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Talking CFP, Coaches and hardwood with Sunny Verma
5 Plays4 days ago
Don and Russ talk with Sunny Verma from Locked on the Illini and the Illinicast. Discussing the CFP some coaching changes. The state of college sports parity and basketball.
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Transcript
Introduction
00:00:01
Speaker
This is the Fuel Sports Network.
00:00:05
Speaker
Ladies and gentlemen, I've got a couple questions for you. Do you love college sports as much as I do? Are you always wondering where you can find the latest NCAA reports? Well, you've come to the right place.
00:00:16
Speaker
Welcome, sports fans, to Fuel Sports Presents the NCAA Report with Don and Ross. Gee, that sounds kind of interesting.
00:00:35
Speaker
You've got to get it done.
00:00:47
Speaker
Look at the air. Look at the hang time. Look at the flying motion. Look at his head above the rim.
00:01:08
Speaker
Way to win the game! To infinity and beyond!
00:01:53
Speaker
What the hell's going on out here?
00:02:13
Speaker
Not confident young man, superb athlete.
00:02:25
Speaker
the field stands, touchdown.
00:02:32
Speaker
The rumors are true.
Meet the Hosts
00:02:35
Speaker
The moment you've all been waiting for, here they are, your favorite host, Don Glenn. And Russ Robinson.
00:02:53
Speaker
All right. Well, hello, folks. And I want to thanks again to Devin Tynan for that wonderful introduction. I'll have to get him on the show sometime. He's, you know, he's been working with hard for us doing the introductions. Well, I had to get him on in one of these days.
00:03:07
Speaker
This is the NCW Report. I'm Don Glenn. And as always, I have my co-host, the one and only man who helps me keep this show going through the navigational beacons, Mr. Russ Robinson.
00:03:20
Speaker
are you doing tonight, Russ?
Guest Introduction: Sonny Verma
00:03:21
Speaker
Doing fine, Don. Thank you. Hey, tonight's a special treat for you guys because we have a guest for the first time on this show. And I'll introduce him in a moment. I want to tell you right now that the NCAA report is a proud part of the fuel sports network at the fuel sports network you can find articles blogs podcasts on many of your favorite sports in and around the region of st louis and the midwest and even a little bit nationally because so we have uh the a train covers a little bit of wrestling as it goes along so
00:03:55
Speaker
Well, um today joining us is Sonny Verma. He is the host of ah Locked on the Illini and co-host of IlliniCast. Is that correct? I'd hate a right. yeah You got it right, Donald. I started off with IlliniCast with the co-host. and And then I've also now do a daily program covering Illini football and Illini basketball and other Illini sports. ah you know It's not easy covering it every single day. but You know, you got to do what you got to do. s That's true. That's true.
00:04:28
Speaker
So, okay. um but We'll we kind of jump right into it. um Russ and I have talked the last couple shows we've had about the with the the college football ah playoff system. and but We've had our thoughts on it, of how it actually worked as opposed to how it was supposed to work, I guess.
00:04:49
Speaker
I'm curious. I'm kind of looking for an outsider's view. What was your take on the first year of a 12-team playoff?
12-Team Playoff System: Pros and Cons
00:04:57
Speaker
I mean, I think, you know, the way it was designed is not exactly the way it played out.
00:05:02
Speaker
You know, in particular, you're the representative that you had. you know, I think USC was probably supposed to be there when in the initial design, when you think of a Pac-12 school, you know, having one of those spots. And so you had...
00:05:15
Speaker
How do I say this properly? You know, brand names that weren't exactly brand names, which made some of these matchups look a little bit more lopsided. ah I mean, it happened. And I think, you know, it's probably going to happen again with this expansion, with this guy college football playoff. I think now that.
00:05:32
Speaker
this sport has even more so become so interested in the financial side. And, uh, it's just a matter of time before we go, you know, i know there's discussions already happening with the big 10 sec, apparently trying to secure like a minimum of four teams each and whatnot. It's, um, you know, it I don't think it's for the pure college football fan. I think it's obviously for the TV networks.
00:05:55
Speaker
And I think for the most part, like we had some really good football games, you know, and, uh, Whether Ohio State was the best team or not, I think they were. But do they deserve to play for the national championship after having lost two games in the regular season? and That's the conversation that we would have had plenty of times in years past.
00:06:16
Speaker
yeah i get it i get it you mentioned the lopsided games i know a lot of people were were clamoring about the lopsided games especially you know the first round or so when you had uh smu getting uh whitewashed and you know other things you know adding more fuels to the fire if they shouldn't be there um Was that a problem with the rankings or was that a problem with just the way it came about in general? Because I know they actually had this set up when it was the Power 5, not the Power 4.
00:06:49
Speaker
So i I want to get your thoughts on that. Yeah, i mean... the That's even all subjective, right, on who should be there or who should not be there. Like if some people say who should be there, you're just naming the top 12 teams. And, you know, maybe nine of them are from the Power 2 conferences if that's what you're going to justify it by. So, yeah, i mean, yeah, it's kind of up to you on whether you want to have other programs who have achieved certain benchmarks to be allowed to play for the national championship, even though,
00:07:20
Speaker
Any objective person can probably say they're not one of the 12 best teams in the country. You know, it's it's it's whatever way you want to go. Obviously, this first year, they they tried to make it as uniform as possible, like let everyone try to make it and have an opportunity win the national championship.
00:07:39
Speaker
But like I said, moving forward from what I'm hearing, it looks like the Big Ten and SEC was like, okay, that was cute. But now, you know what, we're making the most money. And so we want more seats at the table. yeah Yeah. I can't deny that. I mean, that's that's the way it seems to be running, and you know which is a shame because it does leave. Some programs are going to be out of the lurch, and I'm not even talking the the group of five. I'm still talking some in the Power 4 that may get left on the curbside. Mm-hmm.
00:08:08
Speaker
um that that's ah that's That's for sure. What would you like to see? Because Russ and I, again, have talked. And we both kind of favor the idea of doing the ranking like you would the NCAA basketball tournament.
00:08:25
Speaker
Okay. Would a ranking like that work for the football? so In what way? In what way? Well, I mean, it's it's not so much going by the rankings, but using ah the chem palm and all the other and just setting the setting the field instead of going by whatever they're ranked going by the field. Because, you know, always a lot of times you don't see.
00:08:46
Speaker
the number four seeds are not always the top four teams in the rankings. So you're kind of talking like reverting back to like VCS style, like basically have the computer formulas and whatnot.
00:08:56
Speaker
Yeah, kind of something like that. Yeah, I mean, I can see, i can see... that But again, it kind of takes out the beauty and the chances for the smaller schools, the ones that are don't have the heavy ah scheduling due to their conference. like Those numbers are just clearly going to be lower. And now it's not just a power five, right? It's essentially a power two.
00:09:19
Speaker
So now you're talking about teams from the ACC who are not even going have an opportunity to you know juice up those numbers. you know The Big 12 is not going to really have the opportunity to have the high numbers. And then you're really looking,
00:09:32
Speaker
at the Big Ten and SEC dominating. For me, it's like, I don't, I know, you know, I'm getting older when it comes to watching college sports, but the reason I like college sports compared to professional sports was that it wasn't always just about winning the national championship, right? I'm a i'm a diehard fan of the Illini football team and the Illini basketball team, and I haven't seen a national championship in my 41 years. and But for me, it's it wasn't always about that.
00:09:58
Speaker
For me, it was just, you know, I liked the local rivalries. I liked, you know, aiming for, I mean, for Illinois' case, even this was a tough goal. But, you know, trying to win the Big Ten Championship, that for me was a fun goal. It wasn't always about the national championship. Now, obviously, just things have changed around. And college football is turning more into what the pro version looks like. And honestly, I'm not too fond of it.
00:10:25
Speaker
But, you know, if I have to root for it, i do will I will root for the underdog. And so that's why I do like the fact that, you know maybe once out of every 20 years, a team that's not supposed to win it might end up winning it. I just think that makes for a good story. Yeah, well, and that's, you know, there's definitely something to be said for that for sure. And and I will agree with you. i I'm, of course, a little older than you.
00:10:48
Speaker
ah But, you know, I kind of miss... when I was growing up, the old bowl season. The bowl season was the big thing. we you know They didn't have the playoff back then. you know you you know you Nebraska was always facing somebody, in or Oklahoma was always in a bowl game. and yeah You wanted to see where they went. and of course, you always had the the Rose Bowl was Big Ten, Pac-10.
00:11:12
Speaker
you know So I do kind of miss that kind of rivalry matchups in the bowls. I mean i know they're still trying to keep them somewhat... ah But it's it's kind of lost the luster over the last few years, especially that since they've added about 40 more bowls since I was 18.
00:11:25
Speaker
but But yeah, I do get what you're saying there. And and yeah that's kind of why I liked college football over the pros. I still like pro football as well. But you know it's there was always used to be a ah benchmark difference between the two. Exactly. that's That's the difference. you know It's like um there were two different – like they're the same sport, but you had different rooting interests. Yeah.
00:11:45
Speaker
You know, my Chicago Bears, of course, you know, I want them to win the Super Bowl. That's always the goal. It's not really about winning the Central or I guess the NFC North anymore. Not that that's happening either. But, you know, with Illinois, it's ah I like the beauty of.
00:12:02
Speaker
you know Trying to win eight games, trying to win nine games. In in the NFL, that didn't matter. But i I kind of appreciated that. I kind of liked the fact that these were kids. you know They're 18, 20, 21 years old who spent four years at the institution that I went to. And it was just a different rooting interest, which is just going away, it seems, more and more moving forward.
00:12:23
Speaker
Well, and I think more with the NIL, the way it's shaping into and and that and the transfer portal, you know, we'll we'll have some – we'll see more and more of this as a money-making interest rather than a entertainment value, if you will.
00:12:43
Speaker
So I wanted to take a little bit into some coaching. Russ, did you have a chance to look at the coaching changes? Yeah, i mean, I've run up a couple of articles. You know, some of them you know there's some of like 27 coaching changes in the NCAA one.
00:13:01
Speaker
Yeah, some we don't care about. but you know No, some we don't care about. But, you know, the interesting one, and Sonny's opinion would be valued on this. And like Don has said, we've kicked it around before.
00:13:13
Speaker
ah Bill Belichick going to North Carolina was such an interesting hire. ah You know, really didn't see why would he want to come to college. ah And it's gotten some people have praised that thing because it's a, you know, because they think he's just the greatest coach ever.
00:13:30
Speaker
And then there's some people who just don't get it that why he would go to North Carolina or why North Carolina would go out and reach him. My own theory is that he brings a lot of money to the North Carolina program. He has a lot corporate contacts.
00:13:44
Speaker
That's my theory, more than just his ability to coach college players. um So I don't know, Sonny, what do you think about that? what do you think about Bill Belichick going to North Carolina?
Bill Belichick's Move: Analyzing Motives
00:13:56
Speaker
I mean, I think if Bill's all in, it could be a fantastic hire. I just don't know how all in you can be after winning that many Super Bowls at the highest level.
00:14:06
Speaker
And it's not like he's a ah hungry young coach anymore. Right. Trying to trying to cement his legacy. His legacy has been cemented for ah for years now at this point. So.
00:14:19
Speaker
you know I mean, coaching college is a lot different, in my opinion, a lot harder than it is coaching the NFL. You know, you've got to be communicating with 16-year-olds, 17-year-olds every single day. And, again, I'm 41, and i don't understand what some of these kids half my age are talking about. I can't imagine.
00:14:38
Speaker
He's 70-something. And, you know, I just – I feel like there's got to be some kind of ah it um growing pains, I guess you can say. um you know But then again, it is Bill Belichick. You know you talk about he can probably put together a fantastic staff. A lot of coaches were up and coming, in particular at the college level, would love an opportunity to be you know tutored by him.
00:15:02
Speaker
And so you know maybe that's going to be the key. I don't follow North Carolina that close to know what kind of assistant coach hires that they've gotten, but... You know, if it works, it can really work.
00:15:14
Speaker
But I just think the likelihood of it working hinges on Bill being all in. And I just don't know logically if I can see him like really going out and calling a recruit at, you know, midnight on the day recruiting period opens. You know, a 16-year-old kid or something like that.
00:15:33
Speaker
I just don't know if he's got the energy for that. I don't know yeah or the pride for it, going to begging a 17-year-old kid come to North Carolina and play football for him. Yeah. You know, especially that when he was in New England, he had all power. Like, he was pretty much all power over the roster and things like that.
00:15:50
Speaker
He'll be negotiating more now. ah The other hire that I thought was interesting, this is up you guys' way. And, Sonny, I'm a Mizzou fan from ah way back.
00:16:01
Speaker
Gross. Is Purdue goes out and hires – Barry Odom, former Mizzou head coach, and Purdue's really struggled in recent years. and ah get go go forgive me, I forgot the last coach they just fired. Ryan Walters.
00:16:19
Speaker
Ryan Walters, and he was a former Mizzou defensive coordinator. i have And Illinois defensive coordinator. Yeah. yeah yeah Arkansas, and he he's been around now. yeah I have a cousin who's a Purdue grad and a big fan, and, you know, he he's kind of excited about this. but And I think Odom has learned his – learned some things over the years since he left Purdue, I mean, Mizzou and going to Purdue. And he's a great defensive coordinator. I think there's no doubt about that.
00:16:50
Speaker
And at Mizzou, he didn't recruit all that badly. And at UNLV, he did something pretty good the way he turned that program around and got it going. So I'm just, watch I just wanted your take on it. ah My take is maybe this guy's grown some as a head coach.
00:17:06
Speaker
He was terrible at and hiring offensive coordinators. He hired Derek Dooley to be his offensive coordinator at Mizzou, and that was a disaster. But it sounds like he – at UNLV, he learned something, and he he had a good young kid call him calling the offensive plays. don't know. What's your take on Purdue hiring this guy?
00:17:26
Speaker
I mean, I think multiple factors come into place. Purdue, unfortunately, you know, we just talked about this new, you know, financially the incentivized nature of the sport now. Purdue's just not one of those teams that is blessed with huge NIL or a lot of donors and whatnot. So the fact that Purdue had to or made the decision to let go of Walters, which probably was the right move long term, they had lost a lot of momentum in their recruiting and obviously they're on the field product.
00:17:55
Speaker
I took a huge nosedive this past year. um Purdue had to kind of play the game of finding a guy who can probably stabilize the program. I don't think anyone could have expected to hit a home run considering the finances of Purdue. You know, paying the buyouts for Walters and his assistant coaches and also trying to attract top players.
00:18:16
Speaker
And talent coaching wise. So I think Barry Odom can do that. You know, I don't know if he can do it in year one. he says he can. But, you know, right now, Purdue doesn't need to think about jumping from two wins to 10 wins.
00:18:28
Speaker
I think Purdue needs to focus on getting to two wins and get make a bowl game again every single year. And then beyond that.
Purdue's New Coach: Challenges Ahead
00:18:36
Speaker
ah you know Maybe you're done ah paying Walters that money, and if you think you've hit your ceiling with Odom, then you can maybe at that point try to graduate and try to find the next hotshot head coach moving forward who can take you to eight, nine, ten wins moving forward.
00:18:52
Speaker
Yeah, yeah he um you know he might be the right fit at the right time for Purdue. Just say it's interesting that Purdue usually went for offensive-minded coaches, and the last two have been deep with a defensive background. I know that's different.
00:19:08
Speaker
The other – the other hire I was going to bring up, and you might want to bring up something, that Don, was Rich Rod going back to West Virginia. That's just an interesting one to me.
00:19:19
Speaker
That was the last time West Virginia really was relevant, I think, was when Rich Rod was there. ah had a And they've had a history of um been having a good program out there. But after Rich Rod left, it they just never really quite got it back. So he's he's going back. I think where he was at was Jacksonville State.
00:19:38
Speaker
So he's rebuilding his career, too. So maybe it's a good marriage. You know, I don't know. Well, I mean, i don't know. Yeah, I mean, I think it's, ah you know, he's he's kind of been around now. So maybe he's had a chance. And, you know, they – West Virginia's scene where they maybe – They made a mistake back when they let let him go. I don't know.
00:20:02
Speaker
i was looking at CBS report on this, and they've got a rate as an A- minus higher. So they think pretty much pretty high of this. I'm trying to think. He actually was hired by Michigan, right? I don't think he they let him go. I think he jumped to Michigan. He jumped. Yeah. Yeah. yeah yeah Yeah. He didn't work out in Michigan, and I think he went to Arizona. I don't think that was a home run either.
00:20:24
Speaker
yeah Well, he went to Arizona, then Jacksonville State. so So he's been falling. i mean, for some reason, after he left West Virginia, he never was able to put the magic back together.
00:20:35
Speaker
And neither was West Virginia able to find someone. So I just thought that was an interesting one. It is. yeah Yeah. I'm coming back and might be interesting to follow to see what happens. soon Right.
00:20:47
Speaker
Well, you mentioned if I have, I got one that I looked that i saw earlier and it's a Scott Frost. I'm going to.
00:20:59
Speaker
Central Florida. of Central Florida. Yeah, he's going home. He's going back home to Central Florida. yeah Talk about coaches reuniting. He's headed back home after, you know, not faring so well up in the Cornhusker State there. Yeah, yeah.
00:21:15
Speaker
So he's going back to, his you know, his heyday was so that year he was at Central Florida. a couple of years he's at Central Florida and impressed everybody. But I don't know what happened at Nebraska. He wasn't, I mean, he wasn't given that bad of a team.
00:21:29
Speaker
What's
Nebraska Football's Struggles: Why?
00:21:30
Speaker
your thoughts? I don't know. the new one You know, ever since ah Dr. Tom retired back in the big, he's still the big 12 days. Still big 12, yeah. It's it's been been kind of gradually going down at Nebraska where finally it's just not the magical name it used to be. I mean. True.
00:21:47
Speaker
They jumped to the Big Ten. And I can tell you the Nebraska people thought they would come in and dominate the Big Ten. And they just, you know, and, you know, my dad used to talk, his theory on recruiting was, why would you want to go to Lincoln, Nebraska, when you can go Gainesville, Florida?
00:22:04
Speaker
Why would any player want to do that? Or why would any player want to, you know? yeah but The girls are prettier. They wear shorts all summer. Why would you want to go to Lincoln, Nebraska? you know so you know so i' Maybe that's finally caught up with Nebraska. I don't know.
00:22:19
Speaker
It could have. Maybe. maybe maybe For sure. um One thing I think, and again, this is something Russ and I have talked about before, but is you know the the apparent parity that we've seen with the football um You know, Alabama, of course, not being well this year.
Shifts in College Sports Parity
00:22:42
Speaker
And you see other teams that ah that showed up, Indiana with Sinjinetti.
00:22:49
Speaker
has hey And basketball now is kind of the same thing. You're not seeing the Blue Bloods in basketball atop the the the rankings anymore. um Is it all due to the transfer portal or is it due to...
00:23:09
Speaker
how the coaches are using that portal. I mean, it know it's kind of one and the same, but I mean, the transfer portals made it easy, but I mean, are some coaches really getting it ah but more than others?
00:23:21
Speaker
you know I think it's kind of a mix of a lot of things. you know There's that running joke, right? like Everyone caught up once the SEC was not the only conference that can start paying players. you know They've been doing it for years, and now everyone else can do it. So everything has been an even playing field.
00:23:36
Speaker
But you know it's it's also one of those situations where the SEC is also where all the talent is, right? So Alabama, LSU, the Florida States, Florida, is like that's where those are recruiting hotbeds. And so it was kind of easy for them to – you know, not only recruit and have kids want to stay home, but also pay the most money.
00:23:56
Speaker
Now you're talking about these four five star kids who, you know, might be the starting safety at Florida. You know, they want to stay home, but they may not like their situation. Now that the transfer portal situation has changed, you don't have to sit a year. And heck, nowadays, you don't even have to stay at one school or you can transfer more than one time.
00:24:16
Speaker
yeah Then all of a sudden the opportunity if, hey, if you're not liking it at Florida, but hey, Michigan is offering me an opportunity to go up to Michigan. And oh, by the way, they're also paying a decent amount of money up there too.
00:24:28
Speaker
I think it's just kind of even things out a little bit it and space things out a little bit. I don't know if we're ever going to have and an era again where it's going to be one team winning, you know, five national championships out of 10. I still think you're going to see the two conferences dominating. But again, in that case, it's just follow the money ah type of situation.
00:24:49
Speaker
Yeah, i think I think we've seen in college football versus college basketball kind of reversal. In college football, the SEC dominated for so many years.
00:25:01
Speaker
And then they get into this this playoff this year, and all of a sudden, it's evened out. You know, Georgia's not dominant. Alabama's not dominant anymore. But, you know, the Big Ten, all of a sudden, you know, or Penn State or Notre Dame, you know, all of a sudden, they surge forward. But then you flip it to college basketball.
00:25:21
Speaker
And you're seeing the SEC just very deep in basketball. That was unheard of a few years ago. In fact, I know that Greg Sankey, the SEC commissioner, kind of slapped all the schools from them not investing enough in their basketball program just a few years ago and told them to ratchet it up, you know.
00:25:41
Speaker
So they did. They went out and hired good coaches, and they went out and bought better players, kind of like what –
00:25:50
Speaker
Rick, the guy at Tennessee, and forgive me for my memory, just slipped. The head coach Tennessee in a press conference right after the game said he got onto a player for not doing what we're paying you to do.
00:26:03
Speaker
So, yeah. I mean, he said that out loud. So, I mean, that's just – think that's just kind of what you said, Sonny. it's just It's just – it's kind of flipped around.
00:26:14
Speaker
You know, it's just flipped around now. all a sudden we're talking about the SEC in football, I mean, basketball and maybe be the Big Ten in football. You know, it's just kind of flipped around. I can remember back in the day when the Big East would get – almost most of their teams in the SEC, in the NCAA tournament.
00:26:33
Speaker
And the SEC would maybe get two. you know So, how mean, things have flipped around quite bit. And all due to the portal and NILs, I'm sure. Oh, no doubt, for sure.
00:26:44
Speaker
Well, I tell you what, we're going to take a quick break and we're going to come back. We'll hit the hardwood and see see what kind of mess we can make of it. We'll be right back after this.
00:26:55
Speaker
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00:30:30
Speaker
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00:30:43
Speaker
Hey, we're back and we still got Sonny Verma with us, the co-host of Illini Cast and the host of Locked on the Illini.
Big Ten Basketball Recruiting: Strategies
00:30:51
Speaker
This is Don Glenn, my broadcast partner, Russ Robinson, and this is the NCAA report.
00:30:58
Speaker
ah Sonny, um... You're a Big Ten, so gonna we're going to talk a little bit of Big Ten recruiting here on the hardwood. I mean, because I'd rather – I would love to talk by the Illinois, but there's really – the men's team, there's not much to talk about.
00:31:12
Speaker
We're going to go the women's team. They're doing great. Yeah. But, you know, with what you've seen this year and in in the Big Ten, um how do you think that – has it shaped up most like most people thought it would this year so far?
00:31:29
Speaker
basketball If we're talking basketball, not really. you know Everyone got excited. We're sitting here talking about the transfer portal. And everybody's getting excited about the idea of the transfer portal and you know that it could kind of be a pseudo free agency type of thing. But when you take a look at the teams that spent the most in the transfer portal mine money-wise, you're talking about Kansas.
00:31:52
Speaker
You're talking about Indiana. talking about BYU, teams that really aren't performing to the levels and expectations that they had coming in. So I think like right now, this is all a testing phase, right? like we're and All the coaches are even trying to figure out what's going to work and what's not going to work. And I think right now, like maybe we're starting to learn that just having some kind of continued experience ah rosters moving forward might be a little bit more valuable and the transfer portal is probably something you want to more so just supplement your roster with as opposed to going all in with the transfer portal and trying to buy the best talent because you know especially in college sports it's four years you have four years and even at the college basketball level it's less than that it could only be one year and if
00:32:44
Speaker
a certain player who you've spent a lot of money on doesn't like his situation after one year that feels like there's not a fit, he's moving on. And then, you know, again, Don, you know, like this kind of what we're dealing with, ah with Illinois basketball. Like if a situation doesn't work for one year, then all of a sudden that's another roster spot that you're replacing the next year. And then if you keep cycling through that, something you're just not building any sort of continuity. There's no culture in that locker room. And sometimes, you know,
00:33:13
Speaker
You can take a backseat to the teams like Purdue or Michigan State who aren't dabbling much in the transfer portal, and yet they're sitting atop the Big Ten Conference. Yeah, I i think, yeah and i and you're right, and you you look at, you can take Illinois for the example. I mean, you know, like said, last year they had a lot of um older guys on the team, um and then when the younger guys that were supposed to fill in those spots you know like Hansberry and Epps, those guys left.
00:33:43
Speaker
um Ty Rogers decides to take a redshirt year, which I still don't understand that one. you know and Then he was left to trying to fill fill the young holes as well as the as the older holes. and you know it Like you said, it can bi to be in a vicious cycle.
00:33:58
Speaker
um where is Is there still any value in high school recruiting? Yeah, absolutely. I think, um you know, if anything, you want to build those relationships because nowadays it's OK to not necessarily finish first and it's OK to finish second because a lot of these players aren't sticking around with one institution for their entire college careers. Right. And.
00:34:26
Speaker
Kids these days are have a kind of an itchy trigger figure. you like They're growing up as 15, 16-year-olds, being told that they're the best player, and that usually they are at their a certain level.
00:34:37
Speaker
and Then they enter college basketball, and if they're not playing 25 minutes a game right off the bat as a freshman, you know, youth, they might just have a, be ready to move on and find a coach, an opportunity where they think that they can, their skills can be more viewed and, you know, exploited and move on to the next destination. And how do they do that? Maybe they get in contact with the other coach that they were building a good relationship with who, you Through the back channels is to, know, saying, hey, see, I told you we had a spot for you. Don't worry about it. You know, your current school is not using you right.
00:35:11
Speaker
We I told you this during the recruiting phase, you should be doing this. They have you doing that. Don't worry about it. Come here. We'll take care of you. We'll give you good amount of money, know, et cetera, et cetera.
00:35:22
Speaker
Yeah. um with With what's going on, and and I mean, have you heard, i don't know what you've heard as far as recruiting goes for the Big Ten in this what's going to be coming down the pipe next year. I know Illinois had some interest from a couple of top five guys, five-star guys, I mean. Yeah.
00:35:44
Speaker
And there was that 7'1 center that was here at the – was it the – Luigi? Yeah, Luigi. but Luigi. The Italian star. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:35:54
Speaker
ah That's another – are we going to see more international guys being recruited in college? I mean, they've been coming into the pros a lot later. Now is it trickling down into the college? I think so, and that's why I'm kind of grateful that Brad Underwood was kind of ahead of the curve when it comes to this right now.
00:36:11
Speaker
Illinois is a brand name out in Europe, which is nice, right? Because as no matter what kind of success they have locally, they're not going to be considered a blue blood anytime soon. It's going to take multiple national championships for that to happen. So, for sure you know, when you're talking about the top 10, 15, 20 prospects that grow up here, Illinois might be a good brand.
00:36:30
Speaker
But if Duke comes calling, if North Carolina comes calling, Kansas, those are the premier band brands that everyone knows and grows up to know, hey, those are historical programs. A kid out in Slovenia, Spain, all that, they don't know the Kansas Jayhawks or the North Carolina at Tar Heels. For them, they're more interested in, hey, Kasper Shakushones, who has played on the under-18 Barcelona team.
00:36:57
Speaker
I played with him when I was a 15-year-old. And now Illinois, the school Illinois, who my agent has a really good relationship with their coaching staff, Well, I see Kasperis was developed and he went into a lottery pick into the NBA.
00:37:11
Speaker
That's a school that I feel comfortable going to because they've done it with essentially like an older brother type of thing. And so I like that move by Illinois, you know, being so aggressive out there, you build these relationships. ah It's, you know, we did it with Kasperis.
00:37:26
Speaker
We did it with Tommy Avicic. I think those type relationships that we're building out there can build a foundation because that the game is growing a lot faster out there than it is here.
00:37:38
Speaker
And for that reason, you know, we can be, again, I keep using the term blue blood. That's not quite what I mean, but one of the premier go to schools for schools out in Europe.
00:37:49
Speaker
Right. Okay. Well, that's, that's, you know, that's, that's great. And I think also with Illinois having, getting Antigua back, I think helped their international recruiting standard a lot.
00:38:02
Speaker
um Cause there's certain, there's certain recruiters out there, coaches who can do that. So Sonny, I know you got to get going. um I do appreciate your time of coming on with us tonight.
00:38:12
Speaker
It's fantastic. You had some great insight. Yeah. give Give your locations for everybody so they can tune in to you. Absolutely. If you have any interest whatsoever in a University of Illinois sports, find me on Locked on Illini on YouTube and your favorite audio platform. I'm coming out with content every single day.
00:38:31
Speaker
And I mean that literally. Since mid-December, I've produced at least one piece of content every single day, including the weekends. And so, you know, it's just a simple... Self-challenge I ah gave myself and so far so good. We're sitting here you know about mid-February and you know I've continued on my pace.
Sonny Verma's Content Platforms
00:38:51
Speaker
How much longer I'm going to go, I don't know.
00:38:53
Speaker
But ah you can also find on IlliniCast, which was my first endeavor. That's more long form. and That's interacting a little bit more with the viewers and listeners. That show I do a couple times a month, um maybe once a week or so.
00:39:07
Speaker
But then you can know if you're an NFL fan, you can also find me on Bears On Tap. I cover the Chicago bears weekly on that channel. And so you can find me all over. It just depends on what your interests are.
00:39:17
Speaker
All right, buddy. Well, appreciate the time. Thank you again. And we'll be in touch. We'll have you, ah I'll get you back on my show. It's one of these days. We'll, we'll, we'll kibitz some more Illini stuff. I appreciate the time, gentlemen.
00:39:28
Speaker
Maybe even talk about the girls.
00:39:32
Speaker
right, buddy. Thanks, man. Thank you. right. That was Sonny Verma from IlliniCast and Locked on the Illini. We do appreciate him coming by and stopping and giving us some insight on things.
00:39:47
Speaker
It was very interesting, Russ. He had some really good ideas wrote good opinions on on some different things. um getting in We were talking about the NCAA tournament and stuff last time, a little bit too early to figure who's in and who's out.
00:40:04
Speaker
um as it As Sonny and I were talking before the show started, you you know I know like what we've got going at Illinois right now, you know at one point in time, they were considering, you know hey, Illinois is a they're in the...
00:40:18
Speaker
ah one of four you know between one and four seeds and you know now we're looking at six seven and eight um we've had you know they've had their their sheriff injuries and stuff like that um but i think something sunny said too was that you know i think you're starting to see like he said ah maybe some of the pitfalls of the transfer portal Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, yeah.
00:40:44
Speaker
and Well, you know, and, of course, I've watched some Illinois games here and there, but, you know, I do know they've had some injuries. They hit some injuries probably about midseason.
00:40:55
Speaker
ah And then my understanding is, well, three guys were out for a while. He's got two back, if I understand that. Well, he had, yeah, oh well he had Kasperis Jacosonas was out for a while with a –
00:41:10
Speaker
oh Forearm injury. And then, uh, Thomas loss, Thomas, love is a bitch. Uh, he was, had a bad ankle. Then he got a case of mono.
00:41:22
Speaker
Um, and he came back for a game and now he's got, I get, he I guess he's got a reoccurrence or some other problem. Now there he's sick.
00:41:34
Speaker
Uh, we've had other players that have been sick here and there. And then we just lost the, uh, our backup big man, um, Mar, um, more as Johnson jr. He broke his wrist in the last game. Uh, well, not this last game against Wisconsin, the game before that, uh, it's Michigan state.
00:41:52
Speaker
Um, so yeah, they're, they're facing a lot of, a lot of injuries and, you know, it's, it's, it's a situation where, they're trying to adopt the language from the football team of next man up.
00:42:04
Speaker
And unfortunately we don't have a lot of next men up that can cover what the, what some of those guys that are going down are doing. I mean, you know, we're talking in, in terms of, of Jackas on us, you're talking to guy that's scoring 17 points a game, grabbing you six, so six rebounds and dishing out five assists.
00:42:23
Speaker
You know, you lose that kind of talent for who you don't have many guys on the bench that are going to replace that. No, but most most teams aren't that deep. and Yeah, you're not that deep. And so and that's what I was saying when when I was talking, when I mentioned Sonny about bringing the gay guys in.
00:42:40
Speaker
You know, this is one this is the year that, like said, last year, Underwood went with a lot of older guys, lot of fifth-year seniors, senior guys. Mm-hmm. This year, it's kind of spread out. He got a couple of sophomores in the transfer portal, got a junior in the transfer portal. got he only with the reallyer Right now, Illinois has one senior on the team, and that's Ben Hummerkhaus.
00:43:02
Speaker
um Everybody else is a junior or younger, and including the two like the the kid, Yakusonis. He's a freshman. Right.
00:43:14
Speaker
And he, if he said bitch actually is listed as a sophomore, but technically he's a freshman. um But the NCAA took a year away because he played with pro players and in Europe. So they took a year, they took a year away from him said he's only, he has to come in as a sophomore.
00:43:28
Speaker
um But i don't know. I haven't had a chance to keep an eye on Mizzou. How are they doing? Very well. ah They're setting eight and four in the conference. they're playing Alabama tonight. It's going to start about eight o'clock.
00:43:43
Speaker
Yeah, they're doing very well, but he's playing a very deep bench and he's got everyone healthy. Well, one of his freshmen isn't healthy and he hasn't played most year, but for the most part, he's going at least 10 guys deep every game. So it's going very well.
00:43:56
Speaker
He knows how to, he's worked the portal and he's worked the recruiting trail very well to rebut, turned everything around from last year's 018 conference. oh disaster to to this year. They're right in it. when in the and yeah It could be they're looking at a top four seed. That's what they're shooting for.
00:44:16
Speaker
yeah ah top four seed. ah you know it's just It's just something that took a while to develop. you know, and but getting the guys playing right. So they're doing very well.
00:44:28
Speaker
We'll see tonight. They're playing Alabama at home, and we'll see how that goes. but Yeah, definitely. The SEC is a rugged conference this year. it's just They're just beating up on each other, really, is what's happening. so Yeah, I'm kind of looking at the SEC standings right now, and it's like, you know, you you guys is outside –
00:44:49
Speaker
Well, actually, once you get past Missouri, it's pretty much almost even as far as the conference wins. mean, you've got a lot of 6-6, or not a of it. You've got 8-5, 8-5.
00:45:04
Speaker
You know, then you go down to four and eight, then then you got the bottom triggers. But the top three are are both 10 wins or more in conference. Missouri, yeah if they win tonight, they're right there with Texas A&M. So, yeah, I mean, that's that's that conference is up for grabs.
00:45:21
Speaker
Yeah, it's up for grabs, and it's ah it's it's it's very deep. that Going into the year, the thought was, They were expecting it to be deep, I think, Don, because the thought was that if you went eight and ten in the conference, you could probably get an NCAA bid.
00:45:35
Speaker
And, uh, So far there are 10 SEC teams, I believe, in the top 25. And there's probably – Yeah, can check that. think there's two more that are flirting with it. So they may have 12 teams in the thing this year. Let's see.
00:45:51
Speaker
Auburn's one, Duke two, Alabama three, Tennessee six, Texas A&M seven. um Okay, that's that's all that's in the top 10.
00:46:06
Speaker
And then you've got Missouri at 15, Kentucky at 17, Mississippi at 21, Ole Miss at 24. Okay, so there's o'le miss at twentyfour okay so there's nice Yeah, there's half the league is in half the league is fit in the top 25. Yeah.
00:46:26
Speaker
yeah You know, but they were expecting, they were saying as many as 10 or 12 teams in the SEC tournament
SEC's Influence in NCAA Tournaments
00:46:32
Speaker
this year. And that's that's what we were talking about with Sonny while ago was that it's flipped around.
00:46:38
Speaker
in the SEC where now, you know, we used to be the Big East. We get that kid most of their conference and in ah in the NCAA tournament. that Now you're talking the SEC is, and it's flipped around.
00:46:50
Speaker
So, I mean, it's in the transfer portal and everything like that. These coaches have brought in coaches who know how to play that game. So. Well, and you've had some you've had some other teams that have shifted around, too. I mean, you know, some Big East teams are no longer in the Big East anymore. They either went to Conference USA or they're in um they went to the scc i mean the ACC. ACC, uh-huh.
00:47:14
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, because right now the Big East, let me look get them real quick here if I can find them real. Oh, I'm in the wrong place for that. Well, I assume you're still talking St. John's and UConn. Yeah, I mean, you're still got you still got the the, you know, I mean, St. John's is is ah right now currently leading the Big the big East.
00:47:32
Speaker
UConn's number four. You got Xavier. um They're still relevant, 9-7. Villanova's 8-8. you know But that's about it. They got Marquette and Creighton. Creighton's, I think, become the new golden boy in the Big East. there They've been making waves the last few years in the Big East. Yeah, sure. And getting into the tournament pretty regular. Yeah.
00:47:58
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's I think it's going to be the interesting as this season finishes playing out. We'll know definitely know more by the end of this month when when we get into start getting into the last a few games of the conference and then um conference tournaments, and we'll see how things are are all going to play out. but Well, Russ, I'm going to back.
00:48:21
Speaker
It's I mean, we'll we'll go ahead and call it a night. I think that was i had a great way. I think we'll bring Sonny back at some point in time. um and So we'll I'm trying to work on a guest for next week and I'll tease it right now.
00:48:37
Speaker
And I'm sorry, it's going to be another guy with Illinois ties. But, hey, I live in Illinois. Don't you? Yeah. ah But, no, I'm working on trying to get Deion Thomas, former Illinois basketball star, but he is also a former college coach, and he works in the – um Oh, it's the fundraising department for U of I. So if anybody knows stuff about things about IL or NIL and sure that kind of thing, I'm hoping that he'll be able to come on with us next time and give us some NIL insight.
00:49:19
Speaker
Yeah, that'd be great. We'll hopefully have that. So, well, yeah. I want to thank you guys for joining us tonight. And just remember that we are part of the Fuel Sports Network. And at the Fuel Sports Network, you can find a plethora of podcasts like this one. You can find my podcast, Talking Sports on the Bleachers.
00:49:38
Speaker
The two for three with the Moose Michaels, the team of rivals with Ron, Pete, and Elliott. And Ron also co-hosts. uh, at the park when I keep forgetting to write down his co-host name. So ill I apologize for that.
00:49:53
Speaker
Uh, you also have the Arlington lane show, the a train show. He talks football, he talks wrestling. And then of course there is the Derek King show with the one and only Derek King.
00:50:04
Speaker
You can also find a lot of articles to Russ writes some articles there. I've got another one out just posted today. on Illini women's player Kendall Bostic. Congratulations to Kendall, by the way.
00:50:17
Speaker
She broke the ah school record for rebounds in a career. She now owns that um and is closing in on... She's right now third also in the Big Ten in rebounds for a career. So if she has a pretty decent tournament run and finishes the season good, she...
00:50:36
Speaker
She could get close. We'll have to see how that plays out. But congratulations to Kendall Bostic for that. And as always, Russ, we can find you in a lot of places. we i goingnna Put the list down for us.
00:50:49
Speaker
Well, I'm on Twitter at FRRobinson1957. I'm Uncle Frank there. And I'm floating around some of the Mizzou Facebook groups. So you if you belong to any the Facebook groups at Mizzou, you might see me popping up there.
00:51:05
Speaker
So that's where I'm at mostly. All right, like said, you can find me at the Talking Sports on the Bleachers Facebook page. You can find me on a lot of the Illini Facebook pages. i I tend to pop in and out of those. I'm on Twitter, TSOTBGCS.
00:51:20
Speaker
You can get in touch with the show through my Twitter account or through Russ or the Facebook page for Talking Sports on the Bleachers. We'll i'll i'll take you know we'll we'll take your comments there as well.
00:51:32
Speaker
And you can also always comment, go to Fuel Sports Network and look at some of the articles and look at some of the podcasts. You leave comments there as well. So for my broadcast partner, Russ Robinson, and also a special thanks to Sonny Verma for shop stopping by tonight.
00:51:46
Speaker
This is Don Glenn and the NCAA report presented by the Fuel Sports Network. So until we see you again, have fun, stay safe, see you next time when we talk the NCAA report.
00:52:01
Speaker
Good night, everybody.