Ride Home Rants

Growing Up on the Sidelines: Luke Worrell's Journey in Coaching and the Changing Landscape of College Athletics

Mike Bono Season 5 Episode 226

Send us a text

Ever wondered how growing up on the sidelines shapes a future coach? Meet Luke Worrell, son of renowned coach Mike Worrell, as he shares his distinctive upbringing surrounded by the world of college athletics. Luke gives us an insider look at his journey from being a ball boy to carving out his own coaching path, enriched by his academic background in psychology and his experiences at various institutions like Illinois College and Muskingum University. His connection to Ohio adds an intriguing layer to his coaching narrative, offering insight into the role of heritage and environment in a coach's career.

The life of a coach is filled with both dreams and hurdles, and Luke's story is no exception. We discuss the unpredictable nature of career advancement in sports, the aspirations of becoming a head coach, and the invaluable lessons gleaned from assistant roles. Through amusing anecdotes, such as a football player gaining a newfound respect for swimming's rigor, Luke highlights the demanding nature of sports and the resilience required from athletes and coaches alike. This segment serves as a reminder of the unseen dedication that goes into nurturing athletic talent.

But the world of college athletics is changing fast. Our conversation shifts to the controversial new terrain of NIL policies and the transfer portal, particularly within Division 2 and 3 schools. We weigh the impact on athletes' commitments and the challenges legendary coaches face in adapting to these developments. To lighten the mood, we engage in a rapid-fire Q&A with our podcast manager, Fiddy, exploring topics from favorite colors to overrated foods. Wrap up with a discussion on the Muskingum Basketball team's thrilling season, inviting local fans to witness the excitement of Division II

Subscribe for exclusive content: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1530455/support

Buzzsprout - Let's get your podcast launched!
Start for FREE

Reaper Apparel
Reaper Apparel Co was built for those who refuse to die slowly! Reaper isn't just clothing!

Tactical Brotherhood
The Tactical Brotherhood is a movement to support America.

Dubby Energy
FROM GAMERS TO GYM JUNKIES TO ENTREPRENEURS, OUR PRODUCT IS FOR ANYONE WHO WANTS TO BE BETTER.

Shankitgolf
Our goal here at Shankitgolf is for everyone to have a great time on and off the golf course

Sweet Hands Sports
Elevate your game with Sweet Hands Sports! Our sports gloves are designed for champions,

Buddy's Beard Care
Buddy's Beard Care provides premium men's grooming products at an affordable price.

Deemed Fit
Be a part of our movement to instill confidence motivation and a willingness to keep pushing forward

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Support the show

Follow us on all social media

X: @mikebonocomedy
Instagram: @mikebonocomedy
@tiktok: @mikebono_comedian
Facebook: @mikebonocomedy

Speaker 1:

Welcome everybody to another episode of the Ride Home Rants podcast. This is, as always, your host, mike Bono. I'm back. I've had a little bit of a busy schedule. Johnny has been filling in for me but got a little bit of a lull here so I can actually get back on and get back with you guys. I got a great guest for us today. He's actually the son of the goat, mike Worrell, and we have his son, luke Worrell, joining the show with us today. Luke, thanks for joining, man.

Speaker 2:

Great to be here, Bono. It's awesome to be on the podcast.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, absolutely, man. I mean, we've had your dad on a plethora of times.

Speaker 2:

I'm sure you've been in the room a couple of times when he's been on the show, but you know what's it like being, you know, the son of the legend Mike Worrell. Yeah, I would say from like as far back as I can remember just always being around college athletics whether it's basketball, like games, or just always being like at the college, usually like in the basketball gym and um, going on road trips and like I used to be the ball boy on the water boy on the bench when I was younger. I ran over a couple times but I'm like loose balls, but just always being around like the team. Basically, as a kid growing up it was just sort of like ever since I can remember I was like in the gym, at practice for a side gym and just always at the college.

Speaker 1:

Gotcha. Yeah, getting ran over as a kid. That definitely builds character later on in life. You know what I mean Something that sticks with you.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I was probably like five feet tall and the guy was like six seven, so I think I sort of undercut him. I don't think I took the bull to the head.

Speaker 1:

He took the bulk of that Sort of like chop off him. You go for the knees when you get those bigger guys at you, right, yeah, exactly. So where did you end up going to college and where did you grow up and everything like that? I know your dad kind of coached around, yeah so he got the head job at Illinois College.

Speaker 2:

I was like one. So we moved from Ohio to Illinois, like 30 miles west of Springfield, the capital, and so I grew up in Jackson, illinois, like my whole life and I went to Illinois College where he coached dad and played baseball for a couple years and I sort of grew up there for the most of my life until I started working at a couple colleges in Ohio after I graduated.

Speaker 1:

So you back in Ohio now, or where you at now.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so after I graduated I helped my dad out of don't like college for one year. That was his last year at illinois college and I worked at another college across the street. It was called mcmurray. They closed a couple years later and then, um three years after I graduated, got a ga at ashland and I've been there, then bethany and then muskingham, so bethany's basically sort of in Ohio to me, west Virginia PA all the same. So I've pretty much been in Ohio for like five years.

Speaker 1:

I got you Okay and you know you're coaching. Now Is your dad, is what got you into coaching? Or how did you get into coaching? Or have you always wanted to coach?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think I sort of always had a plan B in the back of my head. I was a psychology major. There's not really much you can do with that Undergrad. Yeah, you sort of got to go to more schooling or go clinical counseling side, which I really wasn't interested in at all. I had a little interest in maybe doing research, but didn't really wasn't all and like trying to go like the phd route. So I'm like I just always thought I'm like, hey, this is all, I'd be a plan b and I tried it. I volunteered, basically volunteered part-time in illinois and then when I got the g8, ashland like I was going to grad school but it was 95, 96% like basketball, and that's where I sort of got like a feel like what it's like and I liked it a lot. I was with a good head coach, good staff. They're a really good program and that's why I'm like I think I want to do this for a long time.

Speaker 1:

I got this world view coach that.

Speaker 2:

So, yeah, so I was it. It was. I was at la college for a year, then mac murray and then, uh, coach john ellenwood, who's all-time leader and wins at ashland. Um, he, he offered me the ga job late summer. So the ga there for two years and then, after I graduated, my helped my dad at bethany for a year and then, uh, the last three years I've been at Muskingum. I'm going on year three right now, so you're at Muskingum now.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, okay, that's right up the road from me here where I'm living now. Currently I'm in a little town called Philo, ohio, near Zanesville, very familiar with Muskingum we had probably five, six, seven kids from that NBL conference with Philo and all those teams. Philo just produces basketball players. I don't know what it is. It's a basketball school. From what?

Speaker 1:

I've seen the past five years that we've been here. My brother-in-law is actually the head coach now of the boys varsity team in Philo. He actually went to Muskingum. He coached at Muskingum for a little while. Everyone typically knows him. That is there. It's Jason Trout.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, I've lost track. There's probably 15 to 20 plus Muskingum alumni that played for Coach. I mean probably 15 to 20 plus Muskingum alumni that played for Coach Jim Burson. He was there for about 50 plus years. He's sort of like a legend and I think it's just a good. They've always had a really good education program. There's a lot of head coaches in Ohio that played at Muskingum or went there. We played OU a couple weeks weeks ago and they have a really, really they're one of their best players probably their best player. Aj Clayton played at Philo.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that name sounds familiar, for sure, and I know I've heard that name going to a couple of my nephews games when I can, when my schedule allows me to. But yeah, it's just, it's. It's just weird. You know it's such a small world that you don't realize how many people are that close to you. And yeah, I didn't know you were at Muskingum. I actually made this a little easier.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, sort of that conference with the Philos. We have quite a few players. It's a pretty good basketball conference. It gets a little under looked because some people don't know where it's at in the state. Yeah, the MVL In the San Diego Valley League.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, the MVL is tough, Even though some of the football teams in the MVL are tough, in the NBL are, uh, are tough and but it's just it's and you're like it's, it's underlooked, it's underappreciated because I mean, the town of Philo is a town of 500 people, so it's considered a village. You know what I mean. So there's not like a lot of people that actually. You know. Give it a second glance Now, like it's not like Zanesville. I mean it's a little bit bigger of a town but it's still not that big of a town if you think about it. No, no, so no one really knows where we're at and it doesn't give the recognition that it deserves. I hear a few things on the radio. They were talking about it this morning on my drive into work, flashing the scores and everything like that, but it's just like that's going to Zanesville and the surrounding areas. You know, I wish more people knew so they can get a little bit more recognition because they have some tough players.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, like we have a Tribe Valley, I feel like always since I've been in Ohio I've always sort of heard of them. They're sort of always pretty good in football and basketball. We have a kid from Tri-Valley, we have a kid from Jonglin, a couple kids from Sheridan, we have a kid from Riverview, right outside of Warsaw. I was actually shocked. We've had a handful of MDL kids. We try to hammer down those guys in our backyard because they're familiar with Muskingum and we have guys in the team from that conference. They all know each other from that area.

Speaker 1:

It makes for an easier gel of the team when you have people that grew up playing each other in the NBL.

Speaker 2:

They know how each other plays and that just works with the team yeah, and our NBL guys usually come from they usually have good teams, are pretty successful, so they're used to winning and stuff, so they have good habits yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 1:

It's always a tough game when it's an NBL league. It's never just blowouts, it's always coming down to the wire or overtime games, from what I've seen when they get into conference play. So I can tell you this just from looking at the final roster and from what I've seen when they get into conference play. So and I can tell you this just from looking at the pilot roster and watching what I have you're going to have some, some great players coming up in this sophomore class. I can tell you that right now.

Speaker 1:

So in a couple of years they're already calling the sophomore, the five sophomores that are on the team, the fab five, because when they're on the court together they just they've been playing since they were old enough to pick up a basketball together, so like they just know where each other is on the court and they're just phenomenal athletes. They have a bunch of kids that are in the 10,000 bucket club, 20,000 bucket club, and you know they they're always. I haven't seen my nephew in the time that I've been around him without a basketball in his hand. He's forever. When he can, he's out shooting and he's always working on his craft. It's amazing to see young people with that kind of drive. I feel like you don't see that anymore.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, exactly no. Basketball is the one game compared to any sport. In my opinion. You can just sort of escape. You can't play catch with baseball by yourself, you can't throw a football to yourself, but you can just sort of always have a ball and get better. But I saw a father play at Keshawkin earlier this year and Keshawkin's one of the better teams this year and they played them well for most of the game and I could tell they had a lot of underclassmen playing.

Speaker 1:

They're a very young team which that's only going to bode well for them. By the time, those kids are seniors.

Speaker 2:

You know what I mean we have one of our volunteers, since he does radio shows, and we always joke on the bus that Phyla might have the best mascot in Ohio the electric, the electric, yeah, they're like if they had a draft with, if they had like a March Madness mascot, they'd make like the final four.

Speaker 1:

It's not a bad mascot Big old lightning bolt with a Superman cape on. Half the time I see him at football games he always a Superman cape on. I have the time I see him at a football game so he always has a cape on. Yeah, exactly, but where do you see yourself one day with coaching, like what's the ultimate?

Speaker 2:

goal with coaching for you? Yeah, I mean, when I like, was it? I don't? When I was like a g8 astronaut, I was trying to just, you know, continue to get better, and I didn't really have like people be like, what do you want to do in five years? I wasn't really sure. I was trying to just take it one day at a time, get the next opportunity. Um, you know, I don't really get like caught on levels, like obviously in the schemes, division three, I think. You know I wouldn't be opposed to going up, but I would also, you know, would have interest in probably becoming a head coach someday. But I don't, I don't know if you can plan out all that stuff, but I would like to be a head coach someday. And if that doesn't work out, you know, I like being an assistant too.

Speaker 1:

They both have their pros and cons to me yeah, I, I dabbled with a little bit of coaching. Uh, it's. It's weird, though. My sport was swimming, so it's. It's a sport where you can coach, but you know you're not doing a lot during the meets. And the meets are brutal. They're so long. I've been swimming since I was eight, all the way through college up at Bethany. I know how long of a day. It's a whole day of an event. I just don't have the time. I would love to be a coach, because I always said I'd make a better coach than I would an athlete.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I mean, yeah, swimming is. I feel like it's so it's it's a team sport, but it's also individual and I yeah it's like probably similar track. Those needs take a lot a long time Like I.

Speaker 1:

I still think back to regionals in high school. I remember getting to the natatorium at like 8 am and we weren't leaving there till 8 pm. It was a 12 hour event and I probably swam maybe five or six events and they were so spread out and it was just like, ok, get myself motivated for these two that are kind of like back to back. I have an individual and then a relay and then I had like three hours to just try to keep myself motivated, loose and just stay warm and not tighten up and cramp up and waiting, and then I had to get back into the pool for two or three more. It's just, it's a long day and the coaches help.

Speaker 1:

People don't know that the coaches are out there like all right, are you stretching while you're sitting here or you just kind of sitting here trying to get stiff? Are you getting fluids in you? Are you getting any carbs in you, since we have time, you know it's. There's a lot of that stuff that people don't see with coaching yeah, I mean we let's see him open the new indoor facility.

Speaker 2:

I think two years ago it was about 30 or 39, 30, 40 million, but they hosted the oac indoor mates last year and like we went over to watch some of it and the kids weren't doing their event. They were usually, like you know, had a blanket and like lord what, like napping, because there was so much time in between, whether theirs or they were waiting for it. They might have a few hours, so like you can't warm up for three or four hours right, it's just a long day.

Speaker 1:

There's only so much you could do. Yeah, I had teammates that they would bring their blankets or the snuggies or whatever and they would just curl up on on the side and just take a nap for an hour. If I got three hours, I'll grab an hour nap, wake up, get in the cool down the warm up pool, do a couple laps, warm myself back up and then I'm good to go. It's just like I can't nap and then try to get back up and get back into the pool. I was always that guy like I had to be doing something.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, exactly, I did. I think I I did one day of track in like eighth grade. Wasn't very fast, and I tweaked my answering that in high school they uh, the high school I went to, they did the high school. They didn't have a pool, but it was at the school my dad worked at. I'm like I'm gonna try swimming so my friends would try it, and I did one down and back and I was just I just was trying to go so fast. I had no form, I was just like tired. I'm like, yeah, I can't be a swimmer. Yeah, it's all arms just trying to go fast and like everybody's just not even trying.

Speaker 1:

They're laughing me basically yeah, yeah, it's a tough sport. People don't give it the credit that it deserves. I still remember I know I've told this story out here a couple of times, but it still makes me laugh there was a football player out Bethany who would always just rag on me for being a swimmer. My sport wasn't tough, there's nothing to it, anybody could do it. So I brought him to the pool.

Speaker 1:

Uh, I was like, all right, well, why don't you come back and we'll, we'll do. You can do one of my workouts and tell me how tough you think it is. And I said, and I'll do it with you, and I've already done one today. And he got through the warm-up and he's like, oh man, that was intense. I was like, dude, that's just to get us ready for what we're about to do, like that. And then, and then seeing him sore the next day because he had used muscles he had never really used before that he used in the pool, that was just all the reward in the world for me to be like. So it's not tough, huh, like you got you're, you're in the middle of your football season and you should be in the best shape of your life right now and you're sore from doing half of my work because you didn't even make it through the full thing yeah, swimming like.

Speaker 2:

I think I read a book. My first year of college had nothing to do with classes, but it's called the sports scene and like there's about a lot of like body builds and stuff and I just never realized this. I always watch like the olympics and everything, but they would be like michael phelps is. I don't know how tall he is, but he had the. His legs were about the height of like someone five, eight, cause his torso was so long and I'm like, oh my, I'm like his legs are not much, they're like mine, but he's like eight inches taller than me.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I, I read his biography. That was one of the few books I actually read. I wasn't that much of a reader back then but his legs are the legs of somebody who was like five, eight, five, nine. His torso is the length of somebody who is like six, seven, and his and his wingspan is like somebody who's well over seven foot and it's just like so. You were just built to be a swimmer. If you have that frame and that awkwardness, you were built for the pool.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, because I was probably seventh or eighth grade when he won all those medals in that Olympics. Might have been in China. That's when I got into it. I didn't know his wingspan and torso was that big, or I might've been like man. This is the greatest swimmer ever, yeah.

Speaker 1:

But I mean most decorated Olympian of all time, Like he was definitely a guy that I looked up to, uh, trying to come up in the swim.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and the guys now are like they had a couple of good year and I'm just like he's not michael phelps he's not michael phelps, that that caleb dressel.

Speaker 1:

He's actually swam at tri-valley, uh, so he's. He's a local boy. Uh, here to terror up to ohio. So I was rooting for him, uh this year. But I mean, people were calling him the next michael phel. There's no way, like there's no way he can do that. And people were like, well, this is his third Olympics. I mean, we've never heard of it. It was like cause he swam in an Olympics with Michael Phelps? There's just, you're not going to get any recognition when you're in the pool with that guy.

Speaker 2:

No, it's like, uh, in the playoffs last year the NBA I should NBA there comparing the guy for the timber was and to Michael Jordan, I'm like don't do that, that's down. That's some high expectations.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it's just now. Are you a bigger NBA fan?

Speaker 2:

Are you a bigger college hoops fan? I, I use right now it's sort of like 50, 50. My, it used to be mainly nba because, um, when lebron came back to the calves, I'm like we got to get league pass and then, once we got league pass, just started watching nba every night and I'm like, oh, these guys score more like it's. I like watching the players, so it's probably mainly nba for a long time. I still lean NBA. There's a game on because I watch so much college scouting and stuff, but probably NBA. I would lean College has a lot more variety of styles. Nba is sort of all the same, but it's so structured and organized.

Speaker 1:

I just like watching the best players play. Yeah See, basketball is never really. It's weird. Because I'm 6'5", everyone's like, oh, you must have been a hell of a basketball player. There's a reason I swam, there's a reason I was in the pool and not on the court. So I've always leaned more towards college, just watching the kids see that they're playing for something. A little bit more in my mind, to get to the NBA, I've always leaned more to that. Now I'll watch the NBA when it gets down to finals time, just to kind of watch how that kind of plays out in the playoffs there. But other than that, yeah, I lean more college for me.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I sort of just pick up on the teams I like and try to just watch them. I don't really have a particular favorite, but some teams I just wanted to watch.

Speaker 1:

I feel like yeah, if anybody asked me NBA who my favorite team would be, I'd have to say the Bulls, because I grew up a Jordan fan watching the Bulls. So like I just I can't change now, being as old as I am, I've stuck with it this long. I can't change now, being as old as I am, I've stuck with it this long. I couldn't tell you what their record is right now to save my life.

Speaker 2:

So no, it's such a long season, there's so many games. I don't.

Speaker 1:

I don't know how everybody like stays up with that and watches that and knows, like, when the games are, how many like it's a long season. I'm a hockey fan. I know there's a lot of games in that. I don't watch every game, it's just I watch it when I can but I'm not that diehard into it. Just because it's such a long season. It's hard to stay focused for that many games.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, hockey's one sport I've been trying to get into the last like five, six years. The blues won the cup, I think, when I was in college, so I sort of hopped on that bandwagon and a couple of my friends loved it and I'm like man, this is has a lot of similarities to like basketball, like it keeps my attention and I've been to a lot of live games. I just have I can't follow the puck on tv, but it is the one sport. I always knew this. Growing up. They always said hockey is the only sport that's better live in any seat in the gym than watching it on TV. I'm like, yeah, that is definitely true 100% true.

Speaker 1:

I mean, I love hockey. I watch it on TV, but there's nothing like being in an arena watching that game and feeling the energy of those players, because it's just non-stop. Like you said, it's like basketball it's up and down, up and down. These guys are getting in and off the ice in under three minutes. Just the changes that they make and how fluid the whole game flows. It's amazing to me.

Speaker 2:

I played.

Speaker 1:

No, you're good, Go ahead.

Speaker 2:

I played football but I'm like, I think these hockey players I mean football guys are physical and tough but I would I don't know if I could do a puck to the face. I think those guys are some of the toughest pro athletes in the out of any sport.

Speaker 1:

They are. And it was funny to me, it was. I can't remember when it was it was a couple of years ago and I saw it. It was all over social media. They had taken a select group of hockey players. And I saw it, it was all over social media.

Speaker 1:

They had taken a select group of hockey players and they said, all right, we're going to put you through a football workout and training camp. And they did it like it was nothing. And then they did the opposite. They took some football players and said, all right, we're going to put you on the ice. And they could barely even stand up. And it was like Larry Fitzgerald and all these big name guys that are just like freak athletes on the football field and they didn't even know what to do when they got on the ice and it was just like, yeah. And then, you know, growing up a Pants fan, I've seen Sidney Crosby go to Pirate Stadium and be taking their pitchers yard. Just never swung a bat before, but he has the hand-eye coordination to take some of their pitchers and just in batting practice and just taking them yard. It's insane.

Speaker 2:

And some of these hockey players like if you saw them walking on the street you might not know, they're like pro athletes. Yeah, they're athletic. If you saw an NBA player like a big-time NFL player, like man, that guy's huge, but these guys are not. They're athletic. If you saw an NBA player, a big-time NFL player, you'd be like man, that guy's huge, but these guys are not. They're big, but they're just so tough.

Speaker 1:

I feel like and some of them if you actually break down their weight and height, they would be starting linebackers in the NFL. There's some guys that just don't look that, big Guys that are 6'3", 215, 220, that's a linebacker in the NFL. Right now Nobody realizes that that's who it is.

Speaker 2:

Hockey is. There's five or six out there, it's real similar to basketball the court, the courts actually sort of, or the, the rinks like sort of similar length, just non-stop.

Speaker 1:

There's just no stoppage yeah, absolutely uh, and you know I I've even tried to, I I just can't, I don't have the time to follow it. But even the college hockey and fighting that, because they're getting down and close to their frozen four, kind of like the final four with men's basketball and everything like that, and you know, I'm just wondering, like you know with you with being in D3 now, are you seeing the same type of like NIL and transfer portal problems that, like these big schools are having?

Speaker 2:

I don't it's trickled down from a transfer standpoint. Probably the NIL, not as much as more dependent on the school. Probably NIL, not as much it's more dependent on the school. Probably it's just. Yeah, I don't there are kids transferring, for sure that's trickled down. I think it's more like a mindset with this generation because they see all these top Any kids, just Any top-tier kids, they all know that top-group transfer. They know A lot of kids will transfer high schools now maybe get a better opportunity, get more exposure.

Speaker 2:

The NIL is a little different. It's probably a little different at the D2 and D3 level. It's more school dependent. I don't think some of these schools, of these schools I mean like those people would give money to the boosters, your boosters club or whatever you want to call it, um, but they'll get more money for, like, the experience helping these kids get. You know, go overseas, go on big trips, get a lot of gear. Um, the the nil is a little. Some kids can. They can do it on their own, but at D2 and D3, unless you're in a unique situation, there's not a lot of heavy money being thrown around for the most part.

Speaker 1:

I've always wondered how that would work for D3, because I know a lot of D3, they can't give full-ride athletic scholarships. I just didn't know how that would work. And if they are, or if they're transferred now trying to go D1 to get that NIL money, you know, it's just I don't agree with the transfer portal and that I never have. It's like, oh well, this isn't working for me here, I'm going to go here and play. It's like, no, you kind of signed a contract to play at a school. You should kind of stick it out.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I mean, yeah, I think it's in a gray area and I think that's why so many of those you know legendary college coaches have sort of just stepped down. They just, they just, it's such a you have to adapt. But it's gotten to a point for some of these guys like I don't know, you have to adapt. But it's gotten to a point for some of these guys Like I don't know, jay right, there's been a lot of them that have left. It's just a lot going on. They're not used to that. They're not used to having to re-recruit their guys Before with the, because all the people that coach along they're like it used to be perfect, you had to sit out a year. Um, it won't ever go back to that, but it's just the amount of times you can do it.

Speaker 1:

Um, right, if you can do it one time, like if you could only do it one time, I'd be okay with it. It's like okay, I played here at alabama and I didn't really start or play much. Now I'm going to go here to georgia where they're going to say I'm going to play more. Oh well, now I'm not playing here, so now I'm going to go to like West Virginia and play. You know, like no, like pick a team and stay with it. I understand you're trying to grow a future, but like, work at it, you know.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and that complicates a little more. I feel like I mean I don't know other sports as well like football and stuff, um, but like with basketball, like I don't know other sports as well like football and stuff, but with basketball, as these D1s get to the midpoint or two-thirds of the way, a lot of these kids they know they're already going to leave. So it's a tricky situation for everybody involved.

Speaker 1:

Basketball is a little bit different when they can have the one-and-dones and go to the NBA or the G league or or whatever, and, you know, basically start their pro careers.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think all the coaches like agree like the, they want, like the kids deserve to be rewarded. It's a lot of people debate like well, like who's there? Like who are they going to go back to If they graduate? They were only there for years that their alumni. You know what I mean. Like right, where can they go back to 20 years from now when they're not playing that sport? And you know they could be at a school for three years where they transfer and that's not their home anymore. You know what I mean. Like right.

Speaker 1:

That's a tricky situation.

Speaker 2:

We will see It'll work its way out.

Speaker 1:

Hopefully. I feel like it'll work its way out, because you're going to be losing a lot of legendary coaches from this and everything like that. I know it's good for the sport. The kids need to be paid for their likeness. I understand that, that and I think it's just. I know it's good for the sport. The kids need to be played, paid, you know, for their likeness. I understand that. But for schools to just offer them money to pull them from a program, I don't. I don't agree with that either. Um, but look, we are running down here near the end of the episode. I do need to get this segment in, um, and it is the Fast 55.

Speaker 1:

Five random questions from the wonderful manager of the podcast, johnny Fitty Falcone. These are kind of rapid fire, but you can elaborate if you need to and, knowing Fitty, you probably will, and he sent these to me like five minutes before we started recording. So we're going to read these together and if you're ready, we'll go ahead and get going. Awesome, sounds good, all right. Question number one Is a better color, red or green?

Speaker 2:

Ooh, I'm going to have to go red. I know green's got a lot of nature in it, but red is just a lot of good sports and colleges Everything goes with red. You got the red hoodie on today too. Yeah, it's Muskegon's color. There you go. I've been in a lot of Red's just a good sports color. I got you. And green is a Celtic, so I'm not a big Boston fan.

Speaker 1:

I can get on board with that too as well. So question number two what is the worst name for a pet?

Speaker 2:

Or a pet. I'd probably say there's like a common human name would be a bad name for a pet Like John or Jim, or that's just a human name to me, not a pet name.

Speaker 1:

Question number three what is the best holiday?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I got to go with Christmas. I always say that my only the only two things in the winter I like are Christmas and basketball season. Christmas is over, so it's all basketball season now.

Speaker 1:

Christmas and basketball season Christmas is over, so it's all basketball season. Now Basketball season. I got you Question number four.

Speaker 2:

Who is the best pro wrestler of all time? Oh, my favorite one. This is a real like just your opinion.

Speaker 1:

Who's the best pro wrestler of all time? Could be your favorite one. Yeah, that's just all the questions.

Speaker 2:

I don't know a ton of wrestlers, so I'm just going to have to. As a kid I always watched BH1 and MTV. So I'm just going to have to go with Hulk Hogan because I just know him the most.

Speaker 1:

Okay, that's a solid choice. By the way, Somebody watching a wrestler? That's a solid choice.

Speaker 2:

Alright. Last question here what is the most overrated food? The most overrated food? That's a tough one. I can eat pretty much anything. I don't want to get people mad on this, but I might have to go. I can't go. I'm sure I might have to go. I can't go. I'm sure I might have to go. This is going to upset a lot of people. I might have to go. French fries French fries.

Speaker 1:

Okay, I can see that because they got to be elite.

Speaker 2:

If they're not elite, they got to dip them in something. So they just end up dipping them with the sauce. Take out the sauce, so it wouldn't be a fry fanatic.

Speaker 1:

I can see that, because it took them too long. They're too crunchy. Don't cook them long enough. I can see where you're going with that. I can see where you got to that.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, they left over. They get too dry.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, iover to get too dry. Yeah, I'm definitely with you on that one. Oh, look, like I said we're running down near the end of the episode. I do give every guest this opportunity at the end of the show, so if there's anything you want to get out there whether it's just a good message, or if there's anything you want to do, maybe to help recruit for Muskingum.

Speaker 2:

I'm going to give you about a minute and the floor is yours. Yeah, I mean, this is my. This is our, my third year at Muskingum with our head coach and um, right, we're in the Ohio athletic conference. Oac is usually top, top two, three, four, five conference in the country every year based on rankings and um, we we've had a pretty good start. We're um four and one in the oac, which is the best record museum's had since like 1989. So we're trying to keep that momentum going.

Speaker 2:

Um, the students about to get back from break tomorrow, um, if anybody's local to muskingum, um, they'd really enjoy, I think, watching watching us play. Our guys play really hard, they play together. They have a lot of fun. Um, and we're we're gonna have a lot of home games this year conference games. It will be pretty exciting atmosphere. Anybody's local I mean d3 games are can get a little under looked, but there's a lot of high level, really high level basketball players, especially in our conference. It's like the sort of like the big 10 division three. Just every team we play is good and just competitive basketball.

Speaker 1:

All right, yeah, hey, I did not know you were that close, so my schedule out. I'm going to try to get out and see you guys play when I can. For sure I'll have to let me know and send me a schedule so I can know when to when I can try to be there for you and definitely support you, and I will be following you. Anytime we have any coaches on, you can ask them. I do follow them and you know, try to keep up with what's going on, so I'll be rooting for you there at Muskingum. Thank you for coming on.

Speaker 2:

We really Appreciate you coming on taking time out of your evening here to sit and talk with me here. Yeah, I appreciate it. Bono, I know you're from Philo, but I'll probably be at a couple of Philo games recruiting this year.

Speaker 1:

All right, well, definitely be looking for you if I see you there. For sure, as always, if you enjoyed the show, be a friend, tell a friend. If you didn't tell them anyways, they might like it just because you didn't. No-transcript.

People on this episode

Podcasts we love

Check out these other fine podcasts recommended by us, not an algorithm.

The Process of Healing Artwork

The Process of Healing

David Keck & Susie Spencer
The Destin Nation Podcast Artwork

The Destin Nation Podcast

Destin Richardson