that played for was it McNeice
that was in the tournament that looked like Baane. There

(16:42):
was a player that was wearing a mask that little
like Bane from Batman. Can't remember who what team that
was might have been. Maybe it was Louisville, maybe I
was in the a SEC tournament. Anyway, Florida, you're national champion.
Sixty five sixty three the final score, and of course
you couldn't even get the championship to Gainesville before the

(17:05):
way too early top twenty five lists came out. We
could take a look at that in a little bit.
Clemson basketball, however, did finish ranked in the polls. Clempson
finished ranked twenty second in the Associated Press Poll. Tim Bray,
who joins the program on Thursdays, tweeted out that Graham Nef,

(17:31):
Clemson University Athletic director, became the first ad to have
a football program and a men's basketball program finished in
the AP top twenty five in consecutive years in Clemson history,
which gives you an idea of how inconsistent Clemson basketball
has been over the years. I think that is the

(17:52):
first big indicator for me on that front. Again today,
I know it's a Tuesday and we typically have our
buddy Mike Eva, but we're gonna roll him over. We're
gonna have William Qualkin Bush, and we tried to get
up with yesterday, but we were not able to connect

(18:12):
with him. I wanted to get his.

Speaker 3 (18:14):
Vibe on.

Speaker 2 (18:16):
Having to turn around real quick from a weekend series
in cal Obviously, the Clemson Tiger baseball team does not
play until tomorrow. They got to match up with Gardner
Webb at Doug Kingsmore Stadium and then a three game
series this weekend taking on Stanford. But when I think about,

(18:40):
like how difficult that must be for the players. I mean,
I don't know if they had a couple of days
off from practice this week or what, but I can't
imagine that even as young as they are. You know,
Tommy Bowden likes to give me grief when I talk

(19:02):
about how I think, you know, players can maybe get
a little worn down at certain points in the season,
and he'll tell you they're out dancing at the clubs
until two am. But I do wonder, realistically, with that
kind of travel that Clemson just had out the Cow,

(19:23):
you know, having a few days off, how important that is.
And I think Qualt because he traveled with the team,
or he traveled it. You know, he didn't travel with
the team like directly, but he did make the flight
out the Cow and back. And I'll be interested to
hear what his week's been like as he's kind of
settled in off the after the return trip from a

(19:45):
pretty hectic weekend.

Speaker 3 (19:47):
All right, quick break.

Speaker 2 (19:48):
When we come back, one former Tiger basketballer announces where
he's going to play, and it's a head scratcher. We'll
tell you who and where right after this stay with us.
Clemsons georts Tall the show that Chase the south Land
on a Tuesday. So last night, during the National Championship
between Houston and Florida, the news came out on social

(20:11):
media that Del Jones, former Clemson guard.

Speaker 3 (20:15):
Had committed to a school. And you know, I think.

Speaker 2 (20:23):
That most of us watched del Jones this past season
and felt like I did that you know, he had
a chance to be a pretty good basketball player with
a couple of years of experience, And I mean there
were some moments that there were flashes. I didn't know
if he'd end up at you know, who knows Georgia

(20:45):
Tech and the Conference.

Speaker 3 (20:48):
Mississippi State.

Speaker 2 (20:49):
I mean, who knows where del Jones might have ended up.
But the decision was pretty shocking to me as he
lands at Radford.

Speaker 3 (21:04):
Now.

Speaker 2 (21:06):
In fairness to del Jones, he's a kid who was
born in Landover, Maryland, but I think he played his
high school ball out in Arizona at Azy Compass Prep School.
To end up at Radford was a rather shocking result

(21:28):
for me. I mean, he's certainly gonna play a lot.
I can't imagine that he wouldn't. Del Jones is a
six foot two guard played in thirty two games for
Clemson this past season, averaging three point eight points per game,
one point five rebounds, and one assist in eleven minutes
of action. So the Big South not a power for program.

(21:55):
I don't even know. I can't even imagine. There's a
whole lot in the coffers of the Radford nil. Like
there are guys that leave a program, and you know,
go back to a year ago when when R. J.
Godfrey left and went to Georgia. You went, man, that
stinks he's going to Georgia. He's going to power for program.

(22:21):
Radford plays in the same conference with Winthrop, Presbyterian, Charleston,
Southern USC, Upstate. There's some regionality to where he'll be playing.
I mean, he's gonna be in the state of South
Carolina quite a bit during the regular season.

Speaker 3 (22:42):
But for.

Speaker 2 (22:45):
That to be the move, I'd be lying to you
if if I said I wasn't scratching my head. And
it does make you wonder, and again, we never know
underneath the surface of all of these things, but it
it does make me wonder if there was some sort

(23:06):
of you know, was it grades.

Speaker 3 (23:11):
You know?

Speaker 2 (23:12):
Or was it And I don't want to ever insinuate
that the kids not doing one in the classroom. But I
would think if your grades weren't good, getting into another
Power Forward program might be a problem, and you might
be finding out on the open market that you might
be best suited to go and play a year at

(23:35):
a slightly lower level. But yes, I would tell you one.
That was a shocking post that came across on social
media just before halftime of the Houston, Florida National Championship
game last night. Again, I don't know where I expected

(23:58):
him to go. I really don't like. I didn't like
write down a list of like Dell Jones destinations, but
Radford was.

Speaker 3 (24:08):
Not on that list. Trust me. Maybe a Purdue, maybe
an Illinois.

Speaker 2 (24:17):
I mean, I could go on and on a power
for programs, But to land at Radford, I mean, honestly,
if that's if that's the destination, so to speak, I
don't think Clemson fans you need to feel concerned that
you really missed out on somebody, Not nearly as much

(24:39):
as I thought, because I thought you had the chance
to be a pretty big cog in the system down
the road. But clearly, if helands at Radford, maybe other
coaches have evaluated his game and don't think he's quite
as they used to say back in the day, up
to snuff if you will. So there we go. Oh man,

(25:02):
that was a shocking one for me. Age zero three
four five, zero zero eighty six text line and phone line.
And again, be a part of the program anytime, any place,
anywhere on our website, Clemson Sports.

Speaker 3 (25:16):
Taw dot com.

Speaker 2 (25:17):
You know the other thing I was thinking about last
night during that National Championship game.

Speaker 3 (25:22):
While I've got that.

Speaker 2 (25:23):
On my mind, you know, we've been critical in the
past of like late game scenarios where the clock stops,
YadA YadA. We've talked about that here on the program
quite a bit. But I do find it funny that
the if you're going to have review, like some of
the things that don't get review versus that do.

Speaker 3 (25:43):
I can't remember.

Speaker 2 (25:45):
I think it was Houston in the game last night,
had a shot that went up and was knocked off,
and when they showed the replay like around halftime, I
think it was pretty obvious that it was a It
was a goaltend. It's amazing that some things are reviewed
some things aren't. And I'm all for, as I have

(26:07):
said here on the program in the past, no reviews.
Let's just you know, have natural errors from the officials
and mistakes, and I can live with that. I much
prefer to live with that. Then I do to have
the ability to review some things, not review them, not

(26:34):
review them, and then on the back end go, well,
you know they did miss that review. Like dude, let's
just not review anything if we can't get them all right,
let's just not review anything, or at least go to
what I said, where do it? Like the NFL, let

(26:55):
the coaches say I want a review of that play
right now, I'm throwing a flag.

Speaker 3 (27:00):
Stop the game.

Speaker 2 (27:01):
I want to review and then go from there because
and if you get two right, maybe get a third
or whatever. Because all the review and stoppages that games
had during the NCAA tournament, man, was a real, real
downer for me, real downer. All right, quick break, We'll
come back again. The Clypson Tiger Spring game was this

(27:23):
past weekend. We'll dive into some more conversations with players,
including Khalil Barnes, who spent a few minutes with the
media after the game on Saturday.

Speaker 3 (27:33):
Stay with us.

Speaker 2 (27:34):
Back at it on a Tuesday afternoon. The show The
Shakes to south Land so Khalil Barnes on Saturday had
an interception of QB one K club that can the ballgame?
Panic clerk, No for real, no big deal. Although a
lot of people have commented that they really like the
pace of the spring game because Clemson didn't have to

(27:55):
have commercial breaks, so instead of being like a two
and a half three hour affair, that thing is like
an hour hour in thirty five minutes or something. I mean,
it was ridiculously short, they said. Dabo Sweeney made things entertaining,
kind of controlling the crowd in the stadium on the microphone, etc.
But all that being said, again, Khalil Barnes, who was

(28:16):
a standout freshman I thought took some backsteps this past season,
will certainly be counted on in his junior year to
be one of the lead dogs for Clemson on that
defensive side of the ball in Tom Allen's defense, and
of course one of the lead guys perhaps creating wait

(28:37):
for it, takeaways not turnovers. Remember Clempson is going with
the takeaways theme under Tom Allen. But anyway, back to
Khalil Barnes. Barnes was asked what it meant to him
to still have a spring game when there are programs
out there that currently don't have them.

Speaker 7 (28:58):
Is a good experience because say clutching, not a lot
of other places have a forty coming to a spring
game when.

Speaker 5 (29:04):
It's hot outside and hot for the first time with clutching.
But it was good for us.

Speaker 7 (29:09):
It's good for the young guys to get that experience
in the valley and they.

Speaker 5 (29:12):
All holds some special to us.

Speaker 2 (29:15):
So Khalil Barnes, they were talking about the heat and
forty thousand people potentially being there for the ball game.
I'm not sure it was forty thousand, but hey, you
know what, it was a crowd. Barnes was also asked
about having the seniors back as the captains of the
spring game.

Speaker 7 (29:30):
I know it was cool because you know, obviously the
guys they let our team last year, we got back
to where we wanted to be, not all the way there,
but they got us back and showed.

Speaker 5 (29:38):
Us the steps with leadership.

Speaker 7 (29:39):
So especially cool as seeing like someone like RJ, who
wasn't his vocal when he when I first got here
versus from when I ended him just becoming that guy
who was talking a lot and just helped the leading
the team.

Speaker 2 (29:50):
Of course he was talking about those seniors off the
team a year ago, Mickens bringing stool, et cetera that
were there at the ball game. He was also asked
a about what his favorite moment was from the spring game.

Speaker 7 (30:04):
They probably either way Joe caught his pick or t bone,
just because it's guys that media doesn't talk about a lot.

Speaker 5 (30:13):
They might go under focus, under feeling value.

Speaker 7 (30:16):
But just seeing those guys in the word they put
in just kind of show in front of the guys,
it's cool to see.

Speaker 2 (30:21):
So he talking about t boone getting interceptions. That's of
course Tyler Venables who's back for another year in Clemson,
and Venables did have a pick in the ball game.
In the end zone, I believe is where that one
took place. But either way, that's Khalil Barnes Junior talking
about this twenty twenty five Clemson spring game that took

(30:42):
place on Saturday. He was also asked about what he
saw performance wise from the squad in the game.

Speaker 7 (30:49):
You know what I'm saying, short cost sheet, So it
wasn't a lot of thinking. I think everybody played fast
and I think it's good that we still had a
lot of success. Know where we were on a limited
call sheet. So it's a good step, but we got
to keep going.

Speaker 3 (31:00):
It's a good step, but we got to keep going.

Speaker 2 (31:02):
Khalil Barnes talking about this Clemson Tiger team off of
the heels of that spring game on Saturday. Again, we
talked about the beer price. That's good gravy paying New
York City prices for beer in Death Valley. How many
of you bought a beer? Anybody by two? Good night. Barnes, however,
was also asked about the struggle against the run game

(31:24):
last year and how that's kind of motivated this defensive
unit for this coming season.

Speaker 5 (31:31):
I don't know if you'll talk to coach Allen, but
he is his tone.

Speaker 7 (31:35):
He talked about tackling that for every sentence when he
talks about defense. So just putting the focus on everything
and just us kind of honing in instead of what
to do.

Speaker 5 (31:43):
Just how to tackle. Getting back to.

Speaker 3 (31:48):
Khalil, Barnes was also asked about coach Allen's energy, which
has been noted several times by many players, and what
he's brought to the table at Clemson on the defensive
side of the ball.

Speaker 7 (32:01):
I think it's probably a new level of focus because
it's again, it's not so much he's stressing you on
do you know what to do?

Speaker 5 (32:07):
All this stuff? Like from the instart, he really tells
everything before practice.

Speaker 7 (32:11):
We know he knows we're gonna make mistakes, but mistakes
will eliminate their stuff.

Speaker 5 (32:15):
You play fast and play hard.

Speaker 2 (32:17):
And the final thing from Barnes, he was asked about
how he kind of sees himself as a leader this season,
And for me, the thing that's crazy about it is,
you know it just if you think about it, like
in your mind's eye, it just seems like the other day.
He's making two big plays against South Carolina in the
final game of this freshman season, the scoop and score

(32:39):
and an interception on the next play in Winns Price Stadium,
And here we are talking about this being his junior
year looming. Here's Khalil Barnes on how he sees himself
as a leader.

Speaker 7 (32:50):
I'm like kind of me and KG kind of like
the older people other than TV. So just again just
growing from the freshman year. While I didn't have the
same thing last year, I kind of had doing what
I needed to, but then this year coach Swingey and
coach Kin and all the stress that I've had to
be that vocal guy and a guy that they need
to leave the team.

Speaker 2 (33:09):
So so a little more vocal, you like, you know,
the athleticism that you've seen from Khalil Barnes during his
time at Clemson. Again, I felt like last year he
sort of regressed just a little bit. I think, you know,
one of the things that freshmen can significantly benefit from

(33:33):
is the fact that there's not much film on them,
that there's not much in a sense of you know,
tape for for opponents to view and take advantage of
and exploit weaknesses. And then after you put a year
of film together and I'm look, teams are checking this
stuff out every week. But you know, I think that

(33:53):
that's probably a part of that sophomore slump that we
see so often from players. And not to say that
Barnes had a slump, but he wasn't the playmaker that
he was a year ago, or yeah, you know what
I'm saying of his freshman year. And so from there,
I think you'd like to see, if you're Clemson, I
think you'd really like to see Barnes kind of get

(34:15):
back to where he was his freshman year and have
the same kind of impact on this Clemson Tiger team
in the secondary that he had not to mention. Maybe
with the mindset shift that they've got now with coach
Tom Allen on the defensive side of the ball, maybe
Barnes can become one of those kind of elite ballplayers
that people nationally are talking about in the sense of, Hey,

(34:39):
this is a guy that's gonna turn you over, this
is a guy that's gonna make plays. And if Clemson
kind of becomes that super aggressive defense that kind of
plays that way where turnover has become a signature or
a fixture excuse me, takeaways become a fixture of the defense.
I don't want to coach Allen get mad at me,

(35:00):
fixture of the defense, then Barnes would be one of
the names I'd throw out there as potentially a guy
that's making those types of plays. All right, final segment
of our number one around the ben stay with us.
Final segment of our number one coming up. We are
hoping to be joined by William qualkin Bush Again. Just
a little bit ago, we talked about last night's National
Championship Game sixty five sixty three Florida knocking off Houston.

(35:26):
The Gators lead for just over a minute, but they
get the championship. Man, it's like that sometimes. I know
it's a bitter pill to swallowing Houston today, but it's
like that. I thought both teams played pretty well. Quite frankly,

(35:48):
Florida I thought struggled when they fell behind, But give
them credit for battling back. Because to take Walter Clayton
off the court, the best player in the tournament, and
then have a comeback like that with your star on
the bench, that's gutsy, that's risky. Todd Golden risk it

(36:13):
for the biscuit and it paid off and again for Golden,
a historic championship, the youngest coach to win a title
since nineteen eighty three, and the third championship for Florida
in nineteen seasons after winning two under Billy Donovan. And

(36:37):
I'm not saying you're a basketball school Gator fans, but hey,
as I mentioned earlier, maybe.

Speaker 3 (36:42):
Maybe Poney up the old dough with a young coach.

Speaker 2 (36:50):
With success, Maybe this is where you can really shine
in college athletics because it has not been in p
Although they'll tell you that they're never giving up that goat.
No they'll always battle for that. ESPN, however, put out

(37:11):
a way too early top twenty five, which quite frankly,
is ridiculous. They did give some notes like, if you're
a player ranked in the top twenty or excuse the
top fifty of ESPN's twenty twenty five NBA Draft rankings,
they considered you a departure. Players not ranked in the

(37:31):
top fifty they considered returnees unless they'd already decided they
were leaving the school. So they've got some criteria that
they put together. But here's their top twenty five with
the criteria in place. Number one next season out of

(37:52):
Gates Houston. They've got several players returning, including Manuel Sharp,
Joseph Tuggler, the big man on the interior, and maybe
this is one of the last hoorahs, so to speak
for Kelvin Sampson and to get all that way and
to come up short, man. I know he had some
baggage in Indiana, but he was a fun guy to

(38:15):
follow during the NCAA tournament. Number two on the list,
the Purdue boiler Makers checking in preseason way too early,
top twenty five, whatever you want to call it. In hoops,
they talk about the fact that Purdue has the preseason
Woulden't Award favorite and a two time All American on
the roster, Braden Smith being the best guard in the country.

(38:39):
Next season, he averaged fifteen point eight this year. He
was really good against Houston in that game where they
got beat ended up being his what you would call
heady play that ended up leaving the man open underneath
because he got out coached by Kelvin Sampson, a quick

(39:00):
layup for Houston to advance the Cougars to the final four.
Number three, get this, Pat Kelsey and the Louisville Cardinals
Low the producer extraordinaire is not going to be happy
to hear that. Pat Kelsey and Louisville preseason way too early.

(39:26):
Number three in the country, with the players they've got
coming back, the guys they brought him through the portal,
the job they've done on the recruiting trail. Checking in
at number four. The Yukon Huskies. Obviously, this year was
not a spectacular year for Yukon, but they had won
back to back national championships under Dan Hurley, and Hurley

(39:47):
had some moments this year that kind of made him
seem like a character that you probably would not want
to be around all that often.

Speaker 1 (40:00):
You are one poetical loser.

Speaker 2 (40:02):
You got, you know, pointing at your ring finger at
fans in the stadium. I don't know about you, but
with all the success that Damos when he's had, it's
hard for me to imagine in any venue that the
fans get all him so much and he points towards
the finger and talks about winning a championship. Even for

(40:22):
you game cocks hanging out with us and being a
part of the show, I can't imagine that would ever
be the case.

Speaker 3 (40:29):
And you guys are here daily.

Speaker 4 (40:30):
So you could continue to peek over the fence at
the best radio showing the.

Speaker 2 (40:34):
Naked Number five on the Way Too Early list, Michigan.
The wolver Rings had a good year this year, expecting
bigger and better things next season. Number six the Kentucky Wildcats.
I told you my buddy, Brad, he said, Swanne, look out,
we're back. Kentucky could very well be absolutely loaded on

(40:57):
the perimeter. It brought and a couple of really good transfers.
They've got some top twenty five prospects like Jasper Johnson
and Katie and Lewis joining the program. Number six, the
Kentucky Wildcats way too early, number seven their former head coach,
Coach cal and the Arkansas Razorbacks. Number eight, the Duke

(41:20):
Blue Devils. They project Caden Boozer and his brother Cameron Boozer.
Of course, their dad was a stud at Duke Carlos
when I was in college. That both of the Boozer
brothers will likely be in the starting lineup. Cameron Boozer

(41:43):
is one of the top three prospects in the upcoming class.

Speaker 3 (41:48):
They've got the Blue Devils at eight.

Speaker 2 (41:50):
Saint John's in a very familiar name in the world
of college basketball. Rick Patino still getting the job, Dony,
the job done. Saint John's projected as the way too
early number nine, and then number ten.

Speaker 3 (42:04):
Old school news school need to learn though the u.

Speaker 6 (42:06):
C l A.

Speaker 2 (42:08):
The Bruins in the top ten. They haven't won the
title since the nineties, but there they are in the mix,
all right. Our number two, William Qualkinbush joins us. That's
your way too early, top ten in college tubes next season,
joins us.

Speaker 3 (42:23):
Next they're with us.

Speaker 1 (42:26):
It's time for Clipson Sports Talk with Luwton Schwany.

Speaker 2 (43:07):
It is our number two that's drive time right here
on the show. The shakesare South Lay and Clemson Sports
Tall just wind hanging out with you. William Qwalkin was
joining us on a Tuesday afternoon.

Speaker 3 (43:20):
Of course.

Speaker 2 (43:20):
The show The shakesa salain and brought to you in part
by our good friends over at METS Plumbing. Seven three
to two drip, Drip, drip. You know the jingle seven
three to two drip, that's Mets Plumbing. Qual Welcome in man.
How are you, Bud oh swiney.

Speaker 6 (43:34):
I'm doing great. I know what day it is, what
time's on, I'm in. We're in a good a head
space today. Are doing well?

Speaker 2 (43:40):
Yeah, Look, I guess first I've talked about it. I
talked about actually leading into the weekend as well, just
knowing once you confirmed to me that you were gonna
be on the call for Clemson baseball out in Berkeley.
Give me the grind because I know you and I
are much older. I'm much older than you, but you
and I are still much older than these players. What's
that first ever West turn around? Like in your mind,

(44:02):
not just for you, but for these players.

Speaker 6 (44:06):
So this is kind of a travel day. So Thursday
is basically a travel day. I mean it's basically just dead.
You've got a whole travel day. And the thing about
a place like cow is that you're not flying into
you know, like an airport that's twenty minutes from the campus. Like,
so it's going to take you an hour to get
to Berkeley. We stayed at a hotel about a half

(44:28):
hour out of Berkeley just for the number of rooms
in the volume. I mean, there was a lot of
family that was there, so like there was it was good.
It was a nice area. The belief Walnut Grove with
the name of the area that we that we stayed at.
It's like thirty minutes to get to the ballpark and
then back, and it's probably fifteen miles, so I mean
Thursday is a travel day. The team got there, went

(44:50):
to the hotel, and then it took them like two
hours to get to campus because of traffic. Wow in
like the suburbs of San Francisco, right outside of San Francisco,
So it takes them two hours to get thirty minutes
and uh so that like that already, and I traveled
in later than they did, so I kind of met
up with them at the ballpark. They cut their training

(45:11):
in half Friday night. The game doesn't start till nine Eastern,
So already if you thought, well, I can just take
it and stay on Eastern time. But when you're not
eating a meal postgame until twelve thirty am Eastern, that's
basically done. So then you're you're fully in Pacific time
at that point. And then, uh, you know, like I
listened to the spring game en route to the UH

(45:33):
to the ballpark, and uh, it was over by the
time I got there, which is great. I got to
hear almost every every, uh every play of the spring
game that was on the air with UH, with Don
Monson and Ross Taylor. So we did that Saturday Sunday
game airport and then you know, red Eye, I was
leaving a little bit earlier than both baseball and softball.
By the way, Softball was out there doing exact same thing.

(45:55):
They beat Stanford, and uh, you know, get the Charlotte,
get the pawn Hopper. Eighteen minutes in the air, I'm
at ESP at eight thirty, drive home, take a shower,
go to the station, and uh, you know, I cafinated
just enough to stay away to watch the National Championship
game last night and then watch her Green or eight
and two shut out of aims at the Giants. So

(46:17):
today I'm feeling a little bit more. Yesterday I was
like an adrenaline day. But yeah, it's not gonna pay
of art. The players are resilient. But you could see
Swannie all that to say, you could see how that
would take a toll maybe at once, but like three
or four times, Like you could see how I could
really take a toll on a team.

Speaker 2 (46:35):
Well, and I was looking at the schedule, it looks
like the Atlantic Coast Conference did about as good a
job as you could do, because it appears what they
did was if you play at col you get Stamford
at home, and if you play at Stamford you get
cal at home. I think they really tried to maneuver
those schedules. My question was gonna be and I didn't

(46:57):
have the time to run through it, but because I
know this Clemson softball was playing out in California?

Speaker 3 (47:01):
Two quak?

Speaker 2 (47:02):
Is that the other plan that they put in place?
Do you know did the ACC strategically match up where
like did the softball and baseball team? Were they able
to fly out together? I mean, I know it's two
completely different areas.

Speaker 3 (47:13):
In the state. But how does that work?

Speaker 6 (47:16):
So I can tell you this, I don't believe that
that was on purpose by the ACC. I think it
just sort of happened that way. And I can also
tell you that there were conversations about baseball and softball.
Their travel arrangements that they had made were different going out,
but they had talked about commercial flight going out and
then sort of getting a big charter playing coming back

(47:38):
so that they could be you know, you could leave
a little more timely manner, yet still overnight, but it's
not like you know, ten am eleven am getting back
to camp and that sort of thing.

Speaker 3 (47:48):
Yeah, you're talking.

Speaker 6 (47:49):
About like, you know, four am or five am. It's
like a you know, a really bad travel day in
your normal your normal week. So I mean that that
I think was discussed, but it turned out that it
was just economically more feasible to just do it. And
it also turned out they tried to get on the
same flight they couldn't. So what's interesting, Softball was supposed

(48:10):
to leave after baseball. Baseball got on the earlier flight,
but then baseball flight was delayed because the plane was
flying from Atlanta to San Francisco. The weather on Sunday
impacted the ability to get out. And so what happened
is you got Clumson Softball, Clumps of Baseball, and Georgia
Tech Baseball all sitting like two gates apart, like the
one gate to the other gates, and all three of

(48:30):
those teams are those gates. Kind of go oh, and
I want to go off the airport, but I was right, well,
if everybody's there, I'm gonna go see. So I kind
of came and hung out for a little bit with him.
It was it was kind of interesting because, like I said,
like it that the travel dynamics, you would you would
like to think that they would make it a little
more feasible for a baseball softball budget, But it turns
out actually from a budget standpoint, it was better for

(48:52):
them to travel separately on different commercial flights than to
try to charter a plane, which would have been, uh would.

Speaker 2 (48:58):
Have been more convenient qualking But she's on Twitter at
quaw talk now. From the other standpoint, could you imagine
what the grind is for Stanford and col No, No,
I can't.

Speaker 6 (49:10):
I mean, you know, I would remember having a conversation
with with some of the women's basketball folks from Stanford
and call I mean we've played them in women's tubs,
like in January, early January, so this is early in
the year. And they were they like to a person,
they were like, yeah, this is not gonna work long term,
and it's not. It's not feasible. And it's more like basketball.
Now in basketball, they did do it kind of what

(49:32):
you said, where if you travel west, for example, to
play Cow, you play Stanford. So it's like you travel
out Wednesday or Tuesday and you're playing Thursday, and then
you just stay out there. You just go from one
to the other and play Sunday. And for those who
go know, and I didn't realize exactly how close Stanford
and Cal are, like an hour apart, maybe a little
bit less than that. Stanford's a little closer to like

(49:56):
San Francisco where Cows a little more inland. Uh yeah,
So like like I think softball had like a twenty
minute drive to the airport as opposed to the hour
plugs or even two hours with traffic that that baseball
had trying to get out of Berkeley. So beat out
of the may I mean, you know it, it it
it still is the grind. I mean, think about doing
that one time, staying out west. Now, think about a

(50:17):
basketball schedule where you're playing twenty games. You're doing that
five times women's and men's basketball. That is gonna take
a talk volleyball. I mean, like I say, volleyball can
have to do it uh, you know, the other sports
can have to do it better, more single game focused.
That's just a hard, hard way to live, man. And
I think you'll, I think you will see that be

(50:39):
one of the reasons why there will be some sort
of shifting of tectonic place, so to speak, in in athletics,
because nationwide travel is just not sustainable without multiple other
schools in your time zone that you can sort of
be travel buddies with, and the Big Ten sort of
has it. Although Oregon and Washington are not that close

(50:59):
to you USC and UCLA. I mean, there were Clinton
fans who flew from Orange County, California up to the
San Francisco. You can't just tone along up there. I
mean that's a long way. It's even further of course
to Oregon and Washington. So like, I feel like there
needs to be like fourteen pots at minimum in these
leagues to make it work. Their while if you're a
two person like stick out like a SR. Thom's graphics

(51:22):
uh uh, geographic partner, it's it's just not gonna be sustainable.
Your team's gonna wear down over the long haul of
the season.

Speaker 2 (51:28):
I agree, man, one dred percent. That's why we wanted
to ask you. Now let's talk about the game. Obviously,
the venue looked pretty unique to me. It looked like
it was a rather small venu coach Backach is a
native of the state of California from down in like
the San Jose area. Uh, how many Tiger fans showed up?
And what was that experience?

Speaker 6 (51:47):
Like, I mean Friday, you know, we're kind of we're
kind of out amongst the people, so their fresh box
is a little small. They had an up for game
ops and and even I think TV was in a
sort of separate area. But yeah, it was. It was small.
They put radio out among the people, and it was
I mean, the Clinton attentionent was noisy. It was it

(52:07):
was close to a neutral venue at times. And you know,
I thought it'd be a high water mark crowd on
Friday because Aydon Cana had a couple of rows of
family in there. Uh, they had like Youth Day where
they had youth teams come in from the area and
like standing on the field before the game. Some of
them one kid thro out the first pit, that kind
of thing. So I'm thinking, okay, eleven hundred their max
attendants going into a week, it was like six eighty something,

(52:29):
so I'm thinking, okay, eleven hundred, that's gonna be good. Well,
dog gone. They had more fans on Saturday, and then
they had more fans again on Sunday. All right, it
was a three beautiful days if that helped, But it
was the Clemson folks that came out and were supported
the West Coast, Cleinson folks and Clison folks who traveled
in parents, extended family.

Speaker 3 (52:46):
It was.

Speaker 6 (52:47):
It was a surprising amount. There was a surprising amount
of orange and purple in the stands, and it helped
the team. Eric Baggetts told me in pregame on Saturday,
you know, you normally get the sweet sound of silence
when you do something good on the road, but in
this case, it was loud. I mean, like I said,
it seemed like a smaller contingent. I mean, it's not
like it was a It was a roar in the

(53:08):
stand but you heard legitimate cheers, and you heard the clapping,
and you deal with two strikes, and you heard the
cheers when the Tigers took the lead there on Friday,
and he said that was a major boost of the players.
I think it was a factor all weekend that Cow
was able to bring some people, but the clincher brought
an energetic, large group that that made that venue feel

(53:31):
more neutral at times, and I do think that was
one of the many reasons why they were able to
get out of there with this week.

Speaker 2 (53:36):
They'll be back on the diamond tomorrow against against Gardner
Webb and then a weekend series against Stanford.

Speaker 3 (53:43):
Your Clemson Tiger baseball team.

Speaker 2 (53:45):
From that standpoint quote, let's talk about the product that
you saw on the field this past weekend.

Speaker 3 (53:50):
You know, a couple of games where they sort of
had to.

Speaker 2 (53:52):
Come from behind and win, and then the blowout there
in the mid game on Saturday. You know, they're one
of the top five teams in the country. There's certainly
not without issue. But what do you make of kind
of who this team is right now as we pushed
forward through the season.

Speaker 6 (54:07):
Well, let's start with this quality star statistically is six
or more innings giving up three or fewer earned runs.
Tires played three games this weekend. They had three quality starts.
That's what you want right there now. I kind of
think six innings, three earned is a little bit of
a low threshold, so like you should be a little
better than that. All three guys were better than that.
Ethan Darten gave up two solo home runs and another run.

(54:29):
He did exactly what he wanted him to do. He
gave him a thirteen run lead for crying out loud.
You know, there's only so much to do with that.
What you don't want to do in that situation is
got there in nibbles. So he's really attacking the strikers
on probably a little more haphazardly than the other otherwise
would And so that was probably the weakest start of
them all, but it was good. It was a piper
sore eyes Foraedan Darden. I thought Ayden Kennott was fantastic.

(54:51):
The ballpark was playing big on Friday night. He attacked
his own, wasn't afraid to let cow hit it. There
an aggressive team that didn't strike out a lot, and
so they weren't gonna start out in this series. So
Cannock just sort of induced a lot of weak contact.

Speaker 2 (55:04):
Uh.

Speaker 6 (55:04):
And certainly Bja Bailey did the same thing else Sunday.
And on top of that, the Tires played three entire
games with no errors. And not only that, I thought,
its actually I thought I listened Eric back and stated
that's been interviewed earlier today. As a matter of fact,
not only did they play air free baseball, but they
had elite like game changing defensive plays. Jared Purify was possessed.

(55:25):
There was a play on Friday where it's the ground
off the middle. He's shaving it up the middle, so
he's kind of there. The ball kicks off the front
side of the back up in the air, sort of
the spinning towards the dugout. And I said it was
like mister Miyabi like, or mister Miyagi like. He he
whitch his glove up at the last second to his ear.
It's down by his knees trying to catch the ball.

(55:46):
He whips it up to his ear, grabs the ball
and throws the guy out. He made a full extension
divele to play if the middle jumps up and throws
the guy out. That thought he had a single to
the outfield. Cam Canderella made a back get catch in
less than a field for no reason, and also Rob
Excavas it's not a whole run and right there field
Brown into the wall on on Friday, the west side
of the India was phenomenal. Just every single player made

(56:09):
unbelievable plays. Defensively, there were no holes. And then we
had got to the lineup who just did what they
do U very incredibly opportunities on Friday and Sunday, just
big hits, drawing a couple of walks, you know, doing that.
But then the grand stamp I preached and the way
they played batting practice ball on Saturday built that league
just unbelievable. I thought it was the best three game

(56:32):
series of physically playing the game of baseball that I've
seen Clinton have this this season so far, particularly given
the fact that was on the road, three thousand miles
from home against the team that was capable of making
you look.

Speaker 2 (56:44):
Dumb if you're not playing well well, And that was
gonna be my next question. You know, with basketball this year,
you looked at the league and you said, it's not
the toughest conference at this point, kind of giving what
Clemson is built in and who they've played, how do
you define their resume in?

Speaker 3 (57:05):
At what point do you really know for sure what
this team can be?

Speaker 1 (57:11):
Well?

Speaker 6 (57:11):
I think we know now do we know the ceiling?
Maybe not? I mean, who's the best team Clemson's plate
so far? Maybe Georgia Tech. You know they haven't played
Georgia in the midweek yet that you know, it's a
couple of teams in the ACC that hadn't really played.
So I get that, I hear what you're saying. I
get some of the some of the reservations. But what's

(57:32):
the weakness on this team? They don't have one now.
They don't have like a strength drink strength where you say, well,
that's a plus right there. You ain't ever got to
worry about that. If there is one, I would say,
it's defense. And that, to me is the biggest difference
between this team and the last couple of teams is
that the last couple of teams had places on the
field where you think defense is a little bit of
a question mark. Now they as some elite defenders, but

(57:53):
not everybody. I legitimately think this Clemson team is a
plus defensive team at every position on the field. At
the very least, you're a neutral defensive team at one
or two positions, depending on if you're you know, if
a guy is getting a day off or something like that.
I think this is a deep and talented defense and
that there's two things for you. One, it helps your pitchers.

(58:15):
I think pitchers, especially a guy like Aiden Kannak, who
if you don't have put away stuff, if your facing
the livee is gonna put it in play. You don't
have to worry about bad and balls. Bat and balls
are turning the outs. That's number one. Number two, it
puts pressure on the opposing offense before they ever come
to the ballpark because they know, I've got to hit
the ball where none of these guys can get it,
and they move. The athleticism in Clinston's infield is absurd.

(58:39):
The athleticism in the outfield they have absurd. Try to
get a ball down you can't. It's one of those
things where I think cal got frustrated because Clinton was
robbing them of its literally robbing them events multiple times
in all three games. And so when you're in a
close game one or two runs, the defense makes the difference.
I think you start with that, then you got pretty

(59:01):
good pitching for most of the three games with most
of the guys that went in there. And then on
top of that, you've got an opportunitist to gonfense that
is very very good at commanding the strike zone. They
are not going to get into the pitcher strike zone.
The pitcher has got acquiesce to their strike zone, and
I think that will pay dividends to postseason play. So
to your point, I mean, they've got like a top
twenty twenty five straight the schedule, but they haven't played

(59:23):
that tiptop up ransil on competition that is coming. And
I think this is a team that will show that
what they've done so far is not flooky in any way,
shape or form.

Speaker 2 (59:33):
On Twitter at qual Talk everyday noon until three o'clock,
out of the bounds with qualking been one of five
to five.

Speaker 3 (59:37):
There were a final couple of things.

Speaker 2 (59:39):
Qualt Dell Jones is a guy that I thought, you know,
had he stuck around, would have been a contributor certainly
next year. But I thought by his junior season been
a really good player for Clemson. He is the portal
and lanza at Radford and I don't understand it. Walk
me through your thoughts on that coming out yesterday. You're

(01:00:00):
in the National Championship.

Speaker 6 (01:00:01):
Okay, so it doesn't make any sense if you don't
come into it with any any sort of pre inceived notions,
because the idea is you want to get like if
you want to get to the highest level possible. Right, Well,
you're back at the Clemson so you think, okay, well
he's gonna be a backup somewhere, or he's gonna go
a little bit below Clemson, but maybe any acc SEC,
Big East like something like that. You're gonna try to

(01:00:22):
get that opportunity. Well, when you signed with Radford, here's
how it makes sense. Del Jones played for three prep
schools in three years. He's gonna play for his fifth
college in five years. Guess what. He's at Radford for
one year to get a bag. Supposedly the father of
their new coach, who was hired off the stabb at SMU,
was the chief strategies pressing you. By the way, Supposedly

(01:00:44):
dad is a rich man. He founded a company that's
done really well, so they got some money to throw around.
So there's that. I don't I mean, I don't know
that that's the sole reason but you're also going because
you want to start, and at Radford they're going, we
just made a coaching change. We don't have that many
great players. You can come in here and start and
make a bag, and then next year, guess what, he's

(01:01:05):
gonna get back in the portal with higher stock, higher value,
and he's gonna go to a program like Clemson, perhaps
as they started, because I'm certain that based on what
team saw they if you like him on the recruiting trail,
you're gonna like him, won him in your system, but
you're not gonna promise him a starting spot based on
what he showed last year. You just can't do it.
You can't turn on the tape and do it if

(01:01:26):
you're at Clemson's level or similer. So if he was
gonna start, it was either gonna be a team that
had no options and wasn't in the portal trying to
get anybody. Maybe it was desperate, but realistically he's gonna
have to go down to that level. So I don't
think he's a lifelong rappidhihlander. Okay, I think he's a
rapid islander for about nine months and then he's gonna
get back in the portal and try to go somewhere
else because unfortunately, I think that's who he is. I

(01:01:48):
think we can say that, at least to this point.

Speaker 2 (01:01:50):
Qualt always appreciates you, my man, glad to catch up,
appreciate your sharing the insight into the West coast travel,
and we will talk to you on Monday.

Speaker 6 (01:01:58):
Swannee. It's always great to be with you.

Speaker 3 (01:02:00):
For there you go. That's William qualkin Bush.

Speaker 2 (01:02:02):
What a unique, unique story of him talking about going
west or that quick turnaround out to cal and back
a zero three, four to five, zero zero eighty six.
I know I told you yesterday we'd hear more from
Clemson's spring game and Dabo Sweeney. We might push that
the Wednesday. I think that's probably what we'll do, So
keep it a lot. We'll come back and talk more
about the National Championship right after this. Rocking and rolling

(01:02:25):
along with you on a Tuesday afternoon gal on the
heels of the National Championship game last night as the
Florida Gators come away with a two point victory over Houston.
Houston led for all but sixty four seconds of that game.
The Gators took the lead with forty six seconds left

(01:02:49):
and did not yield in the waning moments Kelvin Sampson.
As I mentioned a lot of people, lot of people
feeling bad for Kelvin Sampson after Houston's sixty five sixty
three lost because he's an older coach. Again, I mentioned

(01:03:09):
Todd Golden being the youngest coach to win the title
since Jim Valvano did it in nineteen eighty three at
just thirty nine. But here's Sampson, who's you know, if
the hour glass is counting down, there's not much time
left in his coaching clock, not much sam left in

(01:03:32):
the old coaching timer, and his team battled back incredibly
against Duke to give him a chance to play for
a national championship. And I wondered, I thought, when I
said on the show yesterday that I thought Florida would win.
Part of the reason I thought they would win was

(01:03:53):
because I thought Houston would be worn down. I thought
Florida would control this game. I thought Florida would win
it ten to twelve, maybe more. But that just wasn't
the case. And give credit to Sampson because he squeezed
every bit out of that Houston basketball team. He really did,

(01:04:20):
and he built that program, rebuilt it maybe the bet term,
and made them respectable before they were in the Big twelve,
and then took them a step further this year when

(01:04:44):
it comes down to the final results. I mean, look
at his tenure. You know, we talk about the success
that Brad Brownells had at Clympson these past couple of years,
and we recognize how significant these couple of seasons have been,

(01:05:09):
But look how good Houston's been since twenty eighteen. Kelvin
Sampson arrived in twenty fourteen.

Speaker 3 (01:05:18):
I believe, so just about the.

Speaker 2 (01:05:21):
Just about the time Deshaun Watson right was arriving at Clemson,
and they have a couple of, you know, bumps in
the road kind of seasons.

Speaker 3 (01:05:35):
But then in twenty eighteen, it's like the switch was flipped.

Speaker 2 (01:05:41):
In twenty eighteen, they make the NCAA tournament, they get
to the second round, they lose to third seed to
Michigan by one point.

Speaker 3 (01:05:49):
That's a heartbreaker for a chance to get to a
Sweet sixteen for.

Speaker 2 (01:05:52):
A program that hadn't been in the tournament in eight
years at that point, and prior to that had not
been in the tournament since nineteen ninety two. Like a
generation of fans had barely seen you in the tournament.
The following season, you do kick in that sweet sixteen door,
and you lose in the Sweet sixteen, the second seed

(01:06:15):
to Kentucky sixty two fifty eight. So in that moment,
you're scratching for the right to get to the Elite
eight COVID year twenty twenty, that season cooked. The following year,
you get back in the tournament and you go all
the way to the final four, and you get eliminated

(01:06:35):
by top seeded Baylor seventy eight to fifty nine, a
Baylor team that would go on to win the national title.

Speaker 3 (01:06:42):
So you get to the final four and you come
up short of getting to the national championship.

Speaker 2 (01:06:49):
You come back the following year, you make a run
to the Elite eight. You get knocked off by Villanova
fifty to forty four. Twenty twenty three, you make a
run to the Sweet sixteen. You lose to Miami, fifth
seed in Miami eighty nine to seventy five, an upset.
You were a top seed, number one seed. Twenty twenty four,

(01:07:11):
same thing, number one seed, you get the Sweet sixteen,
you get upset by four seeded Duke fifty four to
fifty one, which is why I was like so gung
ho about Clemson getting an opportunity to face Houston. I
was like, man, back to back seasons they've lost to
a in Atlantic Coast Conference school four or five seed,

(01:07:34):
you know, kind of where Clemson was going into the
tournament as a fifth seed. Unfortunately, the Tigers would get
dropped in the opening round by McNeice.

Speaker 3 (01:07:46):
More on that in a minute. Give you those final
poll results. The question I posed, would you rather lose
the way Clemson did in the first round or the
way Duke did in the final four? And then this year,
of course, Houston.

Speaker 2 (01:08:08):
Making a run to the National Championship game for the
first time since they played in the National Championship in
nineteen eighty four, losing to Georgetown. After back to back
trips in eighty three eighty four to the National Championship,
they get beat by Florida after leading for all but

(01:08:29):
sixty four seconds of that game. Heartbreak, But look at
the consistency, look at how consistent they've been, and you
think about how you feel about the past two years
for Clemson. Imagine being a Houston fan and looking back
on the past seven seasons and how good they've been.

(01:08:55):
I mean, as good as anybody in the country. I
don't know what win totals look like by comparison to
everybody else. They gotta be close, they have to be.

Speaker 3 (01:09:09):
Anyway.

Speaker 2 (01:09:12):
I mentioned the poll that I put up on social
media a couple of days ago, asking about would you
rather lose like Clemson did in the opening round of
the NCAA Tournament or lose like Duke did in the

(01:09:34):
final four. The results to me were rather shocking. I
gave you the numbers yesterday. I'll give you the final
tally when we get back. Keep it a lot right
here on Fox Sports Radio fourteen under the Middlings, and
of course around the world, you can lock in on
the iHeartRadio app. It is the show that shakes the

(01:09:54):
south Land. Clemson Sports Talk Lawton Swan Hey no with you.
Don't forget to support Alumni Hall on the corner of
Campus on College Avenue in downtown Clemson. Get your officially
licensed Clemson merchandise hats, t shirts, apparel, stickers, coolers, you

(01:10:16):
name it. You can find it right there at Alumni
Hall or online at Alumni Hall dot com. Don't forget
if you go to Alumni Hall's website. Through our website
clemsonsports dot com, we'll get credit for your online purchases.
Clemson students, faculty at all Military get ten percent off
when shopping in store at Alumni Hall. Go check them
out today. Just a stone's throw from historic Riggs Field,

(01:10:40):
It's Alumni Hall on the corner of campus on College
Avenue A downtown Clemson, where Tiger fans shop. All right, So,
shifting gears to my poll question, I'm flabbergasted by the results.

Speaker 3 (01:10:54):
Shockingly.

Speaker 2 (01:10:56):
Would you rather lose the way Clemson did in the
NCAA Tournament or the way Duke. Now, let's talk about
the way Clemson lost. Clemson loss in the NCAA Tournament
opening round to a twelve seed. Played terrible in the
first half, scoring thirteen points, played spectacular in the second half,

(01:11:20):
scoring fifty four points. Trying to get back to find
a way to win that game. They just couldn't do it. It's
too big of a.

Speaker 3 (01:11:28):
Mountain to climb, you know. It's a first round exodus.
Painful they happen.

Speaker 2 (01:11:37):
Duke, however, had one of the most epic meltdowns we've
ever seen, the largest come from behind victory in final
four history by Houston, let alone what the final minute
looked like.

Speaker 3 (01:11:55):
Now, I get it.

Speaker 2 (01:11:56):
You're in the final four and Clips has never been
to the final four, And I think that's where this
logic went sideways for people. They were like, of course,
I'd rather get to the final four. I'd rather lose
like Duke. You do understand the premise of this was lose.

Speaker 3 (01:12:18):
Wasn't when.

Speaker 2 (01:12:20):
Wasn't when the national title. It wasn't get to the
final four. It was lose the way Duke lost.

Speaker 3 (01:12:29):
Yet somehow seventy seven percent the number increased. I was shocked.
Seventy seven point two percent of the people said they'd
rather lose the way Duke did.

Speaker 2 (01:12:50):
Now, like I said to the doc who wrote in
the other data, questioned my logic on it, I'm talking
about losing and the heartbreak as a fan base that
you would have. But yeah, it stinks to get beat

(01:13:12):
in the first round, but it stinks to get beat
us a five seed. But can you imagine how bad
it would feel to be in the final four and
have be on the precipice of a national championship game
and to stump your tone like that? You think that's
not worse to just getting beat in the first round.

(01:13:38):
I bet Duke fans last night couldn't watch the National Championship.
Duke fans probably did not watch.

Speaker 3 (01:13:47):
The National Championship. They couldn't watch.

Speaker 2 (01:13:51):
The pain was too great, and you go, well, recent
seas one, it's because they've only had a couple of
days and we've had a couple of weeks to get
over it. The pain of that loss, in my opinion,
is greater than the pain of Clemson's loss. One seeds
have lost, two seeds have lost, three seeds, four seeds. Naturally,
five seeds are gonna lose. But you're one of the

(01:14:15):
one seeds and you're in the final four, and you've
got a grasp on that that game, they had about
a secure grasp on that game as anybody's had in
the tournament that ended up losing. Remember the stats I
gave you about, like shooting percentage and rebounds and turnover,

(01:14:36):
like winning all the stats for the first three was it.
Teams are now one and three hundred and fifty all
time or something. When that's happened in a game. Duke's
the only team that's ever lost had played that way
seventy seven point two percent of you would rather lose
like that. I might say some of you are just
gluttons for punishment, or maybe people read it wrong. And again,

(01:15:02):
smack Check, I think made the best point. I'd rather
lose the way we lost, but in the final four.
So smack Check would rather get to the final four
and score thirteen points in the first half and then
have a great comeback, then only falls short at the end.

Speaker 3 (01:15:18):
There's no right answer. There's no wrong answer, but there
is the.

Speaker 2 (01:15:28):
You would rather get beat like Duke did, having a
national championship birth in your the palm of your hand
and just smattering it away. Then you would just to
come out and play bad in the first round.

Speaker 3 (01:15:48):
I'd rather do.

Speaker 2 (01:15:49):
I'm glad there's twenty two percent of you out there
that degree with me. Nearly twenty three percent A three
four five zero zero eighty six.

Speaker 3 (01:15:56):
Some news out of the NBA.

Speaker 2 (01:16:01):
That I do not understand. The Denver Nuggets have fired
their head coach, Michael Malone, and they just won the
NBA championship, not all that long ago. And again, the

(01:16:28):
NBA season is winding down, and the Nuggets right now
would be the four seed. I don't understand the thought process,
like if you were not in the playoffs, if you

(01:16:51):
were not in the play in games, if you were
a team that had been great and won a championship
and then fell off the mark, and you wanted to
fire your coach near.

Speaker 3 (01:16:59):
The end of the season because you're still staking it up,
go for it.

Speaker 2 (01:17:07):
But I don't understand firing your head coach when you
are a four seed and honestly, out West, you're just
a couple of games off of being the two seed.
Wild day in the NBA for sure. All right, quick,

(01:17:29):
breat we'll put a bow on the show next.

Speaker 4 (01:17:34):
What have you done for me lately? It's a fair question.
Just don't lose sight of the bigger picture. Don't forget history.
Lucky for us at Clemson, the answer to the questions
what have you done for me lately? And what have
you done? Always are the same. We win.

Speaker 2 (01:18:47):
Final segment on Tuesday. Again, Thank you to William qualkin
Bush for joining us today.

Speaker 6 (01:18:51):
Late.

Speaker 2 (01:18:52):
We'll shift our buddy Mike Yuba over as well to tomorrow.
We'll have audio from Tigertown post practice or post spring
game conversations with Dabo Swiney.

Speaker 3 (01:19:06):
Article up on our website about Chris.

Speaker 2 (01:19:08):
Denson right now, Clemson's backup quarterback freshman, the lefty.

Speaker 3 (01:19:15):
From Florida.

Speaker 2 (01:19:18):
Interesting conversation with the things dabos when he had to
say about him. Go read about that on our website
right now clemsonsportsaw dot com. Again, I'm I was just
sitting here reading over some of this stuff about Mike
Malone and the Denver Nuggets. Apparently Malone and the GM

(01:19:39):
who was also fired, Calvin Booth, did not get along,
did not talk. They just won the NBA Championship in
twenty thirteen. Now, Malone about a month ago had called
out the players on the Nuggets for not watching film,
for not doing the little thing. What's crazier though, to

(01:20:04):
me about it all, It's not like you're getting out
ahead of recruiting, you know what I mean. You're not
getting out in front of anything. Get ready to go
into the playoffs. Now, David Adelman's gonna take.

Speaker 3 (01:20:26):
Over as their head coach. And if you've been around.

Speaker 2 (01:20:32):
The world of sports any amount of time, you might go, Okay,
now is that Rick Adelman's son, And the answer to
that question would be yes. So you're getting a little

(01:20:55):
heritage and a little legacy as his father was a
head coach in the NBA for many years. Rick Alloman
last coached in the NBA in twenty fourteen with the
Minnesota Timberwolves. He was around the league, like in the

(01:21:18):
late eighties early nineties, some of those really good Portland
Trailblazer teams were coached by Rick Alloman, those with Kevin
Duckworth and Clyde the Clyde the Glide, Drexler and Jerome Cursey,
that group that kind of threatened the Bulls at one point.
They spent a couple of seasons with Golden State, with Sacramento.

(01:21:38):
I mean, been on the West Coast or in the
Western Conference most of his career. But yeah, so that's
his son, David, who is forty three, taken over as
the head coach, the interim head coach of the Denver Nuggets,

(01:21:59):
and Adaman had been in the league.

Speaker 3 (01:22:01):
He started as a.

Speaker 2 (01:22:04):
Player development assistant with the Minnesota Timberwolves, then was with
the Magic and Nuggets since he's been with the Nuggets
since twenty seventeen. And of course, I mean, if we're
being honest, like this gives you the that gives you
the insight about like getting into the business if your
dad was in the business and you wanted to be
a coach. He did coach a couple of years in

(01:22:25):
high school though, before getting into the NBA. But now
he'll take over the Nuggets going into the playoffs. And look,
if you're the if you're my Los Angeles Lakers, maybe
I should say hour right, because you're part of my team. Hour,
Los Angeles Lakers, you're the three seed. You gotta be
liking the fact that the Nuggets, who can be a handful,

(01:22:49):
have a little shakeup. Now maybe Adaman will turn things around.
And maybe that's why this move's being made. It's not
only the Nuggets are a bad team. The best team
in the NBA the Oklahoma City Thunder sixty four and
fourteen this season, probably one of the most underrated sixty

(01:23:11):
four and fourteen teams in NBA history, along with the Cavaliers,
who are sixty two and sixteen in the East. The
two top teams are by a wide margin.

Speaker 3 (01:23:24):
In their leagues.

Speaker 2 (01:23:25):
And there's what's the old what's the thing the kids say,
put some respect on my name. I don't think there's
a lot of respect on those names right now.

Speaker 3 (01:23:36):
In the NBA.

Speaker 2 (01:23:37):
We'll see how they hold up though, once the playoffs
get here. And quite frankly, I love the new play
and stuff in the NBA. I think that expands the playoff,
helps you trim some of the fat because those teams
at the you know, at the cutoff point, a lot

(01:23:59):
of times they're just separated by a couple of games.
It's not like you're, you know, maybe having a playing
game for two sixteen seeds. I mean, this is essentially
when I was talking about the matchup that North Carolina
was playing, you know, and would I would say that

(01:24:22):
this would be like if you took a couple of
teams that you thought were going to be eight or
nine seeds, and you let those teams play for the
right to be the eight or the nine in those brackets.
Take two of the eight to nine brackets, take some
good teams to let them play. That's what this is.
I think That's why I like it and I don't
like the other. Anyway, we gotta get out here. Thank
you guys for being a part of the show until Wednesday.

(01:24:45):
As always, y'all take care now and go Tigers.