January 17, 2025 • 32 mins
Basketball reporter Rob Knox, who covers HBCU hoops for The Next, joins Sarah to discuss how team success can affect player odds for individual awards, the college hoops stars currently flying under the radar, and the HBCU and mid-major teams everyone should be talking about. Plus, how to prep for Unrivaled’s tip-off, when heckling goes wrong, and an open question about just how many new pro volleyball leagues one country can have.
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Buy your own slice of Minnesota Aurora FC! Details can be found here
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Check out Rob’s recent reporting for The Next here
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Follow broadcaster Dom Patrick here
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Watch the video of Danielle Collins heckling back here
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Learn more about the rules Unrivaled will use via this helpful post from Just Women’s Sports
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Read more about the NCAA vote to provide “performance units” to women’s basketball teams here
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The full college basketball schedule can be found here
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Get your tickets to the Beanpot championship game here
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we can't
stop watching the clip of American tennis player Danielle Collins
heckling the hostile crowd at the Australian Open when I
say our jaws dropped. It's Friday, January seventeenth, and on
today's show, we'll be talking to basketball writer for the
Next Rob Knox about the front runners for Women's College
Player of the Year, the under the radar stars you
(00:21):
need to know about and HBCUs that could make noise
in the NCAA Tourney. Plus no love in this tennis match,
rule changes you need to know before Unrivaled tips off tonight,
plus your chance to own a slice. It's all coming
up right after this Happy Friday welcome back. Here's what
(00:51):
you need to know today in Pro hoops news.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Unrivaled tips off tonight. That's right.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
The new three on three League holds its first two games,
starting at seven pm Eastern with Missed BC against Lunar
owls BC, followed by ROSEBC and Vinyl BC at eight
to fifteen. Both games will be broadcast live on TNT
and no none of the teams are from BC British Columbia.
That stands for Basketball Club. Unrivaled rules and format are
a little different from what we've seen in the WNBA
(01:19):
and in Olympic three x three competition, so we'll link
to a post in our show notes from the folks
that just women's sports that explains some key differences, including
one big one. There are three seven minute quarters and
then a winning score fourth quarter where they add eleven
points to the winning team's score, and then that's the
total a team needs to hit to win the game.
So let's say it's a forty to thirty eight game
(01:40):
through three quarters, the first team to fifty one wins
it walk off style. It's that whole elam ending that
I mentioned in a previous show, and I swear I
didn't know that they were using it.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
I think the Unrivaled folks just read my mind. They
know I love an elam ending. You can check the
link in.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
The show notes to read about the other rule differences. Also,
Unrivaled announced that seven sports bars in seven cities across
the US will air all of the twenty twenty five
Unrivaled games and host official watch parties during the season,
beginning with tonight's tip off. The locations include a Bar
of their own in Minneapolis, Blue Haven South in New York,
Grails and Miami, The ninety nine Ers Sports Bar and
(02:17):
Denver The Sports Bra in Portland, Watch Me Sports Bar
in Long Beach, California, and Whiskey Girl Tavern in Chicago.
Each bar will get watch party kits thanks to Unrivaled
and Ally Financial, one of the league's founding partners, and
they'll feature cheer items and merch for fans. Speaking of cheering,
By the way, I gotta start talking about my squad, Phantom,
We by far have the best name for our fans.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
We actually have a couple.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
It's either the fandom with pH Ghost Gang, or, as
Satoosabaly said, the Ghosties.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Sorry, y'all, you can't compete with us. You can't.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
In volleyball news, we've got more League one volleyball going
down tonight. Love Salt Lake and Love Madison hit the
court at Wisconsin Fieldhouse at nine pm Eastern. You can
catch that action on ESP More Vibes. The Pro Volleyball
Federation has a match later in the night between the
Omaha Supernovas and the Vegas Thrill at Lee's Family Forum.
That one starts at ten pm Eastern you can watch
(03:10):
on YouTube. And speaking of the Omaha Supernovas, news broke
on Thursday that there is yet another volleyball league starting
next year, Major League Volleyball, and that the Omaha Supernovas
will be leaving the PVF to join that new league.
Let's just say, we have a lot of questions about
how many startup professional volleyball leagues one country can have,
(03:31):
especially with so few dedicated volleyball reporters and outlets to
cover them. We're going to address that down the road.
In WNBA news, the Indiana Fever are getting a dedicated,
seventy eight million dollars world class sports performance center in
downtown Indianapolis. Pacer Sports and Entertainment, the company behind the Fever,
released plans to break ground on the center in August.
They planned open doors before the twenty twenty seven WNBA season.
(03:53):
Three stories, one hundred and eight thousand square feet, connected
to Gainbridge Field House by a skybridge.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
And a bunch of amenities.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Two regulation sized courts with strength and conditioning equipment, a
Yogan palates area, a spat like retreat with massages, an
infrared light therapy sauna, steam and heat studios, a float tank,
hydrotherapy pools, private outdoor courtyard, mental performance space, is a
hair and nail salon, childcare space, a podcasting content production studio.
This place is going to have everything, and they thought
(04:22):
of the fans. The center is going to have a
Fever team store and offer some exclusive fan experiences. Some
cool responses to this, including from unrestricted free agent most
recently with the Las Vegas Aces Alicia Clark, who tweeted
about the facility news quote, all these w teams investing
in their own facilities. You love to see it. The
days of practicing in churches, old community centers, and schools
(04:43):
is coming to an end. This is the investment the
OGS have pushed for since the inception of the league.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
End quote.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Clark went on quote The thing I really love is
that this younger generation of players, who have now been
passed the torch to carry this league forward, won't have
to know what it feels like sleeping in an airport
because of a delay. What being told not to go
one hundred percent on a court because the court isn't safe.
What having to move out of a locker room after
every season feels like? What not having the proper resources
and still showing up and thriving at your job. Feels
(05:10):
like all they'll know is professionalism and professional treatment, and
I love that for them.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
End quote.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Sky's the limit for players with the kind of resources, facilities,
and treatment that men athletes have been getting for decades,
as for the players that will use that Fever facility.
On Thursday, the team extended a core qualifying offer to
guard Kelsey Mitchell, giving the team exclusive negotiating rights tour.
In return, Mitchell gets a guaranteed supermax offer around two
hundred and forty nine thousand for the twenty twenty five season.
(05:39):
The core offer makes a ton of sense. The two
time All Star has been a key piece for the
Fever and is one of the top free agents available
this offseason. She joined the squad is the number two
draft pick in twenty eighteen, and spend the team's leading
scorer in five a first seven seasons. Mitchell and Katelon
Clark were one of the most efficient backcourts in the
league in twenty twenty four, both averaging nineteen point three
points per game. To College Hoops, the NCDA AZE membership
(06:01):
unanimously voted to approve paying women's basketball teams. Quote unquote
performance units for playing games in the NCAA Tournament each March,
just like the men have four years. The units will
be distributed to women's teams playing in the tournament starting
this year, and a team that reaches the final four
could bring its conference roughly one point twenty six million
dollars Over the next three years in financial rewards, fifteen
(06:22):
million in total will be awarded to the teams. That's
twenty six percent of the current women's basketball media revenue
deal and on par with what men's basketball teams received
the first year at the Performance Units program was established
in nineteen ninety one. That total will grow to twenty
five million, or forty one percent of the revenue by
twenty twenty eight. You can read more about the vote
and what it means moving forward at the link, and
(06:42):
our show notes more college hoops. We're looking forward to
a top twenty five matchup between number ten TCU and
number twenty three Utah tonight at seven thirty pm Eastern
that'll stream live on ESPN Plus. There's a whole bunch
of ranked teams in action over the weekend too, so
we'll link to the full college basketball schedule in our
show Notes to Hockey. The Women's bean Pot Championship is
set to take place between Northeastern and Boston University Tuesday,
(07:05):
January twenty first at TD Garden. Now puck drops on
the final at seven thirty eastern, but if you buy
a ticket, you could also take in the third place
game between Boston College and Harvard at four thirty eastern
and get a chance to take pictures with some players
from the Pro Women's Hockey League AKAPWHL that'll be in
attendance during the intermission between the games. We got to
give a shout out to Certified Slice Molly Pritz, who's
(07:26):
been working with a group called Boston Unites to bring
the four competing schools together with the community to fill
Ted Garden with fans. These are the same folks who
helped fill the garden for the Connecticut Sun game there
last summer.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
We love this excellent stuff.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
First round game between Northeastern and Boston College Tuesday night
at the Huskies Matthew's Arena was standing room only thirty
two hundred and ninety eight people, making for the largest
crowd at a campus site game in Women's bean Pot
history and the largest at a home game in Northeastern
women's hockey history. Congrats to them on that, and we've
dropped a link to where you can snag tickets to
Tuesday's games in our show notes. Finally, some pro soccer news,
(08:00):
Dan and midfielder Quinn is set to sign with Vancouver
Rise FC of the Northern Super League, sources tell the
Equalizers Jeff kassoof the move comes after Quinn opted not
to re sign with the Seattle Rain. They played the
last four NWSL seasons with the Rain, winning the NWSL
shield in twenty twenty two and making it to the
championship match in twenty twenty three. They're an Olympic gold
medalist with more than one hundred appearances for the Canadian
(08:22):
national team and have featured on the squad for the
past three Olympic Games and the past two Women's World Cups. Meantime,
more soccer news, multiple outlets are reporting that another big
name NWSL player could be headed out of the country.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Naomi Germa could be on the move.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Chelsea of the Women's Super League in England are rumored
to be leading the fight for the rights to Germa.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
No official news as of this taping. We'll keep you
updated we got to take a quick break.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
When we come back, we're talking to college basketball player
of the Year race and mid major teams we should know.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
With Rob Knox.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Joining us now, he covers HBCU women's basketball for the
next He's been published in outlets including Slam Magazine, The
Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Washington Post, and he's an adjunct
instructor at Temple University. He was a longtime college sports
information director and communications professional, former president of KOSIDA, now
known as CSC. He was honored by the NCAA and
twenty twenty two with its Championship Diversity and Inclusion Award,
(09:25):
and he's in the Lincoln University Hall of Fame for
his work as an SID.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
There. Coming on the show will.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Afford him a brief break from tweeting about his Eagles
and the divisional round of the NFL playoffs.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
It's Rob Knox. Thanks for joining us, Rob.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
Hey, thank you for having me, Sarah.
Speaker 4 (09:38):
I am honored to be here today, and you know
I am at day one slice, So yes, this is outsteady.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
To have this opportunity to spend some time with you today.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Awesome. We love to hear it. I want to start
big picture.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
Maybe some of the names folks know, the biggest names
in women's college hoops, the front runners for national Player
of the year.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Who's on your list?
Speaker 3 (10:00):
We need to say that for everybody else's list.
Speaker 4 (10:03):
You know, Hannah Hidalgo, Juju Watkins, Page Beckers, you know,
Laura Betts. Uh, those are probably the top names. And
how lucky were we this year to you know, have
those matchups right, to have Hanna Hidago go against so
Juju and Paige and vice versa. You know they you know,
Dori Day USC and you kind of all played each
other this year, which was outstanding for everybody. And then
(10:26):
I'm maybe a little by just because of my geographical location,
but I'm a huge Cheyenne Sellers and Kaylee's Michael fann
at at versa of Maryland. I mean, I know they won't,
you know, necessarily be considered for Player of the Year,
but I think Cheyenne and Kayleen are one of the
best duels in the country. And uh, you know, I
had the opportunity last week to cover the USC Maryland
(10:46):
game and write about Cheyennes on w b A Prospects,
and uh and go and and go really deep dive
on on wish he breaks to the game.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
Yeah, I wonder if you think the success of the
teams will have an impact down the stretch on who
ultimately wins this award, because I think you know, Page
and Yukon have a real high upside, but we have
seen them not be able to finish against the best
teams this year. You've got a team like Notre Dame
that got a couple first place votes in the AP
(11:16):
rankings this week trying to steal that spot from UCLA,
where Hidalgo might get some points for that, but also
Olivia Miles is so strong, does that take away from
her case? Like how do you see the final stretch
of this season affecting the odds?
Speaker 3 (11:30):
That's a really good question, really good thought process.
Speaker 4 (11:32):
And you know, as somebody that has you know, spent
my time on numerous committees and voted and obviously been
on at least a Leslie a ward committee is always
hard because because you do get to a point where
you are kind of picky Straws that said, well, you know,
hit the head, but then they all you know, Page backers,
oh and too against Dori, David usc and you know,
obviously Noyi Day beat USC, so I tende lean slightly
(11:56):
towards Dago based on that, you know, just they hit
the hit day. But I do think team success is important.
Sometimes it feels like U kind does have a built
in a vege because they are they are probably hit
the shows above every team in the Big East this year,
whereas Juju is going to be navigating a minefield. And yeah,
(12:17):
same thing with Hannah and the ACC. So I think
deep success does play a part in it. But I
also think that Juju as well. I mean, if she
has another game like he had Sunday and strings and
feurials consistently together, it'd be hard to argue against her.
Right now, that would say, mid mid season, Hannah Hadago
by a slider EDG.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Yeah, it feels like that's where people are leaning. You've
been in the rooms having these conversations.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
I'm curious.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
You know, we talk a lot, and in my many
years doing ESPN National Radio covering all the biggest stories,
we talked a lot about In NBA MVP, it was
like whose turn is it right? There was reluctance to
give someone the same award multiple years in a row,
or there was a lot of conversation about well, who's
hot right now? Who's interesting in the women's college basketball space.
(13:05):
Do you think conversations that people have affect their voting
in the same way, because you know, like you mentioned,
this is an individual award, but people might be trying
to take team success as some sort of indication of
whether that individual steps up. You look at someone like
Paige Yukon hasn't been able to finish, but she has
been a model of efficiency. She has been the player
that shows up in those games even when other players
(13:27):
are injured or they've struggled to find cohesion. And so
is there an extra bonus for that as opposed to
Hannah who gets to lean on someone like Olivia who's
going to be a superstar next to where every game?
How much do those conversations get in people's heads when
they're making these decisions versus looking at box score? How
much are you looking at eye tests versus numbers?
Speaker 4 (13:45):
I prefer the eye test, boys, so did the numbers,
because numbers can be skewed however you want them to look.
One of the blessings have been an sid for so
many years and work in basketball is you have conversations
with basketball coaches or you spend time with them watching
film where you see them breaking down different things that
you have those different intangible conversations, right, And I think
(14:06):
we're all guilty of it when it comes to page
back because the excellence is taken for granted. And I
think sometimes people when somebody is at a high level
consistently like they, oh, okay, that's page well, she's supposed
to get twenty five and so.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Smooth, so smooth. She makes it look too easy.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
It's like, girl, make it look harder, so we realize
what you're doing exactly.
Speaker 4 (14:24):
That's so true, and so I think sometimes she becomes
a victim of that. Obviously, last year there wasn't much
debate about who the Player of the Year was. But
but again she she was somebody where you could say
eye test or the numbers, right, because she was kind
of doing both both and you're just like and then
you look at it to you again, like South Carolina
(14:45):
that went undefeated last year where the sum was greater
than that whole right. So yes, so it was always
the internal internal battle when it comes for you know,
these types of the awards.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Yeah, for sure, it is fun this year. Last year,
like you said, Taitlin Clark kind of running away with it.
To have this trio or quartet of players that are
all really in the mix. Let's look beyond that, though,
because there's got to be some stars that are flying
under the radar. Who's having a standout year in women's
college hoops that you think isn't getting talked about enough.
Speaker 4 (15:14):
I'm Michi, Kayleen and Cheyenne at Maryland, and you know,
it's really interesting and I know we'll you know, talk
to HBCU hoops a little later. But Alabama's leading scorer now,
Zay Green. She's leading them and scoring and assist at
sixty eight pointy seven points a game, and they you know,
she's used to the SEC because she started her career.
I wanted to say she started at Tennessee, then transferred
(15:36):
to Texas A and m then transferred to Arkansas Pine
Bluff before coming back to Alabama, and then you go
go to West Virginia. I had the opportunity to see
West Virginia play in person earlier this year, and I
came away.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
It's funny.
Speaker 4 (15:47):
I went into the game like excited to see JJ Quinley,
and she's she's phenomenal, She's dynamic, she's a bulldog. She's tenacious,
but with her just coming back from an injury that
force to the missed a game earlier this year, I left,
I left that gay you know, raven about Jordan Harrison.
I love her, Gabe. I think she's a perfect compliment
to JJ and I think she's the engine of that
(16:09):
West Virginia program on both ends of the floor. I
think she's she's somebody that fins should should get to know.
I think, you know again, I mean we know about
how how talented UCLA is obviously a Num. One team
in the country. It is funny because I don't think
ke Key Rice has been talked about a lot this year,
and again I don't know what her numbers are.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
They're good, it's just a part of the It's like
you said before, like the whole is bigger than the
sum of its parts. It's it's one of several pieces
that get it done for them every night.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
Versus her putting up thirty.
Speaker 4 (16:38):
Right at South Carolina, they have the one loss and
some of those players have taken tremendous leaves by Chloe Hits.
I mean, man, she's she's been phenomenal this year.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
You know, I got two other ones that stand out
to me, and one is Tania Latson of Florida State.
She's leading the NCAA and scoring right now. And you know,
Florida State, it's a fine team. They're not really gonna
you know, no one thinks they're going all the way.
But Tanaya and her ability to consistently score and perform
every night, it's been really impressive. And then Audie Crooks
at Iowa State. You know that team. I think they're
(17:10):
sixth maybe in the Big twelve. Their record isn't super impressive,
but she's such a fun watch and I think she's
averaging twenty three something like that points a game. So
those are two players that I like to watch the highlights.
I like to hear what they're doing, and I've been
impressed by what they got. Mesh, just turn their camera
on what you got me add something?
Speaker 3 (17:31):
Man.
Speaker 5 (17:31):
I gotta give a shout out to Kyomi mc miller
out of Rutgers folks, we cannot sleep on her either.
Rutgers is not gonna win the conference, they're probably not
gonna make the tournament, but she is a walking highlight reel.
I have a friend Don Patrick, shout out to her.
Shout out to rising media stars who regularly gets to
call those games at Wreckers and gets a front row
(17:53):
seat to just the and one handles that this young
lady has so definitely want to shout her out. Love
it and Harmony Turner from Harvard she is just you
have stuff you want to say about her.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
Rob right now.
Speaker 4 (18:05):
You know she's average of twenty point three points a game,
in the top twenty in the country at scoring. She
you know, scored forty one points earlier this year, gets
so Boston College and you know she she has She
has definitely set up social media on fire throughout the
season and a lot of people have two dinner Harvard.
It is interesting because you you look at Harvard, but
you look at the IVY League. At the top of
(18:26):
the IVY League, it's kind of like a Battle of
War where they.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
Could conceivably get three teams in the tournament.
Speaker 4 (18:31):
I know that sounds funny and crazy because it's the
IVY League, But with Princeton and Columbia at Harvard, you know,
Princeton and Columbia win the tournament.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
Last year, Columbia got the I believe Columbia.
Speaker 4 (18:42):
Got the at large last year out the IVY and
right now in the mid major top twenty five, Harvard,
Princeton and Columbia two three and four, and Princeton knocked
off Harvard last week.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
So so it's a battle.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
It's you know, it's your first appearance, your rob so
I won't hold it against you that you don't know that.
We're only allowed to talk about Cornell if we're talking
IVY League. If IVY League sport to make it into
the show, we got a shoehorn Cornellen there you I'm
not sure how we're gonna do that here, but we're
gonna find a way to talk about Cornell hoops.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
If we're talking IVY.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
League, Let's talk about HBCUs because you mentioned you know
you you follow a lot of HBCU hooped mid majors conferences,
even Misha's beloved coastal the CIA, who are some of
the strongest teams that you think could make some noise
come March madness.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Out of the mid majors at HBCUs.
Speaker 4 (19:30):
You have to start with Norfolk State. They already have
wins this year, wrote wins this year at Auburn and
at Missouri. At a trailed Alabama by one point with
five minutes to go in the game, and you know
Norfolk is led by Kier will and Diamond Johnson. Diamond
Johnson will probably most likely end up being HBCU Player
of the Year. She started out at n C State,
played in that memorable Elite eight game at Yukon. She
(19:53):
leads to me acting scoring and happy to see Norfolk.
The other night at Morgan State, uh Diamond eight still
twenty four points and the teammate Kier Wheeler had another
double double with twenty four points. So together they averaged
thirty three point seven points a game. And then I
just want to shout out their head coach, Larry Vickers.
Larry has done a fantastic job with that program. I
(20:14):
mean when he first took over, you know they were
getting beat all the time and losing a lot. But
over the last three and a half years he has
elevated that program. And you know they've won the last
two tournament championships and lost in the first round of
South Carolina. They have opportunity, they get to write opponent
in the first round. They definitely won't be a fifteen
or sixteen. See if they go through the MIAC. You know,
you can't sleep on Howard University head coach TYD. Grace
(20:37):
does a phenomenal job there. Right now, Howard is on
the four game winning streak behind fresh regards to Naya King,
who's one of the top fresh regards in the country.
And then guard Destiny Halle, a graduate guard who two
years ago, before she tore her ACL was a French
WBA prospect. She's she's super talented at Coppin State. You know,
(21:00):
they haven't went over Arizona State this.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
Year on their resume.
Speaker 4 (21:03):
And Layla Lawrence is also one of the fifteen finalists
along with Diamond Johnson for the Becky hm A Mid
Major Player of the Year Award. She's second in the
me I CAN scoring in sixteen point eight a game,
and she leads the conference in rebounding. So I would say,
you know, obviously, I mean I could talk about all
eight programs in the meat, but I would say at
the top for this conference, Norfolk Howard, in Compon State,
(21:27):
you go over to the SWACK this year, things that
start to take shape. So you know, Jackson State, you
have to start with them. Dave won thirty six straight
regular season SWACK games this year. They have a first
year coach Margaret Richards, who's not new to the conference.
She's due to Jackson State. She coached the Alabama and
then for eight years before taking over for Tamika Reed
who's at Charlotte, and she did a terrific job there.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
You know.
Speaker 4 (21:50):
The lead scores Tealia Dilworth, She's a transfer. She's average
at fourteen point six points a game. One thing that
one point out to your listens is Jackson State was
the last Division one women's basketball team to play a
home game. They played their first home game on last
Thursday was January ninth.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Wow, that's wild. That is wild. Who are the schedule makers?
Speaker 3 (22:12):
That's so unfair.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Thats messed up?
Speaker 3 (22:15):
Yeah right now.
Speaker 4 (22:16):
Surprisingly, Texas Southern is also three and zero, and two
of their wins well over the preseason favorites Grandlin State
in Southern courtney a lot of males, fourth and the
Swacken scoring and Jada Belt in his fifth and rebounding.
So these two are solid combination, as is film us
on Seyamick Evans and Sydney Drickx, who I'm actually in
(22:37):
the prices of writing about for my HBCU notebook for
the next So things are beginning to break during that conference.
I think it's going to be a interesting race throughout
both of those conferences of the MIAK and the SWAG.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
Okay, before we let you go, Rob, I need you
to give us one game this weekend that you particularly
got your eye on, something that we should watch for
that you're into.
Speaker 4 (22:56):
I want to go in the Coastal if I can,
because you have the two preseason favorites colliding. Uh Drexel,
who wonted won the conference last year. The tournament last
year is at North Carolina A and T Friday night,
So that's a big, a big game. It also got
my eyes locked on Sunday Oklahoma at South Carolina. Yeah,
and I got cool Yukon. I would not be remiss
(23:18):
if I didn't just just shout out the talented staff
at the next doing quality work all over, from the
weekly Unrival column to thorough coverage of college basketball at
all levels. We have somebody covering the IVY, the Atlantic
ten and I even talk about George Mason or in
Atlanticton or or Temple with an American. But Howard, Howard
(23:41):
mcdogs is the man. He you know, I'm appreciative of
all the opportunities that he's you know a lot myself
and the others at you know Meil Greenberg is one
that set the foundation for for a lot of Winner's
basketball coverage. I also wrote for Mail and anybody else looking.
You know, I wore my alma out of the shirt. You know,
since we talked about.
Speaker 3 (23:57):
HBCUs today, I can sweat shirt yep.
Speaker 4 (24:01):
The first historically black college in the land, Link University
eighteen fifty four.
Speaker 3 (24:07):
But no, Sarah, thank you. This has been session honor
for me to be here.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Yeah, thanks for coming on.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Yeah, we'll definitely put some links to the next in
the show notes, so folks can subscribe, because you'll get
newsletters in your inbox giving you breakdowns of teams, players, conferences.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
It's a really great way to dive a.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
Little bit deeper on a lot of the women's college
basketball stuff that you want to know about.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
So thanks so much, Rob for the time. We really
appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
Thank you so much for having me, and this has
been been a blessing.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
We got to take another quick break when we come back.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
We turn our teas from earlier in the week into
a totally cool announcement.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
It's coming up next. Welcome back, slices.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
It's time for a little what the fact today is
what the fact offers a little more context on that news.
We mentioned earlier that the NCAA unanimously approved implementing a
women's March Madness revenue sharing plan.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
This is what the fact involves.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
The number thirty four, as in, it took the NCAA
thirty four years to offer women's basketball teams the same
benefit offered.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
To men's teams. Now, this is one of those things
we don't.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
Talk about enough, women's sports having to battle against intentional roadblocks.
When we discussed the output of women's sports, we need
to acknowledge the input. You can't call the women's NCAA
tournament a money loser for years when you've prevented them
from using the name March Madness, offered up lesser resources venues,
marketing and promotion, and you've given school zero incentive to
care about the success of their women's programs. For years,
(25:42):
people talked about the women's basketball tournament as a lesser product,
when in fact we've seen how much it's built to thrive.
Players stay in school longer, so you get to know them,
Rivalries are established, and matchups become must see. Plus, with
the pro game still catching up in terms of the
number of markets and awareness, for a lot of folks,
the women's college game, whether it's their alma mater or
a local team, is the peak of their fandom in
(26:03):
women's basketball and the focus of their money spent. For years,
revenue was lost because we didn't talk enough about the
true value of the tournament and the ways intentional practices
were holding it back. And the sexist decision making of
the NCAA doing things like paying men's teams for tournament
appearances for thirty four years before finally getting around to
paying the women is certainly a part of that. Today's
(26:25):
what the fact, brought to you by elf Beauty. And
here's another fact. Elf Beauty's recent report shows that gender
diverse boards lead to positive business results. SMP five hundred
companies with above average gender diversity on their boards saw
a fifteen percent boost in return on equity and a
fifty percent drop in.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
Earning's risk over a year.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
You can read the full report at elfbauty dot com
slash not So White Paper. All Right, we know you've
been waiting and wondering, and it's finally time to make
good on that tease we gave you earlier in the week.
It's here and it's today's good game play of the day.
Now remember that awesome opportunity we mentioned, that thing that
would change the way you see ownership, decision making and
(27:03):
community building.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
Well, here it is.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
We're buying a slice of a women's sports team that's right.
Good game with Sarah Spain is officially picking aside, putting
our money where our mouth is, and getting the whole
slice community to support a community owned team that needs
our help. This is a chance for you to invest
aka bias Slice of Minnesota. Aurora FC a women's pre
(27:26):
professional soccer team competing in the usl.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
W League's Heartland Division.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
The team has been undefeated in two regular seasons, and
in twenty twenty two was named their league's organization of
the Year. It's also community owned and values led, with
a mission of developing the next generation of women's talent
both on and off the field. In twenty twenty three,
the team welcomed in all women front office Leadership Team Minnesota.
Aurora FC is a community owned team and community driven
(27:52):
In four months of a first round investment period three
thousand and eighty people invested in Minnesota Aurora FC, including
owners in forty eight states at eight countries, and now
they need our help in their current capital race. The team, name, logo,
and mascot were all chosen by community owners, so this
isn't like the Green Bay Packers where you get a
piece of paper on the wall saying you're a quote
unquote owner. You actually have a say here. Community owners
(28:15):
even have a vote to elect two of the team's
community board members. There are a few different levels, starting
with one hundred bucks, which gets you a digital owners Certificate,
voting rights and vote for representation on the board. Five
hundred dollars, which adds a special owner's enamel pin and
an owner's car decal, one thousand dollars, where you also
get two general admission season tickets for the whole twenty
(28:35):
twenty five season, and up from there. You can find
all the info you need at wefunder dot com, slash
m and Aurora. We'll also put the link in our
show notes. Now, for me, it's a second swing at
ownership that'll hopefully be a little less rocky than my
red Star's tenure, plus a chance to rally this fantastic
supportive amazing good game community in service of a group
(28:57):
of women working hard for this team and its fans.
The Aurora Borealis may be elusive, I've still never seen it,
even though Chicago keeps getting freak Northern Lights shows. But
this Aurora will be mine and yours if you want.
In every slice who buys a slice of the Aurora
will get a special hat commemorating our collab. Now, you
can only get this hat if you're an owner, so
(29:19):
send us a receipt of your ownership purchase along with
your name and address, and you're in. And don't worry
if it's not in your budget to become an owner
right now, you can still join us as fans, cheering
on and supporting the team. You can follow them on social,
you can get to know their players in the league
they play in, and you can get pumped when we
give occasional updates about their season. So jump on in
Slices in whatever way is meaningful for you. We can't
(29:42):
wait to start supporting the Minnesota Aurora, and we always
love to hear from you, So hit us up on
email Good Game at wondermedianetwork dot com or leave us
a voicemail at eight seven two two o four fifty
seventy and don't forget to subscribe or rate and review.
It's easy watch Danielle Collins versus the fans at the
Australian Open, rating five out of five gasps review. This
(30:04):
clip dropped into my social feed with zero context and
when I tell you, I watched it with the rapt
attention and dropped jaw usually reserved for a slap fight
in the middle of a Real Housewives reunion. In case
you missed it, American tennis player Danielle Collins was relentlessly
booed during her match with hometown fave Australian Destiny Aieva
in the second round of the Ossie Open.
Speaker 3 (30:24):
Now.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
During the match, Collins.
Speaker 1 (30:26):
Responded to the booze by blowing kisses to the crowd,
cupping her ear to take in their booze, and even
slapping her ass in their direction. Then the postgame interview
where she thanked the crowd for helping her get a big,
fat paycheck to take a five star vacation, and did
the presser where she said, quote, every person that has
bought a ticket and has come out here to.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
Hackle meet can do what they do.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
It's all going towards the Danielle Collins fund, so like, yeah,
bring it on, I love it.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
End quote. Now listen, y'all.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
I'm all for like a confident, sassy athlete. But for
some reason this felt real icky to me, Like, what
did you expect an Australian crowd to do in a
match featuring their Australian hometown. Gal, I'm not saying the
booze are cool, Like booing someone just for not being
from Australia seems a little bit much. But there's a
way to handle the booze, get the win and move on,
especially when you're playing a twenty four year old who
(31:15):
clearly would love to win in front of the hometown crowd, and,
in the case of Aiva, has publicly dealt with mental
health struggles. The whole thing just felt over the top.
Next time, be swaggy, but keep it classy Collins. Oh
and by the way, shout out to Aiva, who rocks
vintage looks for many of her matches. This time she
wore a dress popularized by Maria Scheripoba at the twenty
thirteen Australian Open.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
Very cool. Now it's your turn, rate and review. Thanks
for listening. See you next week. Have a good weekend.
Speaker 1 (31:43):
Good Game, Rob, Good Game, Indiana Fever, you crossing the
line and given Sass a bad name.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
Good Game with Sarah Spain is.
Speaker 1 (31:54):
An iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue
Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the iHeartRadio app, podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network,
our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive
producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder.
Our editors are Emily Rutterer, Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch, and
(32:14):
Lindsay Cradowell. Production assistant from Lucy Jones and I'm Your
Host Sarah Spain
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we can't
stop watching the clip of American tennis player Danielle Collins
heckling the hostile crowd at the Australian Open when I
say our jaws dropped. It's Friday, January seventeenth, and on
today's show, we'll be talking to basketball writer for the
Next Rob Knox about the front runners for Women's College
Player of the Year, the under the radar stars you
(00:21):
need to know about and HBCUs that could make noise
in the NCAA Tourney. Plus no love in this tennis match,
rule changes you need to know before Unrivaled tips off tonight,
plus your chance to own a slice. It's all coming
up right after this Happy Friday welcome back. Here's what
(00:51):
you need to know today in Pro hoops news.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Unrivaled tips off tonight. That's right.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
The new three on three League holds its first two games,
starting at seven pm Eastern with Missed BC against Lunar
owls BC, followed by ROSEBC and Vinyl BC at eight
to fifteen. Both games will be broadcast live on TNT
and no none of the teams are from BC British Columbia.
That stands for Basketball Club. Unrivaled rules and format are
a little different from what we've seen in the WNBA
(01:19):
and in Olympic three x three competition, so we'll link
to a post in our show notes from the folks
that just women's sports that explains some key differences, including
one big one. There are three seven minute quarters and
then a winning score fourth quarter where they add eleven
points to the winning team's score, and then that's the
total a team needs to hit to win the game.
So let's say it's a forty to thirty eight game
(01:40):
through three quarters, the first team to fifty one wins
it walk off style. It's that whole elam ending that
I mentioned in a previous show, and I swear I
didn't know that they were using it.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
I think the Unrivaled folks just read my mind. They
know I love an elam ending. You can check the
link in.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
The show notes to read about the other rule differences. Also,
Unrivaled announced that seven sports bars in seven cities across
the US will air all of the twenty twenty five
Unrivaled games and host official watch parties during the season,
beginning with tonight's tip off. The locations include a Bar
of their own in Minneapolis, Blue Haven South in New York,
Grails and Miami, The ninety nine Ers Sports Bar and
(02:17):
Denver The Sports Bra in Portland, Watch Me Sports Bar
in Long Beach, California, and Whiskey Girl Tavern in Chicago.
Each bar will get watch party kits thanks to Unrivaled
and Ally Financial, one of the league's founding partners, and
they'll feature cheer items and merch for fans. Speaking of cheering,
By the way, I gotta start talking about my squad, Phantom,
We by far have the best name for our fans.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
We actually have a couple.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
It's either the fandom with pH Ghost Gang, or, as
Satoosabaly said, the Ghosties.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Sorry, y'all, you can't compete with us. You can't.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
In volleyball news, we've got more League one volleyball going
down tonight. Love Salt Lake and Love Madison hit the
court at Wisconsin Fieldhouse at nine pm Eastern. You can
catch that action on ESP More Vibes. The Pro Volleyball
Federation has a match later in the night between the
Omaha Supernovas and the Vegas Thrill at Lee's Family Forum.
That one starts at ten pm Eastern you can watch
(03:10):
on YouTube. And speaking of the Omaha Supernovas, news broke
on Thursday that there is yet another volleyball league starting
next year, Major League Volleyball, and that the Omaha Supernovas
will be leaving the PVF to join that new league.
Let's just say, we have a lot of questions about
how many startup professional volleyball leagues one country can have,
(03:31):
especially with so few dedicated volleyball reporters and outlets to
cover them. We're going to address that down the road.
In WNBA news, the Indiana Fever are getting a dedicated,
seventy eight million dollars world class sports performance center in
downtown Indianapolis. Pacer Sports and Entertainment, the company behind the Fever,
released plans to break ground on the center in August.
They planned open doors before the twenty twenty seven WNBA season.
(03:53):
Three stories, one hundred and eight thousand square feet, connected
to Gainbridge Field House by a skybridge.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
And a bunch of amenities.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Two regulation sized courts with strength and conditioning equipment, a
Yogan palates area, a spat like retreat with massages, an
infrared light therapy sauna, steam and heat studios, a float tank,
hydrotherapy pools, private outdoor courtyard, mental performance space, is a
hair and nail salon, childcare space, a podcasting content production studio.
This place is going to have everything, and they thought
(04:22):
of the fans. The center is going to have a
Fever team store and offer some exclusive fan experiences. Some
cool responses to this, including from unrestricted free agent most
recently with the Las Vegas Aces Alicia Clark, who tweeted
about the facility news quote, all these w teams investing
in their own facilities. You love to see it. The
days of practicing in churches, old community centers, and schools
(04:43):
is coming to an end. This is the investment the
OGS have pushed for since the inception of the league.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
End quote.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Clark went on quote The thing I really love is
that this younger generation of players, who have now been
passed the torch to carry this league forward, won't have
to know what it feels like sleeping in an airport
because of a delay. What being told not to go
one hundred percent on a court because the court isn't safe.
What having to move out of a locker room after
every season feels like? What not having the proper resources
and still showing up and thriving at your job. Feels
(05:10):
like all they'll know is professionalism and professional treatment, and
I love that for them.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
End quote.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Sky's the limit for players with the kind of resources, facilities,
and treatment that men athletes have been getting for decades,
as for the players that will use that Fever facility.
On Thursday, the team extended a core qualifying offer to
guard Kelsey Mitchell, giving the team exclusive negotiating rights tour.
In return, Mitchell gets a guaranteed supermax offer around two
hundred and forty nine thousand for the twenty twenty five season.
(05:39):
The core offer makes a ton of sense. The two
time All Star has been a key piece for the
Fever and is one of the top free agents available
this offseason. She joined the squad is the number two
draft pick in twenty eighteen, and spend the team's leading
scorer in five a first seven seasons. Mitchell and Katelon
Clark were one of the most efficient backcourts in the
league in twenty twenty four, both averaging nineteen point three
points per game. To College Hoops, the NCDA AZE membership
(06:01):
unanimously voted to approve paying women's basketball teams. Quote unquote
performance units for playing games in the NCAA Tournament each March,
just like the men have four years. The units will
be distributed to women's teams playing in the tournament starting
this year, and a team that reaches the final four
could bring its conference roughly one point twenty six million
dollars Over the next three years in financial rewards, fifteen
(06:22):
million in total will be awarded to the teams. That's
twenty six percent of the current women's basketball media revenue
deal and on par with what men's basketball teams received
the first year at the Performance Units program was established
in nineteen ninety one. That total will grow to twenty
five million, or forty one percent of the revenue by
twenty twenty eight. You can read more about the vote
and what it means moving forward at the link, and
(06:42):
our show notes more college hoops. We're looking forward to
a top twenty five matchup between number ten TCU and
number twenty three Utah tonight at seven thirty pm Eastern
that'll stream live on ESPN Plus. There's a whole bunch
of ranked teams in action over the weekend too, so
we'll link to the full college basketball schedule in our
show Notes to Hockey. The Women's bean Pot Championship is
set to take place between Northeastern and Boston University Tuesday,
(07:05):
January twenty first at TD Garden. Now puck drops on
the final at seven thirty eastern, but if you buy
a ticket, you could also take in the third place
game between Boston College and Harvard at four thirty eastern
and get a chance to take pictures with some players
from the Pro Women's Hockey League AKAPWHL that'll be in
attendance during the intermission between the games. We got to
give a shout out to Certified Slice Molly Pritz, who's
(07:26):
been working with a group called Boston Unites to bring
the four competing schools together with the community to fill
Ted Garden with fans. These are the same folks who
helped fill the garden for the Connecticut Sun game there
last summer.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
We love this excellent stuff.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
First round game between Northeastern and Boston College Tuesday night
at the Huskies Matthew's Arena was standing room only thirty
two hundred and ninety eight people, making for the largest
crowd at a campus site game in Women's bean Pot
history and the largest at a home game in Northeastern
women's hockey history. Congrats to them on that, and we've
dropped a link to where you can snag tickets to
Tuesday's games in our show notes. Finally, some pro soccer news,
(08:00):
Dan and midfielder Quinn is set to sign with Vancouver
Rise FC of the Northern Super League, sources tell the
Equalizers Jeff kassoof the move comes after Quinn opted not
to re sign with the Seattle Rain. They played the
last four NWSL seasons with the Rain, winning the NWSL
shield in twenty twenty two and making it to the
championship match in twenty twenty three. They're an Olympic gold
medalist with more than one hundred appearances for the Canadian
(08:22):
national team and have featured on the squad for the
past three Olympic Games and the past two Women's World Cups. Meantime,
more soccer news, multiple outlets are reporting that another big
name NWSL player could be headed out of the country.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Naomi Germa could be on the move.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Chelsea of the Women's Super League in England are rumored
to be leading the fight for the rights to Germa.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
No official news as of this taping. We'll keep you
updated we got to take a quick break.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
When we come back, we're talking to college basketball player
of the Year race and mid major teams we should know.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
With Rob Knox.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Joining us now, he covers HBCU women's basketball for the
next He's been published in outlets including Slam Magazine, The
Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Washington Post, and he's an adjunct
instructor at Temple University. He was a longtime college sports
information director and communications professional, former president of KOSIDA, now
known as CSC. He was honored by the NCAA and
twenty twenty two with its Championship Diversity and Inclusion Award,
(09:25):
and he's in the Lincoln University Hall of Fame for
his work as an SID.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
There. Coming on the show will.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Afford him a brief break from tweeting about his Eagles
and the divisional round of the NFL playoffs.
Speaker 2 (09:34):
It's Rob Knox. Thanks for joining us, Rob.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
Hey, thank you for having me, Sarah.
Speaker 4 (09:38):
I am honored to be here today, and you know
I am at day one slice, So yes, this is outsteady.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
To have this opportunity to spend some time with you today.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Awesome. We love to hear it. I want to start
big picture.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
Maybe some of the names folks know, the biggest names
in women's college hoops, the front runners for national Player
of the year.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Who's on your list?
Speaker 3 (10:00):
We need to say that for everybody else's list.
Speaker 4 (10:03):
You know, Hannah Hidalgo, Juju Watkins, Page Beckers, you know,
Laura Betts. Uh, those are probably the top names. And
how lucky were we this year to you know, have
those matchups right, to have Hanna Hidago go against so
Juju and Paige and vice versa. You know they you know,
Dori Day USC and you kind of all played each
other this year, which was outstanding for everybody. And then
(10:26):
I'm maybe a little by just because of my geographical location,
but I'm a huge Cheyenne Sellers and Kaylee's Michael fann
at at versa of Maryland. I mean, I know they won't,
you know, necessarily be considered for Player of the Year,
but I think Cheyenne and Kayleen are one of the
best duels in the country. And uh, you know, I
had the opportunity last week to cover the USC Maryland
(10:46):
game and write about Cheyennes on w b A Prospects,
and uh and go and and go really deep dive
on on wish he breaks to the game.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
Yeah, I wonder if you think the success of the
teams will have an impact down the stretch on who
ultimately wins this award, because I think you know, Page
and Yukon have a real high upside, but we have
seen them not be able to finish against the best
teams this year. You've got a team like Notre Dame
that got a couple first place votes in the AP
(11:16):
rankings this week trying to steal that spot from UCLA,
where Hidalgo might get some points for that, but also
Olivia Miles is so strong, does that take away from
her case? Like how do you see the final stretch
of this season affecting the odds?
Speaker 3 (11:30):
That's a really good question, really good thought process.
Speaker 4 (11:32):
And you know, as somebody that has you know, spent
my time on numerous committees and voted and obviously been
on at least a Leslie a ward committee is always
hard because because you do get to a point where
you are kind of picky Straws that said, well, you know,
hit the head, but then they all you know, Page backers,
oh and too against Dori, David usc and you know,
obviously Noyi Day beat USC, so I tende lean slightly
(11:56):
towards Dago based on that, you know, just they hit
the hit day. But I do think team success is important.
Sometimes it feels like U kind does have a built
in a vege because they are they are probably hit
the shows above every team in the Big East this year,
whereas Juju is going to be navigating a minefield. And yeah,
(12:17):
same thing with Hannah and the ACC. So I think
deep success does play a part in it. But I
also think that Juju as well. I mean, if she
has another game like he had Sunday and strings and
feurials consistently together, it'd be hard to argue against her.
Right now, that would say, mid mid season, Hannah Hadago
by a slider EDG.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Yeah, it feels like that's where people are leaning. You've
been in the rooms having these conversations.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
I'm curious.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
You know, we talk a lot, and in my many
years doing ESPN National Radio covering all the biggest stories,
we talked a lot about In NBA MVP, it was
like whose turn is it right? There was reluctance to
give someone the same award multiple years in a row,
or there was a lot of conversation about well, who's
hot right now? Who's interesting in the women's college basketball space.
(13:05):
Do you think conversations that people have affect their voting
in the same way, because you know, like you mentioned,
this is an individual award, but people might be trying
to take team success as some sort of indication of
whether that individual steps up. You look at someone like
Paige Yukon hasn't been able to finish, but she has
been a model of efficiency. She has been the player
that shows up in those games even when other players
(13:27):
are injured or they've struggled to find cohesion. And so
is there an extra bonus for that as opposed to
Hannah who gets to lean on someone like Olivia who's
going to be a superstar next to where every game?
How much do those conversations get in people's heads when
they're making these decisions versus looking at box score? How
much are you looking at eye tests versus numbers?
Speaker 4 (13:45):
I prefer the eye test, boys, so did the numbers,
because numbers can be skewed however you want them to look.
One of the blessings have been an sid for so
many years and work in basketball is you have conversations
with basketball coaches or you spend time with them watching
film where you see them breaking down different things that
you have those different intangible conversations, right, And I think
(14:06):
we're all guilty of it when it comes to page
back because the excellence is taken for granted. And I
think sometimes people when somebody is at a high level
consistently like they, oh, okay, that's page well, she's supposed
to get twenty five and so.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
Smooth, so smooth. She makes it look too easy.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
It's like, girl, make it look harder, so we realize
what you're doing exactly.
Speaker 4 (14:24):
That's so true, and so I think sometimes she becomes
a victim of that. Obviously, last year there wasn't much
debate about who the Player of the Year was. But
but again she she was somebody where you could say
eye test or the numbers, right, because she was kind
of doing both both and you're just like and then
you look at it to you again, like South Carolina
(14:45):
that went undefeated last year where the sum was greater
than that whole right. So yes, so it was always
the internal internal battle when it comes for you know,
these types of the awards.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Yeah, for sure, it is fun this year. Last year,
like you said, Taitlin Clark kind of running away with it.
To have this trio or quartet of players that are
all really in the mix. Let's look beyond that, though,
because there's got to be some stars that are flying
under the radar. Who's having a standout year in women's
college hoops that you think isn't getting talked about enough.
Speaker 4 (15:14):
I'm Michi, Kayleen and Cheyenne at Maryland, and you know,
it's really interesting and I know we'll you know, talk
to HBCU hoops a little later. But Alabama's leading scorer now,
Zay Green. She's leading them and scoring and assist at
sixty eight pointy seven points a game, and they you know,
she's used to the SEC because she started her career.
I wanted to say she started at Tennessee, then transferred
(15:36):
to Texas A and m then transferred to Arkansas Pine
Bluff before coming back to Alabama, and then you go
go to West Virginia. I had the opportunity to see
West Virginia play in person earlier this year, and I
came away.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
It's funny.
Speaker 4 (15:47):
I went into the game like excited to see JJ Quinley,
and she's she's phenomenal, She's dynamic, she's a bulldog. She's tenacious,
but with her just coming back from an injury that
force to the missed a game earlier this year, I left,
I left that gay you know, raven about Jordan Harrison.
I love her, Gabe. I think she's a perfect compliment
to JJ and I think she's the engine of that
(16:09):
West Virginia program on both ends of the floor. I
think she's she's somebody that fins should should get to know.
I think, you know again, I mean we know about
how how talented UCLA is obviously a Num. One team
in the country. It is funny because I don't think
ke Key Rice has been talked about a lot this year,
and again I don't know what her numbers are.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
They're good, it's just a part of the It's like
you said before, like the whole is bigger than the
sum of its parts. It's it's one of several pieces
that get it done for them every night.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
Versus her putting up thirty.
Speaker 4 (16:38):
Right at South Carolina, they have the one loss and
some of those players have taken tremendous leaves by Chloe Hits.
I mean, man, she's she's been phenomenal this year.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
You know, I got two other ones that stand out
to me, and one is Tania Latson of Florida State.
She's leading the NCAA and scoring right now. And you know,
Florida State, it's a fine team. They're not really gonna
you know, no one thinks they're going all the way.
But Tanaya and her ability to consistently score and perform
every night, it's been really impressive. And then Audie Crooks
at Iowa State. You know that team. I think they're
(17:10):
sixth maybe in the Big twelve. Their record isn't super impressive,
but she's such a fun watch and I think she's
averaging twenty three something like that points a game. So
those are two players that I like to watch the highlights.
I like to hear what they're doing, and I've been
impressed by what they got. Mesh, just turn their camera
on what you got me add something?
Speaker 3 (17:31):
Man.
Speaker 5 (17:31):
I gotta give a shout out to Kyomi mc miller
out of Rutgers folks, we cannot sleep on her either.
Rutgers is not gonna win the conference, they're probably not
gonna make the tournament, but she is a walking highlight reel.
I have a friend Don Patrick, shout out to her.
Shout out to rising media stars who regularly gets to
call those games at Wreckers and gets a front row
(17:53):
seat to just the and one handles that this young
lady has so definitely want to shout her out. Love
it and Harmony Turner from Harvard she is just you
have stuff you want to say about her.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
Rob right now.
Speaker 4 (18:05):
You know she's average of twenty point three points a game,
in the top twenty in the country at scoring. She
you know, scored forty one points earlier this year, gets
so Boston College and you know she she has She
has definitely set up social media on fire throughout the
season and a lot of people have two dinner Harvard.
It is interesting because you you look at Harvard, but
you look at the IVY League. At the top of
(18:26):
the IVY League, it's kind of like a Battle of
War where they.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
Could conceivably get three teams in the tournament.
Speaker 4 (18:31):
I know that sounds funny and crazy because it's the
IVY League, But with Princeton and Columbia at Harvard, you know,
Princeton and Columbia win the tournament.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
Last year, Columbia got the I believe Columbia.
Speaker 4 (18:42):
Got the at large last year out the IVY and
right now in the mid major top twenty five, Harvard,
Princeton and Columbia two three and four, and Princeton knocked
off Harvard last week.
Speaker 3 (18:52):
So so it's a battle.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
It's you know, it's your first appearance, your rob so
I won't hold it against you that you don't know that.
We're only allowed to talk about Cornell if we're talking
IVY League. If IVY League sport to make it into
the show, we got a shoehorn Cornellen there you I'm
not sure how we're gonna do that here, but we're
gonna find a way to talk about Cornell hoops.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
If we're talking IVY.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
League, Let's talk about HBCUs because you mentioned you know
you you follow a lot of HBCU hooped mid majors conferences,
even Misha's beloved coastal the CIA, who are some of
the strongest teams that you think could make some noise
come March madness.
Speaker 2 (19:27):
Out of the mid majors at HBCUs.
Speaker 4 (19:30):
You have to start with Norfolk State. They already have
wins this year, wrote wins this year at Auburn and
at Missouri. At a trailed Alabama by one point with
five minutes to go in the game, and you know
Norfolk is led by Kier will and Diamond Johnson. Diamond
Johnson will probably most likely end up being HBCU Player
of the Year. She started out at n C State,
played in that memorable Elite eight game at Yukon. She
(19:53):
leads to me acting scoring and happy to see Norfolk.
The other night at Morgan State, uh Diamond eight still
twenty four points and the teammate Kier Wheeler had another
double double with twenty four points. So together they averaged
thirty three point seven points a game. And then I
just want to shout out their head coach, Larry Vickers.
Larry has done a fantastic job with that program. I
(20:14):
mean when he first took over, you know they were
getting beat all the time and losing a lot. But
over the last three and a half years he has
elevated that program. And you know they've won the last
two tournament championships and lost in the first round of
South Carolina. They have opportunity, they get to write opponent
in the first round. They definitely won't be a fifteen
or sixteen. See if they go through the MIAC. You know,
you can't sleep on Howard University head coach TYD. Grace
(20:37):
does a phenomenal job there. Right now, Howard is on
the four game winning streak behind fresh regards to Naya King,
who's one of the top fresh regards in the country.
And then guard Destiny Halle, a graduate guard who two
years ago, before she tore her ACL was a French
WBA prospect. She's she's super talented at Coppin State. You know,
(21:00):
they haven't went over Arizona State this.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
Year on their resume.
Speaker 4 (21:03):
And Layla Lawrence is also one of the fifteen finalists
along with Diamond Johnson for the Becky hm A Mid
Major Player of the Year Award. She's second in the
me I CAN scoring in sixteen point eight a game,
and she leads the conference in rebounding. So I would say,
you know, obviously, I mean I could talk about all
eight programs in the meat, but I would say at
the top for this conference, Norfolk Howard, in Compon State,
(21:27):
you go over to the SWACK this year, things that
start to take shape. So you know, Jackson State, you
have to start with them. Dave won thirty six straight
regular season SWACK games this year. They have a first
year coach Margaret Richards, who's not new to the conference.
She's due to Jackson State. She coached the Alabama and
then for eight years before taking over for Tamika Reed
who's at Charlotte, and she did a terrific job there.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
You know.
Speaker 4 (21:50):
The lead scores Tealia Dilworth, She's a transfer. She's average
at fourteen point six points a game. One thing that
one point out to your listens is Jackson State was
the last Division one women's basketball team to play a
home game. They played their first home game on last
Thursday was January ninth.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Wow, that's wild. That is wild. Who are the schedule makers?
Speaker 3 (22:12):
That's so unfair.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Thats messed up?
Speaker 3 (22:15):
Yeah right now.
Speaker 4 (22:16):
Surprisingly, Texas Southern is also three and zero, and two
of their wins well over the preseason favorites Grandlin State
in Southern courtney a lot of males, fourth and the
Swacken scoring and Jada Belt in his fifth and rebounding.
So these two are solid combination, as is film us
on Seyamick Evans and Sydney Drickx, who I'm actually in
(22:37):
the prices of writing about for my HBCU notebook for
the next So things are beginning to break during that conference.
I think it's going to be a interesting race throughout
both of those conferences of the MIAK and the SWAG.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
Okay, before we let you go, Rob, I need you
to give us one game this weekend that you particularly
got your eye on, something that we should watch for
that you're into.
Speaker 4 (22:56):
I want to go in the Coastal if I can,
because you have the two preseason favorites colliding. Uh Drexel,
who wonted won the conference last year. The tournament last
year is at North Carolina A and T Friday night,
So that's a big, a big game. It also got
my eyes locked on Sunday Oklahoma at South Carolina. Yeah,
and I got cool Yukon. I would not be remiss
(23:18):
if I didn't just just shout out the talented staff
at the next doing quality work all over, from the
weekly Unrival column to thorough coverage of college basketball at
all levels. We have somebody covering the IVY, the Atlantic
ten and I even talk about George Mason or in
Atlanticton or or Temple with an American. But Howard, Howard
(23:41):
mcdogs is the man. He you know, I'm appreciative of
all the opportunities that he's you know a lot myself
and the others at you know Meil Greenberg is one
that set the foundation for for a lot of Winner's
basketball coverage. I also wrote for Mail and anybody else looking.
You know, I wore my alma out of the shirt. You know,
since we talked about.
Speaker 3 (23:57):
HBCUs today, I can sweat shirt yep.
Speaker 4 (24:01):
The first historically black college in the land, Link University
eighteen fifty four.
Speaker 3 (24:07):
But no, Sarah, thank you. This has been session honor
for me to be here.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Yeah, thanks for coming on.
Speaker 1 (24:13):
Yeah, we'll definitely put some links to the next in
the show notes, so folks can subscribe, because you'll get
newsletters in your inbox giving you breakdowns of teams, players, conferences.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
It's a really great way to dive a.
Speaker 1 (24:25):
Little bit deeper on a lot of the women's college
basketball stuff that you want to know about.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
So thanks so much, Rob for the time. We really
appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
Thank you so much for having me, and this has
been been a blessing.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
We got to take another quick break when we come back.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
We turn our teas from earlier in the week into
a totally cool announcement.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
It's coming up next. Welcome back, slices.
Speaker 1 (24:57):
It's time for a little what the fact today is
what the fact offers a little more context on that news.
We mentioned earlier that the NCAA unanimously approved implementing a
women's March Madness revenue sharing plan.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
This is what the fact involves.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
The number thirty four, as in, it took the NCAA
thirty four years to offer women's basketball teams the same
benefit offered.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
To men's teams. Now, this is one of those things
we don't.
Speaker 1 (25:19):
Talk about enough, women's sports having to battle against intentional roadblocks.
When we discussed the output of women's sports, we need
to acknowledge the input. You can't call the women's NCAA
tournament a money loser for years when you've prevented them
from using the name March Madness, offered up lesser resources venues,
marketing and promotion, and you've given school zero incentive to
care about the success of their women's programs. For years,
(25:42):
people talked about the women's basketball tournament as a lesser product,
when in fact we've seen how much it's built to thrive.
Players stay in school longer, so you get to know them,
Rivalries are established, and matchups become must see. Plus, with
the pro game still catching up in terms of the
number of markets and awareness, for a lot of folks,
the women's college game, whether it's their alma mater or
a local team, is the peak of their fandom in
(26:03):
women's basketball and the focus of their money spent. For years,
revenue was lost because we didn't talk enough about the
true value of the tournament and the ways intentional practices
were holding it back. And the sexist decision making of
the NCAA doing things like paying men's teams for tournament
appearances for thirty four years before finally getting around to
paying the women is certainly a part of that. Today's
(26:25):
what the fact, brought to you by elf Beauty. And
here's another fact. Elf Beauty's recent report shows that gender
diverse boards lead to positive business results. SMP five hundred
companies with above average gender diversity on their boards saw
a fifteen percent boost in return on equity and a
fifty percent drop in.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
Earning's risk over a year.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
You can read the full report at elfbauty dot com
slash not So White Paper. All Right, we know you've
been waiting and wondering, and it's finally time to make
good on that tease we gave you earlier in the week.
It's here and it's today's good game play of the day.
Now remember that awesome opportunity we mentioned, that thing that
would change the way you see ownership, decision making and
(27:03):
community building.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
Well, here it is.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
We're buying a slice of a women's sports team that's right.
Good game with Sarah Spain is officially picking aside, putting
our money where our mouth is, and getting the whole
slice community to support a community owned team that needs
our help. This is a chance for you to invest
aka bias Slice of Minnesota. Aurora FC a women's pre
(27:26):
professional soccer team competing in the usl.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
W League's Heartland Division.
Speaker 1 (27:30):
The team has been undefeated in two regular seasons, and
in twenty twenty two was named their league's organization of
the Year. It's also community owned and values led, with
a mission of developing the next generation of women's talent
both on and off the field. In twenty twenty three,
the team welcomed in all women front office Leadership Team Minnesota.
Aurora FC is a community owned team and community driven
(27:52):
In four months of a first round investment period three
thousand and eighty people invested in Minnesota Aurora FC, including
owners in forty eight states at eight countries, and now
they need our help in their current capital race. The team, name, logo,
and mascot were all chosen by community owners, so this
isn't like the Green Bay Packers where you get a
piece of paper on the wall saying you're a quote
unquote owner. You actually have a say here. Community owners
(28:15):
even have a vote to elect two of the team's
community board members. There are a few different levels, starting
with one hundred bucks, which gets you a digital owners Certificate,
voting rights and vote for representation on the board. Five
hundred dollars, which adds a special owner's enamel pin and
an owner's car decal, one thousand dollars, where you also
get two general admission season tickets for the whole twenty
(28:35):
twenty five season, and up from there. You can find
all the info you need at wefunder dot com, slash
m and Aurora. We'll also put the link in our
show notes. Now, for me, it's a second swing at
ownership that'll hopefully be a little less rocky than my
red Star's tenure, plus a chance to rally this fantastic
supportive amazing good game community in service of a group
(28:57):
of women working hard for this team and its fans.
The Aurora Borealis may be elusive, I've still never seen it,
even though Chicago keeps getting freak Northern Lights shows. But
this Aurora will be mine and yours if you want.
In every slice who buys a slice of the Aurora
will get a special hat commemorating our collab. Now, you
can only get this hat if you're an owner, so
(29:19):
send us a receipt of your ownership purchase along with
your name and address, and you're in. And don't worry
if it's not in your budget to become an owner
right now, you can still join us as fans, cheering
on and supporting the team. You can follow them on social,
you can get to know their players in the league
they play in, and you can get pumped when we
give occasional updates about their season. So jump on in
Slices in whatever way is meaningful for you. We can't
(29:42):
wait to start supporting the Minnesota Aurora, and we always
love to hear from you, So hit us up on
email Good Game at wondermedianetwork dot com or leave us
a voicemail at eight seven two two o four fifty
seventy and don't forget to subscribe or rate and review.
It's easy watch Danielle Collins versus the fans at the
Australian Open, rating five out of five gasps review. This
(30:04):
clip dropped into my social feed with zero context and
when I tell you, I watched it with the rapt
attention and dropped jaw usually reserved for a slap fight
in the middle of a Real Housewives reunion. In case
you missed it, American tennis player Danielle Collins was relentlessly
booed during her match with hometown fave Australian Destiny Aieva
in the second round of the Ossie Open.
Speaker 3 (30:24):
Now.
Speaker 2 (30:25):
During the match, Collins.
Speaker 1 (30:26):
Responded to the booze by blowing kisses to the crowd,
cupping her ear to take in their booze, and even
slapping her ass in their direction. Then the postgame interview
where she thanked the crowd for helping her get a big,
fat paycheck to take a five star vacation, and did
the presser where she said, quote, every person that has
bought a ticket and has come out here to.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
Hackle meet can do what they do.
Speaker 1 (30:47):
It's all going towards the Danielle Collins fund, so like, yeah,
bring it on, I love it.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
End quote. Now listen, y'all.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
I'm all for like a confident, sassy athlete. But for
some reason this felt real icky to me, Like, what
did you expect an Australian crowd to do in a
match featuring their Australian hometown. Gal, I'm not saying the
booze are cool, Like booing someone just for not being
from Australia seems a little bit much. But there's a
way to handle the booze, get the win and move on,
especially when you're playing a twenty four year old who
(31:15):
clearly would love to win in front of the hometown crowd, and,
in the case of Aiva, has publicly dealt with mental
health struggles. The whole thing just felt over the top.
Next time, be swaggy, but keep it classy Collins. Oh
and by the way, shout out to Aiva, who rocks
vintage looks for many of her matches. This time she
wore a dress popularized by Maria Scheripoba at the twenty
thirteen Australian Open.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
Very cool. Now it's your turn, rate and review. Thanks
for listening. See you next week. Have a good weekend.
Speaker 1 (31:43):
Good Game, Rob, Good Game, Indiana Fever, you crossing the
line and given Sass a bad name.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
Good Game with Sarah Spain is.
Speaker 1 (31:54):
An iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue
Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the iHeartRadio app, podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network,
our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones. Our executive
producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan and Emily Rudder.
Our editors are Emily Rutterer, Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch, and
(32:14):
Lindsay Cradowell. Production assistant from Lucy Jones and I'm Your
Host Sarah Spain
Host
Sarah Spain
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