00:00:01
Yukon snags Kaye Heckle in the portal,
00:00:04
but the story is less about her and more
00:00:07
about the philosophical switch that
00:00:10
should terrify women's basketball. And
00:00:13
we're going to talk about it. You're on
00:00:15
the
00:00:19
Hoopscat. Let's get it. Let's get it.
00:00:21
Let's get it. Let's get it. Let's get
00:00:22
it. Let's get it. Let's get it. Let's
00:00:23
get it.
00:00:26
Yukon, baby. Home of the champions.
00:00:30
Let's go.
00:00:32
All right, welcome into the Hoopscap
00:00:34
pod. I'm your host, Mark Zenedto. We are
00:00:38
here with T Baker. We are obviously
00:00:40
powered by Big East Energy amongst other
00:00:43
things. Abasa Spice, not Big East Energy
00:00:46
Weekly. Get out of there. Um, and some
00:00:48
other uh friends of mine, Joey Bilbonds,
00:00:51
like we talked about, we do not want you
00:00:52
to use Joey's service, but it's there
00:00:54
for you if you need it.
00:00:57
8609166747 for all of your oops I made a
00:01:01
mistake uh situations uh for lack of a
00:01:04
better word. Um T I I we didn't get a
00:01:07
chance to talk since Kaylee Heckle
00:01:09
committed because it's only happened you
00:01:10
know about 24 hours ago. Um but talk
00:01:14
about all of this like I want to I want
00:01:15
to I want to hear about the fit because
00:01:18
she fills the last spot. There's 15
00:01:21
people on the roster, which is a first.
00:01:23
And I want to hear about your thoughts
00:01:25
there. And then we'll transition to that
00:01:28
strategy switch that I think is a major
00:01:30
shift for not only Yukon, but what
00:01:34
should what literally should terrify
00:01:36
women's college basketball if Yukon
00:01:37
decides to continue this with or without
00:01:40
Gino down the road. Yeah. Well,
00:01:42
obviously huge news for Yukon. Um, and
00:01:46
Kaylee Heckle brings tremendous amount
00:01:48
of talent. Uh, she, interestingly, I
00:01:51
learned on the USC website, was born in
00:01:53
Gretage, Connecticut. So, returning to
00:01:55
her place of birth, was um, raised in in
00:01:58
Long Island. But, um, it's it's an
00:02:00
interesting kind of like returning to,
00:02:02
um, where she grew up, uh, element. I
00:02:04
think what's what's so important about
00:02:07
her is that she's a a steady ball
00:02:12
handler. She's the type of player who
00:02:14
can be that uh go-to backcourt presence
00:02:17
as point guard, not just next year and
00:02:19
maybe not even as a starter next year,
00:02:20
but for years to come. Setting that
00:02:22
foundation, it takes some of the
00:02:24
pressure, I think, off of some of
00:02:25
Yukon's other guards like AC FUD or
00:02:28
Morgan Shelley or Kis Fischer who maybe
00:02:30
aren't natural floor generals, aren't
00:02:32
naturally in that position or could be
00:02:34
better served in in a two position.
00:02:36
Takes that pressure off of them and also
00:02:38
um provides some injury insurance. I
00:02:40
think KK Arnold is probably the starting
00:02:42
point guard next season and it's really
00:02:45
just in in the in the event of an injury
00:02:49
but also you know as just a backup point
00:02:51
guard second string um who could be a
00:02:53
starter as well. So I think she just
00:02:54
offers a lot of options for Yukon but
00:02:56
most importantly it's that backcourt
00:02:58
point guard presence. No I I totally
00:03:01
agree. Um do you I asked this to a guest
00:03:05
uh yesterday. Do you believe um of these
00:03:09
three between uh Khis
00:03:12
Fischer, Kaye, and then KK, like who's
00:03:16
your who's your starting point guard
00:03:17
there?
00:03:18
I I think I give it to KK just because I
00:03:21
think that she brings that experience of
00:03:23
having been a starter. Um she's she's an
00:03:25
upper classman. Um I think that there's
00:03:28
a lot to be said about building trust
00:03:31
with um the coaching staff and I think
00:03:32
she's earned that trust. So, I think she
00:03:35
is the starting point guard next season.
00:03:37
Um, and you know, the others are
00:03:40
competing for that role in the longer
00:03:41
term. Um, so I I do still think it's KK
00:03:44
Arnold that starting role, but you know,
00:03:46
we've seen a lot of guard heavy lineups
00:03:49
in Yukon in the recent years. So, I
00:03:50
there could be a lot of different
00:03:51
combinations of talented guards on the
00:03:53
floor. Yeah, I totally agree. I also
00:03:55
think this is a situation where you kind
00:03:58
of have to stack talent at this at this
00:04:01
point. like, you know, you don't, you
00:04:03
know, we're going to get into the
00:04:04
strategic flip that, you know, you
00:04:07
brought up to me uh pre-show that I
00:04:09
totally agree with, but I, you know, for
00:04:12
a while people were in my mentions
00:04:14
talking about how, you know, they don't
00:04:16
they don't need another point guard. You
00:04:17
know, they have KK and they have police
00:04:18
and they're going to be fine. Um, I
00:04:21
thought this move was absolutely
00:04:22
necessary because I'm a big fan of
00:04:25
positional versatility and Kaylee can
00:04:27
play both. uh uh one and she's a combo
00:04:30
guard in my opinion. I think she's more
00:04:31
natural as a one, but with what just
00:04:35
reading these names, forget about how
00:04:39
important this transfer is. Caroline
00:04:41
Ducharm, Ay, Sarah, Sarah Williams, KK,
00:04:44
Ice, Ashlin, then you have the slew of
00:04:47
sophomores between Morgan, Jana, Kaylee,
00:04:50
Ayanna, Sarah Strong, Ali Zabel, then
00:04:53
you have the freshman. even before you
00:04:55
get to someone like Blanca Kones who if
00:04:57
she played in the states might have been
00:04:59
the number one recruit in the country. I
00:05:02
mean like the embarrassment of Riches is
00:05:05
kind of crazy here. But I definitely
00:05:07
think they needed some backup at the
00:05:09
point guard position and that's why they
00:05:11
did this. Yeah, I think I think that's
00:05:14
also a feature of the um 15 player
00:05:17
roster. like these teams are going to
00:05:19
want to have competitive advantage and
00:05:21
at the end of the season um health and
00:05:23
depth are really the things that are um
00:05:26
winning championships, right? Like
00:05:28
sometimes it just comes down to who has
00:05:30
the more more healthy players um in the
00:05:33
event of an injury, who's able to
00:05:34
recover more quickly. Like we see those
00:05:36
types of things be how people lose in
00:05:38
the very end of the season. So, I think
00:05:40
Yukon um had some really painful years
00:05:43
with injuries where, you know, going
00:05:44
back to the final four a couple years
00:05:45
ago, they only seven healthy players. Um
00:05:48
they've had to forfeit games for not
00:05:50
having enough players. Like, I think
00:05:51
that um they understand that that depth
00:05:54
piece is increasingly important,
00:05:56
especially as other teams have the
00:05:57
opportunity to to deepen as well to 15
00:05:59
players. So, it's like it's sort of
00:06:01
like, you know, just providing extra
00:06:03
insurance in case of injury and building
00:06:05
for the future at the same time. Yeah.
00:06:08
Yeah. No, I I I couldn't agree more. Um,
00:06:10
all right. So, I think we've at least I
00:06:13
have I've beaten a dead horse uh over
00:06:14
the Kaylee Heckle stuff, but it's it's
00:06:17
I'm excited about it because I think she
00:06:18
was she's a great fit. But we're going
00:06:20
to take a quick break because the
00:06:21
strategy switch is really to me the meat
00:06:24
of this show and really want to talk
00:06:27
about what that means for Yukon going
00:06:29
forward. And we're going to talk about
00:06:30
that in like 10 seconds coming up after
00:06:33
the break.
00:06:40
We are back on the Hoop Scout pod here
00:06:42
with T. Baker um talking Yukon Hoops and
00:06:46
recent transfers and really kind of a
00:06:50
strategic flip in how Gino and company
00:06:54
use the portal. Um for years he has not
00:06:59
gone this route. He's typically gone
00:07:01
with a grad transfer. Um, why the why do
00:07:04
you think there was a switch this year
00:07:06
with not only Sarah but also Kaylee?
00:07:09
I mean, I think that um it's it's really
00:07:12
just about adjusting to the times. Gina
00:07:15
Orama in in the Final Four quoted a book
00:07:17
and I'm not going to be able to to
00:07:19
identify the name of the book, but he
00:07:20
basically said times change and it's the
00:07:23
duty of men to change with them. And I
00:07:24
think he's he's a testament to that type
00:07:26
of evolution. Like he was finding
00:07:29
success in the mid '9s. He found success
00:07:31
early 2000s 2010, first coach to have
00:07:34
titles in each of those those four
00:07:35
decades, which just speaks to his
00:07:37
longevity and his ability to adapt. A
00:07:39
lot of the games top coaches um left in
00:07:42
in these changes, right? It's uh people
00:07:45
like Jay Wright, Muffet McGra, um
00:07:48
coaches who were really still at the top
00:07:50
of their game, but really I think didn't
00:07:52
want to be around for this part of the
00:07:54
transfer portal. And I'm not saying
00:07:56
specifically those coaches, but a lot of
00:07:58
those coaches who were legends um chose
00:08:01
to leave because they don't want to be
00:08:02
part of this new this new world of
00:08:04
college basketball. I think for a coach
00:08:06
like Gino, he wants to keep winning. He
00:08:08
wants Yukon to stay relevant and he
00:08:09
understands that that means not just um
00:08:12
transferring in players who are grad
00:08:14
students, but looking at the portal more
00:08:16
holistically because other teams are
00:08:17
able to switch their roster year to year
00:08:19
and he's got to be able to do the same
00:08:20
thing. I think Kim Moy was an example of
00:08:23
someone who did this kind of earlier
00:08:24
ahead of the curve. Um she brought in
00:08:26
like TA Cooper in that championship
00:08:28
season.
00:08:29
Um you know that she had built some um
00:08:33
success around just just continuing to
00:08:35
to find transfers who had eligibility
00:08:38
remaining in their time and and and
00:08:40
turning them into pieces of her team. So
00:08:42
um I think every coach has to catch up.
00:08:44
I think also another example with Kim
00:08:46
was Angel Reese, right? She brought in
00:08:47
Angel Ree as a foundational piece. It's
00:08:49
not just looking for extra role players
00:08:52
in the portal. It's looking for the next
00:08:54
star. And that's what every team's
00:08:55
needing to do. And that's that's what
00:08:56
the Huskys are doing as well. Yeah. Who
00:08:59
do you think was the bigger influence on
00:09:02
this uh change? Was it someone like
00:09:06
Jamal Elliot? Was it Chris Dailyaly? Was
00:09:07
it maybe someone else um that you can
00:09:10
think of? Was it just a maybe a uh
00:09:13
coincidence that this is just kind of
00:09:15
what what's going on? I'm curious if you
00:09:16
have some insight on that.
00:09:19
I think it's it's probably a combination
00:09:21
of those things. I think the coaching
00:09:22
staff, Gino Orama, constantly gives
00:09:25
credit to his coaching staff,
00:09:26
specifically like Jamal Elliot, Tanya
00:09:28
Cardosa, those who are doing Morgan
00:09:29
Valley who are doing a lot of the
00:09:31
recruiting. Um, I think that it's really
00:09:33
just
00:09:34
about finding this the shifts that are
00:09:37
happening in the sport and making sure
00:09:38
that you're prepared for them. Like
00:09:40
Yukon wants to remain elite and they
00:09:43
understand that to do that, you might
00:09:44
have to get over your pride about what
00:09:46
it means that someone's transferring. I
00:09:48
think the stigma around transferring has
00:09:49
also has also shifted significantly
00:09:51
because now it's like feels like a third
00:09:53
of players are in the transfer portal,
00:09:54
right? So there's not that same like
00:09:57
stigma around like, oh, there must have
00:09:59
been a bad reason or you're a bad fit or
00:10:00
you were a bad teammate, right? I like
00:10:02
back in the day you would speculate
00:10:03
like, oh, is this transfer going to be a
00:10:05
good fit? Um, you know, because they
00:10:07
didn't stay at school the whole time
00:10:09
where with with a grad student, and this
00:10:10
was I think Gino's historical thinking
00:10:12
was like they they graduated, they did
00:10:14
their part, now they're for a next step,
00:10:16
right? they didn't like leave their
00:10:17
team. So, I don't know. I think the
00:10:19
narrative has has completely shifted
00:10:20
around the transfer portal around
00:10:22
college sports and Yukon is just, you
00:10:25
know, a team that's always been on top
00:10:27
of those trends and understood what it
00:10:29
what it means to evolve.
00:10:31
Yeah. I also think it's kind of breaks
00:10:32
the mold and kind of is it's mirroring
00:10:34
what um the like the job market is to be
00:10:38
honest with you. You know what I mean?
00:10:39
For the most part, most companies now,
00:10:42
unless you're trying to be, you know,
00:10:44
something specific like a doctor or a
00:10:46
lawyer or a teacher, um they don't
00:10:48
require you to have a four-year degree.
00:10:50
Um just the amount of experience that
00:10:52
you have sometimes is enough or they'll
00:10:54
bring you on to train you and and things
00:10:56
of that nature. So, I just wonder if
00:10:58
part of that kind of everchanging part
00:11:00
of society is is one of the reasons why
00:11:03
Gino and staff is like, "All right,
00:11:05
listen, we got to open this up a little
00:11:06
it and I wonder if some of the old
00:11:07
school coaches even on the men's side
00:11:09
will change because someone that we
00:11:11
cover over in Wisconsin who Gino is very
00:11:14
fond of and Shaka Smart has not taken to
00:11:17
the portal at all and you know like I
00:11:20
think at some point you have to um and
00:11:23
here's Gino coming off a title doing
00:11:24
that so it's it's it's interesting I I
00:11:28
any any thoughts on that? I think it's
00:11:30
it's one of those things
00:11:32
where this is a moment where the
00:11:34
pendulum is swinging towards like, you
00:11:37
know, players having a significant
00:11:39
unprecedented choice in the same way
00:11:40
that like the job market, like you
00:11:42
mentioned, like there was the great
00:11:44
resignation and and there was like a the
00:11:47
workforce had more power, let's say,
00:11:49
over like CEOs and corporations. And
00:11:51
then it's swinging back now that that
00:11:53
the job market's tighter. And there's
00:11:54
like I'm not going to speak on on all
00:11:56
the economics piece because I'm a
00:11:57
women's basketball reporter, but um
00:11:59
there's there is that parallel of
00:12:01
like demand and need and matching supply
00:12:04
and demand reaching and making sure that
00:12:06
you're um you know you are reaching the
00:12:09
best available player and sometimes the
00:12:10
best available player is coming from the
00:12:12
transfer portal. Um I think it it
00:12:16
definitely suggests that this is the
00:12:19
normal for now. I think that over time
00:12:21
teams will begin to realize and I think
00:12:23
Yukon has done a good job at this is
00:12:25
like it has to be a combination of
00:12:27
players who know your system who have
00:12:28
been through the program and new players
00:12:30
who can fit into that. That's the sweet
00:12:32
spot I think right I think that it's not
00:12:34
ideal to lose your players and then
00:12:36
bring in a new team every year because
00:12:37
that that's tough to rebuild that
00:12:38
chemistry but adding additional pieces
00:12:41
on top of those culture fits who have
00:12:42
been there from the start um I think is
00:12:44
is probably the sweet spot.
00:12:47
I couldn't agree more. And just like
00:12:50
that though, I really want to talk about
00:12:52
kind of the future of this. You know, I
00:12:54
it want to look at this lineup
00:12:57
because we can talk about, you know,
00:13:00
Heckle and Sarah Williams kind of till
00:13:02
we're blue in the face. But there's a
00:13:04
chunk of players that are now
00:13:06
sophomores, rising juniors that are
00:13:09
really kind of the future of this team.
00:13:10
And it's not to discredit someone like
00:13:12
Ay or Sarah or even Caroline who are the
00:13:13
seniors, but it's it's kind of a
00:13:16
multi-layered recruiting strategy and
00:13:19
it's probably why the title of this this
00:13:22
uh this episode is are you scared yet?
00:13:25
Because you should be. uh because this
00:13:27
team is so loaded and I want to get your
00:13:30
thoughts on
00:13:32
combinations and what exactly they're
00:13:34
going to do because I think that's the
00:13:36
biggest honestly that's the biggest push
00:13:37
back I get is like what are you going to
00:13:39
do if like you're on the bench for like
00:13:40
multiple you know what I mean like so
00:13:42
I'm curious to hear your thoughts about
00:13:44
all of this and we're going to talk
00:13:45
about that after a quick
00:13:53
break you're back on the Hoop Scout pod
00:13:55
with T Baker here of the next uh and
00:13:58
obviously a Big East Energy Hoopscap
00:14:00
contributor. Um
00:14:02
RT what what do you what do you see from
00:14:05
this entire core squad? Because you
00:14:07
obviously have Sarah Heckle I mean Sarah
00:14:10
Heckle. Yeah, I combine the kind of
00:14:11
combine the two. Kaylee Heckle and Sarah
00:14:14
Williams and all of these sophomores
00:14:17
Morgan Jana Ayanna Sarah Strong who
00:14:21
might be the best player in the country.
00:14:22
She's my best player next year going
00:14:24
into the season. and then Ali Zabel. Um,
00:14:26
and that's before we talk about the
00:14:28
freshman. So, what are your thoughts
00:14:30
about how they've kind of set this up
00:14:32
multi-layered?
00:14:34
Yeah. Well, it's it's interesting
00:14:35
because I'm looking at the the Hoop
00:14:37
Girls ratings from 2024. Sarah Strong's
00:14:39
number one, Ali Zabel's number seven,
00:14:42
Morgan Shell's number 11, and Kaylee
00:14:44
Heckle's number 13. So, you have four
00:14:45
players in the top uh 15 of that
00:14:48
recruiting class. Some of which were
00:14:50
acquired and and recruited out of high
00:14:52
school, some that were taken from the
00:14:53
portal like like Ali Zabel. So, I think
00:14:55
it's
00:14:55
like it's a lot of talent and um you
00:15:00
know that that comes with how do you
00:15:02
manage the talent? I think Yukon has
00:15:04
always had a lot of talent and has been
00:15:07
really good at managing that because of
00:15:09
the the team culture. Like I don't think
00:15:11
stars on Yukon's roster can either get
00:15:13
too high or too low. Like they are very
00:15:15
humbled and stars um in Yukon's system
00:15:19
are you know oftentimes pulled into more
00:15:22
of a team dynamic. So, I think that
00:15:25
there are individual stars, but it's
00:15:26
also a role-based team, a team that that
00:15:29
team offense, motion offense, like
00:15:30
there's there's um a lot of different
00:15:32
ways that you can contribute within
00:15:33
Yukon systems and and I think that's how
00:15:35
Yukon's been successful at retaining top
00:15:37
talent, but certainly that's a question,
00:15:39
right? Um but it also creates a
00:15:41
competitive edge in practice. Like
00:15:42
players want to compete for playing
00:15:44
time. It creates like a healthy level of
00:15:45
competition, I think, within the team
00:15:47
about earning those minutes during
00:15:49
practice. um you know to get on the
00:15:51
floor during a game.
00:15:54
Yeah. No, I I I I totally agree. Um I
00:15:57
think what's what's interesting to me
00:15:59
about this uh this team is how I mean is
00:16:04
is getting it to 15 because and I know
00:16:07
people are going to take advantage of it
00:16:08
and I know it's a lot about you know I
00:16:10
talked about this in the past like an
00:16:11
insurance policy just in case you have
00:16:12
an injury or multiple like they've had
00:16:15
in the last few years. Do you think
00:16:16
that's really what it is or do you think
00:16:18
it's just like, hey, we have 15 slots.
00:16:20
Like, why wouldn't we fill it? Um, you
00:16:23
know, because I almost feel like you're
00:16:26
it's a double-edged sword. You're you're
00:16:27
doing this so you don't have to go heavy
00:16:29
portal, right? And you're doing this so
00:16:31
you don't have like a five or six person
00:16:34
um recruiting class, you know, and this
00:16:36
year they only had three. uh like what
00:16:39
what where do you think the the strategy
00:16:41
lies more in kind of preventing heavy
00:16:44
portal usage or is it so you don't have
00:16:47
to go crazy and get a really large um
00:16:49
recruiting boss?
00:16:52
I think I think it's it's probably a
00:16:54
little bit of both. Like in my opinion,
00:16:56
it's really like in this new era where
00:16:59
transfers are very common, you can
00:17:01
pretty much expect that at least one
00:17:03
player will transfer out of your team in
00:17:05
the offseason. Like if you look at the
00:17:06
data, it's probably up to like 2.5. I
00:17:08
don't know. I'm just making that up. But
00:17:10
there's a lot of players that transfer
00:17:11
in the off season. So I think if you
00:17:14
have 15 players, you're sort of building
00:17:16
in that expectation that maybe some of
00:17:17
these players won't last four years. We
00:17:19
saw that with with Cadence Samuelson, uh
00:17:21
Cadence Samuels. We've seen it with
00:17:22
other Yukon transfers in the past. Um
00:17:26
and I So I think I think it is about
00:17:28
maximizing the spots you have and making
00:17:30
sure that they're filled with talent
00:17:32
that you want there. and you know just
00:17:34
building in for the inevitable like how
00:17:36
much more am I going to have to build
00:17:37
this roster if players turn over next
00:17:39
year right um so it's it's really and
00:17:42
and what I'm fascinated by and what I
00:17:44
want to know is when and who um will be
00:17:48
announced as as the general manager for
00:17:50
Yukon women's basketball that's a new
00:17:52
position within college sports and um
00:17:55
I'm curious who that will be what type
00:17:58
of person would step into that role how
00:18:00
they interact with a coach like Gino
00:18:01
Oryma who is used to kind of being the
00:18:04
the big boss, you know, like I don't
00:18:05
know. It's is this a dynamic of sports,
00:18:08
college sports that I'm very intrigued
00:18:09
by. And I'm curious when we're going to
00:18:12
hear that announcement of who Yukon's uh
00:18:14
GM is going to be. Do you think it's a
00:18:16
former coach Allah the men with Tom
00:18:19
Moore who's been on the staff or do you
00:18:22
think
00:18:23
it's some some teams at least on the
00:18:25
men's side have gone to actual front
00:18:29
office folks in their own professional
00:18:30
leagues. Um, or do you think it's
00:18:33
someone in the Yukon family that kind of
00:18:35
knows Gino well? Maybe a former player
00:18:38
that doesn't that's older that's
00:18:40
retired. I'm just curious. I could see,
00:18:43
if I were to make a prediction, I think
00:18:44
that potentially Tanya Cardo or Jamal
00:18:47
Elliot would be promoted to that
00:18:49
position. Um, someone in the Yukon
00:18:50
family, people who are very familiar
00:18:52
with the current roster and its
00:18:53
construction, people who understand that
00:18:55
Gino Orama's coaching career is limited
00:18:58
and who can work with him. Like I don't
00:19:01
I don't anticipate like a newbie coming
00:19:02
in sort of like to the Yukon program at
00:19:04
this stage of Gino's career and being
00:19:06
the general manager being a super smooth
00:19:08
transition. But if you have people who
00:19:10
have coached alongside him, won
00:19:12
championships with him, know the
00:19:13
personnel, can sell the school, like I
00:19:16
think that would be a great use of um
00:19:18
you know, one of those those assistant
00:19:20
coaches and a position potentially
00:19:22
that's um builds in longevity and and a
00:19:24
transition to whoever the future coach
00:19:26
is, right? having some level of
00:19:28
continuity between who the GM is now and
00:19:29
who it can be in the future. Yeah. No,
00:19:31
it's a it's a great point and maybe
00:19:33
we'll do this on another show, but like
00:19:34
I I honestly could see them it it all
00:19:37
depends because on the men's side, the
00:19:39
reason why Tom Moore was promoted into
00:19:41
this position and they brought in Mike
00:19:42
Nardy from as a younger guy to from Ohio
00:19:45
from Ohio State from Villanova um is
00:19:47
because they saw potential in a younger
00:19:50
coach who Dan really respected, right?
00:19:52
So they bring him in and they promote
00:19:54
Tom. Tom had been doing dual rows any
00:19:56
dual roles anyway. So it was like a
00:19:58
seamless transition. Plus it gets him
00:20:00
off the road. Like Tom is older. He got
00:20:02
a chance to just kind of now he's just
00:20:04
there. He's now he's just in in
00:20:05
Connecticut, you know, just gets to kind
00:20:08
of help with the support staff. Doesn't
00:20:10
have to be traveling a ton. So if
00:20:12
someone's got, you know, like Jabelle is
00:20:14
on the road all the time, so like maybe
00:20:16
she's the one that's like, "Hey, you
00:20:17
know, I'd love to do this because I'm
00:20:19
just speculating, right?" or in the
00:20:21
future they bring in someone that's kind
00:20:24
of got some gravitas like a Jen Rosati
00:20:26
or a Rebecca Lobo or someone like that
00:20:28
just because it kind of helps to kind of
00:20:31
keep the continuity of the Yukon family
00:20:33
and and then also they've worked with
00:20:35
Gino and whoever else replaces him.
00:20:38
Yeah. And I mean to speak to our last
00:20:39
episode, the days for the sun might be
00:20:41
numbered. So Jen Rosati might be looking
00:20:43
for a job. She might be looking for a
00:20:44
job. It's true. And I hate that for her
00:20:46
because she's one of my favorites ever
00:20:48
and I love the interview I did with her.
00:20:49
So, um, yeah, but no, it's but that's
00:20:52
that's the first thing that pops into my
00:20:53
head is like someone that because that's
00:20:55
what happens in in pro sports anyway.
00:20:57
Yeah. You know, uh, you know, first one
00:20:59
that pops into my head is a Duke guy.
00:21:00
Tanjan Langden is the GM of some NBA
00:21:03
team, you know what I mean? So,
00:21:06
this this is this is the natural
00:21:07
progression. And there's so many like
00:21:09
legendary sort of like GM coaching or GM
00:21:12
star player dramas in in professional
00:21:15
sports over the years that I'm very
00:21:17
curious to see how it plays out in the
00:21:19
college environment. It honestly it it
00:21:22
it's confusing to me what exactly that
00:21:25
would look like right in this moment,
00:21:27
right? Um can GMs fire someone? Like
00:21:31
what are the rules around being in right
00:21:35
not really an employee but kind of an
00:21:36
employee of a university, right? like
00:21:38
those are the types of labor questions
00:21:40
that come to mind for me. But um it's
00:21:42
going to be an interesting couple years
00:21:43
as as this transition happens. And um
00:21:47
I'm I'm just very curious if they're
00:21:48
going to put that someone in that
00:21:49
position for this season and when we'll
00:21:51
hear that announcement. The other
00:21:53
interesting part of this before we go is
00:21:55
forget about the the um the labor laws
00:21:58
and things of that nature. That's that's
00:22:00
that's a whole other show. Um but where
00:22:02
does this person sit? Do they sit up
00:22:05
top? Do they sit on the bench like
00:22:07
because or do they stand like you know
00:22:10
Allah every Lakers GM over the last you
00:22:13
know 30 years they just kind of hang you
00:22:15
know just kind of like hover in the
00:22:16
tunnel um because honestly that was a
00:22:18
question that was asked to Tom Moore is
00:22:19
like are you going to be like not on the
00:22:21
bench and he was just like we haven't
00:22:22
discussed it so like that's I mean even
00:22:24
internally from someone down the hall
00:22:26
from Gino like they don't even know what
00:22:28
they're going to do and maybe they know
00:22:29
now that was like a month ago but
00:22:31
that'll be interesting like once they
00:22:32
hire this person do they kind
00:22:36
float around during game day or do they
00:22:38
I'm just curious like what what would
00:22:39
you prefer? They hired you as GM. Do you
00:22:41
want to sit on the bench or do you want
00:22:42
to run around? I think I think that if I
00:22:47
were in that role, I would try to
00:22:50
approach it by giving the coach that
00:22:51
space. So like not being on the bench
00:22:54
because then you might be too tempted to
00:22:55
kind of butt in in stuff that's like not
00:22:57
your business or you're not the coach,
00:22:59
right? So to clearly delineate like
00:23:00
you're the coach, you're the X's and
00:23:02
O's, I'm about personnel. Like I think
00:23:03
that's an important line and maybe not
00:23:06
being on the bench can help set that
00:23:07
line. But I do think that is the the
00:23:09
boundary that we're going to be
00:23:10
exploring in the coming years. Like
00:23:12
coaches who have been at these
00:23:14
universities forever, maybe some of them
00:23:15
are promoted to GM and that's how they
00:23:17
exit coaching. Like I think of someone
00:23:18
like Brenda Freeze, like she's been at
00:23:21
Maryland forever. Like who's going to
00:23:22
come be the GM at Maryland? Like
00:23:24
Brenda's been doing this for years. Like
00:23:26
so I'm just very curious about how those
00:23:28
dynamics will be sorted out. And you
00:23:30
know, human nature is complicated, so
00:23:33
there will be some conflict in those
00:23:34
types of roles, and we'll probably see
00:23:36
some of it play out. So, um, it's just a
00:23:39
fascinating dynamic to me. No, I I agree
00:23:41
totally. Um, if I was in the GM role, I
00:23:44
would definitely just walk around, you
00:23:46
know, wear my little suit and be in be
00:23:48
in the tunnel, especially knowing where
00:23:50
how uh how how Gample works. Um, just
00:23:54
stay stay out of Gino's hair. Um, the
00:23:57
interesting part is if it's a coach, if
00:23:59
it's Jamal or if it's Tanya or whoever,
00:24:02
um, having been a coach, you might have
00:24:05
to get off the bench because then you
00:24:07
don't mess around with the, you know,
00:24:09
the dynamic of whoever took your
00:24:11
position or if they're just going to go
00:24:12
with, you know what I mean? Because I
00:24:14
wonder like how Tom's going to deal with
00:24:16
that because Tom's Tom's a pretty vocal
00:24:17
guy. He was a head coach at Quinnipiac.
00:24:19
Um, yeah, I'm curious to see how that
00:24:22
plays out, but it'll be an interesting
00:24:24
uh side note as the as the future holds
00:24:26
for for Yukon women's basketball. For
00:24:28
sure. What do you think about
00:24:30
potentially Gino retiring into a GM
00:24:32
role? Oh god, that would be awesome.
00:24:36
That is a that's a Speaking of walking
00:24:38
around in the suit, can picture him, you
00:24:40
know. I I think it' be a track suit by
00:24:42
then. I don't know if it'll be like a
00:24:43
like a a suit, you know what I mean? We
00:24:45
might might get him some comfy comfy
00:24:47
clothes to walk around in. Yeah. Uh, but
00:24:50
I mean that would that be like would
00:24:51
isn't that like the perfect thing for
00:24:53
Gino to kind of like sunset his career
00:24:55
and you know looking like Red Arback
00:24:58
with your cigar like the Celtics guy
00:25:00
like uh just you know another title.
00:25:02
Let's go get it. Yep. Well, if it
00:25:05
happens, you heard it here first. I love
00:25:06
it. We're going to make sure we clip
00:25:08
that. So, if it does happen, I'll be
00:25:09
like, remember four years ago when T
00:25:10
said this? Um, all right. This is a
00:25:13
great episode. Really appreciate you. Go
00:25:14
check out everything that he has uh on
00:25:16
his socials and uh at the next and
00:25:19
hopefully in the future here with some
00:25:20
Big East coverage. So look, Hoopscap
00:25:22
pod, we're on all the time. You know it.
00:25:25
That's it for today.
00:25:27
[Music]
00:25:28
Let's get it. Let's get it. Let's get
00:25:30
it. Let's get it. Let's get it. Let's
00:25:31
get it. Let's get it. Let's get it.
00:25:32
Yeah.
00:25:35
Yukon,
00:25:36
baby. Home of the champions. Let's go.
