Full Circle x ICYMI: Live from Tampa!

In this episode of Full Circle, Lexie and Mariah break down all things Women’s Final Four. They highlight UConn’s impressive performance, especially with such a young team, and pay tribute to South Carolina's seniors for their dominance throughout the previous years.

Then, we get to hear a crossover live event with Khristina Williams of ICYMI, from down in Tampa. The three dive into the tournament, talking standout performances, the Final Four buzz, and surprising blowouts. They discuss the transfer portal, NIL deals, and global growth in women’s hoops. Lexie talks about her trade to the Seattle Storm and what's next. The episode wraps with love for fan favorites like Paige Bueckers and a look ahead to the future of women’s basketball. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Full Circle is an iheartwoman's sports production and partnership with
Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
You can find us on the.

Speaker 1 (00:05):
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, y'all,
welcome back to another episode of the Full Circle Podcast.
Me and Lexi are freshly getting back from Tampa for
the Final Four, and we had a really exciting live
show for you guys, so we just wanted to introduce

(00:25):
it and react to the National Championship because we didn't
get Tom.

Speaker 3 (00:29):
I do want to say that I was right in
my prediction that Yukon was gonna win. So I'm just
gonna start there. Mariah, are you are? I know you're happy,
obviously everyone's happy for Page, but I want to hear
your thoughts about the game.

Speaker 4 (00:43):
You were there.

Speaker 5 (00:43):
I wasn't there.

Speaker 3 (00:44):
I had to leave Tampa, so I wasn't able to go.
So what was like the energy like in there during
the Championship?

Speaker 1 (00:49):
The energy was incredible. It felt like so many more
people even though it was the same arena and it
was sold out both nights. I think because this game
was two sets of fans versus four different sets of
fans kind of trickling in and out South Carolina was
definitely deep in there. SEC travels, but they were deep
in there, and I felt kind of bad because I

(01:10):
was like, Dan, you y'all are.

Speaker 5 (01:11):
Getting there was silent.

Speaker 2 (01:14):
I bet silent. It was awful.

Speaker 1 (01:16):
At no point as somebody going into it rooting for Yukon,
was I worried about them. They were kicking on the
bench and laughing. They were having a good time.

Speaker 2 (01:26):
They were not.

Speaker 1 (01:27):
They seemed poised though before the game even started.

Speaker 5 (01:29):
Here's about Yukon.

Speaker 3 (01:31):
Yes, I've never seen a dominant performance from the beginning
of the weekend to the end of the weekend from
a Connecticut team like that.

Speaker 5 (01:40):
In my life.

Speaker 3 (01:41):
We have seen some very dominant Connecticut teams come through
the NCAA tournament. But the way that Yukon came into
the to the final four was something that I wasn't
expecting because that is a very young team. You know,
outside of Page like, they don't have very many seniors.
I think actually Chen might be a senior. Yes, Kaitlyn
Chen is a senior, which was an amazing pickup for U.

(02:03):
Come by the way, she's very solid. You might look
at her stats not be very impressed by them, but
she's like super solid, great ball handler, takes the pressure
off page immensely. But they were so professional throughout, like, yes,
they joke, they laughed. They're a funny group on social media.
I love following them in their little funny videos, even
though a lot of them are ads. But Gino had

(02:24):
them prepared and it showed.

Speaker 1 (02:27):
Also the star of the show for me, outside of
jas Sarah Strong, which we'll get into a second, but
Azy Fudd on both sides of the floor incredible.

Speaker 4 (02:38):
She was not playing any game. She was locked in
the whole time.

Speaker 1 (02:42):
Me and my sister, she's a D one volleyball player,
and we were joking about the fact that she was
lower than the volleyball players on defense, like not playing.

Speaker 3 (02:49):
Not playing, and it was so it was so nice
to see her healthy. And I hate that she's been
dealing without her whole career, I mean her m page both.
I feel like if they both were able to stay
healthy throughout their careers, they would have more than one
national chip and ships. So to finally see as at
her best, at her peak, true three level score two
way player, I was just really happy. And you know, yes,

(03:09):
the whole weekend was basically about Page's senior season. But
the way Asy and Sarah Strong, who was only a freshman,
showed up for their senior I mean, you could tell
that the whole team really wanted that so badly for themselves,
but most poorly for Paige. And you could see that
by the way that they played. And I don't know,
South Carolina usually is an overly prepared team.

Speaker 5 (03:28):
They look shook.

Speaker 1 (03:30):
And Don was crashing out the entire time. Now I
knew when the game started. For almost the whole first quarter,
Don was sitting and didn't seem seemed a little. It
felt like she had prepared them and told them exactly
what to do and they weren't doing it and she
was just like pissed.

Speaker 4 (03:46):
But it felt very.

Speaker 1 (03:48):
Off their whole aura demeanor, energy effort.

Speaker 5 (03:54):
Yeah, very off.

Speaker 3 (03:55):
I want to give a shout out to that South
Carolina team, especially the seniors though, because, as we talk
about it all the time, the last four years of
dominance that South Carolina has had through the SEC and
through the NCAA tournament has pretty much been overlooked for
the most part and downplayed in every possible way. And
I really felt like in a moment where you you know,

(04:18):
this is your final season, you're about to go to
the WNBA, like it should be a.

Speaker 5 (04:22):
Very exciting time.

Speaker 3 (04:23):
It looked very heavy on the seniors, and I could
see that through the television. I could kind of see
it when I was there for the first round of games.
It just seemed like there was like a heaviness over
that group. And it made me sad because like, whether
you win or lose, you've made it to the last
game of the season. You're about to win possibly what

(04:43):
their third national championship, this senior group, and they were
just kind of like just dead like and I don't know,
maybe they were like overly locked in. Maybe they were
super focused, but that's not what I felt, and I
I don't know anything. I don't talk to any of
those players. I sent Brehall a nice message the other
day because she posted something with together about people in

(05:03):
her comments being crazy and mean and all this kind
of stuff, and.

Speaker 5 (05:08):
I hate that for them.

Speaker 3 (05:09):
I just felt like that group they have like accomplished
so much that that's not the energy that they should
be ending their college careers on. So I want to
give a shout out and give some flowers to that
senior group at South Carolina because y'all been eating down
the last four years and you've been dealing with a
lot and went through a lot and overcame a lot.
So I want to give flowers to them, But obviously

(05:29):
we're giving flowers to the Yukon Huskies for winning at all,
because twelve national championships is insane.

Speaker 1 (05:35):
Yeah, that's a great perspective, LEXI putting that into contexts
that they have really been on a tear all four
years and they made it to the national championship, which
is really big deal. I think the reason why it
feels so negative is because of the school and the
energy and the building and the way Yukon came in

(05:56):
and were like, oh, you're not getting I'm not getting
off your neck.

Speaker 4 (05:59):
Yeah, was insane.

Speaker 1 (06:01):
But they still deserve their flowers for making it this
far and everything that they accomplished. But at the end
of the day, it's like this kind of reminds me
this conversation we're having of when Angel Reese got mad
when they invited Kaitlyn Clark to.

Speaker 6 (06:12):
The year.

Speaker 1 (06:15):
Because everybody wins, everybody does that happen. But I did
feel that way this year. I did I almost felt
bad rooting for Yukon as hard as I was, not
only because I've never rooted for Yukon ever, but because
I did want to see South Carolina win too in
a way, so it does suck.

Speaker 3 (06:32):
It was just a weird thing this season because yes,
she wanted so badly for Paige because of all the
adversities she went through.

Speaker 5 (06:38):
But then on the same side, you want you want.

Speaker 3 (06:40):
It so badly for that senior group because of all
the adversity that they went through.

Speaker 5 (06:43):
But then my.

Speaker 3 (06:44):
Decision was, like they already got to great page zero,
so I want I want baby Girl to get one.
And then I do feel like there was there was
a little bit of like people were kind of like
ready for Gino to like move on, like, oh this
Nil era, this era, Gino's not ready for it. You know,
can't handle it, you know, can't win with this with
these young kids, with their egos and their money and

(07:06):
all this other stuff. And I'm so glad that he
was able to prove everybody wrong, especially with this group.
You have one of the most influential players in college
right now locking into your system, and yeah, I'm really
happy for them, And I think I thought despite the blowouts,
because this was not the only one, so let's say
let's start there. Every game was a blowout. Despite that,

(07:28):
the energy in Tampa was incredible.

Speaker 5 (07:29):
It was amazing.

Speaker 3 (07:30):
I was in the final foreign Tampa in twenty fifteen,
and just the difference between twenty fifteen and twenty twenty
five is crazy.

Speaker 5 (07:40):
I mean, the energy then was amazing.

Speaker 3 (07:41):
So just seeing you know, women's basketball still growing and
evolving and the fandom growing and evolving was really special
for me personally.

Speaker 1 (07:48):
Yeah, the last thing I want to get off my
chest before we get into our live episode is I
love what you said about Gino because it feels like
an unlikely pair him in page.

Speaker 4 (07:59):
I think that's why people were so.

Speaker 1 (08:00):
Sad seeing them hug at the end, and him and
his team, because seeing this older white man cheering these
women on and not be so negative about this new era.
With Nick Saban in football and with several coaches and
women's basketball, volleyball, everything, you feel like coaches have become

(08:20):
so negative about this new era and not wanting to
coach them, whereas Gino constantly reminds us of the positive
aspects of this new era. When he went into the
postgame presser and was like, Wow, I've never I've been
doing this for twenty four years in final fours and
I've never seen this many women covering it and reminding

(08:40):
us that yes, it's a new era. Me and you
have limited the bad parts about the new era of
a million times, but on this day being positive, it's
not all bad. There's very beautiful things about the fact
that these players are making their money and are in
these commercials.

Speaker 2 (08:54):
It's been great for women's basketball.

Speaker 1 (08:56):
So to have a seventy one year old white man
be so happy for these players and so positive because
people that sector I give them a.

Speaker 2 (09:04):
Lot of a hard time.

Speaker 1 (09:06):
But to see someone like Gino be like, no, I
am gonna step up for my players and stand up
for them having to travel this much and women being
in these rooms has been really refreshing for me.

Speaker 3 (09:15):
And it took him some time because I remember when
this first started happening, he was like, I hate all
of this. This agreed horrible for basketball and college sports.
But I think if you manage it correctly and you
have the right type of people, and you bring the
right group of people together on a team, you can
do something really special and that's exactly what the Yukon

(09:37):
Huskies did. So congratulations to Connecticut on their twelfth national championship.
Now you guys can tune into our live show with
Christina Williams live from Tampa.

Speaker 5 (09:46):
I hope you all enjoy it. Welcome to our second
This is me and Mariah's second live show. Christina. Have
you done live shows before?

Speaker 2 (09:54):
Doney tons of them? Yeah?

Speaker 3 (09:56):
So you're a vet, So I'm gonna let you. I'm
gonna let you take the leave with us for now.

Speaker 5 (10:02):
For now, our show is very go with the flow,
vibing out. Uh.

Speaker 3 (10:09):
If y'all have any questions, we're gonna we're gonna interact
with y'all a little bit too. If y'all want to
ask us anything, We're gonna ask y'all some questions about
the tournament.

Speaker 5 (10:16):
About what who y'all think is gonna win today?

Speaker 3 (10:20):
Okay, period, All right, I'll save my prediction for the
end of the show, so y'all don't leave.

Speaker 5 (10:29):
But what do y'all think of the tournament so far?

Speaker 3 (10:32):
I mean, we're on the last weekend championships Sunday, Yes,
and what are your what are y'all's thoughts overall?

Speaker 5 (10:39):
Thoughts of the tournament.

Speaker 2 (10:40):
Very exciting basketball, very high level basketball. I've just been
enjoying Tampa. Really just vibing, but not disappointed in the
level of competition that we've been seeing throughout the weekend.

Speaker 1 (10:51):
Yeah, I think the tournament has been amazing. Like we've
had seen some really huge performances, Page dropping fifty without
any points in the second, you know, like huge moments.
I think everybody showed up and showed out for the moment.
I feel like the very untrue narrative was that after
last year, the mimentum was gonna die down, and I
think that they understood the assignment of carrying on that momentum,

(11:14):
and so the tournament was incredible.

Speaker 5 (11:16):
Yeah, we were at the games on Friday.

Speaker 3 (11:18):
Let's talk about those games real quick, because I know
we were just talking about the high level competition. But
I don't want to say that you asked the tournament,
not about the final four. I mean, yeah, but when
we're at the final four now, those two games for
me was I was a little disappointed in those games.

Speaker 5 (11:35):
Not gonna die what about y'all?

Speaker 1 (11:39):
I was disappointed as a fan, But if I were
a fan of one of the winning teams and or
a player or coach on one of the winning teams.
Of course I would be ecstatic, like they went in
their handle business.

Speaker 2 (11:50):
I think that you could definitely tell which teams had
the experience and prepared for the moment and which teams
kind of cracked in the moment. Did not expect UCLA
to get blown out by Yukon, did not. It would
be interested to see what that scout of report look like,
but I don't. I wouldn't say I was disappointed, but
I wasn't disappointed.

Speaker 3 (12:08):
Oh was that game annoyed me? Because you're the number one,
So you're the number one over ross. You can't come
in here this Final four and get beat down like that.
But I'm really excited for you SLA next season.

Speaker 1 (12:19):
Well, can I give you U CLA some some slack
for a second. We are far from California, We're in
a whole different time zone, and they forty forty the
jetlag waiten on the jetlage.

Speaker 2 (12:33):
No, I'm not, I'm not.

Speaker 1 (12:35):
I'm not.

Speaker 5 (12:35):
I'm not rolling.

Speaker 3 (12:36):
But I'm excited for them for next season because I
know they probably gonna have that score in the locker
room all year. Can't wait for next season. Can't wait
for them to see Yukon again because they will, absolutely will.

Speaker 5 (12:48):
But yeah, I'm excited.

Speaker 2 (12:49):
Jim Maryer's point, like Kim Molki and Gino Rima brought
up that point of the super regionals and how that
would impact the performance on the court, and maybe that
became a factor.

Speaker 5 (12:59):
When did they change that?

Speaker 3 (13:00):
I think how long ago, because when I was in
college it was four, which I liked.

Speaker 5 (13:04):
I like the four regions.

Speaker 3 (13:05):
I think that they try to make it more or
less so we could have more fans. But now with
the explosion of women's basketball, I don't feel like that's
necessary anymore.

Speaker 5 (13:14):
And I think I absolutely agree with you.

Speaker 3 (13:16):
You know that the two regional sites is not a
good look anymore.

Speaker 5 (13:21):
I love the home court advantage.

Speaker 3 (13:22):
Some people don't really like that that much, but I
think that's like one of the most fun parts about
the women's tournament is having your tournament games at home
and then you get to earn that. But I hope
that in the future they're able to go back to
the four regional sites because now the way the conferences
are set up now, it's like everything is just a mess.

Speaker 5 (13:40):
Everything is everything in college is a mess as.

Speaker 1 (13:42):
Somebody who played in the Final four in Tampa. By
the way, y'all, what's your opinion on the fact that
I believe the men get a week break before their championship.

Speaker 2 (13:52):
It's next week tomorrow.

Speaker 1 (13:54):
All right, So do you feel like there should be
any more time in between? Are you cool with the
one day? No?

Speaker 5 (14:00):
I think that's the fun part about the final four.

Speaker 3 (14:02):
I was talking to somebody a few weeks ago about
how they should maybe try and put the final fours
in the same city.

Speaker 5 (14:08):
No, I think that would be fire.

Speaker 2 (14:10):
The men and the woman.

Speaker 4 (14:11):
Yeah, oh my gosh, wait.

Speaker 5 (14:13):
Why not tell me?

Speaker 1 (14:14):
Well, because last night me and my little sister were
trying to go see Gorilla. I don't know if any
of y'all will try to go to that or when
to that. Listen, we got there really late and they
shut the line down on us because there were so many.

Speaker 2 (14:26):
People convention centers and Arena's ship. They to the right.

Speaker 3 (14:32):
They'd have to pick the right Vegas, Atlanta, Atlanta, what else?
Not Los Angeles not La I think that would be
cool and then have like double header.

Speaker 5 (14:42):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (14:43):
I'm trying to like think of things to like spice
things up, but that was something. You're the first person
that told me no, So I appreciate that. I appreciate
the pushback. I do want to give a special shout out.
I don't know if they're going to listen to this episode,
but we told them to start listening to our podcast. Mariah.
We're at the game on Friday, and because it was

(15:03):
a blowout, we were yapping just like this in the
stands and there were these two women in front of us,
and one of them turns around and they're like, what
do you guys do? Like y'all know so much about
basketball and we've just been listening to y'all's conversation for
twenty minutes. And I was like, Oh, you like you
like our conversations. We actually have a podcast that you
can listen to. So I want to give a shout

(15:24):
out to Stephanie and Lucy if they're going to listen.

Speaker 5 (15:27):
We really appreciated hanging out with you at the game.
So I just wanted to give that little shout out.
If you remember them what all in.

Speaker 1 (15:33):
Our conversation, shout out to them, Yeah, they now they
are approved to listen to our co Yeah no, I'm joking.

Speaker 2 (15:39):
But also heading into the Natty.

Speaker 1 (15:41):
I'm curious what you guys think about all of this
transfer movement. Lexie is a transfer kid herself. I'm a
trust a bit about that. But now with everybody bouncing
around and moving teams before the season really is over.

Speaker 3 (15:52):
Yeah, so even when I transferred, I waited till my
semester was over, Like I finished my classes, I did
postseason one, I did everything, and then I decided to leave.
The way these kids move now is is crazy to me.

Speaker 2 (16:06):
It's almost like free agency when I'm watching all of
the different movement and coaches going on social media saying
we don't have the money for you, and it's like
what college has become a big business. I was scrolling
through X a couple of days ago, and I saw
a coach saying that coaches were reaching out to players
without even being in the transportal So lots of tampering

(16:27):
and things like that. So it's very interesting to see
just the movement, but also players prioritizing themselves.

Speaker 5 (16:34):
Yeah in that way.

Speaker 3 (16:35):
I mean, and there's no rules in place, so yeah,
like you say tampering, but like that's not a thing
really in college because there's.

Speaker 2 (16:40):
No rules about the science office.

Speaker 5 (16:42):
Right, what this compliance even existing?

Speaker 3 (16:46):
Because I remember I was in the compliance office every
day when I was in college for every little thing.
Like it's seeing how much everything has changed. It's so
crazy because like I couldn't even bring my own basketball
trainers on campus.

Speaker 5 (16:58):
With me because it was against the rules.

Speaker 3 (16:59):
It was a violince if somebody wanted to send us
some clothes to wear, violation. I don't even know how
they knew that we were getting stuff. They knew everything
like they I feel like they had cameras on campus
because we couldn't get away with nothing.

Speaker 1 (17:12):
Well, another big change is the fact that you have
to set you You had to set out for a
year when you decided to transfer. Now they can they
can move schools every year if they want, and there's
no players.

Speaker 2 (17:22):
We recushing for seven seasons eight years, right?

Speaker 5 (17:25):
Too long?

Speaker 3 (17:26):
I hope you have as long as you leave with
multiple degrees, you know, do your thing. But yeah, seven
years in college is absolutely the same.

Speaker 5 (17:33):
I can't.

Speaker 3 (17:33):
I was in college for five and I was ready
to go, But again I wasn't making half a million dollars, so.

Speaker 1 (17:39):
I would be in college for ten years, ten years
if I could.

Speaker 2 (17:43):
If I were a current college athlete. You have to
drag me to your point. Nil place a huge part
in players staying longer. We saw that Olivia Miles and
a lot of other places. Lau J. Johnson decided not
to enter the w Engage Raft to go back to
school to make more money.

Speaker 3 (18:02):
Yeah, I mean the fact that people are announcing that
they're not going to the draft when they are not
technically even eligible yet. I think that's funny. But I
was never I don't think anybody was expecting Flage to
leave early.

Speaker 5 (18:13):
Why would she do that?

Speaker 3 (18:14):
Alivia Miles, Honestly, I was not surprised that she decided
to stay.

Speaker 5 (18:20):
I was more surprised by the transfer.

Speaker 3 (18:22):
So even the way Notre Dame kind of finished their season,
everybody kind of was like, what do they got going
on over there? But you know, I know what that's
like like, when you're you're not happy somewhere, you're ready
to move on. It impacts the team top to bottom.
And do they you said they had other girls leave too.

Speaker 2 (18:37):
Yeah, Yeah, something's going on.

Speaker 5 (18:39):
I'm not sure.

Speaker 2 (18:40):
Making four players, I think one player was a red
shirt player, another player was on the bench, averaging four
points the game. I think he's a center.

Speaker 5 (18:50):
So yeah, a couple, Okay, Notre Dame, which I've got
going over there. Notre Dame, but I don't think they
don't have they don't got them well do they have
money for it?

Speaker 3 (18:57):
I don't know what Notre Dame got going on, because
they have the really good football team.

Speaker 2 (19:01):
I have no idea.

Speaker 4 (19:01):
But I also feel like the staying to the same
college point.

Speaker 1 (19:06):
The CBA also plays a part because I feel like
if I were in their shoes, they kind of want
to see what happens because the only people who are
going to be locked into their contracts all the rookies.
So I feel like you might as well try your
luck and see what happens with the CBA and then
come into college next year.

Speaker 3 (19:23):
Yeah, and if you offer those who don't know if
the rookie contracts right now are four years, which is
a very long time, and that's one of the things
that we're probably going to try and change in our
negotiations is trying to get those contracts to be a
year shorter because by the time you get to the
end of your rookie contract, you're like twenty six, twenty
seven years old, and we think that's too old to

(19:46):
you know, start playing for your extension in your next
contract to potentially enter free agency.

Speaker 5 (19:50):
So hopefully we can get that done because.

Speaker 2 (19:53):
I heard that there was that you guys are willing
to sit out if the negotiations don't go.

Speaker 3 (19:59):
No, I mean it's a it's a possibility, because that's
like worst case scenario.

Speaker 5 (20:04):
You got to prepare for anything. We don't. We would
not like to sit out.

Speaker 3 (20:09):
I feel like it would be counterintuitive on our part
to sit out with all this momentum and stuff that
women's basketball has. But again, worst case scenario is we
don't get anything that we want from the ownership in
the league. Best case scenario is we get every single
thing that we ask for. So we're going to meet
somewhere in the middle, hopefully. You know, we have a
new team this season, Like I would hate for us
to lock out when you know we have an expansion team.

(20:31):
I can't remember when it was the last time that
w had an expansion team.

Speaker 5 (20:34):
I can't even two thousand and eight, two thousand.

Speaker 3 (20:36):
Yeah, Like, it's such an exciting time for women's basketball
on the WNBA and women's college season was so amazing,
so for us to like have to stop it at
any point next season.

Speaker 5 (20:46):
I would really actually hate that.

Speaker 1 (20:48):
Lelie, like your point about making the rookie contracts last
for last time, because I never really thought about the
fact that, well, a lot of people complain about having
to stay in college for all that time, but I
think that that might be more beneficial changing the rookie
contracts because it's like, Okay, so you're making me stay
in college for three years or until I'm twenty two
or whatever, and then I also have to stay locked

(21:08):
into this rookie contract until I'm twenty seven. Yeah, and
then I have I'm twenty seven and I'm having to
play for my extension.

Speaker 2 (21:15):
That kind of puts me in a bad situation.

Speaker 5 (21:16):
Yeah, there's a.

Speaker 3 (21:17):
Lot of things in our last CVA that were amazing,
but there was like a lot of things that we
still missed out on. But like, that's the thing about
negotiations and opting out is you get things that you want,
and then you realize that there's more things that we need.
And I think right now we have a lot of
leverage to demand more from the league and from the ownership,
and we're seeing it. You know, teams are getting practice

(21:37):
facilities now, we get to fly charter flights. You know,
things are just getting better and better and better, and
it's just all been a really nice process.

Speaker 2 (21:44):
I did have Terry Jackson on my show from the
w MVPA and she said that the charter flights are
not necessarily written in contract.

Speaker 5 (21:51):
Nope, they're not.

Speaker 2 (21:52):
It's like, oh, just keep paid for it for twenty
twenty five. But they're trying to into the new CV
and so hopefully ownership.

Speaker 5 (21:59):
I hope. And that was that whole situation was very funny.

Speaker 2 (22:03):
Don't introduce me to something you can't maintain it.

Speaker 3 (22:05):
Yeah, but that was like a power play on Kathy's
part because I remember I was in meetings with Nekka,
who was on the Sparks at the time, and our
person who organizes all of our flights and hotels, and
we were going through the whole schedule or like what
flight do we want to get on? Do we want
to take this flight at this time? Do you want
to practice and then fly or do we want to
fly and then practice.

Speaker 5 (22:24):
We were on the phone for like two.

Speaker 3 (22:26):
Hours going through it, and then like three weeks later,
we get an announcement, Oh, we get charter flights. But
we it literally came out of left field. So as
as grateful as we were for that and how amazing
it was to fly Charter, it kind of was like
a slap in the face because, like you just said,
you're introducing us to something that you might may or
may not be able to maintain, and it's now something
that we're going to have to negotiate in our in

(22:47):
our collective bargaining agreement. So I knew what Kathy was
doing when she did that. I mean, still appreciate it,
but I.

Speaker 2 (22:54):
Can't believe there was a time where you guys had
to share hotel rooms.

Speaker 5 (22:57):
Oh yeah, the rookies.

Speaker 3 (22:59):
My first two seasons, I shared rooms grown women women.

Speaker 2 (23:03):
Like it was top in the world.

Speaker 3 (23:06):
Yeah, I want to FaceTime my friends, and my mom
had to go downstairs with the lobby or get out
or they It was bad, but we made it work.
But it was good for like Team Bonnie. I was
on Erica Wheeler's podcast the other day and she was
telling me how part of her Missus traveling commercial because
you get to spend like so much time with your teammates,
So like things like that, we do miss because.

Speaker 5 (23:28):
It's good for Team Bonnie. You get to spend time
with your teammates and hang out. But like at the
end of the day, like we want to get in
and out, Like we don't want to be sitting in
the airport all day and we want to get rest.
But there were, I mean there were. It wasn't all.

Speaker 2 (23:39):
Horrible Born at Chicago Sky team that got stuck in
the airport for I've been.

Speaker 5 (23:43):
On like a few time I've been on, Like, I've
got like three.

Speaker 3 (23:45):
Experiences since I've been in the league of getting stuck
in an airport overnight.

Speaker 5 (23:50):
So yeah, so okay, one was.

Speaker 4 (23:52):
We were nice.

Speaker 3 (23:53):
So we were the most recent time actually with the Sparks.
We were in see I want to say, and we
were flying home and they just kept delaying our flight,
delaying our flight. It's like midnight. Then they finally cancel it.
So we're all just sitting in the airport and we're like, okay,
what do we do? So half the team went and

(24:15):
got hotels and then the other half just slept on
the airport.

Speaker 2 (24:26):
So w BAE free Agency happened, and you were created
to the Seattle Storm from the Los Angeles Sparks. Yeah, Seattlestorm,
they have practice facilities they have all of it, all
of the things. How excited are you to be a
part of that organization.

Speaker 3 (24:42):
I'm super excited, you know. I think the trade it
definitely caught me off guard. I think it caught a
lot of people off guard. But for me, I'm just
excited to be in a situation to win now be
surrounded by some veterans. I was one of the oldest
players on the Sparks. Now I'm probably one of the
youngest players on the Storm. And they just have really
good culture there and Coach Quinn is amazing. I've heard

(25:04):
from all the coaches they watched me playing AU they
were like very complimenting of my improvement. You know, They've
been checking on my health, mental, physical health. So it's
just been good vibes.

Speaker 5 (25:14):
And I haven't even been up there yet, and I'm
just really excited to get up there.

Speaker 6 (25:18):
Where were you when you found out that you were
being treated in the parking garage?

Speaker 5 (25:22):
Really? Because she had a game. I had a game.

Speaker 3 (25:24):
I was on my way to an athlete's a limited game.
I was pulling out of the parking garage and my
GM called me and I just I immediately knew because
she never calls me.

Speaker 5 (25:33):
So I was like, this is not good, but I
mean it was good.

Speaker 3 (25:37):
Like in hindsight, it ended up this is a really
good situation for me. But yeah, I was just in
the parking garage all my way to the game, minding
my business, and she just calls me and just says, oh, yeah,
we're trading you bye.

Speaker 5 (25:49):
Like it was minute long. I'm not even exaggerating. I
went and checked one minute.

Speaker 2 (25:55):
One minute, and the NBA players get traded mid season.
Is it is it light and a load that you
have time to actually move from Los Angeles to Seattle
in the off seas? Oh?

Speaker 5 (26:06):
Yeah, for sure, I mean I think moving.

Speaker 3 (26:08):
I just got a place in LA, which is crazy
because like for this exact reason, I never got a
place anywhere that I played.

Speaker 5 (26:14):
But I was like, okay, I feel like I'm being
LA for a minute.

Speaker 3 (26:17):
Just got the apartment in October and now I'm traded,
so I'm still gonna have home base in LA. But
I was really excited to like have my place of
my own for the season because you're basically just staying
in a rental apartment during the season, so it doesn't
really feel like home. You can't always get super comfortable.
But yeah, definitely lighton's load, like what we.

Speaker 5 (26:37):
Saw with like Luca and Anthony David, like people just
my dad went through it too. They said that they
slipped a note under his hotel door. What That's why
I found out he got traded when he was playing.

Speaker 2 (26:47):
Her dad played for the Celtics.

Speaker 5 (26:49):
Wait, he got traded from yes.

Speaker 2 (26:51):
Boston Slam dump champion.

Speaker 4 (26:54):
Yeah, yeah, he got traded from where to where?

Speaker 5 (26:56):
In fact, I think Boston to Toronto.

Speaker 1 (26:59):
I want to say he told me to move to
Canada with a no undersaid get out.

Speaker 4 (27:06):
But that's farm.

Speaker 5 (27:09):
Not too much on Canada, not too much.

Speaker 4 (27:12):
Hey, big Drake fans over here?

Speaker 3 (27:14):
Your work, Yeah okay, but yeah, like it's cutthroat. Business
is business, but I think there's a way to go
about things and we got to be professional no matter what.

Speaker 5 (27:25):
So I'm just excited for the next opportunity.

Speaker 1 (27:27):
I've never asked you about this, Lexi, but in your experience,
do you feel like getting traded, how do you deal
with that sense of almost rejection or like, how does
that feel?

Speaker 3 (27:38):
Well, I'm kind of numb to it at this point.
I've been traded three times now. I've been traded and
you kind of just have to bounce around. The w
BA is such an interesting league, and we'll get into
this later because of the transition from college to w
BA is literally a week and a half, so you
don't always end up on the team that you should
end up on in the draft.

Speaker 5 (27:57):
Once you get drafted, and for a.

Speaker 3 (27:59):
Lot of plays, it takes a few years for you
to settle in and find a place that's home. So
for me, you know, La, I felt like that was
home for me, but then we just internally the Sparks
were just going through so many other changes and I
never was able to get comfortable. So I said, Seattle's
my last thought.

Speaker 5 (28:15):
I can't.

Speaker 3 (28:15):
I can't, And if I do get traded again, I
might as well just go try and play for all
twelve teams and let me let me play for all twelve.

Speaker 5 (28:22):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (28:22):
I feel like a lot of people don't realize the
fact that the season for college and today. So it's
Sunday Day, the sixth, yes, and then the draft is
on the fourteenth, yeah, so eight days.

Speaker 2 (28:35):
And the players who are playing in the game today
have forty eight hours to decide if they wanted to
clear for the draft or not. If they're eligible, So
it's life happens past, it happens fast.

Speaker 3 (28:45):
I remember my senior year, we lost in the sweet sixteen,
so I had a little bit more time. I didn't
officially get invited to the draft until like after the
Final four ended, so I don't have an out. I
don't have nothing. I had no clothes I have, I
don't know I was gonna wear. So everything happens like
really fast. I had to take my finals early. I
couldn't go to graduation. So you get thrown into the

(29:07):
fire immediately.

Speaker 1 (29:08):
Like I say, could you speak to the fact that
when you get dropped, that isn't your guarantee that you're
in the WNBA.

Speaker 2 (29:15):
No.

Speaker 3 (29:15):
I just read an article that said less than half
of the draft picks from last year made the teams.

Speaker 5 (29:20):
So it's very hard to make a WNBA roster. And
even though your contracts are long, they're not guaranteed. So
you could be the.

Speaker 3 (29:27):
Number one pick, number two pick, and if you're not.
Charlie ar Yeah, she's a perfect example of that. If
you're not up to par, you can get cut in
training camp.

Speaker 2 (29:36):
They do. We do not care.

Speaker 3 (29:38):
So it's like very cutthroat, but That's why I think
everyone has so much respect for last year's rookie class
because they came in and they did their big one.
They really did, and they had a lot of opportunities,
and they had a lot of pressure, and they had
a lot of eyeballs.

Speaker 5 (29:50):
And they really roast the occasion. So I really enjoyed
watching them do that.

Speaker 2 (29:55):
What was the hardest thing about transitioning from college to
the WNBA.

Speaker 3 (30:00):
Hardest thing for me, I have like a lot more
free time than I was used to, So it was
like still trying to stay productive and not get too bored.
And then once the season started, once I found out
like I wasn't really gonna play a lot, it was
like finding ways to stay motivated with all that free time.
Like you can only work out so many times in
a day, you can only watch so much film, you

(30:21):
can only do so much stuff. So for me, from
going from playing forty minutes a game in college, being
in the championship games, winning all these awards, and you
get to the league and you're like bottom of the
totem pall, you're kind of just.

Speaker 5 (30:33):
Like okay, like what now, So that was like one
of the hardest things for me.

Speaker 1 (30:37):
That's probably like humbling might be the wrong word, but
going from being one of the if you're in the
top ten, you were definitely playing in college.

Speaker 4 (30:45):
You were one of the best players in college.

Speaker 1 (30:46):
You were one of the best players in high school,
and then you get thrown into the professional league and
everybody's like, listen, rookie.

Speaker 3 (30:52):
Yeah, And I was the only rookie on my team,
so I didn't even have like a rookie buddy. So
I had all the rookie duties. I had to take
everybody's launch loops. I had to drop off laundry loops
on the road trips, I had to do all that
kind of stuff, and it was just me.

Speaker 2 (31:05):
Was there a VET in your rookie season that kind
of took you under their wing? No?

Speaker 5 (31:10):
Wow, No, there wasn't. Unfortunately, Oh yeah, man, eight years ago.
I'm over it now.

Speaker 3 (31:17):
And if anybody was on my team that year, they
probably are like, yeah, we probably should have treated her
a little bit nicer.

Speaker 5 (31:23):
But again, business is business.

Speaker 3 (31:25):
We were teammates, but you're competing for minutes and stuff
like that. End of the day, the first VET that actually.

Speaker 5 (31:30):
Took me under her wing was Simon Augustus when I
got traded to the Minnesota Link, so she was like
my first like real vet that really taught me how
to conduct myself be a professional. I was kind of
a little baby, so she kind of got me out
of that and I'm like really grateful over her.

Speaker 1 (31:47):
Well, now that you are part of the Seattle Storm
and y'all have one of the top picks in the draft,
your second pick, second pick, what are you looking forward
to happening with that second pick?

Speaker 3 (31:55):
According to the mock drafts, were picking a French player
name is Dominique. She's six y six and she can dunk.
So I would not be mad at that pick. We
definitely have very good guards already, so I wouldn't I
wouldn't think that we would pick a guard in the draft. So,
I mean, I think it's gonna between Dominique and probably Kiki.

(32:16):
I think they're both excellent players. We've we got to
watch Kiki this this year, you know, breakout a little
bit from after transferring. So I don't know, but I
would love to have a teammate that can dunk. I've
never had one before.

Speaker 1 (32:28):
Yeah, after watching we were watching some of her highlights.
After watching those, I'm like somebody needs to put those
on a reel and put them on ESPN so that everybody.

Speaker 2 (32:36):
Shuts up about women's basketball players not dunk and get
that fucking dump.

Speaker 5 (32:39):
It was very light too, like in transition, just one
hand dunk.

Speaker 1 (32:46):
I don't know what they're feeding these French basketball prospects
because six six.

Speaker 5 (32:51):
Six', six can, dribble can. Shoot she came out of
The wimby. Factory she came out of The wimby.

Speaker 2 (32:57):
FACTORY i love THAT g and scouts are starting to
look more overseas to build the. Rosters we saw That
Golden state at it like seven international, players but when
you look at The New York, Liberty Laoni Piebach, niarasapoli
those international players helped them win a, championship, Right SO
i love that THE w is extending.

Speaker 5 (33:16):
Globally, YEAH i just WANT i do want More european
players to come over, here but with the prioritization, rule
it's just so hard for them because they all are
playing professionally.

Speaker 3 (33:25):
Already SO i think that's another thing TO. CB i
think we're gonna try and get that out because The
european players are extremely. TALENTED i played overseas for three.
Years so, Like i've been over, There i've seen the
talent that's over. There they're super, intelligent they really love.
Basketball so a lot of the draft picks that do
happen from, overseas a lot.

Speaker 5 (33:44):
Of them are drafts and sash.

Speaker 6 (33:45):
And a lot of them don't even ever come Over
pebach because she said The sparks didn't even call her
the three years that she wasn't in the, league and
The New York liberty was the first team to actually
go overseas meet with.

Speaker 2 (33:56):
Her everyone just kept trading her right to right to
him FROM la To, chicago And Jonathan cole got lucky
and was, like we need this player and then break
out in the. Finals she helped them win a.

Speaker 3 (34:06):
Championship so, yeah there's some gems. Overseas So i'm excited
and if we can a. NIGHT i, MEAN i think
the last like teenager young player Was Liz and when.

Speaker 5 (34:16):
Did she get? Drafted, yeah she was.

Speaker 3 (34:18):
Young when she got, DRAFTED i THINK i, think, oh,
yeah she Was, chicago but she she came and played
for like three, seconds, yeah and then she was he
came back To, yeah it's too crazy over, here BUT
i Think liz is probably like the last like foreign
player that was drafted at a super young age and
actually came over and. Played SO i think it would

(34:39):
be cool for her to like start that back. Up
you see it in THE, Nba LIKE i would love
for that to happen over.

Speaker 5 (34:45):
HERE a little bit.

Speaker 1 (34:45):
MORE i was watching the other day on First, take
AND i kind of hated this, question And i'm about
to ask it to, you BUT i just really want.

Speaker 2 (34:53):
To know what you.

Speaker 5 (34:53):
Think who asked? It? Steven?

Speaker 1 (34:54):
Steven oh, Gosh so he asked her how she felt
about the NATIONAL tv. Schedule, OBVIOUSLY i think every single
games it.

Speaker 2 (35:04):
Hit forty one out of forty four games.

Speaker 1 (35:06):
And NATIONAL tv or The Indiana fever and then there's
three you know that they delved out to the.

Speaker 4 (35:11):
Others so what do you think about? That the national?

Speaker 5 (35:15):
Team? Dude so all OF i.

Speaker 2 (35:17):
Saw that one out of forty four games on.

Speaker 5 (35:19):
That forty one out of their forty four or forty
one out of the forty four that are being the
TOTAL wnba national team? Games are The indiana faver?

Speaker 2 (35:28):
Games?

Speaker 5 (35:28):
Yes?

Speaker 2 (35:28):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (35:29):
Oh, well DID i just DID i break some?

Speaker 5 (35:31):
News i'm, sorry, NO i saw, that BUT i just came.
OUT i didn't really read into it BECAUSE i didn't.
Care BUT i mean it makes.

Speaker 3 (35:38):
SENSE i didn't, Care Like i'm, like let's not be,
dumb like who does everyone want to? Watch so and
they have a really good team, NOW i mean they
had a good team last, year but they made it
very clear what they're trying to do in free, Agency
so it makes. SENSE i mean it's. Good more, eyes more,
money more. Everything So i'm not mad at, it BUT
i think.

Speaker 4 (35:57):
We could have spread the love of the champs just
a little.

Speaker 5 (35:59):
Bit, yeah but there are.

Speaker 2 (36:02):
Some of those games That i'm, LIKE i want to,
see like which?

Speaker 5 (36:04):
Ones what do you mean which?

Speaker 2 (36:06):
Ones like that WHEN i see the championship, map like
the championship Of New york and In? Minnesota. Minnesota, YEAH
i think from a coverage, STANDPOINT i think it's disappointing
because if you want to grow the, game you have
to tell a variety of. Stories. Right it's. Lazy it's very.

Speaker 5 (36:21):
Late, yeah it's very. Lazy that's why we're. Here that's. Why,
literally that's WHY i started my show BECAUSE i feel
like the coverage of women's sports is very.

Speaker 3 (36:28):
Lazy and, yes it makes sense to put forty one
fever games on national. Television but, again that's not how
you grow the. Game it makes sense number, wise like
we know, that but sometimes you got to do a.

Speaker 5 (36:40):
Little extra work to grow things and make things. Work
so shout out to The.

Speaker 3 (36:44):
FEVER i hope everyone's coming for y'all's. NEXT i know, that, Right,
yeah AND.

Speaker 1 (36:49):
I guess every that's a good point because every team
that plays, them, yeah, y'all like it's too way thing, right.

Speaker 4 (36:55):
We'll get that exposure as.

Speaker 2 (36:57):
Well so SO i.

Speaker 3 (36:58):
Mean what was It? Chicago don't they played them like
five or six? Times Crazy?

Speaker 5 (37:04):
Clark, Yeah, Rivalry, YEAH.

Speaker 3 (37:06):
I, THINK i, mean if it makes, sense but, again
LIKE i would rather see A Minnesota New york rematch
twice rather Than Kayalen clark and The fever every.

Speaker 1 (37:18):
Day but, well it's also the ticket sales and the
money that they make off of.

Speaker 3 (37:22):
That, WELL i think all of the almost Every fever
not seeing that, money.

Speaker 5 (37:26):
Right, no not, yet not, yet not, yet but hopefully.

Speaker 4 (37:32):
If I'm Kaitlyn, Clark i'll be pissed at.

Speaker 2 (37:33):
That what not seeing that? Money what?

Speaker 5 (37:36):
Else why she didn't play on Rival, Yeah i'll be
pissed at.

Speaker 3 (37:39):
That that's Why asian playing unrivaled like those are those
are our cash cows one and. Two so, yeah they're
protecting their brand and doing what they, do and they've
earned that right to say no to certain opportunities LIKE i.
Don't i'm not mad at them for being, like, no
this is my, NAME i earned.

Speaker 5 (37:54):
THIS i don't want to share with everybody.

Speaker 2 (37:56):
Said i'm not doing a three point contest OF Nba All.
Stars just come To indianapolis this.

Speaker 3 (38:01):
Sun it's really about. It if y'all about, it if
y'all really, cared y'all.

Speaker 1 (38:05):
Ridiculous so how about you have AN nba player come
shoot Against kaitlyn at W.

Speaker 2 (38:09):
A why would she do?

Speaker 4 (38:11):
That agree to do?

Speaker 5 (38:11):
That because people think that she cares about like all
these opinions and views and dah da dah that girl
really just wants to play. Basketball AND i respect the
hell out of her for that because a lot of
people really think that she cares about all this outside.
Noise and even.

Speaker 3 (38:27):
WHEN i was With erica the other, day she was telling,
me she was, like she does not care about none of,
That like she doesn't like, it she hates, It like
you can only stop so much everybody out here as
a grown ass.

Speaker 1 (38:37):
Person but, well and you don't start playing basketball as
a little girl because you're you want to do all that.
STUFF i, mean that stuff is, fun having a, shoe
working With, nike being in, Commercials but at the end
of the, day the goal is the. Goal she probably
dreamed of holding up a championship, trophy NOT i.

Speaker 2 (38:53):
Haven't interested In caitlin clark story from last year when
she was getting. Drafted you, know the day starts at
like five. Am, yeah and you're doing all the, things
and we went to The Empire State building and she
was trying to hide in the back because she was,
like give the other players and drafts a chance to
be out in the.

Speaker 5 (39:09):
Front.

Speaker 2 (39:09):
Yeah and she's literally said her. Mouse she's, Like i'm
gonna stand back. Here can you get someone else to
light The Empire State? Building and Then kathy came up
and she was like, Okay camilla And caitlin come to
the front and they.

Speaker 4 (39:18):
Were, like, Oh she's, like, YEAH i want to do.

Speaker 2 (39:20):
It she's LITERALLY i just want to hoop. It.

Speaker 5 (39:23):
Yeah and THAT'S i, mean and that's.

Speaker 3 (39:25):
Respectable AND i feel like there's a lot of players
that feel that. Way, yeah and it's. Okay AND i
feel like once we get you, know these increased salaries
and more, endorsements.

Speaker 5 (39:34):
Whatever people can choose to just play.

Speaker 3 (39:36):
Basketball they don't have to put it on all the
time for the camera and be appealing to this.

Speaker 5 (39:40):
Group in this, group they can really just show up
as their authentic cells and.

Speaker 3 (39:43):
Hoop and that's it because the guys can do. It
there's like what we see what eight eight of THE
nba players and everyone else is just hooping making money and.

Speaker 5 (39:52):
Chilling that's, True but.

Speaker 1 (39:55):
You also can fly under the radar in THE nba
and make a lot more, money you know.

Speaker 2 (39:59):
WHAT i me like that part of doing all that.

Speaker 1 (40:02):
Endorsement extra stuff and putting yourself out there is part
of your brand and your.

Speaker 2 (40:05):
Checks so you kind of have to do all that extra.

Speaker 3 (40:07):
Stuff, yeah and it's hard and it's not for. Everybody
So i've always felt not, pressure but like as, women
you just have to do, more like for all the extra,
Stuff like you can't just be a good basketball, Player
like we don't.

Speaker 5 (40:25):
Make obviously we don't make enough money for.

Speaker 3 (40:26):
That we do make good, Money LIKE i don't want
anybody to get me, wrong like we make great.

Speaker 5 (40:30):
Money i'm very. GRATEFUL i love waking up every day
playing professional.

Speaker 3 (40:33):
Basketball but SOMETIMES i WISH i could just go to
the gym and work out and go to my game
and go home and. Repeat yeah, sometimes BUT i mean
this is also a passion of my doing stuff off the.
Court BUT i hope that one day and the, future
players won't have to extend themselves so much to like
make a lot of money being a professional.

Speaker 2 (40:51):
ATHLETE i do have to, say you were like one
of the FIRST wnba players to start a YouTube, channel
to have your own, show to start your branding outside
of basket AND i know the league wasn't really supportive
of players doing. That that's it's not at. ALL i
remember when her Name montgomery was playing in twenty eighteen
and she was, LIKE i want to do, ACTING i
want to be on, broadcast and she was, LIKE i
have to stick to basketball BECAUSE i get in trouble

(41:14):
by THE. Wnba and now how that has, Evolved and,
yeah they encourage players to build their.

Speaker 5 (41:19):
Brands talk about, that how are you to build so?
Crazy And i'm so happy that at twenty eighth was
not that long. Ago, no it. Wasn't AND i.

Speaker 3 (41:26):
Remember WHEN i got, DRAFTED i was, LIKE i had
my YouTube channel set. UP i would Say duke probably
was one of the first colleges that really invested in
their social.

Speaker 5 (41:35):
Media we got like a social media. Person we had
a content. Lady her name Is.

Speaker 3 (41:39):
Selena she's still there, now and we were like one
of the first women's basketball. PROGRAMS i was like pushing
off content all the. Time so they helped me set
up my YouTube channel because me and my Teammate Rebecca
greenwell went to the three point. Contest so we've blogged,
That i've logged the drafts and Then i've logged like
my last few days on campus and then they.

Speaker 5 (41:59):
Were, like, ook be. Free we helped. You so then
they let me keep the YouTube.

Speaker 3 (42:02):
Channel and THEN i just was blogging my rookie season
and every TIME i brought the camera, out everyone was like.

Speaker 5 (42:08):
What are you, Doing like like why do you have?
This why do you have YouTube? Channel like why do
you want to be on camera all the, time blah
blah blah blah. Blah AND i was, like it was
just a hobby of.

Speaker 3 (42:16):
Mine AND i saw the bigger picture as far As,
brandy BECAUSE i was on the team With cheney at
the time and she was hurt and that's when she
first started doing HER espn, stuff AND i was always
asking her about, it if she liked, it if she
could see a future doing it instead of just something
to pass the. Time so she was the first PERSON
i saw doing all that outside. Stuff but she was,
injured SO i was kind of, Like, okay maybe you

(42:37):
can't do it while you're, playing BUT i continue to
do my YouTube. STUFF i Love.

Speaker 5 (42:41):
Instagram TikTok wasn't around.

Speaker 3 (42:43):
YET i just can't imagine How i've been on TikTok
and college and our, team like our team was. Fun
and then WHEN i got To chicago and was on
the team With Kandas, parker that's WHEN i finally saw
that you could do. Both and people even when she
was doing, that people were just kind of like, down
like they WERE i don't, KNOW i DON'T i don't
like How cannons was treated the tail end of her,
career but she was, Like she's the one that like

(43:06):
really inspired me to be able to chase both dreams
at the same time BECAUSE i watched her do, it
AND i watched her do it and win a championship
while doing.

Speaker 5 (43:12):
It, yeah that's a flex for. Her, yeah that was
just as long for the, ride for you along for the.
Ride NOW i want to win my. OWN i want
to actually. Contribute you sound Like Charles barker is a
bus driver.

Speaker 4 (43:27):
THING i need to be the bus driver.

Speaker 5 (43:31):
CONTRI i do have a ring and it's it's a.
Blessing BUT i, like they can't take that away from.

Speaker 3 (43:36):
It they, cannot BUT i want, To, LIKE i THINK
i did score a basket in the, finals so that was.

Speaker 2 (43:41):
FUN i. Think, yeah practice with.

Speaker 5 (43:44):
The, Team, yeah that whole summer was like just for.
Vibes but it was a learning.

Speaker 3 (43:49):
Experience But i'm not gonna like pretend LIKE i was
like a major contributor to the. Team but it was
like a really good experience AND i learned a Ton
And i'm mad that we didn't try.

Speaker 5 (43:58):
To run it back like the whole, time.

Speaker 2 (44:01):
Like everyone just we traded all the.

Speaker 5 (44:04):
Pis, yeah tont Before. Cray it was like my ultimate mic,
Drop like all, right Here's, chicago when here's the, championship
we're all gonna leave. NOW i feel like.

Speaker 1 (44:14):
If you go to the, finals unless something really bad
happens in every, sport like if you get to the, championship, win,
lose or, draw you gotta try to run a back
because you could go back to back or you could
if you, lost you could win the next. Time SO
i don't, KNOW i never understood that blowing the team up.

Speaker 2 (44:28):
RIGHT i was who wanted to just?

Speaker 3 (44:31):
Disperse, OKAY i think it was a mix of both
BECAUSE I candice, Stayed slute, stayed but every cost, Stayed
so it was like a mix of both that that,
Season LIKE i, said that season was very.

Speaker 5 (44:45):
INTERESTING i got. CUT i came in.

Speaker 3 (44:47):
LATER i didn't come until like the middle of the,
season so they had stuff going on THAT i knew nothing,
about so you, KNOW i was there to you, know
kind of set the tone vibe, wise energy. WISE i
was like the tone setter as far as like everyone
if someone if we're having a bad price of it's
like see make some make someone, laugh do, this do.
That that was like my job on the, team which.

Speaker 5 (45:07):
Is an important.

Speaker 4 (45:07):
Job, well by the time we put this episode, out
the championship wall already.

Speaker 1 (45:19):
Happened BUT i do want to hear you guys, predictions
and then we'll check in later in the week and
you guys can hear our.

Speaker 2 (45:26):
Reactions but do you.

Speaker 3 (45:28):
First happen yukon The yukon's, winning and, OKAY i had.

Speaker 2 (45:34):
Them winning in my, brackets all, right SO i Had
South carolina at, first but after looking at the Game,
FRIDAY i think That yukon might run the. Table And
i'm not wearing blue BECAUSE i Think yukon is going
to win or, anything BUT i Have yukon winning.

Speaker 5 (45:47):
Today they just looked like a well oiled.

Speaker 3 (45:50):
Machine, yeah AND i think because of the poise that
they play, with people don't understand how fast that they.
Play they played extremely. Fast they were they KILLED ucla in,
transition and they were shooting the. Ball i'm just really
excited for this matchup because it's really gonna be offense versus,
defense really the tale of two.

Speaker 5 (46:08):
Teams, Yeah i'm.

Speaker 2 (46:11):
Excited yukon was a team that lived their way to
The final. Four last year half a team was, injured
and NOW i feel like the chemistry's there were starting
to turn the. Page Sarah strong is playing really so,
Good Azy fud as. Well page is gonna Be. Paige. Yeah,
SO i mean there's just a well old.

Speaker 5 (46:32):
Machine and they're young.

Speaker 3 (46:33):
Though which is it's like you don't see Young yukon
teams play like, This like they're all playing like they've
been in the At yukon, three four or five years And,
page you, know she's been in college for so. Long
it's like she's like everyone's little. Sister we're like watching
her like grow, up and everyone is like so sad
that this is her last. Season i've really never seen
fans so like emotionally connected to a player, before and

(46:55):
it's been like really cool to. SEE i think it's
a mix of you, know her fandom from high. School you,
know she was popping in high school and she went
through the. INJURIES i feel like whether you're cheering For
yukon or, NOT i feel like everybody is like rooting For,
page AND i, think like it's such a beautiful.

Speaker 1 (47:08):
Thing, WELL i think that it's interesting how you said
we haven't really gotten to see them In March madness
all as a, unit healthy. Together i've read That asy
And page hadn't played together In March madness since the
last time ye Against South. Carolina so it's like it'll
be interesting to see them get their get back and
together after all they've been through throughout their college.

Speaker 2 (47:30):
Careers BUT i do want to shout Out South carolina
because this is a team that's been here for the
past four.

Speaker 4 (47:38):
Years they've been four five years in a row at.

Speaker 2 (47:40):
Right, yeah that's. Crazy one. Championships the players have been
to the tournament what three of the four, years and
they've been in, school so this is an experienced. Team
Don staley is a great exs And o's, coach So
i'm excited to see how they battle it out as
well every, game and the defending, champs so they deserve

(48:00):
as well.

Speaker 5 (48:01):
Every game in the. Tournament like a Different South carolina
players stepped up. Today who is going to be that?
PLAYER i Think.

Speaker 2 (48:11):
Raven is definitely the leader of the. TEAM i like
WHAT i see From Tessa johnson when she's lights out from.

Speaker 3 (48:17):
Three she was hooping last. Game she was very lights
it was very light. Work i'm gonna go with my, Girl.
CHLOE i like.

Speaker 1 (48:25):
THAT i feel like what makes them so dangerous, though
is that they found different ways to win in each,
step like whatever is needed at that. Time at the,
beginning they kind of play, around like they play with their,
food and then once they decide to time they, eat
they're like yeah.

Speaker 2 (48:41):
BYE i interview with Coach yo and. Two it's just
like when you're scouting For South. Carolina you can't plan
for one or two. Players you got a plan for, everybody,
Right you just don't know who's not gonna.

Speaker 3 (48:52):
BE i was talking to one of my friends and
they were saying that when when teams have like their,
superstars they're very they're not easy to, scout but, like
you know what to, expect you know where the ball's,
going you know what players are gonna be. Run when
those star players are, out they're much harder to guard because.

Speaker 5 (49:08):
You don't know where the balls.

Speaker 3 (49:09):
Go you don't know what they're, doing but they're Doing
and not saying That South carolina doesn't have any, stars
but LIKE i completely agree with, You like it's very
hard to scout for a team where everybody contributes a
little bit in different ways and someone can go for,
thirty this person can go for. Thirty you got your
two leading scorers coming off the.

Speaker 5 (49:23):
Bench, okay it's the.

Speaker 1 (49:25):
Opposite they have a bunch of. Stars so it's like
you're looking, around, like Oh, god what DO i?

Speaker 5 (49:29):
Do don is an evil mad scientist over?

Speaker 2 (49:31):
There can we just talk About Don?

Speaker 4 (49:33):
VERS i was talking to, YOU i think earlier about.

Speaker 1 (49:36):
THIS i have never seen anything any fanfare like this
for a. Coach when you're, like, oh who are you rooting?
For people are, like, Oh i'm rooting For South. CAROLINA
i love.

Speaker 2 (49:45):
DON i love don every.

Speaker 3 (49:47):
TIME i have not heard a single player's name this
entire like she's the star player of the. Team, YEAH
i mean that's, Amazing like THAT'S i love that For.
Donna just watching how she's Built South carolina from the ground,
up like it's been amazing to. Watch BUT i want
some fans to talk about some of the players.

Speaker 2 (50:03):
SOMETIME i, mean what do you think that's?

Speaker 1 (50:04):
Like as a player in the locker, room we're, like,
well y'all walking in ready to, play and everyone said a.

Speaker 2 (50:09):
Picture i'll be like.

Speaker 5 (50:13):
Please she's a little, superstar but she's earned. It BUT i.
DON'T i thought that was hilarious all weekend.

Speaker 1 (50:19):
Long wait yesterday when my sister were at the pool
and you, know we're chilling, whatever and we see The
South carolina team up in the window going to get their,
lunch and everybody at the pools like done, done and
she's up.

Speaker 2 (50:30):
There waiting like.

Speaker 5 (50:31):
Princess, guys.

Speaker 2 (50:34):
She's a.

Speaker 3 (50:35):
President she's like the, president amunt of president of women's.
Basketball And i'm so grateful for.

Speaker 5 (50:39):
Her she's.

Speaker 2 (50:40):
Amazing i'm excited for some really great basketball. TODAY i
hope you guys are gonna watch maybe go to the
arena to watch the game as.

Speaker 4 (50:48):
Well tampa's gonna.

Speaker 3 (50:49):
Lit tampa has been. Lit we've had a great time.
Here we've had a great time before we.

Speaker 2 (50:53):
Go what's been your favorite thing about being here In
tampa this? Weekend my favorite.

Speaker 3 (50:58):
Thing my favorite thing is seeing how much women's college
basketball has. Grown Like maria, said my Second Final four
was In tampa and it was an amazing, experience but
like the level of, everything how it's been elevated FROM.

Speaker 5 (51:13):
I think that was twenty.

Speaker 3 (51:15):
FIFTEEN i want to, say, yeah twenty, fifteen how so
much has. Changed it's been like such a humbling and
amazing experience just to be in it from a different,
perspective but just be able to Have my mom sent
me a picture of me on the side of the
arena WHEN i was playing, here and she was like
losing her mind this.

Speaker 5 (51:33):
Weekend she's, LIKE i.

Speaker 3 (51:34):
Can't believe you're going there to work now like you
played there and it just you're still involved And.

Speaker 5 (51:38):
I'm so proud of. You so things like that moments like,
That like that was probably my favorite part of the.

Speaker 2 (51:43):
WEEKEND i came To.

Speaker 1 (51:44):
Tampa the last TIME i was here was for the
Volleyball National championship In final, four AND i think that
it's amazing scene, here like there's such a good market
for women's sports, here but also just watching the arenas
fill up for women's sports is so. Incredible everybody's, sharing
everybody's paying, attention everybody's going, crazy even like the fanfare
For Page it's LIKE i only have seen that kind.

Speaker 2 (52:06):
Of fan fare for Like Steph, curry you know What i'm.

Speaker 1 (52:09):
Saying so it's really exciting seeing that in person because
ON tv.

Speaker 4 (52:12):
It's hard to really feel.

Speaker 1 (52:13):
That, yeah but when you're in the arena and everybody
has their posters and it's going, crazy it's so. Fun
BUT i mentioned the volleyball thing and The final four
this year because there's such a great market for women's words,
HERE i don't think it would hurt to have an
expansion team.

Speaker 5 (52:26):
Here, YEAH i just Said i'm here For.

Speaker 2 (52:28):
FLORIDA i would have to say for, me my first
time In tampa was in twenty nineteen for the women's
Basketball final four and just to see as you guys,
said like how everything evolved over the, years even the
media coverage doing things like.

Speaker 5 (52:40):
This it's come full, circle come full circle.

Speaker 2 (52:44):
Exactly definitely enjoyed being here and just seeing how much
this sport is frown but all the, stakeholders all the
people who have covered the, game just them elevating as.

Speaker 5 (52:53):
Well, yeah women are.

Speaker 1 (52:55):
LIT i mean earlier in the shooting, contest we had
little boys being, like, oh we're let'sy.

Speaker 2 (53:02):
Please side my. Basketball it's so.

Speaker 5 (53:03):
CUTE i love.

Speaker 3 (53:04):
It it's been a great. Time we've had a great weekend.
HERE i appreciate you guys coming. Out thank you appreciate.

Speaker 5 (53:11):
It thanks for listening To Full.

Speaker 1 (53:16):
Circle we'll be back next week with more basketball.

Speaker 2 (53:18):
For the, girls by the.

Speaker 5 (53:19):
Girls we want to hear from.

Speaker 1 (53:21):
You leave us a review On Apple podcasts and tell
us what you want us to talk. About Full circle
is hosted by A Lexi brown And Mariah. Rose our
executive producer Is Jesse. Katz our supervising producer Is Grace.
Fuse our producer Is Zoe. Dankla listen To Full circle
On america's number one podcast, Network iHeart open your Free
iHeart app and Search Full circle With Lexi brown And

(53:43):
Mariah rose and start listening