Episode 9 - Going Great with UW Hall of Fame basketball player Tonya Sims

Hall of Fame basketball player Tonya Sims catches up with host Brian Posick, sharing stravel stories from when Brian was the play-by-play announcer for the Badgers women's team. Sims also updaes Brian on the great work she has been doing lately for the next generation of athletes.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Most of the parents I have andthe athletes I have, are really focused
on, like you know, likedoing the things that they should be doing
to get recruited, like you know, making sure they're a good student,
making sure they're playing great on thefield, making sure they're are field or
court, making sure they're they havegood character. But there are a select
few, maybe that I've had,that are more concerned about like the name,

(00:24):
image, likeness, stuff, themoney. The money, Yeah,
the money. But you know,I'm not here to judge. It's it's
their choice, really. But that'swhy I decided to get certified in IL,
because you know, I am startingto get more people who are interested
in that, and I totally understand, I get it. I just don't
want people to get distracted. Idon't want them to get distracted from really

(00:44):
like the goal at hand. Welcometo Going Great Across UW Women's Athletics,
presented by Grade Clips Great Clips.It's going to be great. Going Great
Across UW Women's Athletics is a showcaseon the great thing student athletes are accomplishing
on the field, in the classroomand beyond. Now here's your host,
Brian Posick, Hello, and Welcometo iHeartRadio's podcast Going Great Across UW Women's

(01:10):
Athletics, presented by Great clips OnBrian Posik, the father of a former
UW women's hockey player and NCAA polevolqualifier, the brother of an All American
basketball and soccer player, and thehusband of an iron man. In this
podcast, we'll talk with a guestor guests who have made or are making
an impact on UW women's athletics,and our guest today is Tanya Simms.

(01:33):
I knew her as Litanya Simms whenshe came up as one of the best
players in Wisconsin women's basketball history.A two time Wisconsin Gatorade High School Player
of the Year, a first teamParade All American and state champion at Racine
Park High School. Also a fouryear letter winner at the University of Wisconsin,
where she still ranks sixth all timein points, fourth and rebounding,
and second in minutes played and backin September, Tanya was inducted into the

(01:57):
UW Athletics Hall of Fame. Happyto have Tanya Sims with us here Going
Great Across UW Women's Athletics. Tanya, great to see it's been a long,
long time. I was calling yourgames back in the day for Wisconsin
women's basketball. It was so muchfun watching you play, and I'm sure
you had a blast playing as well. Yeah, I actually remember you calling
our games. I have a memoryof you, Brian, actually on our

(02:22):
team plane. We're on a roadtrip. I'm not sure where we were
traveling to, but we're flying somewhere. And you know, I never really,
I've never really liked to fly.I'dn't really love to fly, even
though I've flown, like probably overtwo hundred times, but I was so
nervous on this one particular road tripflying and I just remember you helped call
my nerves. It kind of helpedconsole me and like ease my fears and

(02:42):
just felt so much better. Sowhen yeah, so when I got the
call from Nicholas that you're reaching outto me, it just made me smile.
So awesome, awesome, Yeah,you know I did. I tried
to calm your nerves, to calmmine. You know, there was one
road trip we had. We actuallyflew back from Iowa City and it seemed
like we were in a canoe,a flying canoe. You know, you

(03:04):
climb in the plane and then yougo down in the belly of it.
I mean, we could have landedon Lake Monona had we needed to.
I mean, that's the way theplane was built. It was. But
road trips were always fun, weyou know, yeah, you know they
are. And it's a great timeto bond. It's a great time to
relax if you need to. Youget away from the daily grind as a
student athlete, don't you. Imean, it really is. I remember

(03:24):
one trip against Michigan State we hadI think it was like my junior or
senior year. We got snowed in, so we you know, had had
our game at Michigan State, weresnowed in for like a week, could
leave for a week. But likeyou said, it was just such a
great bonding experience, getting to reallyknow like your sisters and like your your
teammates at a deeper personal level,just you know, like just growing that

(03:45):
sisterhood. So it really is likea bonding experience with your teammates. Yeah,
Tanya played for Wisconsin from nineteen ninetyseven to two thousand and one.
But you know you came from Racine. Did you always wanted to be a
Badger? And I'll ask you anotherquestion, after that, But did you
always want to be a Wisconsin Badger? This is a great you know,
no one's ever really asked me thatquestion before, actually, so so just

(04:08):
to give you some contact. SoI'm kind of like a first generation Wisconsin
I neither one of my parents arefrom Wisconsin, huh, and so I
grew up, you know, kindof watching other colleges play. But then
when I really wanted to start,when I really thought about coming to Wisconsin,
was when Keisha Anderson king in Wisconsinfor just for reference, you know,

(04:32):
one of the all time greatest Badgerwomen's basketball players as well, And
so I really started following her atWisconsin and that's when I wanted to start
it. That's when I wanted tostart. You know, when I started
thinking more seriously about coming to Wisconsinis when she started playing here. Were
you thinking of other places? Imean you were you were one of the
best high school players this state hasever seen, Tanya, Oh, thank

(04:53):
you? Yeah. So yeah,it was really between like Wisconsin, Georgia.
I know, Stanford recruited me prettyheavily, Notre Dame. I had
my eye cent on Wisconsin. Youknow. It's just that there's something about
being a Badger. It's just likea whole different experience. Yeah, that
I like it to have experienced.Sure, sure, Well Palo Alto wouldn't
have been bad California, right,yeah, right, I mean South Bend,

(05:15):
Zola weather, Yeah, nicer weather. Notre Dame's Notre Dame. Now,
that's it. Athens, Georgia,that's where your career ended, if
I'm not mistaken, right right,yeah, I think, uh, you
know, after after we had lost, uh who was that to Virginia Tech?
I think it was. I maybe mistaken. I've got it into
my notes. I'll check, butI just remember going to a local establishment

(05:38):
with with Henry perez Gara, ourtrainer at the time, and we we
were it was up you know,it was upsetting them because you had a
team that we thought, you know, could make a nice run. That
was the year after you'd won thew n I T title. I'm sure
you felt the same way. Yeah. So, I believe my senior year
at So, I believe that gamewas at Georgia and Georgia was in our

(05:59):
bracket, but we played Missouri,that's right, yes, yes, yeah.
My freshman year we lost to VirginiaTech and Forders, I think that's
yeah, right, but yeah,I mean it definitely was upsetting. Fortunately,
you know, somebody's gonna win andlose, and unfortunately it was us
on the on the losing end.But if I'm not mistaken, Brian,
you please correct me on this.But were we preseason Final four that my

(06:20):
senior year? Yes, yeah,that's what I thought. Yeah, And
so to lose so early on inthe tournament was disappointing, right, But
yeah, yeah, Tanya Simms iswith us, the ninth women's basketball player
to go into the u W AthleticsHall of Fame, joined some of her
former teammates tomorrow more in twenty seventeenJesse Stompsky and twenty twenty. You had

(06:42):
some great teams to Tanya, whenyou think about those two that you played
with and Clapper Kelly Paul's, DandyPate, Missy Kinishi, I mean,
you had some really really good teamsand you packed the Coal Center, the
Fieldhouse and then the Coal Center,and it was so much fun. The
atmosphere here for women's basketball was secondto none. I thought, yeah,
it was amazing. I mean,just what I think we ran third or
fourth in attendance in the nation allfour years I played, and then just

(07:08):
you know, moving into the CoalCenter from the field House was just like
a phenomenal experience. I forge outhow how many people the field house sits,
but you know, to go forthe field House to go to the
Coal Center, what's I mean seatswith how many eighteen thousand? Yeah,
seventeen seventeen for basketball, and thenat the field House it was a little
over ten some some would say eleventhousand, depending on where you could put

(07:29):
people right. Yeah, but stillthough, I mean the field I love
playing our calling games from the fieldHouse, it was just a different,
different atmosphere. The Coal Center,though, obviously, was fantastic. Atanya
Sims with us here your very firstgame of freshman in nineteen ninety seven,
You remember that, I do goodStanford? Yep, yep, at the
Coal Center? Was it Fieldhouse?It could have been? Actually was the

(07:53):
field House? It was? Yeah, because the Coal Center didn't open until
ninety eight, right, Tara Vanderber, the head coach. Ninety eight twenty
points and twelve rebounds as a freshmanagainst Stanford. That was pretty good,
Tanya, Yeah, I h theygave us pretty vid action. I mean
just you know, having you know, just being the first game. But
I don't really know if they reallyknew who I was. And it's bucking

(08:16):
there, like score those little twentypoints. That's about a little you know,
you know, they didn't really haveyou on their scouting report, you
know, because that was my firstgame. Nobody really knew how it was,
how I was going to perform orplay at the you know, the
college level. Yeah. So,but yeah, that was a great game.
I think Stanford was ranked and I'mnot mistaken that year as well,
and we beat them. Yeah.Yeah, Well, you know, there

(08:37):
was no social media back then whenyou were playing or I was calling women's
basketball, so you know, tofind out little bits and pieces about opposing
players, you had to go throughold videotape. You know. It wasn't
you're not just throwing an MP threefile or something like that to another team.
It's it's more difficult or it wasmore difficult to scout at that time.

(08:58):
Yeah, and thank goodness, therewas no social media when I was
playing. Why is that why?Well, I don't know. I mean
that probably would have been responsible withit, but you know, it's just
such a distraction. I mean,but you know, it's like it's good
and bad. No. I havea love hate relationship with social media,
to be honest, I'm right therewith you, right there with you.
I got it. I got Twitterjust so I could follow my kids.

(09:20):
Yeah, yeah, as they weregrowing up. You know, just that
was that was the most important thingto me. Tanya Simps Big Ten Freshman
of the Year in the nineteen ninetyseven ninety eight season when the Badgers won
twenty one games and yes they lostto Virginia Tech in the opening round sophomore
In junior years, she was firstteam All Big Ten. As a sophomore,
made it to the WNIT Final andlost at Arkansas sixty seven sixty four.

(09:41):
You had that game right within reach. But the next year you beat
Florida in front of thirteen thousand fansat the Cole Center to win the WNIT
seventy five seventy four. That wasone of the most thrilling games I'd ever
seen. That game. Oh mygod, I get chows any thing about
that game because the crowd was justso like energetic and they were just the

(10:01):
fans were just amazing. That well, they're always they were always amazing.
We always had great fans. Imean, our fans would follow us everywhere,
to be honest. But that gamein particular, man, that was
a close game, A very hardfought game on both both sides. Just
the fans really helped pull us pullthat one out for us. Yeah,
and a hoisted trophy. It didn'tmatter if it was the NCAA or the

(10:22):
w A W N I t Imean, you played that far, you
got that far in that tournament.Let's go win the thing, right yep,
exactly, Yeah, Tanya. Doyou do you follow the women's program
right now? Or no? Ido. I have been following actually since
I graduated, and I had achance to meet a coach from RSSE Moosi
who's absolutely wonderful. Yes, likeher a lot. Yeah, I love

(10:45):
her too. I met her duringthe Hall of Fame events in September.
M hmm. She's wonderful and she'sI think she's going to turn this program
around. She's got some pretty goodplayers. You look at women's basketball now,
you know, volleyball is getting somuch attention that sport is just exploded,
but women's basketball is still on thatthat you know, that path upward

(11:07):
of fans are watching on television moreand more, and then you look at
a player like Caitlyn Clark. Youknow, Iowa plays at the football stadium
in Iowa City and draws fifty fivethousand, and you look at the froze
or the final four last year,when she gets to the championship game against
LSU. I mean, you know, you think about it. You've watched
her play. I mean she's She'sjust amazing, isn't she. I don't
know if I've seen a player likeher. I mean, she just this

(11:30):
phenomenal. I mean she really islike the female stuff Curry. Yeah.
I follow her on Instagram, Ifollow her on social media. I see
her workouts that she does. Isee how many shots you know she takes
per per day. Just her workethic. I mean, she's absolutely amazing.
Yeah, Caitlyn Clark and the Hawkeyeswill be in Madison on Sunday,

(11:50):
December tenth to play the Badgers,and that game sold out. That's yeah,
yeah, I'm playing on I'm actuallygoing to be at that game because
they're honoring myself and tree to Hoffas honorary captains. I believe that's December
tenth. Well, that's awesome,Yeah, because otherwise you couldn't get a
ticket. I mean, you knowsome people, so you probably could,
right. Yeah, but that's cool. That's cool, Tanya sims with us.

(12:11):
You know, we mentioned that shewas inductive to the Athletics Hall of
Fame back in September. So howdid you find out you were going into
the Wisconsin Athletics Hall of Fame?Tanya? Yeah, I love telling the
story. Actually, So I wasat the grocery store before work one morning
and I get a call and itwas on the call on my caller ID

(12:31):
it said, you know, poppedup Chris McIntosh And I was like,
oh, well, you know becausechrist and I we went to college together,
although he's a couple of years olderthan me. So but I couldn't
answer my phone. So he leftthe voicemail, and I think his voicemails
that's something like, hey, youknow, Tanya, it's Chris. You
know when you get a chance,that's give me a call when you have
a second Okay. I was sonervous thought somebody like that we knew had

(12:52):
like something happened to me. Ohno, no, he was so scared.
I called my parents. I'm like, oh my god, it's got
this call. So I finally musteredup the courage to give him a call
back, and then he told methe good news about getting inducted into the
Hall of Fame. And I wasjust like so grateful, so excited,

(13:13):
just you know, emotional, andyeah it was it was a good call.
Yeah, that's a great Were youstill in the grocery store at the
time. No, I actually hadgone home by Okay, good Now,
I was gonna say, right,three hours to call him back because I
was like trying to muster up thecourage to call him. So you came
here in September and you went throughthe induction ceremony. What was that experience?
Like, Oh, my goodness,it was phenomenal because I, you

(13:33):
know, you get the chance tomeet everybody else's in your Hall of Fame
class, and you know, myfamily was there, like my parents,
my brother, my two of mybrother's youngest kids, my two of my
best friends from college, my highschool basketball coach and his wife, my
uncle from Kentucky. Wow. Yeah, I had a pretty you know,

(13:54):
I had about like maybe like tenpeople who were who came for me,
and it was just a great,you know, great experience just to see
not only my family and friends,but people who are in my class and
to experience it with them as well, that's cool. Do you hit any
of the old hotspots used to goto when you were a student athlete.
I'm trying to think, well,cam'p Brandle. We went there for the
game the next day, and thenwe went to Hammas Music Hall, which

(14:16):
I had never I don't know ifI've ever I've ever been to Hammas.
Is it is it Hammus or Hammeil? No? I think it's Hammel,
Hamil, Okay, Hammel. Andthen we, you know, just seeing
some of the other streets, likeyou know, Langdon Street and like Daton
Street and things like that. Wewent to the cole So I went to
the Coal Center the first day beforethe ceremony, spent some time with coach

(14:37):
Molesey and her girls there. Theyhooked me up with some nice swag and
took some pictures and stuff like that. We got to see their practice.
I love how she practices with theirgirls. Why is that? Yeah?
Yeah, it was great. Whydid you why'd you like what you saw?
What did you see? Oh?Man? I just saw greatness.
Honestly, need to be honest.I mean not only in coach Mosey,

(15:00):
but in her girls, Like inthe team. I believe that they're on
the up and up. I'm soexcited for the season there. I mean,
they're doing very well this season.I've been following them. I just
love the way that she holds herpractices. You know, they're intense,
but yet you know, I feellike with Coach Moseley, it's like she's
very personable, personable, like youcan relate to her, but she can

(15:24):
also coach her butt off. AndI think that combination is I mean,
it's pretty pretty good. That's awesome. That's awesome. Yeah, Tanya Sims
played for Jane Albright. What wasit like playing for Jane Yeah, Gene's
amazing. I wasn't able to seeher at the Hall of Fame because she
was giving a clinic, but shegot me the best gift. It was

(15:46):
like all these pictures from when fromwhen I was playing, and she put
them together in this nice placque Igot to put up on my wall.
Actually, but it was one ofthe most thoughtful gifts anyone has ever gotten
for me. Wow, but wasgreat. I remember the first day of

(16:06):
practice and when I say practice,I meant conditioning, because I don't know
if I realized that, you know, like when you I don't know if
it's still like this. It mightstill be like this when you first come
on to campus or whatever, andyou know, at least for basketball,
you don't really get to touch theball for the first Mall this all conditioning,
running and steers and jump rope andweights and all that stuff. But

(16:27):
I was saying that to say that, you know, Jane really pushed me
because when I when I was comingin, you know, I was kind
of a skinnier, skinnier kid,I didn't really have a lot of strength.
But she really pushed me in termsof, like, you know,
working with our strength and conditioning coachto make sure that I was you know,
that I had, you know,strength and condition to play at the

(16:48):
big tin level, which is veryphysical as we know. I love Jane
also has a very big passion forbasketball. Yeah. I believe that,
you know, that starts at thevery top with the coach. That the
coach has the passion, then thatwill trickle down on her players as well.
I also like the fact that Janewas very open minded in terms of
letting me a taller you know,a taller guard. I have six'

(17:11):
three, you know, playing youknow, sometimes two guard very little,
but like three positions, you know, three small, forward, power,
forward, center. She let meplay a lot of different positions, so
she didn't take my game away fromme, and I really appreciate her for
that. Yeah, she was well, she's loving, right, she's kind,

(17:32):
you know, she's very and whotoo. Yeah she is very good
person. Yeah, great person goinggreat across u W Women's Athletics presented by
Great Clips. Talking with Tanya Simms. Tell us about your days growing up
in Racine. Tanya, Yeah,Racine is a very unique city. I
see that with love. I lovegrowing up here, Racy and it's how

(17:53):
do I put this, It's it'skind of a unique place in Wisconsin.
I think in terms of they doa very good job at like integrating all
the school systems. So I wentto school with every different type of person
like race, religion, and economicstatus, ethnicity, whatever you want to
call it. Sure, So thatwas one unique aspect. Racine is also

(18:17):
a sports town, so, Brian, you probably know some of the players
that have come out of Racine,you know, like of course Keish Anderson,
who I mentioned earlier. He playedat Wisconsin w n B A Sonya
Henning, fantastic player. Yep,she was great Danford. She won a
championship with Stanford, and then shewon some w NBA titles and then you

(18:37):
got you know, Tony Romo isfrom Racing County, from Burlington, right
Cron Butler NBA right player, andthen some other you know, like older
like Jim Chones, sure sure playeda Marquette and then of the NBA.
Yep, exactly. Yeah. Yeah, So it's really unique in that,
you know, it's a very it'sa it's a sports town, and I
think that really benefited me and someBut yeah, Racing is great. Like

(19:02):
my parents are not from Wisconsin,as I was saying earlier, so they're
like I'm like a my brother andI were first generation wisconsinance But my dad
the reason why we ended up inRacine is because my dad played basketball here
after he got out of the military. Okay, and so both my parents
were in the military actually, butmy dad got a scholarship to play at

(19:22):
a small college called the College ofRacine or Dominican College. And it's a
fun, fun fact about this college. It's no longer here, but two
of his coaches. So his headcoach was Bill Colefield, oh yeah,
yep, later at Wisconsin yep.And his other his assistant coach was Bull
Riot later it Wisconsin exactly. Yes, yes, wow, wow, Yeah,

(19:45):
that's cool. Eugene your dad andBrenda your mom? Right, yeah
I read that. Did they fliphouses before flipping houses became a thing?
Well yeah, you know, becausethey started doing it when I was in
sixth grade, so that's like somewell more than and well over thirty years
ago. But they kept their nineto five jobs too, so they're very
just very hard working people. That'swhere my brother and I get our work

(20:08):
ethic from. So they kept theirnine to five jobs and actually their jobs
are more like a nine to nine. And they started investing in real estate.
So I remember just, you know, after school, going over to
one of their properties and like scrapingyou know, the side of the house
and painting and putting up drywall andwhat else. Skills. I wish I

(20:29):
would have learned how to do allthose skills, like I have had my
own show on one of those lookthis hell there or something like that.
But yeah, you can teach yourselfall you have to do is you know
Google, you know, get someYouTube video and you can put in a
ceiling fan or a sink or avanity if you need to, right right,
yeah, right right, And that'swhat that's what my wife is asking

(20:49):
me to do. So we're goingGreat Across ew Women's Athletics presented by Great
Clips. Tanya Sims is with us. And you know, besides playing basket
ball here at Wisconsin, you gota degree from the business school. Tell
us about your your days in academiaat the University of Wisconsin. Yeah,
so coming in to college, youknow, I wanted to major in business

(21:11):
just because in high school I wasinvolved in some business programs like you know
FBLA, which is I think FutureBusiness Leaders of America. So I knew
that I went to major in business, and that's one of the reasons why
I picked Wisconsin. You know thatonly is a great athletic school, but
just as important, if not moreimportant, to me, it was the
academics, you know, and Wisconsinis one of the best academic universities and

(21:34):
colleges in the country. So yeah, majoring in business had a chance to
really bond with Brad. Do youknow, Jim Johannas. I don't know
him, but I know of him. Yes, yeah, now business school,
yeah him, and uh there's anothergentleman named bill A. Bart of
the Business school as well. WhenI was there, both of those guys

(21:56):
just were really mentor for me interms of just really encouraging me to you
know, like to just really gofor it, like keeping that GP up.
And you know, I'm for thoseof you maybe you haven't played sports
in college, I mean playing especiallyat the Division one level, but being

(22:18):
a student athlete it's like having afull time job. So I did struggle
a little bit, you know,my first semester on campus as a freshman
academically because I wasn't used to youknow, I was on my own,
right. I came from it thestrict military of bringing. My parents were
very strict. They had a lotof discipline, and it seemed like when

(22:40):
I got the campus all my own, every day that they taught me went
out the window. It's like no, but we're so yeah. So you
know, those guys Jim, Johanna, Bill A there really just encouraged me
to like get back on track,you know, keep my grades up.

(23:02):
And I did, and you know, I was able to get into the
business school. Yeah, and graduate. That is awesome, That is awesome.
I know you went on you playeda little bit of pro hoops in
Poland? Is that right? Didyou play there? Yeah? Yeah,
okay, yeah, I know youyou had signed I think with the Minnesota
Links in the WNBA two thousand andthree, the Women's professional League, but

(23:22):
you didn't play there, but youplayed in Poland. That's kind of fun.
Did you want, I mean,once you were done with college,
did you want to play a littlebasketball as long as you could? Because
you were still you know what,twenty one, twenty two, I'm sure
you have still felt like you couldplay somewhere anywhere, right, Yeah,
I mean I was, you knowI was. I was so after my
last year, my fourth year ofcollege, when my eligibility for athletics was

(23:42):
done. Yeah, I was invitedto the WNBA draft camp. Great.
I was honored, great, honor, was very grateful. But I wanted
to finish my degree because it wasvery important to me to have that being
the first person in my immediate familyand graduate from college. Nice. So
that's what I did. And soso I decided to you know, kind

(24:07):
of thr go the wn b Aat that time and focus on my academics
for the last year, and thenthat's when I decided to go over to
Europe. After that, after myfifth year, and went over the year
for a bit, went to polandplayed very well over there, actually made
the All Star team, and thencame back had a try with the Minnesota

(24:30):
Lynks. I got ended up gettingcut, you know, but I was
so grateful for for the opportunity.Then I kind of started my my uh
my working career in the quote unquotereal world. So what was your first
job in the real world. Myfirst job in the real world after I
retired was pharmaceutical cells. Oh really, okay, yeah, it was pharmacuols.

(24:52):
Yeah, I think, you know, it was just because that's what
everybody was doing. Everybody in sportsor the village Harry was doing pharmacical sales.
It's like they hired er athletes orformer military And I understand why.
I think it's because of the disciplineand the teamwork aspect. Okay, I
only did that for two years though, and then I ended up we'll being

(25:14):
to Chicago and getting into the technologyindustry for and I did that for like
fifteen years. And then so yeah, but now you own your own business,
so you'd started up your own business, so tell us about this.
Yeah, so I'm kind of inbetween. I don't want to see the
opportunities. I'm kind of I'm pivotingcurrently, pivoting my business. But so

(25:36):
previously I was helping parents and theirkids, you know, who are athletes
who want to play sports in college, like navigate the recruiting journey. So
for example, it was more oflike a service based business. So I
had like a membership called rook atyour Recruit. I was also doing consulting
group coaching while on one coaching coachingfor them as well. Okay, that
was that was saying earlier, justa minutely. I'm pivoting my business right

(26:00):
now. Still the same industry,you know, youth sports, which I
think is a fantastic way too.It's a fantastic industry because I feel like
I can give back and like helppeople as well, just having that being
in there, being in their shoes, having gotten like recruited, especially at
a very young age, and justyou know, helping them along that journey

(26:23):
because recruiting can be Brian, asyou know, I mean, you have
what you have two daughters that playedin college. Yeah. Yeah, the
recruiting process can be a beast,yes, for the student athlete and the
parents too, yes, right,yeah, and the parents need some some
navigation, some help as well.Sometimes they get a little over board with

(26:44):
things, and you know how aggressivecollegiate coaches can be. If like with
with Maddie at Wisconsin here, youknow, we put a time limit on
a timeframe when coaches could contact herto talk. So it was seven to
nine pm on what Mondays and Wednesdaysor something like that. But she was
getting calls at seven forty five inthe morning. She's walking into to high

(27:06):
school, you know, and itjust didn't seem right, right, Yeah,
So recruiting is a little bit differentthan it was twenty five years ago.
There's now name image and likeness,there's individual branding. I mean,
that's got to be a challenge forkids and parents that are going through that.
I can't imagine what that's like nowbecause that wasn't around when Maddie was
recruited, you know, seven,eight, ten years ago. Yeah,

(27:29):
definitely changes the whole landscape. I'mactually getting certified through from Office Sports for
name image likeness, you know,name, image, likeness. I have
a love hate relationship with that aswell. What I mean, I have
some parents that not a lot.Honestly, most of the parents I have
and the athletes I have, arereally focused on, like you know,

(27:52):
like doing the things that they shouldbe doing to get recruited, like you
know, making sure they're a goodstudent, making sure they're greet on the
field, making sure they're are filledor court, making sure they're they have
good character. But there are aselect few, maybe that I've had,
that are more concerned about like thename, image, likeness stuff. The
money. The money, yeah,the money. But you know, I'm

(28:15):
not here to judge. It's it'stheir choice really. But that's why I
decided to get certified in IL becauseyou know, I am starting to get
more people who are interested in that, and I totally understand. I get
it. I just don't want peopleto get distracted. I don't want them
to get distracted from really like thegoal at hand. Sure, so,
yeah, you find the best placefor your son or daughter to play and

(28:36):
to grow as a student athlete,you know, and what's what's what's the
best for them in the future.Now, unfortunately, it's become a bidding
war for all the top recruits anda lot of times though too Tanya with
nil you know, everybody, Iguess could be involved, but it's usually
the you know, the small percentage, the elite of the elite that get
all the big time money. Unfortunately, there are some parents who believe that

(28:59):
their kids are the elite of theelite and it's not the case too.
So you have to granted, guidethem and put them in their place a
little bit or no. Yeah,honesty, right, just yeah, I
mean, and you have to beI have to be honest, you know.
I mean, I do it ina very gentle thing, but I
mean because I'm dealing with kids too, and you know, of course parents
you know who you know, everyparent thinks their child is amazing and I

(29:22):
understand that. But yeah, Imean I have gotten some parents who maybe
their child is more like a Dthree type of recruit, sure, and
they want they think that they'll getin I L So it's yeah, I
mean, it's it's a struggle sometimes, Brian, No, I bet,
I bet. I just think ifyou were playing the Nil deals, you'd
have Tanya, right, Yeah,sometime do you what would have been like

(29:47):
how would you have branded yourself?Tanya, I want to hear this,
you know, I don't, youknow, And that's one thing I do
teach, and you know, Iteach parents and kids as well who are
athletes, just branding and marketing aswell. But you know, social media
obviously is a big role in that. I think I probably would have been
more of like an instagrammer. I'mnot, like, you know, more
of like a you know, lessof a even though I'm pretty much on

(30:07):
every social media platform because I haveto be sure, but I'm very careful
with social media. I teach kidsand parents to be very careful with social
media. But yeah, I don'tknow. I mean, I don't know.
I think about the NILS sometimes ifit was around when I was coming
up, but then I was like, well, you know, maybe my
life turned out better because I didn'thave an IL back then. Who knows.

(30:30):
Because I think kind of seeing sometrends with some of the athletes who
are maybe getting some of these bigNIL deals and it's kind of changing their
personalities or something. Yeah, potentially, So the NCAA needs to regulate this
a lot better than to seeing rightnow, don't you think? I agree?
One hundred percent. Yeah, Idon't know what how they go about
doing that, because the student athletesthese days have more rights than they ever

(30:55):
had before, right, Yeah,I agree hundred percent. And you know,
I'm all about student athletes have anymore rights, But like you said,
it needs to be regulated in Il and I feel I feel bad
too, because maybe, let's sayfootball, for example, maybe the quarterback
is getting I don't know, fivemillion dollars. What about the nose tackle

(31:18):
sure right with the center? Orwhat about the swimmer at the universe?
You know, it's just yeah,it's I don't know, it's it's it's
interesting. Yeah, it's been interestingto really follow. It's changed a lot
since you're playing days. So doyou still shoot hoops every once in a
while? You know, I wasshooting around with my nephew, My nephew,
Skyler. He's thirteen. Can weguard you? Uh? You know,

(31:41):
he's tall, he's he's about sixfoot. Can you guard him?
I guarded him pretty well a littlebit. I haven't played in a full
game though, in about ten years. I'll tell you why, because I'm
a terrified I'm getting hurt now.Oh no, serious injuries, Oh no,
oh no, yeah, I don't. I don't want to cheer my
a c L. I. Ihave surgery because you know it is harder

(32:04):
to recover after the eight or foryou? Is that it? Okay?
All right? Okay? Yeah?So do you do anything else besides shooting
hoops occasionally pickleball anything stuff stuff likethat. Yeah? I do. Yeah,
I work out pretty regularly, likecardio weeds. I do something called
bar which is like a form oflike ballet and like strengthen uh strength and
cardio. I do. Oh.I played beach volleyball nice high n Yeah,

(32:28):
I love I played, and Iplayed in high school. Okay,
almost played in college. I gotrecruited by Wisconsin for for volleyball. I
actually I ended up playing basketball studso and then yeah, so just you
know, like the typical stuff.Sure, sure, well you look the
same as you did. Oh whenyou left school? Oh my gosh,
I was what do you do here? I saw what do you what?

(32:50):
I know, I've seen pictures ofthe Hall of Fame. I was like,
oh my gosh, she looks exactlythe same. That is awesome,
that's cool. And I was sohappy for you. I was so happy
that you you went into the Hallof Fame. That's a that's quite an
honor, and it was. Itwas a privilege being able to watch you
play and call all your games too. That was a lot of fun.
You're welcome. You're welcome. Yeah, Well, good luck with what you're
doing now and uh and uh yeah, enjoy enjoy life, Tanya, Yeah,

(33:15):
you too, was great. Thanksfor having me on. You're very
welcome. That's Tanya Simms UW AthleticsHall of Famer and on Brian Posik going
great across UW Women's Athletics presented byGreat Clips and iHeartRadio going great across UW
Women's Athletics presented by Great Clips,Great Clips. It's going to be great.