99's UConn Champ Rashamel Jones

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
And the boys are back April 17, 2024.

(00:11):
Pumped to be back in the studio with my guys, the commish.
Angry J, the Donfather, Haired Don Up, Studio Engineer, Kevin Ross.
And hosting it again, Lottie Dotty, the man who likes to potty.
The tax man and crocker in the house.
Sponsors.
TNT remodeling, Skygazer brewing, coming up big.

(00:32):
Got a couple other whales coming in.
But guys, our number one sponsor, Joe Morello, vice president,
capital securities.
And you know their motto.
A life well planned.
He's been busy the last few weeks, right?
He marches in the parade.
You know that?
He's throwing basketballs.
Yeah, he was throwing basketballs and beads out.

(00:54):
Yeah, you kind of love them.
So are you guys?
Where were you?
I was at the parade.
I was part of the parade.
I caught a basketball from Joe.
Did you?
Yeah.
It said on a life well planned.
Let's go.
He can throw.
Oh, he's got a good arm.
He got a hose.
Guys, we got a great guest tonight.

(01:15):
Yukon championship related.
But Yukon coming off the sixth natty.
I mean, everyone said it the whole year.
And guess what?
It happened.
And the romantic matchup number one versus number two
the whole year, essentially, it happened.
Half time close game.
And they did what they always do.
They wore them down.

(01:35):
Huskies win a sixth.
They never disappointed.
They played defense.
They run that offense.
Unbelievable job of the Huskies.
I got to tell you, I mean, we were all kind of hoping
and expecting it.
I've been saying that their defense is as good as any I've
seen in the last 20 years.
They struggled a little bit in the first half.

(01:58):
But again, they just put a run on Purdue.
And lights out, man.
Lights out.
One of the former teams, like I've seen Yukon have.
And I mean, just the word team, like wow, so one selfish,
so together, unbelievable.
Unbelievable.
Never relaxed for a championship game like I did that one.

(02:20):
You know what I mean?
That's saying something.
Because I got my candles going.
You got your shirt on.
I never relaxed and felt comfortable in any other championship.
She does that one.
Yeah, they're a likable team.
I thought Al Pima played him the best of any team.
They made shots.
Yeah, just offensively, they were very impressive.
But the Yukon perimeter defense against Purdue,

(02:43):
they made those guards look silly.
They were non-entities.
Donovan did a great job.
Got to give it up for Donovan.
Unbelievable job.
They didn't need to double down and leave those shooters
because Donovan did such a good job.
He was pushing them off his spot.
Like he was making some 10 to 12 foot, like half hooks
that were impressive.
He was incredible making those shots.
And then when Johnson came in because Donovan

(03:06):
had gotten a little bit of foul trouble,
they started scraping down a little bit.
But then he couldn't guard Samson on the screen and roll.
They were just, they got the perfect college basketball
team.
And Kiribin would be an absolute stud with probably 90%
of the programs.
And he just kind of, he played his roll,
lockdown defender.

(03:26):
They were fun to watch.
And Hurley, he's fantastic.
They game plan.
And I know Donovan was with us a couple months ago.
And he was raving about the coaching staff.
Those guys are prepared.
The game plans are impeccable.
So congrats to the Huskers.
Let's give it up for the Bristol kid.
I mean, he played unbelievable.
He gave us a great two year run.

(03:46):
So proud of him.
Good luck in the NBA.
And let's get it.
Let's go, man.
One noticing from that first 12, 14 minutes of E.D.
As he seemed like he was taking it personal,
we're trying to sprint with Donovan.
And he looked like he needed a paper bag after the 15th minute

(04:07):
because he was hyperventilating.
Dude, he couldn't do it anymore.
And like, after that, the only things he really did
was make free throws and bowl through caribans.
So like, Donovan did his job.
You might think he was dominated because the guy at 37
or whatever he had.
No, he wasn't.
His exhaustion was evident.
I couldn't believe Painter left him in for like the first 14,
15 minutes of the game.
They don't do anything else?
We were watching the game with my daughter.

(04:29):
And she's like, you think they should take him out?
I said, he needs to get off the floor for two or three minutes.
And in the second half, the first eight to 10 minutes,
he had nothing left to give him.
That's the thing, though.
They can't take him out.
Like, I mean, he literally sat for like, what, 30 seconds?
Yeah, that's right.
That's what they do.
But you had mentioned it on the previous podcast.
Like, the entire offense is throw it into him.
Yeah.

(04:49):
Even that Braden Smith was a nice player.
Most teams double down in the law.
How could he be with a law?
The law kid in the semifinals was driving me nuts with his.
He literally didn't score against UConn.
Didn't score.
How about the first foul on him?
He's like doing the smiling Dwight Howard thing.
Like, buddy, you're playing the wrong people.
So I saw they was 330 something games where they took over eight

(05:13):
three-pointers or more per do.
And against UConn in the championship game on Monday,
took seven.
They made one.
You guys remember the one they made?
It was ended in a shot clock.
I think Newton was right on somebody.
Like, right in front of UConn.
It was a tough shot.
Like, it was a really tough shot.
They made one.
How about that layup?
Newton made over Edie.
What the hell was that?

(05:34):
How he held the ball?
He got hit on it too.
If you're watching slow motion, got crushed on it.
Kev, you were there.
What's the environment like in the huge 90,000 C arena?
Because I know some people that said it was very pro per do.
Is that the sense that you got to?
It was 70% per do.
No way.
I mean, they have 40,000 students at a time in that school.
So it's huge.

(05:55):
And they all went and sold everything they had to go.
Think they're going to win this national championship.
And by the second half, it was pretty quiet.
Wow.
That's a good time.
Hey, how about the Illinois fans?
Got it going a few times.
Oh, no, you weren't at that one, right?
No, we got the second game.
One of the craziest runs in NCAA history,
the second half against Illinois.

(06:16):
Yeah.
That was a fun run, man.
Good for the Huskies.
Hey, Lottie, I want to tell you something, too.
I can't believe these conversations happen in my house.
But my teenage daughter goes at one point.
Dad, how come they're going over on every screen?
And we're behind them by a step or two.
And I'm like, I can't believe my daughter asked me this question.
But I go, I don't know.
But I think they'd rather not give up to three

(06:39):
and live with the two, because the two's going to be going
at the Ottoman and he's ready.
Funnel all the tough twos toward the kid from Bristol.
And that's what they did.
And occasionally, E.D. got his little dunks
and made his funny faces.
And that is a funny face.
And how'd that work out?
I know we've talked about, sorry, Commissioner.
I know we've talked about this a ton of times
on previous shows.

(07:00):
But me personally, I've never seen a two-year run the way
that Yukon put it on in those tournaments.
The closest game, I think, was Miami last year.
Might have been like 13 points.
I was talking to Coach Givonazo, legend in Bristol.
And we were talking.
I don't remember a defensive team as good as Yukon.

(07:22):
It kind of brings me back to some of those early to mid-80s
Georgetown Hoya teams.
The way they could defend the perimeter
with their tough guards.
And Ewing was there to just block anything that got through.
But that's how impressive Yukon's defense was.
And for people that love basketball like us,
we love defense and defense, obviously,

(07:43):
they're very talented offensively.
But defense won that championship.
I think it's going to be really interesting to see
what he does next year.
Because you can't doubt the guy.
He says, we're going to better get us now.
I can see it keep coming.
I mean, he's going to do a great job in the transfer
portal.
I think they'll have a great year next year.
He loves the challenge.
There's no doubt about it.
I got to think that next year, it's not going to be like,

(08:05):
oh, Yukon's going to win it again.
They're going to have some work to do and then maybe get
a little luck by team.
Surprise is what he does.
Yeah.
He's going to have to win that.
I'm going to be surprised to see who's like the kid ball.
Is he going to stay?
He's got to stay.
He's got major minutes at the beginning of the year.
He didn't play the last month and a half, two months.
And Jalen Stewart got elevated a little bit.
I like his game.

(08:25):
He's got something going.
He's got something.
Really he's got something going.
The kids call it swag now and stuff, whatever.
He's boysful.
He's kind of like Patino was when he first started in the Big
East.
He's got that.
He's confident.
Every other school hates him.
He's not going to run away from him.
It's got the like, he doesn't care.
And he's fun, man.

(08:46):
I like the old Patino comparison because the new Patino,
obviously we can't stand anymore.
He became a caricature of the great coach.
But when he first started, he was Brad.
The Providence guy.
He was Brad.
He had Billy to kid you.
And then Billy to kid became a great coach
until he went to the NBA.
And now he's just a pawn.
I think it's also telling that his assistant coaches are

(09:09):
saying they're staying.
Right away.
Right away.
The next day.
Like they have not, they don't want to go to mid majors
and make the same money they're making.
He loves him Luke and he loves him Mari.
They like to work together and they want to keep,
they want to go for the third one.
Studio engineer, Kevin Ross.
Have they been offered though?
Not that I know of, but I mean, I've got to think somebody,
amid these, somebody's teams have got to be like,

(09:30):
well, make an offer.
Hurley certainly puts them out there.
They didn't have time to interview for anything,
but it doesn't look like they're interested in any,
they have to be getting calls.
I did love that Hurley came out like right,
because they mentioned Kentucky right away.
They literally just cut the net, you know,
and they're mentioned because he like shot it down immediately.
I absolutely loved it.
So they say put a statue of his wife outside of Gamble,

(09:52):
right?
I did, I did think if there was one kind of job,
it would be the blue bloody type of job.
A Duke and Shire ain't going anywhere.
Thank God, Philip Palski's out.
Cooper flag.
Is that his name?
Yeah.
He made a mistake.
He should be a Husky.
North Carolina, Duke, Kentucky, Indiana, whom I'm missing.

(10:14):
UCLA.
UCLA, Kentucky.
Those are the teams.
Kansas.
Kansas.
You would think Hurley might think, you know what?
Now I don't have to hear about Calhoun.
My father, my brother ever again, if I do it there,
but why would he leave?
He's in the ultimate blue blood.
Yukon is the ultimate blue blood.
Six and 25 years is the definition of blue blood.

(10:36):
UCLA and Indiana haven't been relevant in years.
But this may be his agent talking,
but I know he came on.
The story is to come out that he hasn't closed the book
on the NBA.
He's not an NBA coach.
Oh, he's definitely right in our way.
His players would boycott.
They couldn't take him.
The refs would boycott.
He's a great college coach.
Some of those female refs that beat him up

(10:57):
with all those crying.
All right, no.
So we have to do this.
Sorry, listeners.
We're in a basketball mood here, mode.
One of the greatest has retired.
And I mean one of the greatest.
I think the Yankees lose.
The Yankees lose.
John Sterling is done.

(11:18):
Back to back in a belly to belly.
The great John Sterling has hung it up.
And he knows that that's going to propel this.
It's going to be part of the special story when
the Yankees pushed it across the goal line with Soto.
Bunted for a hit on Sunday, by the way.
Just so you guys know.
I don't know if you tuned in.
But the great John Sterling.
Great listen.

(11:39):
The best thing about John Sterling
is that all the other fans hated him.
And you had to be like, oh, but this guy.
And he grew on you over the years.
Unbelievable presence.
He'll be missed.
The corner he got, the more I liked him.
So real quick, guys, just think of your favorite.
You can't imitate him.
But like your favorite Sterling call,
what was the nickname for the player?

(12:00):
My favorite is that's baseball Susan.
I love that one.
I want that shirt.
That's like, you know, his, to me, that's like, just sums up him.
Kamish, it does.
I want you to think when we go around the horn here,
I want a home run call with the nicknames,
because he got crazy nicknames.
Can we get one?
I just like the burn baby burn one.
Because he had some huge playoff home runs.

(12:22):
And those are the ones that stick out to me against Myers
in 96 and ALCS and against Arthur Rhodes to right center field.
And one of the ALCS is burn baby burn.
Remember what he said before, burn baby burn?
Burn to go to the boom.
Burn to go to the boom.
He is a lot of good ones.
There's two things I remember.

(12:42):
When he first got the job, I remember,
I forgot where I was going.
But I just remember for some reason, they were playing Kansas City.
And I'm listening to it.
And Kansas City got like two or three guys thrown out,
running a basis.
And he literally sat on the radio.
He goes, boy, do you think he's going to be, well,
be far behind if Kansas City wasn't running a basis
like they were drunken sailors, which I thought was absolutely

(13:05):
hilarious.
I didn't know you could even do that on the radio.
And you're talking about home run calls.
The 95 home run mangley hit.
Oh my god.
If it's not on YouTube, they just
have the Gary Thorn one that was from.
I got it on a cassette somewhere.
I have it on a cassette.
Also, I actually bought it.
And it's.
Gotta find it.
I never heard that.
It's after Rubens here was, Sierra hit one before it.

(13:28):
And Manly hits it off Andy Benes.
And he says, you know, back to back and belly to belly.
And you know, the place is up for grabs.
The call is phenomenal.
Phenomenal.
I'd like to hear that.
I kind of like the E-bomb from A-Rod.
Not me.
That was one of my least favorite.
I don't care what you like.
I didn't like A-Rod, man.
I mean, you and Andrew J love A-Rod.

(13:51):
Mine is like an obscure player.
But we had Todd Frazier for a minute.
Downtown goes Frazier.
I thought that was just clever.
With all those corny ones, I thought that was clever.
Real quick, we're going to wrap it out for Johnny Sterling.
Like very, very sad.
Hey, Mike Gorman too.

(14:13):
Yeah.
The voice of the big East.
Last Celtic game.
Tough day for you, Angry J, huh?
Voice of the big East and Voice of the Celtics.
Jeez.
Both things are playing well, though.
Always did that noon big East game on Saturday.
Saturday?
Oh my god.
All right, so shifting gears to happier times.
You guys don't know who's coming in tonight,

(14:34):
but I mentioned it was a basketball guest,
and I mentioned it with the Yukon Natty reference.
This guest is a native of Port Chester, New York.
He was a forward for the Yukon Huskies from 1995 to 1999.
He was the co-captain, one of the co-captains
of Yukon's first ever national championship team in 1999.

(14:55):
He enjoyed winning the big East championship three years
when we owned the big East when we took over.
He made the all tournament team in his native state of New York
as a junior, big East tournament.
As a youngster, this guy played all sports,
but after going to Trinity Catholic in Stanford,
he decided basketball would be his sport.

(15:19):
Guys, do you have any clue who we're having on?
I got an idea.
I have a good idea.
Who is it?
Ross Jones.
Geez, the whole time, I thought I fooled you.
He laid the groundwork for what we're dealing with today.
They have all these championships.
We want to introduce, and we're pumped,
and this is great timing, to introduce number three

(15:39):
from Trinity Catholic.
Thank you very much.
The Yukon Huskies.
Thank you for having me, guys.
Hey, Ov-Jones.
There's so much we want to ask you about,
and I hate to bore you with going way back,
but as far as Connecticut hoop fans
remembers the name, Ross Mel Jones,
you were quite a player at Trinity Catholic.
Like to just ask you, seeing that you're not from Connecticut,

(16:02):
how did you find your way to Trinity Catholic,
and what else did you play as a youngster besides hoops?
My first love was actually baseball.
That was my first love. I picked that up around six,
seven years old.
After that, my second love was football,

(16:22):
and then I picked up basketball like around 12 years old.
That's awesome.
And then you, a Yankee fan, by the way, from New York?
You know, people, when I talk about my New York teams,
people will be like, what?
I'm a New York guy to the death, so I don't just
go for the Yankees.

(16:43):
I go for the Mets.
I go for the Rangers.
I go for the Islanders.
Anything New York I go for.
Don't say to Jets that you're kicked off.
I respect that.
I respect that.
No, the Jets are Jersey.
I consider them New Jersey.
How about the Knicks, man?
The Knicks are fun.
We are kicking butt right now, and I'm loving every second of it.
It's been a long time coming for us New York fans.

(17:04):
Tim's got the boys playing some defense.
So yes, they are.
How did you find your way to Stanford at Trinity Catholic?
Well, my gym teacher, Richard Albanesea,
he had got the varsity football job at Trinity Catholic.
They were still Stanford Catholic before I got there.

(17:25):
So he just got the head job.
He just got the head job, and he was my gym teacher.
So I played modified football.
In eighth grade, I played junior varsity football
back in New York in eighth grade.
So he thought that I would make that transition and go play
varsity for him on the high school team.

(17:46):
So he's the reason how I got to Connecticut.
In New York, you could play at the high school level
in eighth grade?
Yes.
It was junior varsity.
It wasn't varsity.
I was on junior varsity.
Still, our rules are terrible.
We can't do that here.
We can't call up an eighth grader to play JV.
No, we can't do it.
No, that's not true.

(18:06):
There's a kid in Bridgeport.
His name is Travis.
Which Travis last name?
Man, he actually played varsity in eighth grade
at a private institution.
He was at a private school.
So I think private schools have different rules of regulation.
You're right.
You're right.
There's a few CIC guys here that were involved in the CIC,

(18:31):
but that coach in the CIC.
So how about the documented?
How long was the length of your school day
seeing that you had quite a travel in from the city?
Yeah, it was definitely.
I was up at 5.30 every morning.
I hopped on that 706 train.

(18:53):
I pulled into the Stanford train station about 8.15
every morning, and then I would hop on a school bus.
Well, it wasn't actual school bus.
They would send a janitor to come pick me up in the school
van.
And that's how I got to school for four years.
Rash, as a FISED teacher myself, I

(19:13):
know the impact those type of teachers can have on a young
person.
So I appreciate the story, and you followed your coach
and your FISED teacher to Trinity Catholic.
And then you played for a legendary coach, Mike Walsh.
Can you talk a little bit about him?
And we can get into your accolades at Trinity Catholic.
They were amazing off the charts, fifth time leading score,

(19:35):
in Connecticut.
But talk a little bit about Coach Walsh's influence,
not only as a basketball player for you, but as a person.
Coach Walsh was very instrumental,
and pretty much getting me to where I am at this moment
in my life now.
Coach Walsh was not just my basketball coach.

(19:56):
He was a father figure.
And I'm just going to put it out there like that.
Anything I didn't know, I can go to him.
He would answer it if he didn't know the answer.
He would scramble to make sure he got the answer for me.
He cared about my well-being off the court.
I mean, there's times where we have a late game.

(20:17):
It's probably 9, 9.30 at night.
Instead of me taking a train home like I did,
Coach Walsh would drive me home, things of that nature.
So Coach Walsh was more than my coach.
To this day, 2024, he and I still have a great relationship.
We talk all the time.
So like I said, those type of people,

(20:40):
they just become family after a while.
And that's how I look at them.
He know my whole family.
My whole family knows him.
And it's a beautiful thing to have that type of relationship.
Rash, I got to tell you one Mike Walsh story, my only one.
I coached class S girls hoops.

(21:00):
And one year, we were semi-average
and just made our way into the state tournament.
And we had a first round game at Trinity Catholic.
And I got down there.
And I didn't know that he was coaching.
But all of a sudden, he ended up on the girls' sidelines.
And don't you know, they win it.

(21:22):
They win it in his only year with girls.
And he told me how it happened, that their coach
kind of billed on him.
And he got a phone call in Florida.
And he said to the wife, looks like I
got to go back for a couple months.
He won the state championship.
Yeah.
And that's exactly how it played out.
That just shows you the type of team player, coaches.

(21:42):
He was a lifelong member within the Stanford Catholic,
the whole Stanford community, for that matter.
Forget about it.
Coach, they're coach kids from the Stanford High, West Hill.
Every school in the Stanford area,
coach has put his hands on them in some shape, form, or fashion.
And like you said, took over the girls' program

(22:04):
and took them all the way to the final game and winning it.
That's just who coach is.
Coach jumps into things without even thinking about it,
because that's who he is.
He and Coach Calhoun are kind of similar.
And that's a reason why I went to UConn just
on the father figure types that they are.

(22:25):
They're not just high school coaches.
These guys really do a lot of work behind the scenes,
making sure that all of their players
are doing what they have to do, classroom, and off the court.
Brosh, I got to ask you this.
Being a huge high school fan, obviously, you
had a storied career at 2300 points.

(22:45):
Trinity Catholic was always, we would always
go see him play in the state tournament.
And you guys were quarterfinals, semifinals, finals.
Who were some of the other guys that you played with?
I remember Oshji was there.
He was after you?
Was he after you?
Oshji came after me.
And Dave McClure?
The only after me.
You know, all the bigger names in Connecticut,

(23:09):
the Oshji's, the Dave McClure's, Tori Thomas'.
All of those guys came after me.
My role I play with was Earl Johnson.
Earl went to Rutgers.
Yeah, yeah.
He went to Rutgers.
All right.
Yep, he went to Rutgers.
And so he was my point guard for three years.

(23:29):
He was tough, man.
Where'd he go, Holy Cross?
No, Earl Johnson went to Rutgers.
No, no, no, no, Tori.
Oh, yeah, Tori.
Oh, Tori, yeah.
Yeah, Tori went to Holy Cross.
And it's so funny.
Tori's my cousin.
Yes, his brother is married to my cousin.

(23:49):
They have family and everything.
So I knew Tori coming up as a youngster.
So that's how close he and I, Earl Johnson,
is right from poor Chester.
So we're New York guys.
Tori was diminutive, right?
Like he's a tiny, not tiny.
He's a smaller point guard.
And like, he was muscle muscular.

(24:11):
Oh, he was built, yeah.
Is Holy Cross in a Patriot conference over there?
Patriot League, yeah.
Yeah, he had a heck of a career.
Yep.
Yes, he did.
Had a hell of a career.
If I'm not mistaken, he's still overseas right now,
playing to this day.
Is he really?
Wow.
I wanted to ask you, you followed the program,
obviously, right?

(24:31):
So you talked about Earl, Tori, and then Dave and Craig.
Do you remember the name Tevin Baskin?
Of course, I know Tevin.
Man, we watched them play Crosby at Yukon.
At Yukon at Campo.
He was a junior.
I mean, not like Duncan's the ball is a big deal,
but he must have dunked the ball eight times in a game.

(24:52):
I thought this guy would be in the NBA.
You know, yeah, yeah.
It's, you know, that NBA level is a monster.
And I tell people that all the time.
You know, as good as I was, as good as Tevin was,
and a lot of players that came through Trinity,
you know, that NBA level is something else.
You know, you have to be in the right fit,

(25:16):
right attributes, height, size.
You know, a lot of that goes into play.
You know, you can have two guys, both six,
you know, six, four, six, five,
but they're going to take that guy who probably
can guard multiple players, you know,
probably can play multiple positions.
So, you know, it comes down to a lot of different tangibles
when you're making it to going to that league.

(25:38):
Do you remember?
He was a hell of a player.
Do you remember a kid by the last name of Screlja?
He might have went to Brown.
Mike Screlja, you remember this kid.
He was sticking his nose.
Yeah, yeah, he said screens and just rink.
Yeah, kids over.
How about football player?
Yeah, yeah, and then next Tromboli,
which Tromboli went to Trinity?
That was TJ.

(26:00):
Yeah, he gets you.
Is that the one from Vermont or did he go to Vermont?
Yeah, that was the one with the Vermont, hell of a shooter.
Yeah, he was a Stony Brook killer.
You guys have a hell of a, uh-uh.
What a program. That's a program, man.
Wow. Let me ask you something else.
I mean, you know, you talk about Tromboli.
His dad was a high school coach.
Dad coached Trumbull High School for many years.

(26:21):
So, TJ came up a basketball player from a baby.
Yeah, good player.
How about coach Walsh?
Like, how were your practices?
I was just kind of curious what you guys ran.
Like, what you ran for offense, defense and stuff.
You're mostly man to man, or not?
That's very interesting.
We played man to man the whole game.

(26:41):
Our practices were more like scrimmages, to be honest.
Coach would divide the team up,
and we'll just play amongst each other
just to really, you know, get a feel for each other
and get a feel for just playing the game.
Not so much of running plays, but knowing where to be.
And that's what coach was big on.

(27:01):
Love it.
Rush, we all played high school and sports
at different levels, and there's always games and moments
that we remember.
I was reading something about the 1993 FCAC final,
and that was one of the things that you remember the most.
Do you remember any detail from that game
and what made you so proud about that victory?
They were undefeated, right, Fairfield at the time?

(27:22):
Oh, oh, Fairfield was undefeated.
Eisenbach was on that team.
Quincy Shannon, Derek Klumkowski,
those were their big three right there.
And we were underdogs by a long shot.
No one thought we had a shot in that game.
Trinity, Stanford Catholic has never
won an FCAC title till that point.

(27:45):
And it was just a big accomplishment
for the school at that point.
We just got the new name, Trinity.
We were just trying to carve out our identity
and things of that nature.
And that game was the start of our run,
up in our 20-year run that we had.
So that game was the pivotal game.

(28:06):
In a sense, just talking about it,
it almost kind of remind me of the Yukon in 99
when we beat Duke after that first national title.
We got five more after that.
So that was a big win.
Hey, hey, Rasha.
I watched a bunch of interviews with you earlier today.
And Warren, how you said you didn't start
playing organized ball cue at about 12 years old

(28:27):
because of a lack of opportunity,
not as many AU teams round back then as there are now.
If you're a high school coach right now,
do you want that kid that's been playing AU
since they were six years old?
Or do you want that kid that was playing outside
at Mountain Vernon Fourth Street Park
and played AU for a couple of years coming in?
Who do you rather have as a coach?
You know, as long as they have a motor

(28:49):
and they have just wanting to learn,
I don't care where they come from.
I don't care.
As long as they come with just that engine
and soak up all the information
that I'm going to give them.
That's what matters at the end of the day.
You know, taking the kids from the AU circuit,

(29:10):
one thing you know, he may be a little bit more polished,
may know the game a little bit more, some rules,
maybe a little bit more,
a little bit more skillful,
especially nowadays with all these kids having trainers
and things of that.
And you know, that kid coming from the park,
he's hungry, you know, that kid that's in the park

(29:31):
just playing for the love of the game.
And who's in that park every day, all day,
seven days a week, you know,
that kid is hungry and looking for opportunities.
So, you know, you can't go wrong, you know, once again,
if that kid coming from AU is just as hungry.
There's some pretty good games at that park too, right?
Marv, Arner?
Oh my goodness, forget about it.

(29:53):
Fourth Street has made a lot of players,
Ben Gordon, he's from Mount Vernon.
Man, the list goes on.
We had players, you know, a lot of Rob Sool,
who went to Mount Vernon High School,
played at Hawaii, played overseas.
We also had Jonathan Mitchell, who played at Florida.

(30:14):
Jonathan, I think he won a national title
in Florida as well.
So, like I said, Mount Vernon is the number one basketball
place in the whole Westchester County.
And for a few years, we were number one
in the whole entire New York state.
Beating, you know, Lincoln and Brooklyn.
We, you know, we own New York for some years.
So, I gotta ask you this, I'm familiar

(30:36):
with the Mount Vernon program,
because we actually were trying to recruit
some of the kids, like the seventh and eighth, man.
I coach Division III, so.
But, how, like was that hard for you
to go to Trinity Catholic with that there, Mount Vernon?
That could be, that program is,
the guys there too, it's kind of like,
they're so well organized.

(30:56):
I thought they'd be like some kind of pressing
full court trapping team.
I mean, they just, they run their stuff.
Practices are ridiculously disciplined.
I mean, was it hard for you passing that up?
Well, no, it wasn't hard.
And, you know, it's, I'm so connected to that
because Coach Semino, who's the head coach
to this day of the varsity, he was my baseball coach.

(31:18):
He's still there.
He's still there, wow.
Yeah, he's coached Semino still there.
So, he was my baseball coach,
my literally baseball coach for about four years.
And then, you know, I had moved out of Mount Vernon
for some time, moved to my grandmother
to Port Chester, New York.
So, I kind of was disconnected
from the whole Mount Vernon farm team,

(31:39):
because Coach Semino has what you call the junior night.
That's like middle school kids getting ready for high school.
I didn't attend Mount Vernon middle school,
because at the time I was living with my grandmother
in Port Chester, so this is how Coach Albanese
and I connected is when I transferred to Port Chester.
And, you know, so I really didn't,

(32:01):
I really wasn't under Semino's watch,
like the rest of the kids were in Mount Vernon.
Hey, you were mentioning all the people
that are from Mount Vernon.
I learned this at a Mount Vernon basketball game.
Denzel Washington?
Yeah.
Did you guys know that?
Yeah, but, oh, yeah.
I never knew that until about seven or eight years ago.
I was at a Mount Vernon game,
people they were telling me,
I just think of the King Kong training day movie.

(32:24):
Yep, training day.
Milwagner and DeWine Wagner too, I think.
Where they?
No, Wagner, they're from Jersey.
No, they're from Jersey.
I thought Milwagner, I'm thinking the Louisville brothers,
they're, jeez, I shouldn't have brought it up.
Scooter and riding?
Yeah, I'm a craze, I'm a craze, boys.
I'm a craze, boys, yes, yes, yes.
Yep, they're from there.
Yep, Denzel Washington,

(32:45):
he funds our Boys and Girls Club in Mount Vernon.
Yeah, she's...
You know, the rapper, Heavy D, Rest of Soul,
the one who's in the media right now,
Sean Combs, he's from my hometown.
Ah, man, you know, Pete Roxy, El Smove, there's a few.

(33:06):
You know, there's a few of them.
I got a history lesson.
There's a lot of reviews out there.
I got a history lesson, I was there, yeah.
Clyde Vaughn too, Clyde Vaughn.
Who?
Clyde Vaughn.
Get out of here.
Clyde Vaughn from Robert Brinton.
So, Roch, you have a story?
No, Clyde, he's from the New Yorkshire.
Oh, New Rochelle, I thought it was in my friend,
and that's not bad.
Hey, so you had a story?
No, he's from New Rochelle.
You had a story in high school career.

(33:26):
What was the recruiting process like?
How much mail were you getting?
Who would you narrow your teams down to?
And tell me how your grandmother influenced your decision.
I'll tell you a quick story.
When I got to Trinity, my first year,
Coach Wall, she catches me.
Probably, this was right before the basketball season

(33:46):
actually started.
He came to me because I was actually gonna play football.
I never even played football in high school,
so you guys know.
And Coach I was mad at me.
He's probably mad at me to this day for that.
But when I got there, Coach Wall said to me,
he said, I was in the office,
and he brought a glad bag, like a garbage bag with him,

(34:08):
and I'm looking at the bag.
He asked me, how many letters do you got for football?
I said zero to my nose.
No, none.
He said, how many letters you got for baseball?
I said zero.
So he said, well, look, this is for you.
This is your basketball letters.
Now mind you, the season didn't even start yet.
First letter I pull out was a Georgetown letter.

(34:29):
Then I'm pulling out Carolina.
I'm just pulling out.
I pulled out, it was like I said,
it was over 200 colleges in this garbage bag he had for me.
And he said, you know what?
This is your proof to show you this is your past.
And he threw the bag at me,
and I went home that night, told my grandmother,
she said, well, you should just stick with this one.

(34:51):
This is what's showing you more interest.
And I made that decision in ninth grade
that it's just gonna be basketball from here on out.
So as I've, you know, getting to the basketball,
I was having me recruited since my freshman year,
you know, Dayhine, Bobby Knight, Dean Smith.

(35:12):
You name it.
You name it.
They were interested.
Narrowed it down to Florida State,
Indiana, UMass, Yukon, Syracuse and Boston College.
Cause I kind of want to stay around the area.
Florida State was the furthest and Indiana,
those two were the furthest schools that I had,
but I really pretty much wanted to stay around the area

(35:34):
so my family can come watch me play.
Coaches, you know, they're coming to your practices,
can't talk to you, but they're watching through the doors
and things like that.
So I was seeing these coaches
from my freshman year in the building.
Say hi, I'm Shmay.
So you get to your senior year, they're starting,
you know, you're being recruited.
Talk about the home visits and Calipari and CalHoon visits

(35:56):
and your grandmother had something to say about that, right?
Oh man, you did your homework.
I did.
Yeah.
Yeah, my, you know, who was at first that came by,
it was, I think Coach CalHoon came first
and him, Howie Dickerman and Dave Lado came to the house.

(36:17):
You know, they put the tape in,
pretty much describing the school, you know,
going through the whole campus,
then they get down to the basketball program, you know,
and one thing he said to me at that time was, you know,
Raj, I got a great, a great player here
by the name of Ray Allen.

(36:37):
So he said, if you come in and play defense,
you might see some minutes on the floor.
And that's exactly what he said.
You might see some minutes on the floor.
So I'm like, okay, sounding good.
So that next week, literally Calipari came in
and he did the same thing, popped his tape in,
but his tape was a little different.
He had like an announcer starting me,

(36:59):
had me starting in the lineup, announcing my name.
He had me as the freshman of the year.
He had some, he had me down as just being top freshman
in the country.
So after he had his little spiel, he left.
My grandmother literally just said, I don't trust this guy.
He sounds like a car salesman.

(37:20):
He's way up.
And I'm like, yeah, I said, okay, Graham,
she's like that Calhoun guy, I trust him.
He didn't promise you anything.
He just said, if you come in here, work hard,
you might play.
He said, I think you should go with that guy.
And I listened, luckily I listened to her

(37:41):
because literally I think it was probably four,
four to five days later, Calipari put his name in the NBA
and goes and coached the New Jersey net.
Unbelievable, man, that's unbelievable.
Hey, how cool of a dude is Howie?
Everyone we know from, you know, that circle
and even the Central Connecticut guys that we know,
they love Coach Dickerman.
Oh man, Coach D is my guy.

(38:03):
Like, oh man, I have so many stories that Coach D,
you know, Coach D, he worked with our big guys.
The Eric Haywood, the Travis Knight, the Kirk King,
he worked with those guys and the drills he did
with those guys, like the guards on the other end,
we used to just turn around and look at him.
He would literally line up the big men on the wall,

(38:24):
like they're playing dodgeball.
And he's like, he's like at the dotted line,
not even a foul line.
And he is firing the ball at these guys.
And if they,
I would love to know what the plan is.
And if they drop it, I'd throw the catcher.
No, it's working on their hands.
It's like, you know, if a guard throw the ball in the post,
they better catch it.

(38:45):
So we worked on this stuff and we used to be like,
Coach D is nuts, he's having fun down here.
He's just firing the ball, big guys are ducking,
not catching the ball.
So, you know, and then on the other side, you know,
Coach D and Coach Calhoun, you know,
they used to battle on the sidelines, you know,

(39:06):
the big guys mess up, Coach Yel at Coach D.
Then if the guards mess up, Coach D yell right back at Coach,
like, hey, look at these fucking guards,
look what they're doing.
So I gotta jump in.
So I was a central practice when he was the head coach there.
And it was early in the year
and they had garbage cans on the floor.

(39:28):
And I remember asking one of the managers,
I'm like, what, like what's the-
Throw up in?
Yeah, what was the-
Throw up?
Yeah.
The guys would literally stop and they would vomit
and he would just start yelling at him to get going again.
It was, I've never seen anything like it.
It was awesome.
Can you do that now?
He took that pace with Coach Calhoun.

(39:50):
Every first practice, we had maybe 10 guys throwing up
and one guy for, I'll tell you what,
this guy for, he actually played for him one year.
And he went to the hospital, first day of practice.
The next year, another young guy,
Amber Lance is waiting right outside
because we know what type of practice it is.

(40:11):
The first day of practice is the worst practice.
We don't even touch a ball for three hours.
Jeez.
It's just running for three hours.
And every practice is three hours, so you know.
But this, the first day of practice,
we don't even practice in gamble.
We practice in the hot ass still house
where it's 150 degrees.

(40:32):
You didn't practice in gamble back then?
Not the first day.
Nope.
That's a regular that Coach Calhoun had forever.
How about the preseason run?
We don't even get uniform.
We don't even get practice gear until after we prove
that we're worthy of the gear.
And that's probably day three.
Wow.

(40:53):
Yeah, so, Roch, that leads me into my question actually
after a prolific career in high school
and being able to do the things that you can do
and basically be unstoppable at that level.
What was the biggest difference when you got to UConn
in October and started formally practice?
And was it just the athleticism, the strength, the speed?
Can you talk a little bit about your early impressions

(41:14):
as a freshman going against those competitive bodies
in practice?
It was awesome.
I had the opportunity to come up in the summertime
before the season even started of my freshman year.
So I graduated high school in June.
I was on campus two weeks later.

(41:35):
So I literally had an opportunity
to get my feet wet early, playing against Ray, Derone,
every day, Rudy Johnson, just playing against those guys
every day, every day, prepared me for once the season started.
They put us on a very good weightlifting program,

(41:58):
cardio program.
So by the time the season started,
I was like a well-oiled machine.
And I came in pretty much, how can I say?
Everybody said that I was diesel.
So they was like, man, were you lifting weights
in high school?
I'm like, no, I didn't lift weights at all.
So I kind of came in, body already ready to go.

(42:19):
But just those games in the field house, because we
couldn't play in gamble early, just
those games in the field house.
Kevin Olly came back.
Danielle will come back.
Donnie Marshall will come back.
Man, just a lot of the older players
came back in the field house.

(42:41):
And those games were epic games.
I tell you, I had probably some of my hardest games
in the field house playing against those guys.
And like I said, it just prepared myself as there,
Ricky Moore was there.
And we had another guy, Sam Punches,
who ended up transferring out.
But we were the three freshmen up there getting off
feet wet and just giving it our all.

(43:05):
Obviously, you're coming out of high school playing
against other sophomores, juniors, and seniors.
And you already know they have the weight over you.
They've been in this training program with coach
for the last three years.
So it just comes down to more of a desire at that point,
who wanted more?
And that's pretty much how Coach Calhoun

(43:29):
pretty much looked at you and how he gauged you, like, OK,
how hard do you go?
And that's pretty much how guys earned a playing time
in practice.
Rash, I got to ask you this.
Turned into one of the greatest shooters in NBA History Hall,
a famous Ray Allen.
In his Yukon days, he was an athlete that was, to me,

(43:51):
like kind of Jordan-esque with the way he was in the air
and stuff like that.
What's it like as a high school freshman two weeks later,
Gardin and Ray?
And when did you know that he was just straight up different?
I got an opportunity to work at his camp a couple of years.
And they said the pros hardly ever show up.
And they come up and sign stuff.

(44:11):
And then they leave.
He was there from like six in the morning, which
was three hours before the camp, two hours after having
bought lunch for the whole staff.
And then when we saw him actually shoot the ball,
I could not believe what I was watching.
It was like a robot.
And he's designed like that.
That's a Ray Allen for you.
I tell you, my first wake-up call, I should say,

(44:35):
in the field house coming down.
And I guarded Ray my whole entire freshman year
from what I got there in the summertime in June to the end
of the season.
So when Ray went on to the NBA, I guarded him every day.
And I mean, just his shot making ability is out of this world.

(44:56):
And like you said, he was athletic as hell
when he was in college.
Coming down, you think he's about to lay it out,
but he's two-hand dunking it.
You think you got the shot blocked,
but he just goes up another level shooting over you,
or you might have him.
Then he may pull what he did in the Big East Championship

(45:18):
game against Georgetown, turn the ball different ways,
turn his body.
Like I said, he was Jordaness most definitely.
Rush, not a trouble.
Not a trouble.
Definitely not.
And I've seen that firsthand, my first time on campus.
And I'm pretty sure he had it in his mind, like, OK,

(45:39):
this is the guy they talking about that's coming in.
Let me show him what I'm about.
So he came at me.
There was no holding back, came at me hard.
I had to learn how to get my shot off.
I had to learn how to, against a guy like Ray,
you've got to learn how to get your shot off
in multiple ways.
So yeah, he definitely prepared me and got me ready.

(45:59):
I went to UConn because of Ray, just to be honest.
Unbelievable.
Obviously, you remember, but that Georgetown game,
a couple of things stand out.
There was a two-minute stretch to maybe start the game,
where it just went back and forth and back and forth.
And Rudy got a big dunk, and they called time out.
And Calhoun was saying, calm down, calm down,
because all you guys are jumping around ready for war.

(46:20):
And then another time in that game,
Iverson fouled Ray on a 16-foot pull-up.
And he couldn't believe that that ball went in.
And it was like an an one from 16 feet.
You remember those plays?
I remember it like it was yesterday.
And the best thing about that after the game,
Boys to Men, the R&B singing group,
they came to the game for Ray.

(46:42):
So after that game, we're in the W Hotel.
I'm hanging with Boys to Men.
That was one of the best days of my life.
You thought we won the passion championship.
Hey, I got an obscure question from that game.
When Ray started high-stepping away from the final seconds
there, what's his name?
The junkyard dog, Mr. L. Williams.

(47:05):
He started trucking toward the bench.
And some staff member, a female, got in the way.
Are you aware of this?
He trucked like that.
Her name was Jennifer, like, Percicco or something.
I remember, because they showed her.
Because she was Mary.
I think Mary was the best charge I've ever seen in my life,
dude.
He mowed her down.

(47:26):
Were you aware of that?
No, I wasn't aware that she got trucked.
Oh, you had to watch that replay.
That was crazy.
I got to watch that.
I was on the bench at that moment.
And I definitely didn't see that.
I'm watching a slow motion a million times.
And let me tell you something.
She wears it pretty good.

(47:46):
She was there.
Yeah, she was there.
I tell you what, our managers were used to the combat.
Trust me, Coach Calhoun, he throws those managers in the fire.
When I tell you in the fire, if a guy walks into the gym
and there's no other players around,

(48:06):
you better believe those managers are there being a dummy,
getting hit, whatever the case may be.
So she was used to that.
Hey, to end that season, UCLA, UConn,
was that the right year?
Or was that the year before?
No, that was a year before.
That was 94 season.
You weren't there yet then?
No, I didn't.
No, that was my senior year.

(48:29):
When they lost to T.V. Hall, when they lost to the O'Bannon brothers.
Yes, that was one of the best games ever played, if you ask me.
Yeah, you guys, unfortunately, lost to Mississippi State.
I think you were like 32 and 3 going into that game.
Oh, Dampeer and Dante Jones.
Yeah, I can talk to you.
That was Ray's last game.
And you guys just couldn't shoot that night.
I think you scored 55 points.

(48:50):
But the Mississippi State was tough.
Rick, you got hurt.
Yep, you got hurt.
That's right.
Rick, you got hurt.
He dislocated his shoulder in the first half.
And he was playing well.
He was pushing the ball for us.
But I got to give Dante Jones a lot of credit.
He did a phenomenal job on Ray.
And to be honest, I think that's how he got drafted after that performance.

(49:13):
Yeah, by the next after that performance.
So and then you got big boy, Eric Dampeer down there,
who had a nice solid NBA career.
They were big.
Their front line was, you know, Eric Dampeer, 7-1, I think they had another 6-10 big down
there and they were some big boys.
So, you know, they called us that night.

(49:35):
Rush, going into your sophomore year, Jake Voskos on campus now and Rip and Freeman.
And again, you and Ricky Moore in the back court.
Did you guys sense or the coaching staff sense that you guys were building the foundation
to something that was going to be pretty special two years away?

(49:57):
Most definitely.
Coach been talking about, you know, I can't tell you what he was talking about with, you
know, Kevin Olly the year prior to me and Ricky getting there.
But when we got there, coach was talking championship national title, national championship
when we walked through the door.
So that has been a dream of Ricky and mine from our freshman year.

(50:19):
And we worked towards that.
Go ahead.
I'm sorry.
I remember being at that Kansas game at the Civic Center your sophomore year when Kirk
King and Ricky couldn't play.
And you were, and I'm telling you, not just because you're on, you were the best player
on the floor that day.
And they had Rafe LeFrens and Paul Pearson and others.

(50:40):
And you guys took them down to the wire very short-handed.
You had 21-22 points.
I remember the electricity in that arena.
It was awesome.
I remember a lot of stuff about that game.
Oh yeah.
Oh yeah.
I remember that game.
You know, one thing about me, when it comes to my playing days, I kind of remember all
my games and that game was a hell of a game.

(51:02):
You know, once again, you got Kansas coming in, you know, we're a young team.
They were more of a veteran team.
And we went out and played out butts off, you know, we went out there and played out
butts off down to about big, you know, Kirk King and Ricky Moore.
We have them too.
Who knows how the outcome of that game, you know?
So we were down two big players and we, like you said, we took them to the wire.

(51:27):
You know, we just, you kind of way, we don't care who we playing.
We don't look at the names on the other side.
We just go out and play our game.
And that's exactly what we did.
And Ross, you were leading the team and scoring that hurt, right?
And then you got hurt the end of the year.
That's correct.
Yeah.
I got hurt.
Yeah.
I got hurt in the Seakin Hall game.
I pretty much fractured my knee.

(51:49):
Wow.
And what's that like?
I mean, you're playing the top of your game and then that happens.
How did you kind of deal with that?
Oh, that's tough.
That's tough because, you know, being on a program like Yukon, you know, you just look
at our bench, you know, we had starting five and we had another seven on a bench that could
potentially start.

(52:10):
So you go down with an injury.
Now, you know, other guys' numbers are being called and God forbid they start playing well
because now you've got to get yourself back into that rotation.
And that kind of exactly what happened when I went down.
Rip just, he took over pretty much.
Rip took over, which he had to do.

(52:32):
And he did a phenomenal job at that, you know, from that point on.
And, you know, like I say, when you get hurt and you got, you know, hungry wolves on the
sidelines just waiting for their turn and then when they actually get their turn, they're
not trying to give that up, you know.
So, um, and that's the thing about coach, he's a fair guy, you know, it's like, okay,
be ready to when your number get called, you better be ready.

(52:54):
And you know, and that's one thing I've learned from him just staying ready, being ready.
So it was definitely tough.
It was definitely tough.
It takes a lot out of you because now, you know, your whole day is pretty much just been
five times a day.
You stayed living in a training room.
So it was tough.
Hey, Roch, what's the biggest difference between the Yukon teams of the last year or

(53:17):
two and the teams when you played and then who would win?
Who would win a game with no referees?
Which team this year?
My team, um, this year's team, you know what, I'm not even going to be biased.
I'm not going to be biased.
You know, um, I think our 99 team would, would, would do a number on this year's team.

(53:41):
That's what I'm talking about.
And I'm like, you know, once again, I, I, I love what Dan, uh, or coach early done this
year and a lot of people have to remember who they have on that sideline with them.
Coach Tom Moore, he's one of the top assistants on that team and he was our coach when we
wanted.
So that's a Jim Calhoun person that Dan Hurley has on his bench.

(54:01):
Um, but you know, if you want to line them up.
I think Jake, not even, I think I know Jake Boswell would definitely do a number on
Clinton again.
Um, and our, you know, our guards, you know, we beat up tremendous, not saying this, this
team didn't beat up, but we beat up, you know, um, we took defense.
I mean, we took it serious, you know, if you get beat like, you know, this is one of coach

(54:25):
Calhoun's things.
If you get beat off one dribble and that horn goes off, you know, it's for you.
You're coming out the game.
So so that's a whole different animal right there to, you know, you're going in the game
saying chest, don't get beat, don't get beat.
And you know, and with that mind frame, you know, it turned us into animals pretty much.

(54:47):
Um, you know, so I just think overall we had a little bit more depth in them.
And like I said, we had literally 12 guys that can come in and put up some numbers.
Um, rash.
So awesome.
I wish we could get to see these types of matchups that we dream of.
All big East tournament you made.
What year was that?

(55:08):
Junior year.
Junior year.
That was my junior year.
Yep.
How special was that being at the garden and you being a New Yorker?
And did you have, you know, friends and family there?
Oh, most definitely.
Oh, more.
I borrowed a few tickets from a couple of players to get all my people in.
Um, I just wanted to go out.
Um, just go out and have a good showing.

(55:29):
You know, it was my junior year.
I said, you know, just, I don't go on to games saying I got to score this or grab this many
rebounds and get this many stills.
My mind frame going into every game is just go out here.
Don't try to do things I normally don't do.
Just stick with them myself and I'll be okay.
And that was my mind frame going into that tournament.

(55:51):
Rush that that all tournament selection must have been really gratifying for you because
your junior year, I remember your, your role changed a little bit.
You're, but you were the ultimate team guy.
A lot.
Yeah.
You were the ultimate team guy.
They brought, they brought some, you know, different guys in.
How did you handle that?
Uh, that adversity?

(56:13):
Um, how are those conversations with coach Calhoun?
If you, if you did have any, uh, can you talk a little bit about that?
Yeah.
Well, you know, that was a real, a real, a real, a real, a real, a real, a real, a real,
real, real trouble in time.
Uh, especially my junior year.
Um, you know, to be honest, still wasn't a hundred percent with the knee yet.

(56:36):
Uh, so I kind of knew, you know, coming into that season, I'm going to be coming off the
bench just how we finished that year.
Um, prior I said, okay.
Um, but you know, worked hard.
Um, you know, I'm a junior now.
And the, the, the, the lovely thing about the whole thing is that we are all brothers

(56:56):
on that team.
Um, we all, I mean, genuinely loved each other.
We all hung out.
I mean, if you probably, you probably seen us in the buckling malls, all 16 of us, you
know, with, with Yukon's sweats and hoodies on.
So, you know, we went to the movies together.
So if it wasn't for those guys, I think probably I would have transferred to be honest with

(57:19):
you.
Wow.
It was my guys.
That, um, kept me level headed, kept me, um, kept my eyes on the prize and kept me focused.
You know, I'm talking Rick Hamilton, Khaled Alameen, Ricky Moore, all of them, Bo Archibald.
You name it, Alvin morning.

(57:40):
You name it, Jake Bosco.
They all gave me words of encouragement.
You know, this day, the next day, that game, you know, Ross just keep going.
You know how coach is, you know.
Um, like I said, my guys is what kept me going.
That's quite a testament to, to those teammates, uh, rush because in today's landscape with

(58:02):
NCA, what you went through that year, most guys would have definitely just gone into
the port.
Most of all guys would have gone into the portal and said, see you later.
But the university, the coaching staff and your teammates meant that much to you.
Um, and that's just an awesome story to hear about the way that you talk about your teammates.

(58:22):
Adversity equals portal.
You know, and those guys, those guys, um, you know, I contemplated transferring, but
my guys wasn't having it.
You know, um, I'm very like extra, extra close.
Ricky Moore and I, we talked to this day, Khaled Alameen and I talked to this day.
I talked to all of the guys, but Ricky Moore, Khaled Alameen, those two, especially, um,

(58:47):
you know, I can remember days out the practice.
They come to my room sitting on a bed like, man, what's wrong with you?
You know, um, stop looking sad or, you know, like I said, just talking to me like a real
brother, um, you know, Raj, we need you.
We can't do this without you.
Blah, blah, blah.
So, you know, hearing that from my guys just made it easier.

(59:10):
It made it easier.
You know, I wanted to ask you about Khaled, um, when he steps foot on campus, do you guys
know what you're getting in him?
Cause he's, he's a rare, rare player.
And then, uh, two things, the Pittsburgh game, the Pittsburgh game, and then being in
the tunnel when he, when he, not, not when he said he was going to shock the world, but
like when you guys did that little, I don't know, some sort of, it was like DMX.

(59:32):
Yeah.
That was, that's awesome.
I could watch that forever.
Yeah.
I started that, you know, DMX, DMX is right next door in Yonkers from Mount Vernon.
So, um, I knew DMX God bless the soul.
Um, so I started that chant, um, you know, probably midway, midway through the season,

(59:57):
I started that chant our senior year.
That's awesome.
And like with Khaled, I knew, like I knew of Khaled, cause um, Khaled had played with
a, um, Long Island Panthers as a team out of Long Island, um, coached by Gary Charles.
Um, a lot of, he coached like Zenden Hamilton, who played at St. John's, who went to, to

(01:00:17):
the 76ers.
Yeah.
The lefty.
Yeah.
The lefty, Ed Brown, who played at Rhode Island under, uh, Coach Hurley, when Coach Hurley
was at Rhode Island.
Oh, get out.
Um, so Khaled, Khaled played for the Gary Charles team living in Minnesota.
Kay was flying to New York and playing on.
So I knew Kay coming into high school.

(01:00:38):
Um, you know, when Kay was still in high school, so when we got him, I was like, oh, yes, this
is what we need.
So what was it like when you first stepped on campus?
I've heard stories about him kind of run the show right away.
Um, well, I want to say running the show right away.
Um, he was just a vocal, um, a vocal guy.

(01:00:58):
I mean, when I say vocal, that's, that's who he is.
He's a loud guy.
He's a jokester.
Uh, he was, he was, he was confident.
He was a McDonald's.
He was a McDonald's all American, you know?
Um, and truth be told, he was kind of, he was kind of like the focal point of our offense

(01:01:19):
when he got there.
Um, you know, a lot of people say rip was the focal point, but if you look at other
team, Scott and reports, they were trying to stop Kay more than rip.
So, um, you know, like we knew what he can do.
He was, you know, he was a diamond in the rough, you know, in first day on campus, you
know, going into that field house in the summertime.

(01:01:40):
Like you already knew what he can do.
Like I said, I knew him, seen him play numerous times.
I'm just like, yes, you know, we need a guy like this in the fold.
Um, this is so awesome.
They were, you talk about these guys, man, because that's, you know, that's when we first
got it across the goal line and that team was special.
But like, I want to tell you about, I heard Ron Arthes talking about who the two toughest,

(01:02:01):
uh, the two toughest guards he had as assignments, you know what I mean?
Guys he had to guard and he said, Kobe and rip.
He said when he guarded Kobe or rip, especially rip, because he had to run all over the place
all night long.
He said he would sit in a shower without talking to his teammates for a long time after that
game because he got a hell of a workout.

(01:02:21):
Oh, that was our offense.
Um, now was he talking about rip NBA rip or was he talking about college rip pistons?
Oh, well, I mean, look at their offense, you know, rip was running off three, four screens
and then if he didn't get the ball, he would reverse and run back to the other side of
the floor and now that, and he's not going to get tired.

(01:02:41):
So another defender, oh my God, you're going to get tired.
Don't chasing a guy like that.
And then once he catches it and if you're right on him and he's just shooting jumpers
in your face all night, that takes a lot of you.
Oh, all right.
So let's get to the good stuff.
Let's talk about 99 going into the season.
What do you expect and how did it play out?
Oh, going into the season, we all expected what happened at the end of the season.

(01:03:05):
We're in the national title and that's all we talked about after we lost to North Carolina
junior year, my junior year in the final eight.
It was, uh, yeah, that was the final eight.
We lost to North Carolina, Vince Carter and them and, um, and that locker room, you know,
and who was that?

(01:03:25):
That was, um, I think that was in Greensboro.
It was somewhere in North Carolina.
That game was a home home game for them.
So we went to locker room right there, coach said, I just want you guys to know next year
we're going to win this championship.
So I think that coach kind of, once we played Carolina and he saw like, you know what, we're

(01:03:46):
just as good as Carolina.
Um, so we got the locker room.
He said, look, guys, we're going to win this next year.
You know, did we believe that?
Um, probably not at that particular moment.
You know, we just lost the game, but he was saying that he said that after the game, he
said that we lost to Carolina.
In the locker room, he said, we're going to win the championship next year.

(01:04:06):
It's one thing to do.
It's no thing to say it and then do it.
He said it.
Yep.
He, and this is, let me just put it in perspective who coach Calhoun is.
Um, the NBA lockout, 97, 96, 97.
Our practice for that whole entire lockout was against Ray Allen, um, Kevin Olly, Donnie

(01:04:29):
Marshall, Danielle Marshall, um, who else came out of a Macklin who wasn't out of a
Macklin who wasn't in the NBA.
He was a walk on with you, Conn, but he came.
Um, Scott came a few times.
Scott did come a few times.
Um, but mainly it was like Ray and those guys, Kevin Olly, and that was our practice

(01:04:52):
for that whole NBA lockout.
Like we coach, it'll be five against their five and coach would say to us every time
we went out there, he says, I expect you guys to beat the shit out of them.
And we're looking like, we're like, damn, coach, they got Ray over there.
They got Kevin Olly, Danielle.

(01:05:13):
And he was like, I don't give a fuck who they got over there.
We should run them out the building.
And I tell you, they, if you know, these NBA guys, they need a jump shot.
He's on the court.
Like how you let him hit that jump shot?
I'm like, coach is Ray Island.
Like Jesus, you know, so, um, but that was our practice.

(01:05:34):
And, and the coach didn't care who we lined up against.
And he said it against those guys.
He, whoever we line up against, he, he has so much confidence that we're going to win
that game.
You know, the way, the way, I'm sorry, but the way he made his players believe is crazy
with what you just described, like we're going to win it next year.
And you did.
Do you remember, I'm sure you're familiar with the Tate George shot?

(01:05:58):
Of course.
So we know a few people that were in that huddle and he said, yeah, we're going to,
we're going to make this.
Don't worry about it.
And like guys were like, okay, you know, and they made it.
It's one, again, it's one thing to do, to do it, but to say you're going to do it and
do it, that's big balls.
And that's coach and, and that's coach right there.

(01:06:18):
Coach, um, I tell you, he has just so much confidence because number one, the preparation
that, uh, how we prepare is, is a one.
I mean, you know, I got buddies all over the nation at all different universities.
And I used to ask them, like, how do you guys practice?

(01:06:38):
Some guys would tell me shit, we don't even practice.
We just going there and shoot free throws for an hour and a half.
And we're going, other guys telling me, well, yeah, we practice hard, but it's only four
hour.
And I come out and be like, y'all guys is lucky.
We go three hours hard.
And I'm talking about after practices, guys, you know, put it this way, Ray gave me seven

(01:07:01):
stitches inside my mouth, guarded him one day in practice.
Um, you know, I don't see multiple guys get knocked out in practice unconscious, uh, you
know, multiple fights.
Um, and just how we run, like how we ran in the game.
That's what we did in practice.
We, uh, team, you know, a guy score, we're taking the ball out as fast as we can and

(01:07:25):
getting down the floor as fast as we can.
So I got to ask you this.
I heard this through the grapevine.
I kind of like, I used to coach high school teams.
So I kind of stole it from, from coach Calhoun a day of a game.
Most teams have shooter rounds.
I heard Yukon and Jim Calhoun had practice.

(01:07:45):
Is that true or no?
No, no, no, that's not true.
All right.
I apologize to all my high school teams then.
Yeah, but, but, but like, uh, the day of a game, um, we just have a light shoot around.
You know, we, especially if it's a, uh, a way game or something, we're up early.

(01:08:06):
We go to that gym and we, uh, you know, we, we shoot, we shoot and you know, we're not
running around at all.
We're just shooting and shooting.
That's just, that's just like, yeah, it's no practice.
We don't practice at all, especially the day of a game.
Now he want to keep us, um, fresh as possible.

(01:08:27):
Like we're up early, believe it or not.
We, we're in gyms at seven and a.m. on game days.
Wow.
All right.
Um, yeah, we're in the gym at seven a.m. on game days.
We don't even eat breakfast first on game days.
We just go in there.
We shoot around and we eat after I want to fast forward a little bit, Ross, to the, to

(01:08:47):
that final four, you beat schoonie pen and a highell state, uh, and going into that game
against Duke.
If my memory serves, you guys might have been nine or 10 point underdogs.
Um, motivational factor, um, at all, or it was just, you know, just get ready to play
regardless of what the public thought and tell us a little bit about the preparation

(01:09:09):
for Duke.
You hate Duke.
I'm going to tell you guys the only motivation.
Well, it was two motivations.
Number one, obviously being in the national title game.
So if you can't get up for that game, something's wrong with you.
Number two, the night before the game, um, we just had our chalk chalk.
Um, we, you know, just broke down the game.

(01:09:31):
So coaches like, and we're actually Ricky and I, we know we were the captain.
So we're actually in our room.
The whole team is in our room.
So coaching them is like, all right, guys, talk, talk, sober.
I want you guys in bed by 10, you know, we'll be up early, blah, blah, blah.
He leaves.
So when the coaches leave, we're still in the room and ESPN came on.

(01:09:52):
So they flashed to a gas station in Durham, North Carolina, and they were selling Duke
paraphernalia, you know, the Duke gear that says Duke wins the national championship.
They were selling the gear before the game even played.
Papers stacked up to the wall.
Duke wins the national title.

(01:10:12):
We like, guys, is this real?
We like, they're disrespecting us like this, that they're actually putting this on ESPN
that Duke won the title.
So Ricky Moore, he says right then he said, all you guys get the fuck out, get the fuck
out of the room.
He's yelling and shit.
So I'm looking at Rick like, oh shit, he was like, Raj, we got business tomorrow.

(01:10:34):
And he kicked everybody out.
He went to bed early and if you notice Ricky started that.
No, he was unbelievable.
He scored, of course, in that championship game.
He scored, I think the first 13 points with him.
Yeah, he was terrific.
Right, his bank shots.
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, Ricky was, he was highly upset.
We all were upset.

(01:10:55):
But that was the disrespect that we saw and that was the motivational factor right there,
in that they were selling, you know, newspapers and t-shirts that Duke won the championship
already.
Yeah, I do remember they interviewed Latiner before the game and he said Duke was going
to win it easily.
But obviously he's a, I got to ask you another question.

(01:11:16):
To get to the final four, like we're obviously huge Yukon fans.
You know, we remember Don Niel missing a couple free throws against Florida.
The, when you guys finally beat Gonzaga to get to the final four was like a huge relief.
Did you guys feel any pressure to get to a final four with that team?
No, it wasn't no pressure.

(01:11:37):
It was no pressure at all because we never been to a final four.
So I know you've been so close.
I was just straight up desire.
I bet that's all.
Yeah.
So, you know, it wasn't no pressure for us, you know, it was just nice, you know, your
hair just go out and play your ass off.

(01:11:59):
That's pretty much it.
I don't believe nothing on this floor.
Just take, you know, just leave it out here on this floor.
And that was pretty much coaches, his words, leaving out the locker room to start the game.
Like there's nothing to say.
This is our last game of the year.
We're going to lose.
Leave it on the floor.
Rash, the game before Gonzaga, I think it was Iowa.

(01:12:20):
Yeah.
I had never seen a physical bloodbath like that outside of high school where guys can't
score so they just beat each other up sometimes and that was nasty.
And that guy just settled.
He's now on the Big Ten Network.
I still want to kick him where the sun don't shine.
I thought it was dirty.

(01:12:41):
What a war that was.
But you know, but you know, but Coach Kahul love games like those, you know, those games.
We call those games.
What's the word we used to use?
Let's take care of business type of game.
We knew we were a better time than them, but it's the tournament, you know, ball wasn't
going our way that game.

(01:13:03):
They were being physical.
And it just, we just had to pretty much stay within ourselves and just continue to keep
wearing them down.
We just had to keep wearing them down, wearing them down and wearing them down.
And that's exactly those type of teams.
When the ball is not falling, you got to really do your work on a defensive end.

(01:13:23):
And that's what we took care of that on a defensive end.
So Rosh, again, back to the final game against Duke to, to wrap up that season, uh, when,
you know, laying and dribbling the ball down the floor and Khalid goes over to the, to
the CBS, uh, booth and says they shocked the world.
The ball ends up in your hands and you can see the emotion on your face immediately as

(01:13:46):
the camera pans to you and Ella mean, can you, can you, do you, do you remember like
that five to 10 seconds?
Was it a blur?
And what was your thought process?
Like right after you got the ball in your hand and you know, you guys won it off.
You know, I said to myself at that moment, like all of the sacrifice and hard work that
I put in finally paid off.

(01:14:08):
Um, you know, my, you know, my junior year flashed in my face, like, man, you know, I
almost left this place, but you know, just, you know, my guys and the love we have for
each other, we, you know, I stuck it out and went harder and look, you know, and that's,
you know, I took a lot of that, you know, um, a lot of the downfalls and, you know,

(01:14:35):
the hardships and to put it all into that one game is just was a great feeling.
I actually took the ball and threw the ball in the stand.
So I don't even have the ball to take home with me.
So that was, that was my question, man.
What did I just remember me throwing the, like, what happened to the ball?
No, did anybody know where it is?
It's in a trophy case.
I'm sure, right?
I don't even, I probably threw it in the rafters somewhere.

(01:14:59):
That's how hard I flung that ball.
You weren't that good at baseball.
So I got it.
So I got to have it or, or, or, you know, the security at traffic, can of failed.
What's the one up there and got the ball?
Oh my God.
I don't know.
I don't have it.
Listen, so if you know what one shining moment is, obviously, right?
The very end of it, you go watch it tonight at the end of it.

(01:15:21):
You have, Elham mean to scream me at the cameras and you're standing there with the
ball.
You got a cup in your right hand.
Yeah.
You still have it in your hand and you threw it into the stand.
And then I tossed it.
Oh my God.
Rash, this, I could do this.

(01:15:42):
We could do this for several hours, man.
You've been terrific.
You don't want to take too much of your time, but like, look, I want to wrap it up with,
with one question.
Then we're going to ask you some quiz questions.
Yep.
Remember what I want to share.
Let me share with this one funny story.
I forgot who brought up the Pittsburgh game.
I forgot who brought up the Pittsburgh game.

(01:16:03):
Um, this is actually our senior year.
We lost to pit down at pit.
It was a Monday night game, ESPN nine o'clock.
So we lose, we lost by, I think four or something to that nature.
So we're going back, you know, 11 o'clock at night.
We haven't eaten since the four o'clock pregame meal.

(01:16:25):
So you know, after every game on the road, you know, we're flying, you know, a private
jet with the big husky on the side.
So our managers, you know, once we get to the airport, our managers, they run off the
bus and, you know, start getting our food ready on the plane.
So they did that.
So this time, you know, coach is usually the last one off the bus.

(01:16:46):
This time he was the first one off the bus.
So we're getting, you know, we're going to the plane, our stomachs are growling.
We didn't eat since four o'clock.
Here it is 11.
So we got these nice sandwiches, juices, cupcakes, everything all set up.
Coach came by and just swiped all that shit on the floor.
So yeah, we'll eat tonight.

(01:17:07):
Yeah, motherfuckers and threw all our food on the floor.
Oh my God, I love it.
Old school, you can't do it anymore.
Hey, so Rasha, oh my God, I gotta ask you this, you win the national championship, you
go back to stores.
What's the party like?
What's the girls like?
What's that?
It's gotta be unbelievable.
You had to go right home.
You guys must have been exhausted.
I tell you, after the championship, you know, one of our alumni, I won't even say his name.

(01:17:35):
I'll have to tell you this.
If I were to see you guys in person, one of our alumni, after we won it, you know, he
had about 10 limousines for us and we went to, you know, a couple of the establishments
out there, the adult establishments and had the time of our life.

(01:17:55):
Yes, sir.
When we say it's all over, don't hang up, okay?
Okay.
Was that an electric night for you guys or no?
Electric, forget about it.
I still dream about that night.
I know Scott Baral just a little bit and I was at an AAU tournament years ago with him

(01:18:21):
and I asked him for one Calhoun story and the story he gave me is literally, it's off
the charts.
I know you gave us a little one.
I can't even repeat it was so graphic but it's hilarious between coaches.
Is there anything, can you tell us about him and what coach has meant to you?
Oh man, coach.

(01:18:43):
You know, I coach with coach 2017 to 2020 at St. Joe's.
Blue Jays?
Yeah, for the Blue Jays, correct.
Coach Calhoun is like, you know, he's like Coach Walsh in the sense he's my third father.
Let me say that.
I can call coach right now at this very moment.

(01:19:04):
He's going to say, where are you at?
You know, drive to my house.
Come see me or something.
You know, that's how he is with his players.
You know, he kept in contact with me when I wasn't even playing, playing for him.
So that lets you know right there who's really who and who's really real.
You know, you see what coaches, you know, become your family and what coaches just wanted

(01:19:29):
you because you were a good player.
And coach was a guy who he genuinely cared about you.
You know, if you did what you had to do as a player, you know, just being in a gym,
going to class, doing what you have to do, coach would give you the shirt off his back.
Rash, obviously as a four year player for coach, how cool was it to work with him in

(01:19:55):
the coaching profession?
And give us a little bit of insight on the different perspective that you had being alongside
him in the locker room with the scouting or the recruiting and stuff like that.
How cool was that for you?
I'll tell you this.
It doesn't change from being a player to a coach.
He cusses you out.
It doesn't matter.

(01:20:17):
You know, I could just remember, you know, you know, at the D3 level, you know, a lot
of the schools don't have clocks inside the locker room, so you don't know how much time
you have to get on the floor before the game starts.
So I had to manually have a clock in my hand.
So I vividly remember, I think we were playing, I think we were playing St. Joe's of Maine.

(01:20:41):
They were very good as well.
And he was like, Rash, how much time left?
I said, coach, it was about five minutes 30, five 30 coach, you got to be upstairs.
He asked me 30 seconds later, I was like, coach, 515, motherfuckers, five minutes, I
have to go by already.
I said, coach, no, it was actually 30 seconds ago.

(01:21:05):
So like I say, you always got to be on your toes, you know, you always got to be ready.
You know, during the middle of the game, forget about it.
You really have to be in tune because he'll either nowhere, how many times I got left.
And if you don't know, that's your ass.
Well, you should know, right?
You're on his staff, man.

(01:21:25):
Let's go.
As the staff, trust me, you will be amazed at how many don't know.
Well, they shouldn't be on his staff.
Exactly.
So, I have so many stories.
A lot of them are really too X-rated.
We could go R on this, but not X.

(01:21:45):
I got stories.
So, even when I came back from Europe, I coached with coach.
I was a student assistant 2004, 2005, when they had Charlie, Bill and the waiver.
Oh, no way.
Josh Boone and those guys, I actually went back to school to finish my degree up during
that time.
So, I was a student assistant on that team.

(01:22:05):
The things he said to Josh Boone, Charlie, I used to be like, oh my fucking god.
Did he say that to these guys?
I always thought he might have been hard on Rudy.
No, he wasn't that hard on Rudy, believe it or not.
He wasn't that hard on Rudy.
I think Rudy had such a high ceiling as a fan.

(01:22:26):
It was tough that it didn't seem like he ever got to that ceiling at Yukon, and he's
had an immense bro career.
I mean, he's still playing, right?
Oh, yeah, he's still playing.
He's still playing.
He had a very high ceiling.
He was not new to the game coming to Yukon, but new to the game.
He didn't play at that level before, never played for a coach like Calhoun, and he didn't

(01:22:52):
work like that.
That was one of his big things coming in as a freshman, that he had to put more output,
go a little bit more harder.
As a youngster, if you're not playing like that already, you got to learn that.
It took him some time to learn that aspect, and it's a great thing that he learned it
in the NBA.
That's why he's still playing.

(01:23:12):
Hey, as an obviously, he had him for four years as a player, and he coached with him.
Who got it the worst?
Give me one or two guys that got it the worst from coach.
We had a player named Ruzlon, a rushing kid.
Oh, yeah, yeah, I can.
Number 10, let's go.
Ruzlon, he got it the worst.

(01:23:34):
I've never seen a player get it like him.
Okay.
Man, that's all I got to say.
Ruzlon.
He's still running a coffee shop up there or something.
Yes, him and his wife opened up the coffee shop right in the student center, right across
the gamble.
But yeah, Ruzlon was the strongest one on the team.

(01:23:58):
I'm going to tell you that now.
There was nobody, right?
He bench-pressed like 500.
I said he was the strongest guy by far.
And we always had the kid with him be like, are you know the mafia or something?
Always walking around campus with these black mock necks, black T-shirts.

(01:24:21):
We thought the same thing.
Gold chains.
It was like, you got to be in a Russian mob.
I could never learn to play, you know, hope to be like, okay, Ruzlon, I need you right
here on the press.
Ruzlon on the other side of the court.
And you know, hope to get in here.
You stupid mother fucker.
Like that was one of his favorite lines.
Calling you a stupid MF first.

(01:24:42):
Rosh, he got a big breakaway against Nova on a snowstorm night.
And that's when Dick Vitale started screaming that you couldn't believe how hard these guys
practiced this morning.
But that was the Kiddles Ray Allen game.
Do you remember this?
Yeah, I hear him on the radio.
Oh, that was my freshman year.
Yeah, that was my freshman year.
That was a big snowstorm too of that year.
Yeah.

(01:25:03):
Do you remember right at night?
Oh my God.
Ray and Kiddles going back and forth.
Oh, Ray was on fire.
Ray was on fire.
I mean, you playing against Kiddles.
So you got to be up for that game.
You got to be up for that game.
Rosh, so I want to...
They had the shooter, E-Birds, Lawson underneath.
They had a complete team.
So Alvin Williams played in the NBA?

(01:25:24):
Alvin Williams was running the point, who played with the Raptors.
Sixers too, I think.
No, maybe...
Yeah, yeah.
Okay.
So Rosh, so you went it all in 99.
Could you ever imagine six national titles after that, or five more after that, but
six total?
I could, yeah, I definitely could.
I love it.
You know, you know, stores is that place where there's nothing up there.

(01:25:50):
You know, you guys been up there.
There's nothing up in stores but cows, ice cream shop.
That's very good, by the way.
You got to drive to Hartford, you know, for a little night action, you know.
So on campus, all you can do is just go to class and play basketball.
That's it.
You know, when you're not in class, all we do is play basketball.

(01:26:12):
You know, doing holiday breaks.
While everybody else is home to Thanksgiving, we're up in campus.
So not on campus, we'd be in the hotels and we're practicing.
Never went home for Thanksgiving.
Never went home for Christmas.
Never went home for spring break in four years.
Wow.
Man.

(01:26:32):
So that's awesome.
You say you could imagine it, or easily imagine it, because I bet that's how Coach Calhoun
would want you to think.
Like, of course you could imagine it.
After we got the first one, we're going to win several more.
And I think we cemented, or you guys have cemented the program as a true blue blood.
And remember, Napier standing on the podium saying, that's what you do.

(01:26:56):
And this is what Huskies do.
And you banned us.
And we're Huskies.
And that's what we do.
We come back and we win it.
Like, what does it mean to you to be a Husky and one forever?
A Husky is a player, male or female.
Who doesn't know what the word quit is?

(01:27:16):
That's not a word that we use, quit.
Whether we're up 20, down 20, down one, what have you, kinds get tough.
You don't quit.
You just tie your sneakers up a little bit tighter and get to stepping and get back to
work.
And that's one thing I learned from Coach Calhoun.
That guy's amazing.

(01:27:37):
I can honestly tell you that guy's actually amazing.
You know, just, just, you know, when I was coaching with those guys up there in West
Hartford, uh, coach, you know, he's driving from Rhode Island, an hour and a half every
day, guys, 80 years old, driving an hour and a half every day for work.
That says a lot right there.
The guy could be home vacationing, but he wanted to be in that gym.

(01:27:58):
So I learned a lot from him.
I studied him, especially working with him.
And like I said, he only enhanced my life that much more.
Man, that's great, man.
Hey, we're going to wrap this up.
Um, we're just, we always do this little segment with some, you know, like questions
and we're all going to like actually, I don't know if we'll all answer, but we want you

(01:28:19):
to answer.
Now we could all, you know, get in there and give an answer, but, um, angry J coach at
Eastern Connecticut State University is going to give you a few, um, few questions.
All right, Ross, they're all it's called who would you rather.
So you have to pick one of these two guys.
All right.
We didn't make it easy on either since some of them are your former teammates, but you
get juicy.

(01:28:39):
All right.
So you get your choice here.
Are you picking and we have one of our producers here is knows Donovan clinging well.
And, uh, okay.
So you get to choose between Donovan clinging or a Mecca, okay.
I'm going with bigger Mecca.

(01:29:00):
I got you.
All right.
Are you guys picking?
I'll be on here.
I got to go with the charter rope, man.
I mean, come on.
He's bigger.
And you know what, a Mecca didn't really pan out.
I know it was a lot of physical stuff, but like, you know, I don't want to call my boss.
We love him, but like he didn't really have a great pro career.
And I, we hope the other guy does.
Lottie.
Well, you know, and I'm, when I, I'm just talking as far as college level now, are

(01:29:23):
we talking who's going to make a better pro or college?
It's really up to you, whatever you want.
Yeah.
Um, you know, if you want to talk on that line, um, you know, a Mecca was a great
guy, but he was a undersized, you know, big, um, down to them, you know, with the way the

(01:29:43):
NBA game has changed dramatically, you know, he's going to have to start dribbling like
Wimby, you know, he's going to have to develop a jump shot.
He's going to have to stretch the floor, hit freeze.
So right now he doesn't have that in his game.
Um, so hopefully he gets with a team, you know, that can really develop him and really
develop that shot because you're going to have to shoot the ball now.

(01:30:06):
Big guys just don't post up.
Forget about the post is not existing nowadays.
So he's going to have to learn how to shoot.
Hey, can I, can I tell you where I think he's a dream guy is the Warriors?
Cause remember with Durant, they like ran offense.
You mentioned those guys running around the same screens that you kind of guys did with
the shooters they got and the athletes they got.
I think that would be a great scenario because they're always undersized anyway.

(01:30:29):
They could use one big guy.
Yeah.
He's not making to that pick.
All right.
Um, we're trading up Ray Allen, Richard Hamilton.
This is a tough one for you, man.
I'm interested in your answer.
Not really.
Um, I'm going Ray Allen, man.
All right.
I got no problem with it.
I mean, at all timer, not that Richard isn't.

(01:30:50):
Um, all right.
We got to go.
Derone, Sheffer, Kevin, Ollie.
Now this is a tough one.
Good job.
This is a tough one right here because I love both of them to death.
They both did great things, but see, I played with Derone.
That's the only thing he has over Kevin right now.

(01:31:10):
Um, and Derone was a beast.
People, you know, they like, oh, he's slow, but you couldn't guard them.
You couldn't steal the ball from him.
Um, I'm going with Kevin.
I like it.
I like it.
I like I shuffled.
I'd love to buy them a little faster.
Yeah.
Pretty, pretty long NBA career for a guy who quote unquote couldn't shoot.

(01:31:31):
All right.
Exactly.
The next one for you, Rash, uh, Kevin Freeman, Alex Caravan.
We're trying to blend it.
The old with the new.
I love Freeman.
I mean, I love.
Oh, that's a word.
Under, undersized big, all man.
He was, I love the warrior Freeman.
I didn't like the shoot at three point shooter.

(01:31:51):
I like number 15 Freeman.
I didn't like number 33.
Yeah.
The dog Freeman, the dog that you know that underneath, you know, dunk on you off the
vertical K free, um, man, I'm a gold Kevin Freeman.
I have three inches there too.
Right.
6568.

(01:32:11):
We got to get a couple more for you.
Um, one guy who I think is really underrated for you, can, uh, doesn't get talked about
enough denim brown or Rudy.
Yeah.
Man, denim.
Oh man.
That's my guy too.
Uh, like he was, he was a little, he was a little, he was a little bit.
He's not talked about with somebody other Huskies or whatever reason.

(01:32:34):
I mean, yeah.
From Canada.
Yes.
Um, you know, you know, denim was a, denim was a dog.
I'm going with, uh, denim brown.
I like it.
I like it.
I like that answer too.
All right.
Last one for you, rush.

(01:32:54):
I think this is a layup for you.
Uh, you had mentioned him.
I think it's a good El Amin or Tristan Newton.
Newton just got his number retired too, right?
Oh, yeah.
I got to go with my guy.
I got to go with him.
I got you.
I haven't seen one player check him yet.
How about Taleek or Ricky Moore?

(01:33:18):
I'm going with Ricky.
Taleek or Travis Knight or Voskal?
Uh, man, T Knight is my big bro.
Wow.
I'm going, I'm going, I'm going to go with Travis on this one.
Uh, Sabi or Jeff Adrian?
Jeff Adrian.

(01:33:38):
I know I'm with you because you can put the ball in the basket.
I mean, that's whatever.
Tough SLB.
Yo, I hope you had fun, man.
This is incredible.
Oh, Johnny, one more.
One more.
Rush, did you ever drive in Jake Voskal's car?
What?
His big foot?
Yeah, talk about that a little bit.
Oh, let me tell you a story about that.
The fucking car was so fucking big, he couldn't even drive it on campus.

(01:34:02):
He had to keep it parked.
The figure was the S-Lite or one of them locked up there.
He had to keep the car there because it was too big.
Number one, it took up both sides of the street.
Number two, it was the, like, literally you heard this car probably five to six blocks
away.
I'm telling you, he had four little speakers.

(01:34:25):
I'm talking about these speakers with the size of a cell phone.
And I said, Jake, this is like, why is your car this loud?
He said, oh, these are astronaut speakers.
Each speaker costs $2,000.
I said, oh, excuse me.
Okay.
So he's riding around with, you know, two for $8,000 worth of speakers in his car.

(01:34:45):
And this shit, like I said, if I was at Gamble, you could hear Jake, if he was across campus
at the ice cream, at the ice cream bar collar.
You guys were roommates too, right?
He was my roommate.
That's correct.
Yep.
That was my roommate.
Did he wear cowboy boots?
Sure did.
You ever put them on?
No, no, no.

(01:35:06):
I'm trying to get me a pair now.
What, are you going to Nashville or something?
Come on, man.
No, I just, I just need me a pair of some, you know, like, you know, like, you know,
like, you know, like, you know, like, you know, like, you know, like, you know, like,
are you going to Nashville or something, come on, man.
No.
I just, I just need me a pair of some, you know, some, some Texan cowboy boots in my
arsenal.
So, Rosh, we'll wrap it up right now, but what, what are you doing now?
You're working with kids, right?
No, umm, I mean, I'm, I'm, I'm a mentor.

(01:35:28):
Um, I mentor a lot of kids throughout Connecticut.
Um, Westchester, New York, even in Springfield, I have a few kids up there, but my, my, my,
My everyday job is, I work for DDS,
Department of Developmental Services.
I manage two adult group homes.
All of our residents suffer from intellectual disability.

(01:35:49):
And I manage their everyday life from financial,
medical, activities, programming.
Anything that deals with their everyday life,
I manage their life.
Those people are very lucky to have you in their life.
I'll tell you.
That's awesome.
You are an impressive person.

(01:36:10):
I appreciate that, guys.
Thank you.
All right, so this was amazing.
Don't hang up.
Yes, it was.
Yes, it was.
I loved it.
I had fun.
Thank you very much.
Everybody, number three from Trinity Catholic
and Stanford, Rash Jones.
Thank you guys.
I appreciate it, man.
I had fun tonight, man.
Thank you guys.
I really appreciate it.
All right, bud.
Thank you.

(01:36:31):
You heard it.
You heard it, people.
Rash is coming back.
Part two.
We're gonna get his cousin, Tori Thomas, down here
in the house.
These are two terrific prep players, Trinity Catholic.
They both have stories to tell
and apparently more stories to tell.
I guess so.
We're gonna have to change the rating of this podcast,
but we are down for it.
Angry J's been pulling for it.

(01:36:53):
Thanks for coming, everybody.
Yangstern first, Yukon Six Nadi,
Rash and Tori Thomas on the way.
Thank you.
Yes.

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