Howard Moore returns to the Kohl Center, B1G Tourney and Caitlin Clark

Wayne & Matt talk about Howard Moore’s return to the Kohl Center and a look at the Big 10 heading into Tournament time, plus Caitlin Clark.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
No matter how people view this record, and for some it's to be celebrated.
Others they have issues with comparing thetwo, you know, the Met's
game and the game they whatever youthink, I do believe that something like
this does. It either reminds uswho are old enough and educates those who
aren't about Pete merritage and like,well, yeah, this guy transcended the

(00:23):
game. He brought people in whomight not otherwise have been all that interested
in watching college basketball. He hadthe baggy socks and the whole thing,
and he was He was a magicianon the floor. And I think in
twenty twenty four and actually the lastcouple of years, Caitlin Clark has done
a very similar thing with women's basketball. There were more than three million viewers.

(00:48):
This is the Layerovian Lapei podcast,a production of iHeartRadio Podcasts and is
presented by UW Credit Union. Herefor every you, Hi, everybody,
I'm Waite Learnty and I'm that lookback on this episode of the k of
LA pay podcast perspective on former Wisconsinassistant basketball coach Howard Moore, who made
an emotional return to the Cole Centerthis past weekend. The Big Ten Race.

(01:11):
Final week in college basketball, heatingup before the conference tournament. Caitlin
Clark sets the scoring record in collegebasketball. We'll talk about it. Good
stuff coming up next on the Layerof e La Pey Podcast. Uw Credit
Union another local team that's owned byfans, offering great rates that help Wisconsinites
enjoy greater possibilities. Hop in orhop online at UWCU dot org. Well,

(01:40):
Matt, this weekend, we've youknow, I knew Howard Moore on
several different fronts, both with Wisconsinand and he coached elsewhere as well.
And I had a chance to workwith him on a number of occasions in
that regard. You know, thetragedy that happened to him and his family
a number of years ago is somethingwe've all followed and we all know about.

(02:02):
But maybe you can bring us backto that, because what happened this
weekend was a culmination of a longroad back to the Coal Center for this
beloved assistant basketball coach of Wisconsin.Yeah, it was as emotion all the
day, I think as any Badgerfan has ever been a part of a
certainly at the Coal Center. Thefamily has been understandably pretty private in terms

(02:28):
of you, because everybody wants toknow how's he doing, How's he doing?
But they've been a little bit moreopen. Rashard Griffith has been unbelievable
in helping the family, helping whohe calls his brother Howard, day by
day, step by step. Howardis certainly aware of his surroundings and I'm
told watches Wisconsin basketball games whenever hecan. But it's been a it's been

(02:53):
a very painstaking process. And Saturday, what happensday Wayne, you know,
they we've known a few of us, I guess have known that he was
going to come back to the CoalCenter. Logistics made a couple of earlier
dates not possible because a lot ofteammates were back, and just you know,
a lot of other factors involved.So it was Saturday against Illinois.

(03:16):
Kudos to Brad Underwood and the headcoach of the Aliini and the staff there.
They were, you know, givinga heads up and is absolutely let's
do this. So about ten minutesprior to tip they had a ceremony uttering
Howard. Now that the university hadbeen promoting the fact that there was going
to be a tribute to to Howardand his family a recognition in a show

(03:40):
of support as he continues the processof recovery. But nobody, I don't
think in the in the crowd knewthat he was going to be there.
So there was a video that playedabout a minute minute a half worth,
put together by by John Roach.We'll talk with Rochie. I think at
some point here this spring. Itowns a production company here in town and

(04:01):
does unbelievable work. And at theend of the video that fans haven't seen
it. You can go on UWBadgers any one of their social media platforms
say and it's there. We wereable to bring Howard onto the floor and
introduce him to the to the CoalCenter crowd for the first time in almost
five years, and Rashard Griffith helpedbring him out. Howard is in a

(04:25):
wheelchair, and then some other familiarnames. I know, Wayne, you're
familiar with Rashard, Tracy Webster,it was back, Michael Finley was back,
Sean Carlin and Chris Conger other guyswho were teammates were on the floor
at center Court. But I don'tknow if there were very many dry eyes

(04:46):
at the Cole Center for that.You know, Wisconsin fans, Illinois fans,
a lot of folks who covered collegeof basketball and a national platform took
notice of what happened and chimed in. It was my concern Wayne was the
who is the Wisconsin coaching staff?Like this is pretty close to tip off
and you got to gather yourself GregGard and Joe Kravinhoff to Dean Oliver and

(05:11):
Chreef Chandlers, all those guys theyit was, Uh, it was a
difficult moment, but it was incrediblyuplifting at the same time. It's a
reminder that life can be extraordinarily unfairwith what happened to Howard and his family,
but uplifting. I thought. Oneof the highlights of the day Wayne
was at halftime, Chris McIntosh,the athletics director, announced that the coach's

(05:34):
locker room will be forever known asthe Howard Moore Family coaches Locker Room.
And Jarrell, who was thirteen atthe time of the accident, is now
a senior at Middleton High School,and he spoke to the crowd thanking all
the supporters for you know, fortheir for the thoughts, the warm wishes,
and I was joking with Charlie Willswas working alongside him, my son,

(05:57):
I was a little bit jealous becausebecause he was so smooth and was
so eloquent and what he said,Uh, but it was, it was
it was really a powerful moment.And I just don't remember looking up into
the crowd way and when I wasintroducing Howard and the look of surprise and
joy on on the fans baces whenthey knew they were going to see Howard

(06:21):
Moore out on the Coal Center floor. It was. It was an unbelievable
won't you know. It's interesting thatHoward Moore is the kind of guy just
for people who never had a chanceto meet him, the kind of guy
who smile drew you in, youknow, when you would come upon him.

(06:42):
And a lot of times he'd bethe guy at maybe a Wisconsin shoot
around that the head coach usually didn'twasn't there, but he Howard Moore was
one of the guys who was there, and he would visit with you and
talk about the team and that kindof thing. And and he was just
such an engaging individual, you know, the kind of personality that, just

(07:03):
like I said, draws you in. And I think we all take for
granted day to day that we getup out of bed, that we have
a cup of coffee breakfast, togo about our business. And you know,
I don't think we understand until somethinglike this happens, in a split
second, in that car accident inMichigan some five years ago, how everything

(07:28):
changed, how we just I meanflipped on one moment, one incident,
and how fragile our lives, ourexistence really is. I mean, in
that accident, that family lost amother and a daughter, and my goodness,
and Howard Moore has been battling justto stay alive ever since. It

(07:49):
just it speaks to the frailty oflife. We take our existence sometimes our
health especially for granted, and thefact is anything can happen. It can
turn out a I'm at any time. And you know, I just felt
it was great to see Howard.You know, I didn't see the game
live. I did see the videoafterward. It was great to see him

(08:11):
there. But at the same timemet you know, this vibrant man who's
in a wheelchair now, the personalitythe coach I knew, you know,
it's really hard also to see himin that state. I think it's wonderful.
He's a battler he's a battler,he's a survivor. That's great,
and that's wonderful, but it's alsoyou know, you remember who he was,

(08:35):
and you know this, he wouldn'tbe here today if he wasn't the
man he was, optimistic, fullof life, and you know, despite
this terrible tragedy that's left him physicallyimpaired, you can't you can't take away
the spirit that is Howard Moore.And that was great to see. That
was wonderful to see. Yeah,it's a keyword there, weighing spirit,

(08:56):
because I think this does show thepower of the human spirit. If this
is an example, I don't knowwhat is. And Rashard Griffith put together
a really nice piece on the UWBadger's social media sites. They do a
series of pieces called by Words,Andy Baggett from u W Badgers dot Com
will help these athletes, former athletes, coaches in you know, putting it

(09:22):
all together. But they are RashardGriffith's words and what his just what it's
been like, giving us a littlebit of an idea of what it's been
like for for Howard and what Howardmeans to Rashard, I mean Rashard came
back to get his degree because Howardkept pounding on him to a big fella,
come back here, get your degree. Let's go. And and Michael

(09:43):
Finley too, they say, hey, you know when I came here or
Howard said I'll take care and hedid that. And it's in the worst
of circumstances there you see shining examplesof what the human spirit is all about.
And those guys who I mentioned withHoward and Tracy Chris Congress shot Carl

(10:05):
and they were able to watch partof the game with Howard. They were
back in the room you go outside, maybe the coach's room or the or
the locker room, and they Howardvery aware of what's going on. You
know, you could just see theexcitement. You could tell how excited he
was about being back and being atthe game. But it's, yeah,

(10:26):
I get what you're saying. Itwas uplifting and and you know, to
heartbreaking as well. But the bestnews of all is that Howard's still punching
just it and no that is peoplearound it are as well testament to him
and you know, so impressed withhim. And like I said, you
know, the first time i'd seenhim met since the accident, and so

(10:50):
you know, you remember this guyand who he was, of this vibrant
personality and coach and human being,and you know, it was jarring to
kind of see him in the wheelchairtype of thing, and and you said,
oh my gosh. But then youas you watched and listened, you
understood that, Yeah, this guyis still there, this spirit is still

(11:11):
there. And that's the wonderful aspect. That was the uplifting aspect of witnessing
that, obviously after the fact,but witnessing it nonetheless. And I'm with
you, mat You guys did agreat job with the whole situation emotional day.
I don't know how the basketball teamwent out and played after that,
but they did and they played ahard fought game against Illinois after that.

(11:35):
Yeah, you have special mention toHoward's parents, Trennis and Howard Senior,
Howard's brother Darnell obviously, his sonJarrell, and and a lot of folks
who have been doing unbelievable work inhelping Howard here in this during during this
whole process, Tim Valentine, Timand Nancy Valentine, George and Pamela Hammel

(11:58):
had a Garrison has been remarkable anda lot of the things that she has
done. Folks who are doing thingsbehind the scenes but are unbelievably instrumental in
this in this journey here to recoveryfor Howard. So yeah, for the
game itself, as we transition alittle awkwardly, the script called for the

(12:20):
home team winning after all of this, but Illinois just too much, too
much offense. Marcus Damask, theyoung man out of lapon who had some
limited options I think coming out ofhigh school where he was mister basketball in
the state of Wisconsin. But hewas a star at Southern Illinois and is
starring at with Illinois with the fightingAliini, and he proved to be unstoppable,

(12:43):
thirty one points, a lot oftough shots. But he's he had
a special day, unfortunately for Wisconsin. But you know, you got to
respect him, and I know hehad a lot of a lot of family
and friends at the Cole Center onSaturday. Oh dangerous heading toward the post.
And now is this Illinois team,because you know, I watched the

(13:03):
game and I would tell you,man, they get a lot of things
going for them. The way theyplay offensively. You know, what are
they put ninety points on the boardin the call center against Wisconsin. That
doesn't happen, you know, itjust doesn't happen. Yeah, there are
there A lot of people are goingto hear this after Illinois plays Purdue tonight,

(13:24):
so you know, keep that intosome consideration. But I'm still a
little bit skeptical way in about apostseason run. I mean, they they
score it well. They're a teamaverage in the mid eighties or scoring in
the nineties with some regularity. Butdefensively, their efficiency numbers are in the
one hundreds and I just now theythey'll shoot a lot of threes, but

(13:45):
they'll play what what Underwood calls bootyball, where you're just backing guys down.
Marcus Damascus really good at that.Uh Taren Shannon can can drive to
the to the bucket, almost likea running back hitting the hole. But
when you get into these neutrals andshots are falling, can you stops?
And I think that's the one thingwith Illinois I would be concerned about.

(14:09):
But their fun a watch. Imean, if you're just watching college basketball
and you like offense, there's alot to love about Illinois. But they
need to be in my opinion,they need to be better defensively to really
have a chance to have a runin the tournament. Big game, as
we mentioned, is we take thispodcast, folks. The big game is
Illinois and Purdue coming up tonight.But yeah, is it produced tournament?

(14:35):
Is it produced league to win andadvance into the NCAA. It seems like
that, Matt. But you seeyou coming heading to the tournament. Yeah,
I think so. I mean,it's a team that, as we
record this, has already clinched toshare the Big Ten championship. And then
you know a lot of the numbersback it up with what they do both
offensively and defensively. They've been They'vebeen really good in both categories. Zach

(14:58):
e Is obviously, he's Zach Edyand someone most people think will be again
the national player of the year.It's good. The backcourt as much improved.
Braidon Smith has been terrific as asophomore. Lance Jones has been a
tremendous addition. Another guy from southernIllinois, Let's been really good last year.
He just he gives them the athleticism, you know, great speed and

(15:20):
can knock down some shots. FletcherLawyer, although he can be a little
bit up and down. He's sophomore, as is Braidon Smith, but they're
both improved from a year ago.If a team can get into them,
Wayne, I mean, it's alittle bit of a pick your poison.
I mean, he's gonna get his. But if you can get into their
guards, if you can press them, if you're you know, quick and

(15:43):
got a little physicality to you,that could be a problem for Purdue.
But to me, there's still theteam and it sounds captain obvious since they're
the Big Ten champs, the teamthat has the best opportunity for a big
push in the tournament. To me, it just seems like I've talked with
other guys about this, and wehad Dave Kane on for our last podcast

(16:03):
Produe could just get through the firstround, get through the first weekend that
it could exhale and go play.But that first game will be interesting given
what has happened to the boiler Makersin two of the last three tournaments.
Yeah, and just for perspective,Dave I believe was broadcasting Virginia when they
as the number one seed, lostto a number sixteen, and then the

(16:25):
following year they went out and wonthe national championship. Purdue's trying to do
very similar to the same. IfI'm not mistaken, because I had this
discussion with somebody, but refresh mymemory. Virginia was not the number one
overall seed that year. They werea number one seat, whereas Purdue last
year was the overall number one seed. That's the first time the over all

(16:48):
number one seed ever lost to wassixteen. Do I have that right?
I thought in Virginia might have beenthe one overall, but those are the
first two as ones to lose sixteens, so that it was fascinating. It
is fascinating to me how both coacheshandled a very low moment. Tony Bennett
is, to the surprise of nobodywho is familiar with Tony Bennett, handled

(17:10):
it with such great class and turnedit in you'll help, turned it into
a massive positive the following year.And Matt Patrick he owned it. You
know, with what happened last year, people do forget Wayne. I mean,
people talk about Purdue being the earlypunch out Kings. You know,
they've had sweet sixteen runs. Amatter of fact, in twenty nineteen they

(17:30):
were a scramble play away from goingto the Final four. You know,
the year that Virginia won it.They have the game where you know,
Virginia, you know, the missa free throw, the ball gets back
tapped and it turned into a scrambledplay and then they hit a jumper at
the horn to force overtime of thatgame. But Purdue was just that close
five years ago of getting into theFinal four. But they've had Sweet sixteen

(17:52):
runs, including a couple of yearsago. But when you are such a
high seed and you get clipped rightaway, that's a label that's hard to
sh and that's what for who's goingto be trying to do later this month.
Now. I remember Matt Peter's quote. I think it was coming into
this season. It was well afterthe fact. He said somebody reminded him
about that game and last year inthe first round. He said, we

(18:14):
will never get over that. Andyou know what, knowing athletes and how
they the loss stings so much more, folks, for these high level athletes
and coaches than the victory ever couldsavor. You know what I mean,
It just the loss that sting justnever goes away. And I don't care
if you win it all down theroad and everything else, it doesn't for

(18:40):
those guys. For me, itwould I'd be fine. Okay, so
I had that terrible setback and thenwe won it all the next year.
I'd be fine with that. Butthe athletes, I know, they never
forget that loss. It just nevergoes away. And I don't care how
much how many championships you put ontop of that. Yeah, I know,
I agree. If you win one, you have guys say, well,
we should have won to Uh.It's just it's just how it works

(19:03):
at every level. I mean,let's this said, look really wide angle
lens with the Green Bay Packers,a couple of Super Bowl championships. Uh
here under with you know, withBrett fad and then with Aaron Rodgers.
But what do people bring up fourthand twenty six? You know, the
the you know, Ice Bowl twoor whatever you want to call it against
Tom Coughlin's New York Giants. Uh, you know, the overtime with with

(19:26):
the Cardinals. Those are the thingsthat sometimes stick out. There is something
to be said where and it's it'sall, but it's a curse. It's
probably what helps them drive athletes ina lot of ways. But it's that
old line where losing hurts more thanthe winning feels good. It's a little
bit sad, but there is truthto no, it's very much truth too

(19:47):
of it. Hey, Matt,Before we go much further here in the
Big Ten will become this is thefinal weekend the Big Ten play and Wisconsin
will close out at Purdue. That'llbe interesting to see. Uh, no
doubt about that. But you know, you were mentioning Tony Bennett, and
I couldn't help but have a flashbackto Tony Bennett and Dick Bennett at UWGB
and they were playing in the HorizonLeague championship game. And I remember doing

(20:11):
this game at the old Brown CountyColiseum. It was Tony's senior year,
Dick's best green Bay team championship gameof the Rizon League, and their Clark
Kellogg and I were doing the gameand this little band box of an arena
that they were in and it wasjust electorate and green Bay basketball was kind

(20:33):
of big in that town in GreenBay at the time, and it was
for many years after that, andthen they hit the skids and it hasn't
been the same since until this year. And you know, when I look
at what they've done at green Bay, the way they turned things around and
they I attended the game. Ididn't broadcast it, but I attended the
game with some friends Green Bay andMilwaukee in Milwaukee this past Saturday, and

(20:56):
you know what I got to tellyou, the two teams went at it.
Nolan Reynolds, the top player forfor Wisconsin, didn't play in this
game. He was out with anankle injury, but he'll be back when
they play Thursday. But it wasback and forth and the coaches after the
game, I think both said,hey, this is the way it should
be. These two programs. BartLundy, the coach at Milwaukee, said,

(21:21):
these two programs. This is greatthat they're now good because having two
good programs on this level in Wisconsindoes nothing but help basketball on the state
of Wisconsin. And it was greatto see good crowd, big crowd on
hand, a lot of people infrom Green Bay, and it was a
highly contested first happened in the secondhalf. Milwaukee kind of blew them out.
That's where Green Bay really missed Reynolds. They didn't have a second ball

(21:45):
handler against the full court pressure thatMilwaukee brought. But at any rate,
he was a great college basketball gameon a Saturday evening. In Milwaukee between
two in state opponents, the Iforty three rivalry, and I think with
you know, the coaching staff upthere in Green Bay, what they're doing
this is gonna make for a nicerivalry, and I think it's going to

(22:06):
help elevate college basketball in the statea little bit. We've got the Big
two Wisconsin and Marquette, no question, but these other school these two mid
level, mid level programs, ifthey can elevate. Boy, I tell
you what, you have a nicehotbed here Wisconsin. Yes, some dance
has done one of the best jobsat all college basketball this season. I
mean we would give it how muchGreen Bay had struggled in the fact that

(22:29):
you know, they became more thanrelevance. I mean, they were really
good. They've really done a nicejob of trying to market it too,
because that I mean, you andI both know that it's an uphill climb
for both of those programs and justto try to get some publicity and quite
frankly, they should get more.That's onught us in the media here in
Wisconsin because they do play a brandof ball I think that people find appealing.

(22:52):
But they put out a they putout a little promotional thing on their
social media, the Green Bay Phoenixfolks where they use an old scene from
Major League you know, old Bobhuckerb movies. You know, the team
that like, you know, they'rea really good team, but it seems
like it's ragtag and there it's theold credit card commercial that they were re
enacting, and I thought it wasreally well done. I mean, you're

(23:15):
just you're trying to get trying toget fannies in the seats, you know,
bodies in the building. And you'reright, I think this only helps
elevate the game in Wisconsin. Wehave seen this before with with the Panthers
program with some really good years aday that they have had, and with
the Phoenix as well. And I'mcertainly, you know, even with my

(23:37):
position with the University of Wisconsin,I am not against those two programs elevating
because I think it's only good forthe sport in our state. You know,
it would be awesome if they theywere somehow able to do a situation
play a little four team you know, tournament over the maybe the Christmas Holly,

(23:57):
whatever it is. With if thethe two mid level programs, Green
Bay and Milwaukee get to a pointwhere they're they're you know, consistently at
that level. And I think withSundance Wix, who's the Horizon Lake Coach
of the Year this year. Boy, you talk about social media. Green
Bay put out this this tweet yesterdayabout how he found out about being named

(24:19):
Coach of the Year. His twolittle girls and his wife came up the
stairs and they had have closed hiseyes and they held up a sign Coach
of the Year and in his livingroom, and it was a really kind
of a really neat emotional moment.But yeah, you know, it'd be
wonderful to see Marquette, Wisconsin,Milwaukee, Green Bay just play a you

(24:41):
know, maybe it's just you playa two game deal where on consecutive nights
they each play each other, youknow what I mean. I think that'd
be really cool. You know,yeah, good, yeah, good,
or even or if nothing else isa doubleheader. You know, obviously the
Wisconsin Marquette game can stand alone inGreen Bay Milwaukee too, but you know,
if you could get them all together, that would be you know,

(25:03):
Wisconsin has not played it's been theyplayed the Phoenix last year. They didn't
playing this year. No, I'msorry, I take that back. They
didn't play Green Bay this year,but it's been fairly regular Milwaukee, as
you know, it's kind of it'sdropped off the schedule. Hopefully, you
know, you could. I mean, if you've got to have these,
you know, these other games anyway, I'd be all for be the in

(25:23):
state opponents coming back. But we'llsee. I think you got a lot
of logistical things to figure out,but it would be a it's a fun
thought, that's for sure. Youhave logistical things in politics to figure it
cut really yeah, not necessarily inthat order, right. I'm speaking strictly
as a fan, you know,college basketball, Wisconsin fan. It'd be
fun to do it, really wouldbe, Hey, Matt. One of

(25:45):
the other things that we want totalk about in our next section segment here,
a record was set at Iowa bya young lady by the name of
Caitlin Clark, and she seems tobe transcending college basketball in many ways.
And she set the all time scoringrecord, and we'll talk about that in
our next segment. The Laravila PayPodcast is presented by UW Credit Union.

(26:18):
Here for every u For more thanninety years, UW Credit Union has helped
wisconsinites achieve their financial goals at everystage of life, offering great rates for
greater possibilities. Joined today at UWCUdot org Way Laravie Matt Lapey. You're
listening to the Lerovillla Pay podcast.Two weeks after she broke the record for

(26:41):
women, Haylan Clark has become theNCAA Division I basketball overall top score period.
On February twenty nine, twenty twentyfour, Clark an ounce she would
declare for the twenty twenty four NBADraft four, going her fifth and final
season of eligibility which was granted toall players during the twenty twenty one season
due to the COVID nineteen pandemic.So the Iowah Hawkeye Star went into Sunday's

(27:06):
game against Ohio State by the waythe second ranked Ohio State Buck Guys,
needing eighteen points to break Thistle PeteMerovich's record of three thousand, six hundred
and sixty seven career points, whichstood for more than fifty years, and
with a second quarter free throw,she became the top scoring player man or
women in NCAA basketball history. Bythe time the final buzzer rang on a

(27:32):
Sunday's game which the Hawkeys beat thebuck Guys ninety three eighty three. Clarket
scored thirty five points. Sunday totalsets the new NCAA scoring record at three
thousand, six hundred and eighty fivepoints. Matt I had a chance to
watch the game, and the thingthat I come away with is obviously here,

(27:52):
scoring is unquestioned and well documented.But what people fail to realize is
it like Pistol Pete was back inthe day, and Pistol Pete was the
guy that kind of got me intocollege basketball watching him. Like him,
she is also one of the mostcreative playmakers I've ever seen on that level

(28:15):
of college basketball. On the women'sgame, she was phenomenal. And she
then I looked up, she's averaginglike eight assists per game. She has
over a thousand assists in her career. And this is a scoring player.
But she sees the floor unlike mostpeople ever see it, you know.
And I thought Pete Maravich was.He was on a different level, you

(28:37):
know, mentally, spiritually, visuallyin the game in his time back in
nineteen sixty eight through seventy. She'sin the same category, in my opinion,
in the way she sees the gameand sometimes the turnover she commits a
lot of times are her teammates areready for that next level kind of pass
she's gonna throw. It's amazing towatch her play, but I was so

(29:00):
oppressed with their playmaking ability in initition. Obviously your scoring is unquestioned. Yeah,
a couple of thays away, andI think, no matter how people
view this record, and for someit's to be celebrated, others they have
issues with comparing the two, youknow, the men's game and the wednes
game. They whatever you think,I do believe that something like this does.

(29:22):
It either reminds us who are oldenough and educates those who aren't about
Pete Merritage and like, well,yeah, this guy transcended the game.
He brought people in who might nototherwise have been all that interested in watching
college basketball. He had the baggysocks and the whole thing, and he
was he was a magician on thefloor. And I think in the in

(29:44):
twenty twenty four and actually the lastcouple of years, Caitlin Clark has done
a very similar thing with women's basketball. There were more than three million viewers
for the Iowa Ohio state game onSunday afternoon. It's like three point three
three point four million viewers for aregular season college basketball game. By the
way, Ohio State's the Big Tenchamps. But the story is Caitlyn Clark

(30:08):
and the interest that she has generatedinto women's basketball. And there have been
great obviously, there have been manygreat women's college basketball players in the last
generation and unbelievable teams, but KaitlynClark is next level. And you're right.
I mean people know her for thelogo threes, but her ability as

(30:30):
a passer, her court vision,her ability to make those around her better
and to me, Wayne, whatreally is impressive, and you know we
watch her from afar is how shehas handled all of this. I mean,
you know, she has some reallygood gigs, you know, the
Hoista State Farm and and other thingsthat she's involved with that they're using nil.

(30:56):
But you figure, everywhere she goes, man, the spotlight is on.
As soon as she steps outside herhome, everybody's watching. And how
she's handled all of that in today'sworld especially, is remarkable. But you're
right. As a player, Imean, anybody who's a high flying dunker,

(31:17):
that's great, that's wonderful. Mustbe nice, but in her case,
her ability to understand the game isreally really impressed. Yeah, and
it's like you said, the visionsees things others don't. There are a
few players like that on every level, a filly, a few though that
see things that nobody else sees onthe floor, and she's one of those

(31:38):
players, very special player. Letme ask you this because there's a lot
of debate, and this came uplast year as well. Antoine Davis of
the Detroit Mercy Titans came within threepoints last year of breaking the Marovich mark,
but it took him five years atone hundred and forty four career games
to get there. Now you haveto understand about pistol Pete. He played

(32:00):
in in Europe when freshmen were noteligible for varsity basketball. Okay, they
couldn't play until they were sophomores.He only played eighty three games at LSU.
He averaged matty averaged forty four pointtwo points per game without the help
of a three point line or theshot clop. He set his mark playing

(32:21):
as I mentioned, late sixties sixtyeight through seventy. His college career ended.
If I'm not mistaken, at aquarterfinal loss to Marquette and the NIT
at Madison Square Garden. Now,let me tell you about that NIT.
And I was a kid growing upback east. That was an electric week
in New York City, New Yorkat the world's most famous sports arena,
Madison Square Garden. The NIT,the whole thing was played on a Sunday

(32:45):
to Sunday basis in Madison Square Gardenand Maravich in LSU. His dad,
Press Marivitch, was the head coach. It was Pete Marrivich. The other
guys around him got some notoriety becauseMarivich did what you just said Kate Kitland
Clark does for her teammates. Hisability with the basketball elevated everybody. He

(33:06):
was a tremendous passer and you know, the scoring unquestioned, but the he
was transcending ball at that point.And you have to understand, this is
in an era when you know,the Celtics dynasty was winding down, the
Knicks were just starting there rather shortbut exciting run in the NBA in the
early seventies, and the league wouldkind of go into a malaise after that

(33:29):
until Magic and Bird who transcended.But this was probably what almost ten twenty
years later, Maravich was was thestory and wherever they went, wherever Lsu
went, they filled arenas, justlike what Caitlyn Clark has been doing.
But Maravich again, forty four pointtwo points game. Just think about that

(33:51):
for a moment. Antoine Davis hada chance to break it, but as
I mentioned, took one hundred andforty four career games to get there.
Took Clark one hundred and third gamesto break the mark. But I got
to tell you these people, they'revery rare that they come in and and
their game. And it's not justthe numbers we all talk about. It's

(34:13):
the flair, the the There's somethingextra they bring, Matt that I'm struggling
to find words for right now.But there was a charisma they bring in
what they do that transcends their sportand brings viewers in that never would have
set saf for a moment to watchtheir games. Yeah, I think there's

(34:34):
a joy that they bring to thegame. I mean with those who remember
or old enough to to be familiarwith Pete Maravich, I mean you you
just there was there was a therewas a joy that he brought to the
floor every time he stepped on abasketball court with kay Lecclark can see the
same thing. And then you fastforward to the late seventies into the eighties,
Magic Johnson, and we're not talkingabout high flying dunkers here, but

(34:59):
but great vision, an ability tolook a step or two ahead of everybody
else on the floor and make aplay that seemingly comes from nowhere. I
mean, the whole Magic Bird thingwas, you know, it was a
lot of fun to watch unfold andand and maybe wig. And it's a
little bit like with Kaylen Clark,a little Steph Curry, like where any

(35:22):
number of young men and women lookat those two and say, hey,
maybe I could do it. Yeah, maybe I could be that person who
could hit the twenty eight footer.You know, I may not be able
to take off with the free throwline and hammer dunk man, I could
shoot it and I can pass it. I can I can throw a teammate
open here. But there is ajoy with all of that. I think

(35:45):
that that is it's impossible not tonotice. And you see, like you
just get the impression with Kaylen Clark, with all the attention that she gets
still being on the basketball floor islike recess. Uh, you know,
and it chokes, it really does. And you know, but I wonder
this, Matt, as we lookforward. Now she's announced that she's going

(36:06):
to go to the WNBA. Somebody, I don't know if they were joking
or not, said she's gonna haveto take a pay cut. Yeah,
she won't. There will be nopay cut involved for her. I don't
think. No. I love theState farmy double their production, huh No.
But you know, with n IL and that type of things,
she's not hurting. Letn't put itthat way. She's not poor college kid

(36:30):
looking to get a payday from thepro. You'll be fine, She'll be
very fine. She's fine now.But will this magic transcend from the college
arenas, from the college game,from this platform to the next one,
Matt, And I understand more andmore people are watching the WNBA. I

(36:52):
get it. I understand that,but it's still kind of it's not really
a mainstream type of viewing that isgoing on with the w n B A.
How much of an impact will shehave, you know, because again,
we have great players at Connecticut,all those great Yukon teams under Gino
ari Ema. You know how muchI know that helped the w n B

(37:14):
A, but it didn't really changethe w NBA's place. I guess yeah,
Yeah, it's gonna be interesting withthe calendar of the w n B
A season. I think that thatcould be that that will be a challenge.
I do think early they're going toget viewership numbers they've never had.
Yeah, because of the of ofCaitlin Media that the question will be over

(37:36):
the course of time, we willthey be able to sustain that. Now,
with the backing of the NBA,the marketing machine there, it certainly
will have every opportunity. The Indianafever is all but said, uh,
we're taking her. We got thefirst pick, you know, already working
deals and already doing promotional things.I think ticket they ticket sales are already

(37:57):
going up. They haven't had thedraft yet, but that doesn't appear to
be any great mystery. Uh So, I do think the initial wave will
be amazing, but then when youget into the halfway point of the season
and and all that, that willbe the test of time. But I
do you know, with the ifthe NBA, with the backing of the
League of the NBA into the wn B A, I think it has

(38:19):
every chance to be very very successful. It'll and she'll be. By the
way, the whole pay cut thingpeople that some people have joked about it,
others if they really do you thinkshe will? No, I mean,
the salaries are the salaries of thew n b A. But I
think she had it up to school. I think I get that she's a
great student from what I'm told,But uh, you know, kudos to

(38:40):
her. Whatever decision she made isgoing to be the right one. But
I get it. You're like,Okay, I've I've done the college thing.
Now let's test myself against the verybest of the world in the w
n b A. So I thinkshe will be very very great for that
league. Yeah, you know,and the high school girls basketball is a

(39:02):
big deal in Iowa. Caitlin isfrom Des Moines, so she's been on
this stage before. It's wonderful thatshe played her college career at Iowa because
I think it's very appropriate. Iowa'salways supported women's and girls basketball very strongly.
And you know, now we'll seeher she goes to the w NBA.
Will her aura trans transcend that leagueand elevate it as other players have

(39:28):
done it, like in the NBA. I mean, Bird and Magic saved
the NBA, Matt as you andI both know, back in the early
eighties. It basically saved it.And then Michael came in on the heels
of that. But you know,hey, the W not saying the W
NBA has to be saved. Idon't know if it does or not.
But Kaitlyn Clark could certainly have amajor impact if and will she be How

(39:52):
good a player will she be onthat level? I mean, you know,
Pistol Pete in the NBA was agood player, but I don't know,
kind of got lost in the gamea little bit. Wasn't as big
a deal there as he was incollege basketball. It'll be really interesting to
follow this and see how it goes. Yeah, will be because I'm thinking
of, you know, the lastgeneration. I Cheryl Miller was an unbelievable

(40:15):
player, right, but the marketingmachine was different than and I think with
the television partners, they will buildup any Indiana Fever game they possibly can.
But again, the calendar of theseason makes it, you know,
maybe a little bit more tricky.But if ever there's an opportunity, this

(40:37):
is it. Well, you know, nbah we really raised to another level.
The Lerivial of Pay podcast is presentedby you W Credit Union here for
every U All right man. Windingdown finally, the college basketball season.

(41:02):
I don't know why this year seemedlike such a long year. College basketball
teams rising up and down. Especiallyyour team has gone up and down and
up and down. It seems likeyou obviously coming up on the final week
of the regular season, and thenwe'll get into conference tournaments, and I
think March is the greatest time ofyear. We're in March now and some
of the mid level tournaments are beginningas we speak on this podcast. Horizon

(41:27):
Lake Tournament gets underway tonight, witha lot of the other mid major tournaments
kicking off, and then next weekit'll be the Big Ten in Company and
all the big major tournaments. Andwhen we return in two weeks, we're
gonna get Steve Lapis on CBS Sportsand we'll talk about the NCAA tournament.
Matt, I got to tell you, I think it's wide open this year.
I really do. I understand.I think the super teams Yukon obviously

(41:52):
Purdue. I may be missing oneor two others that seem to be heading
shoulders above. But nobody's unbeatable.We've seen that time time again during the
regular season. Yeah, and withWisconsin, you know, and see if
they can stop the bleeding here headand get themselves in a position to make
a run. Marquette. There's abig question with Marquette right now in Tyler
Kohleik, who's going to miss therest of the regular season. They'll reevaluate

(42:15):
him going to the Big East Tournament. Oblique injuries are what you see in
baseball, and that's usually four tosix six weeks in baseball, and this
is in baseball, So hopefully forhis sake, for Marquett's sake, he'll
be back. They didn't deal withstuff. I mean Shawn Jones taring his
ACL, you know, in hisseason coming to an end. But with
with Kohlick. When when you're whenyour best player goes down late, that

(42:38):
can really knock you off track.We witness that with our guy Brian Butch
back in two thousand and seven,and there have been other other instances.
So you just you know, fingerscrossed there that that he can be back
up and running and being the TylerKohlik that is as good as any League
guard in all the college basketball,but definitely worth watching. Yeah, I

(43:00):
think Steve will be great Wayne,to get more of a more of a
global look. I'm so big Tencentric and Marquette fan, the East centric.
I hear the Big Twelves pretty goodthis year. Yeah, yeah,
really physical. We'll see how thattranslates into the NCAA tournament, but it
should be a wild, wild monkonce again. Calvin Simpson's been on the

(43:22):
phone and he's got a pretty goodteam down there. He does it's working
well for you. You know,it's amazing to me all that's going on
in college the sports now and someof the things that penalized these coaches in
years past, and you know,the Bruce Pearl Illinois situation and all these
they seem like such, oh,that's nothing, you know. I'll tell

(43:45):
yeah, careers, I'll tell youwhat. Locally, Wayne, twenty five
years ago, the shoe box thing. It was bottest that was like real,
what what what suspended? How aboutthe shoe box? I remember that,
like yo, oh yeah, youbetter believe that there are a lot
of a lot of smoke coming outof the years of people who have had
these infractions over the Lord knows howmany years you can do wide New Yeah.

(44:09):
So yeah, yeah, this justDan Calvin, samsu can coach just
a little bit. Used team isridiculously especially defensive. Yeah, I think
it's gonna be a great tournament.Meanwhile, Matt, I am doing something,
the Ski Bum Tour is going toNew England. I grew up,
as you know, in New Englandand grew up on skis and on New
England skiing. Well we used toget winter though. Back in the sixties

(44:31):
and seventies, you know, therewas actually winter. Nobody even there was
no such thing as global walking backfit. We got pretty good winners Beck
East. But you know, I'mgone back and I'm going to ski a
couple of areas, a couple ofbucket lists for me. Place called Stowe,
which is the old that's where theold money used to go. Ski

(44:52):
on Mount Mansfield, highest peak inthe White Mountains, Jpeak, which is
up near Canada. And then thebeast of the East is Hillington, which
you know, just a huge skiarea. Anyway, I'm going back.
It's first time I've done it inlike forty years, and you know you're
gonna go back and ski some Ithink it's gonna be really bad snow,

(45:12):
but that's kind of what I grewup on anyway, So wish me luck.
Hope I don't break anything, becausewe will finish up at the end
of Unthon Park City. But there'sgood snow by the way out west.
There's not good snow out east,and there's terrible snow here. I was
at Cascade with my grandson and hisfamily on Sunday and bought, tell you
what, barely enough snow. ButI give him a lot of credit.

(45:34):
We're keeping it open. And youknow, I feel so bad for the
skiery operators around here into the Midwest, especially up where you you know,
vacation up upper northern Wisconsin, wellMichigan. The lack of snow there has
really had a negative impact impact ontheir economy because winter's big up there.
A winter's it's not just skiing,it's snowmobilding, it's cross country, it's

(45:58):
ice fishing, it's all that itgoes into it. It's a huge industry
and the Upper Midwest folks, andwe have not had winter here basically,
And yeah, it's been rough,been brutal up there. It's been I
mean, they've opened some they've temporarilyopened some ATV trails there. That's all
bad. It's been up in thenorth Woods. So yeah, I was
gonna tell you, don't get hurt. That was my best advice for you,
knowing nothing else, just don't gethurt. Yeah, I know,

(46:20):
a little concerned about that. Butat any rate, we'll finish up with
some good snow in Park City atthe end of the month. But we'll
take our chances, and it'll begood to get back east anyway to see
the White Mountains and that type ofthing that's New England is the Rockies are
spectacular. I tell people New Englandis beautiful. It's just a beautiful part
of the country. And the AppalachianMountains, you know, you know from

(46:44):
going to Penn State how beautiful itis. It's it's the same way up
and down. The Western Carolina mountainsare really neat the Smokeyes, in Tennessee,
that's all the same mountain range andit goes right up into New England
through Vermont, New Hampshire and madein Massachusetts. So at any rate,
wish me luck, and with anyluck at all, we'll talk in a

(47:05):
couple of weeks. Hey, Ihope. So I've colmed on that,
so I'll not go lat. Imay be, but I maybe hit a
slang of some sort, but I'llbig back for this special thanks to our
producer engineer Dave McCann, our executiveproducer Jeff Tyler from Matt missus Wayne.
Thank you very much for listening tothe Lerravia La Pay podcast. This has

(47:27):
been the Larvian La Pay Podcast,presented by UW Credit Union here for every
you. The Larvian La Pay podcastis a production of iHeartRadio Podcasts and is
produced and engineered by Dave McCann withcoordinating assistant Ajmn Sewer. Be sure to
listen and to share every episode ofthe Larvian La Pay Podcast available on iHeartRadio,
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