Husky Talk- Cassie Kerns

Episode Transcript
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(00:01):
Hello and welcome to Husky Talk.I am your host, the best podcast
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(01:11):
Dynamic Human Performance is owned and operated by UConn
legendary running back Andre Dixon.
He works with boys and girls of all ages of all sports and he
has just started a brand new athletic development program

(01:32):
where he will take you from the ground up with whatever sport
you want to specialize in and develop you so you have a chance
to get a college scholarship, reach your potential and be the
best that you can be. And down South we have Julius

(01:52):
Williams. Julius Williams runs the Trench
Mob in Decatur, GA. He works with offensive and
defensive lineman. They go to camps all over the
country. So far they're three and O they
compete in tournaments which are5 versus 5, one on ones for

(02:13):
their offensive and defensive lineman.
And he has some of the best talent I have ever seen.
I don't know what's in the waterdown there in Decatur, but there
is something. And if you want a chance to play
anywhere, especially Division One, work with Julius.
He has kids on scholarship rightnow at Florida State, Florida,

(02:37):
Miami, Georgia, Tennessee, Clemson and Alabama, just to
name a few. And he's got contacts
everywhere. So if you want to work with the
best, you work with Julius. And then Matt Lawrence, former
UConn running back, he has a flag football tournament coming

(03:00):
up on April 30th. It's free.
And it's there's a Co Ed league,there's a boys league and
there's a girls league and they go every Wednesday night
normally. But this is going to be an all
day tournament at Renschler Field.

(03:21):
And Matt is the 1st to send females.
He sent 2 girls on scholarship to division or send two females
on scholarship for flag football.
So Matt has done a wonderful jobwith his 32 sports and we are

(03:43):
excited for the tournament. Now for the Lady of the Hour,
former UConn women's basketball player, member of the 2009
National championship team, and an amazing, talented artist,
Miss Cassie Kearns, thank you for being with us.

(04:06):
Hello, hello and thank you for having me.
I know, I know. I feel bad.
Listen, I first of all, I, I getvery nervous interviewing women.
So if I spiral out, just so you know that that that may happen.
But you are from the Midwest initially, right?
You were from Indiana? Yes, I'm from Valparaiso IN

(04:29):
which is a little bit outside Chicago.
OK, OK. And that's where you grew up.
And were you naturally driven tosports at an early age or were
you more OK, so you were more art, music or school?
I was hard to describe. I guess I always wanted to hang

(04:54):
around my brother and his friends.
My dad was a football and a basketball coach, and he focused
on my brother, who is older. He's like, OK, you can play
football. And so my brother tried out for
football and he's like, I, I just don't like this stuff.
It's not for me, yeah. And so he ended up playing golf

(05:17):
in high school. He's a really good scratch, but
he's like he's built like a football player.
He's like 6-6 wide set. He would be great, but he's more
of a people person. Right, right.
Yeah. And so I know my dad, he was
like, so you're you're kind of tall.
Do you kind of want to give thissport thing a try?

(05:41):
And I believe that was like 7th or 8th grade.
Oh, OK, so you started a little bit later.
Yes. And so then I, I was like, OK,
I'll, I'll try this. I mean, I was given the option
between band and sports. And so I was like, OK, let's try
sports. Yeah, that that kind of that
kind of makes the decision for you pretty easy.

(06:05):
I don't want to play in the band.
But I will say when I started, like I was horrendous.
Well, I, I, I know that you're, you're, you're taller and I'm,
I'm six, I'm 65. I know that you're listed at
six, three. And you know, when I was in 7th

(06:26):
and 8th grade, especially playing football, I was
extremely uncoordinated and would be on the ground 90% of
the time. So it takes, it takes a little
while for your body to catch up and develop.
So it's, it's absolutely not you.

(06:46):
It's just, you know, when you grow so big so fast, it's tough
to keep that coordination. So you you had started in in 7th
grade and leading up to that, what would you say your main
interests were 'cause I know you're a dancer as well.
So I was just curious. So I didn't do like modeling and

(07:07):
dancing until after college. Right, OK.
But before, I mean, I guess I was always into art.
I was always into what was I into?
I mean, I was focused on, I was smart.
I was focused on academics. Yeah.

(07:27):
Nothing really exciting then. Yeah, yeah.
You were just, I mean, you were just a kid And and Valpo, I
can't imagine is a buzzing city with a ton to do now.
Right. That's what I figured, yeah.
Yeah. We're, we're like, we're like on
the borderline of country. Yeah.

(07:51):
And going towards like Gary, IN and then going into the city.
Right. We were like kind of like a
Little Mix of everything. And, and it's like the, I always
wondered this because it's like the Bible Belt.
I didn't know. Did you grow up religious at
all? Was that like a big part of your
life? It was OK.

(08:12):
Yeah, so faith and religion. Well, I I would say faith.
It wasn't like an obsession of my family, but it's like we went
to church on Sundays and God andJesus were important to us.
But yeah. Were you raised Catholic,
Baptist, Presbyterian, non denominational or?

(08:35):
Non denominational. OK, I'm going through that now
that the non denominational thing.
So I was just curious. I kind of like that.
I, I, I was raised Catholic and that was confirmed and
everything. And I kind of like the non
denominational thing just because it kind of blends
everything together and you know, you can pick and choose

(08:57):
what you like. I, I always like the pastor
because, you know, I, I'm sure Iread the Bible and the religion
classes. I never paid attention, but we
read it. And when I go now, you know, he
does his readings, but then he explains it to someone who's
kind of dumb like me and gotten hit in the head a few, many

(09:20):
times and I understand it. So I it's very, very different.
Than Catholicism. Yes, yes.
Like I know I, I like in high school I dated someone that was
Catholic and they brought me to his service and I went to go get
up and take communion and he's like.
No, you can't do that. And I was like, what?

(09:41):
Like I think this is I accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. Absolutely.
He's like, but you're not Catholic.
Absolutely, yes. That is, That is a strict rule
too. They're strict about that.
Yeah. Go ahead.
His dad was also a Deacon, so hehad a big argument afterwards

(10:02):
too. Because you took, did you end up
taking it? No, they would not let me.
Oh my God, I'm sorry they didn'tlet you take it.
That's funny though. That is funny.
So you started, you started playing hoops in 7th grade and
it was a bit of a struggle earlyon because, you know, you're

(10:23):
still learning the game and growing into your body.
When did you start to become talented and become, you know,
as good as you ended up becoming?
Did it take time? Did it, did it come after a few
years? Did you have to go to camps?

(10:45):
Things escalated really, really quickly.
So like the 7th and 8th grade years, definitely learning a lot
about what I should be doing, not not doing.
But I think that's where I, I discovered like my determination
and kind of my mindset because Imean, I was tall and I wanted to

(11:05):
do everything. I wanted to bring the ball up.
I wanted to shoot. And parents were like you,
you're big, stay in the lane. And even at that age, I was
like, fuck you. And so I started doing that and
I got, I just started getting better, building my confidence.

(11:27):
And I think it was eighth grade.It had to be 8th grade.
I lived really close to Notre Dame.
So that year, I think it was 2000, it was like the year of
Ruth Riley, Neil Ivy, Alicia Rattay, Kelly Seaman and I.

(11:50):
Can't forget that town that was.Was that Muffin McGraw?
Was she the coach? Yes, she was the coach then.
OK. And so they actually came to
play VU, Valparaiso University, which is in my town.
And my dad's like, let's go. And so we went and, and I just
like, fell in love with like Ruth Riley and like what she was

(12:13):
doing. She was, of course.
Yeah. And I was like, Dad, can I do
that? And he said you can do anything
if you work really hard. And so from like that day
forward, I was like, all right. That really resonated with you?
Absolutely. Yeah, that's awesome.
Did you did you typically go to Notre Dame games when they came

(12:38):
or Because I didn't know if theyplayed Valpo every year?
No, so I went that year and thenwe normally went to the football
games. Oh, so because I always wondered
if you were a football fan or not because your daddy said
you're all man as a coach. Huge.
Football fan, huge football fan and we would always go to the
Notre Dame games. Yeah.

(13:01):
And did you like it? Did you like because?
Because people get a little crazy, but they.
Do get crazy. I mean, like, we enjoyed it as a
family. It was like a family outing.
I don't remember any of the craziness.
Right, right. But did you, did you guys have
like season tickets or did he just pick specific games?

(13:21):
OK, Because he was coaching as well, right?
Yes. Right.
Yeah, that makes it, that makes it a lot more difficult.
So you, you go into high school,9th grade, 10th grade in my
area, you know, we, we had JV basketball.
I didn't know if you had JV basketball, if you played that

(13:43):
or if you went right to varsity.So so I was a three sport
varsity athlete my freshman year.
So I played varsity volleyball, which this is shocking.
I was a lot better at volleyballthan I was at basketball.
That's not shocking. A lot of people are.

(14:04):
It's just there's not as many opportunities in volleyball.
That was what I wanted to capitalize on is I was like, I
could go to top D1 volleyball school and still the
accommodations don't touch what Yukon had.
Yeah, yeah. And so volleyball was a fall

(14:25):
sport then for you guys. OK.
So you did basketball in the winter and then did you do like
softball in the spring? No, I was actually.
A. Shot put, thrower and a discus.
Thrower got you. You just like I was OK.
How far did you throw the shot in this?

(14:49):
I don't even remember. Yeah.
'Cause I think I stopped. I think I stopped my junior year
after my junior. Year.
Yeah, well, 'cause I mean, you, you were, you were a basketball
star. I mean, that had to be your
focus. Yeah, so like, I think let's
see. So going on to basketball

(15:10):
though, this is kind of freaky how all this stuff happened.
So I was freshman year, I was onan AAU team with like local
players. Then one of the tournaments we
go to, we play, I think, I thinkit's called Indiana's finest.
And of course, we get annihilated because these are

(15:33):
like the top players in Indiana.In the state, yeah.
And so the coat and I think theywere playing a year younger as
well. So the coach pulled me aside and
he said like, Hey, would you like to play for us?
And I'm like new to this. And I'm like, let me ask my mom.

(15:55):
So I go talk to my mom and I waslike, I could play for this
team. And she's like, I think that
that would be a good idea. So immediately then I get
switched to the other team. And then that, ever since I was
on that team, which I believe was my sophomore year.

(16:16):
That's when it exploded, right? Yes.
Yes, like I got, I got letters from every school in the country
and I no one really prepared me for it 'cause no one came before
me in that department, in my. They didn't know.
Yeah, right, right. And I.
Remember. The high school coach, 'cause I

(16:36):
think they could call coaches then.
Yes. He was like Cassie.
I I got a phone call and I say, great, who's who's calling you?
Why are you telling me who's calling you?
And he's like, no, it's for you.And I said who?
And he said UConn and I said no shit.

(16:59):
So it was so cool and it happened all so fast.
Yeah, well, that, I mean, that'show it works when they want you.
And it's funny 'cause that's exactly similar to my situation.
I went to a school where there were very few Division One
athletes. In fact, to this day, I'm the

(17:23):
last Division One football player to come out of my, my
high school. So they, they didn't know the
process either. They didn't know anything like
the NCAA clearinghouse, all the stuff that you had to do for
that. And you know, with recruiting,
like my coach didn't know how todo it.
You know, we, we did it on our own and back when, you know, it

(17:46):
was VHS tapes, we, we got one ofthose machines where you could
put the blank tape in one and the game tape in the other.
And we would just make copies oflike 100 of them and send them
everywhere. But yeah, I, I, I know how
that's like recruiting. But like, were you, I mean, you
obviously must have known about UConn since Notre Dame was in

(18:10):
the Big East. Were you a fan of UConn at all?
I was definitely a fan of UConn,especially after like, like
freshman, sophomore year, because I know like, First off
the day, like when I saw Notre Dame play, I said I want to do
that, meaning I want to play college basketball.

(18:30):
And then it got into, well, I want to play at the best
colleges. I want to play at ones where I'm
going to be guaranteed to win a national championship because
honestly, like when you play basketball, like, that's the
pinnacle of why you're playing, right?
Absolutely. So.

(18:50):
That's amazing you thought that far ahead.
You're thinking I want to go to a school where I can win a
national championship. I was like, I just wanted to go
where I'd get a scholarship. But that's great.
So was your were your coaches good in high school?
I mean, were they good at working with you?
Did they develop you or did you feel more on your?

(19:13):
I think they laid a really good foundation because to be honest,
like the practices, like what wewere doing in practice is what
they did, Yukon did in practice when I got there.
Obviously not to that level of extreme like pushing yourselves,
but it was it was very, very similar.

(19:34):
And we were a defense oriented team which really focused in on
your defense, which I liked. And after I graduated my high
school coach, he was an assistant coach at VU of
Valparaiso University for a little bit.
So I mean, they were pretty good.
They we didn't win state that was there, which was I was a

(19:56):
mess because we didn't. But it is what it is.
How far did you did you end up making it?
It's weird I can't really remember.
I'm thinking of a semi state. Oh wow.
We lost to Warsaw. Oh, I'm not going to talk about

(20:18):
that play, but I remember that play specifically.
Believe me, I remember a lot of them too.
And so, so, so do so do my quarterbacks.
You ever, if you ever, you ever talked to Dan Orlovsky, he can
tell you he remembers numerous plays from from me.
But man, that must have been a crazy experience.

(20:41):
Did you go to basketball camps at all like in between your
sophomore and junior year? Because I know it's different
with basketball recruit. So you didn't even, you didn't
have to go to camps or anything.No, I mean, I think we did like
a team summer camp at like VU, but nothing.
I didn't go to like a All Star camp or anything like that.

(21:05):
Yeah, I was just. Saying on AAU cause AAU.
Yeah, that's right. Going all the way through
summer. And a lot of college coaches,
that's how they recruit. They watch AAU mostly.
And I believe, was it your senior year?
Were you 'cause I thought you were a McDonald's All American,

(21:26):
right? I think I was a runner up for
that. Yeah, OK.
Yeah, yeah. That's that's just an incredible
accomplishment. You must have been psyched about
that. I was, it was all such a blur,
but I was very excited about everything.
Like I didn't have a lot of timeto like process.

(21:50):
What's? Going on, I was just going with
it like, all right, OK, let's go.
You don't get any time to stop and smell the roses,
unfortunately. Yeah, because it's all crazy,
especially recruiting, especially, you know, when you
when you're a junior, that's when they can start calling you.
And I'm sure the letters and thecalls.

(22:11):
I mean, we're coming non-stop. The well, I was very determined
before, so I was prepared. I was like, all right, so these
are the schools I want to go to.These are, what did I say, 3
These are the three schools. So whoever calls me and it's not
that school, I'm like, sorry, I already made my narrow decision.

(22:33):
Thank you for your time and thank you for your
consideration. So it was a little bit easier
for me. So when did you start taking
official visits? Indeed, how many did you take?
So I had a Notre Dame was scheduled, Tennessee was

(22:57):
scheduled. Oh wow.
And then UConn was scheduled. But so this is rule I I find
this very funny because it showshow naive I was in the in the
beginning of this. But I got a call before the
official visits from coach and he was like, yeah, I think, I

(23:21):
think you, you be great in a Yukon uniform, yadda, yadda,
yadda. And I said, yeah, I think I
would look great in it too. And I end the conversation, hang
up. Couple minutes later, I got a
phone call back. He's like, do you not hear me?
And I was like, what? He you didn't pick up that he
was offering this. I did it and so he told me.

(23:43):
I was like absolutely. And then I forgot to tell my
parents. And then I, I'm speaking to a
reporter 'cause they were calling me and stuff.
And then at dinner time, they'relike, I believe they sat me
down. They're like, is there something

(24:03):
you want to tell us? I'm like, what?
They like look at the paper. And I was like, oh, yeah, I
committed. They're like, do you not want to
talk to us about it? I'm like.
Yeah, I did. I.
Thought it didn't matter. Well, yeah, there's not many
people that turned out in UConn.I was.
Like, there's really no option, Mom.

(24:23):
But wow, I mean, those are you had the three best schools in
the country on your list with Tennessee Pet Summit, Muffin,
McGraw and Gino. That's so impressive.
Again, parallel to myself, I was, I was offered by UConn my

(24:45):
junior year going into my senioryear.
And I didn't, I didn't understand it.
I, I, I just got a letter sayingwe want to offer you a
scholarship. And I'm like, is this real?
Like, can they do that? There's someone playing a prank
on me sending this. And, and we, we, you know, we
called and talked to him and it was the same thing.
Like, yeah, you dumb ass. That's yeah, we're offering you

(25:07):
a scholarship. So that's that's funny.
That's funny. And was that, was that your
junior year you think you got offered or your sophomore?
It was. A summer of my junior year.
Your summer the exact same time.Yeah, that's crazy.
That's absolutely crazy. So then you go into your senior

(25:29):
year, you must have had a ball because you know you're going to
UConn. I mean, you got to be the most
popular girl on campus at schoolbecause you're, you're A
Division One athlete at a schoolwhere there aren't that many.
You, you, you must have loved it.
It must have been at least some fun and enjoyment.

(25:51):
I I kept it business as usual. OK, you weren't, you weren't
like arrogant about it or anything.
Oh no, 'cause like and and I'm avery, I'm, I'm wired very
different than the normal person.
Meaning like, like I'm friends with everybody, but I don't
have, well, this was then I wasn't, I had, I was friends

(26:14):
with everybody, but I didn't have a solid core group because
I was so different. I mean, I was really focused on
my future. I was focused on academics.
I was focused on my art. I was focused on getting the
goals rather than being complacent with where I was in
the moment, which a lot of kids were.
And I was like, I really don't have time for that.

(26:36):
Yeah, You weren't like going outto parties every weekend and you
weren't like boy crazy or anything like that.
You had your mindset. You were laser focused and that
made the difference. I mean, that's how you achieved
your goals. Were you were you nervous
initially about going to school so far away from home?

(26:59):
I. Don't think so.
I I knew and I understood that it was like a plane ride home.
So just like to me it just just doesn't make sense that way.
Like if I can get home in like 3hours.
Yeah. That's fine.

(27:19):
That's fine. Yeah, no, I mean that's that's
how it was for me. I mean, it was a three hour car
ride. So a three hour plane ride's not
much different. When when you got there
initially, was it was it like a culture shock to you?
Was was it a big adjustment for you?
I mean, 'cause it seems like youwere mentally prepared for what

(27:43):
to expect and the expectations and where you were going.
Yeah, I think the culture, I mean, the biggest shock was like
the culture shock, meaning like be on campus during the summer
and I was there during the second session, which not many
people are there during the second session.
So like really trying to navigate what I was doing that

(28:06):
at that time. I mean, academics were a breeze.
That was fine. It was just getting used to like
an independent life. Yes, yes, yes.
Did you get a chance to live in like the Hilltop Apartments or
anything like that? So during that first summer, we

(28:30):
I was in the Hilltop Apartments.Those are my favorite.
And then no, no, no, no, it wasn't Hilltop Apartments.
It was Charter Oak Suites. Oh, those are the really nice
ones. Those are further down off
campus. So we were there, and then my
freshman year we were in Hale. Oh, you were in hell too.

(28:51):
OK. For the first year.
What floor? Was it 4?
OK, you were four. I was I was on the 7th floor and
every, everyone used to make funof me because, well, not make
fun of me, just laugh because mydorm, it was 724 hail and it was

(29:13):
right next to the window and I wouldn't throw my garbage out at
the dumpster. I would literally open the
window and throw my garbage out the window.
That's what I used to do. And my friends cracked up about
that. And I have a friend to this.
I have a friend to this day who will, who still remembers my

(29:37):
dorm room number and will call Hale 724 just to say, hey, did
you know Steve Kelly lived there?
You know he's a legend, right? You lived, you know, you lived
in your room. You know the things he did in
that room. I just want to let you know,
hey, that's what he would do. That did you Like I was, I was a

(30:01):
big DP though fan. Did you, did you ever get DP
dough or Sergeant Peps or any ofthose your favorite?
No. No, 'cause I'm sure I mean you
had to be in tip top shape and you guys had training table and
everything, but I you. Know like my teammates, they
loved going going to DP Dough and Sergeant Pep's so.

(30:21):
Yes, I got you. A lot of the times, 'cause I was
an art major, I would be living in the art.
In your studio, right? Yeah.
Right. Because I, I, I saw that like
right after practice, you'd go right to your studio and get
right to work. Yeah.

(30:42):
But but it was something that like you really were passionate
about. Yes, yes, yes.
Passion. Like I, I knew that.
So even at a young age, like in middle school, people told me I
couldn't do both. I couldn't do art and I couldn't
do sports. And I was like, again, don't

(31:04):
tell me what to do. That's a little bit of ODDA
little bit defiant disorder, butI'm going to do it.
Absolutely. So, and what's great is that
when I was talking to Gino, I was like, I want to study art.
I really want to do this, this and this.
And he was like, well, we'll support you with whatever you

(31:25):
want to do, which I think is huge because like when I went to
theme to talk with the coach, they wanted me to switch
degrees. And I was like, that's not
negotiable. So, but yes, I always knew that,
I mean, basketball would take meplaces, but I know that art

(31:45):
would be something that was in my life for my entire existence.
So to keep that in the forefrontand keep that balance with
basketball was huge for me. Yeah, and you're absolutely
right, because we had many players told the same thing in
football, guys who wanted to be engineer majors or pharmacy

(32:09):
majors. It was just no, Nope, you can't
do that. Can't do that.
You got to do this. Like I I ended up majoring.
I say I majored in graduation. I majored in sociology, which
was basically like majoring in graduation.
But yeah, that that's just crazy.
And I mean, you came in at it was, it was kind of a down time

(32:32):
and they they hadn't won the national championship in a
while. And I know you, you guys went to
a couple Final Fours and then itwas really your senior year
where that was the year everything got put together and
you guys won and you won the national championship.
And that was the first time in Ithink four or five years.

(32:53):
So that was a huge deal. Yeah, it was a really big deal.
I think that I think that the group that we had really
understood the assignment and like what we all have been
through as a team, but also personally on different levels.

(33:15):
That was a huge factor in everything.
And yeah, we just killed people that year.
It was great. You did?
No, I know you dominated. You absolutely dominated.
It was good to see. It was good to see again.
So I was there when Dee and Sue were there sworn funny story

(33:37):
because, you know, they would practice against the guys and we
were in the field house one day and the football players were
practicing with them. And I just, I just happened to
be walking by and they needed someone.
They said me to come in. Now, I I played high school
basketball. I was the 15th man on a 15 man

(33:58):
team. Yeah, I, I was terrible.
I had no desire to do this, but I, I did, I go in and I'm
guarding Swin cash and Swin cashis, you know, the cash cow.
So I was probably in for about two minutes and playing defense

(34:18):
on Swin and she she goes up for a shot and I went to block it
and I basically hit her with a palm strike to her nose and
blood was gushing everywhere. Gino doesn't know me.
Gino is like who the fuck is this kid?
Get him out of here now. And that was my last experience

(34:44):
practicing with the girls. I had no business being there
anyway. I didn't want to go in.
I was told to go in. It's their fault.
I still say it's their fault. And that's fine.
You can blame them. You want to put me in, you know
what you're going to get. I'm sorry I didn't swing
accepted my apology after after a few months, she accepted my

(35:08):
apology. But that was that was crazy.
That was crazy. But I mean.
I remember practicing or playinglike pick up games with Darius
Butler and Manch and. Good, good athletes.
Yes. Yeah, that's the difference

(35:29):
guys, guys who can control theirbody and, you know, not play as
rough. I I get it.
Yeah. No, Darius was awesome.
Tyvon was awesome. They both played in the NFL.
But I mean, UConn and I, I see it more now, especially to just
the the stress and the expectations of playing college

(35:53):
basketball. Like I, I know Paige had a rough
go with her career because, you know, with injuries and
expectations of just being the best that that in the country
and we're going to win all thesetitles.
And, you know, she really foughthard and she struggled and, and
I was so happy to see her get the get the national title this

(36:17):
year. But you know, Gino spoke very,
very highly of you and your importance to the team and your
contributions to the team and being such a great teammate and
helping the other girls. And you, you were, you were, you
were good with that. You accepted your role.

(36:38):
What kind of made you grow into that?
You know, you were, you were kind of like the big sister that
took these girls under their wing and you really tried to
help them during the games. Because so I was, I called
myself like a translator. So whatever coach would be
yelling at somebody, they like, Kylie or Tina, they would look

(37:02):
at me like what is what does? That mean?
What do I need to do? What do I need to do?
And I'll be like, so I would translate and I'd be like, hey,
try this, do this. So I was like a little mini
coach, which was effective. Yes, very, very.
And it made a difference and it made, it made a huge difference.

(37:23):
I, I, I just wanted to ask you just, I know that your, your
college experience was, was different from a lot of people.
And it, it wasn't necessarily the most fun.
It wasn't the easiest and, and you definitely had some
struggles. But what I found just reading

(37:46):
about you is your awareness and being able to recognize them
and, you know, being able to to ask for help and being able to
overcome adversity. How do you think you were able
to do that? Because I wasn't, so I was just
curious. So I've always been a deep

(38:10):
thinker, a deep feeler. And when I got to the end of my
rope, I realized I couldn't fix what I was battling.
And faith was really big in my life.
And I was like, OK, I can't do this, God, I need you to do this
for me. And at that time, our team was

(38:31):
really faith-based and very, very supportive.
And I know when I had to take a leave and kind of like sit back
because of my health that they were supportive.
And I honestly think that with my own, I think a lot of my
struggle, the team use that to motivate them in ways.

(38:56):
And I know when I got to the endof my rope asking for help, that
left me open to receive help. And I'm going to say that that
journey was very, very difficultbecause I had no idea how to
think and really feel at the same time.
And so I know one of my biggest challenges and my biggest goals

(39:20):
and like treatment was to connect my thoughts and my
feelings because that was the disconnect.
And what's really cool. I mean, yes, I hate everything
that I've had to go through, butthe same time I love everything
that I've had to go through because it's created who I am
now. And the things that I'm doing

(39:42):
now with my wounds, my hurts, isit's almost full circle, 'cause
now I'm, I'm a therapist, so I help people.
So you can tell me what's wrong with me.
That's good. Well then I'm going to have to
do an assessment. No, that's good.

(40:07):
That that's what led you into becoming a therapist.
That's huge. Yes, 'cause I, I, I realized
after I helped myself that a lotof people who were wounded, who
needed help themselves gravitated towards me.

(40:28):
And we would spend time togetherand, and I would just end up
kind of therapizing them in someodd way.
And then, yeah, it was really weird.
And then when I moved down to Florida, 'cause I think that was
in 2018, the spring I was livingin Indianapolis, I was working

(40:51):
as an artist and A and a model, so I didn't really have to live
in Indiana. So then I just packed up
everything to move down to Florida, which is the greatest
decision I've ever done. And when I moved down here, I
started getting my hands and helping people.

(41:13):
Like I helped at the food bank, I helped with people in
recovery, I helped do art therapy for people in jail,
like. You got involved, you really
gave back. Right.
Without and without even trying.Like things just showed up on my
doorstep and I was like, OK, andI didn't even get paid for this
stuff. No, you volunteered.

(41:34):
You volunteered. But I will say that that the
payments showed up in when people were buying artwork.
So I would be creating all this artwork and people would want to
pay me more money than I was asking for.
And I was like, I'm not going toargue with you.
You can do that. Absolutely, it'll take every,
every dollar they're willing to give you.

(41:56):
No, 'cause it, it, it is hard. And so, so many people
experience trauma and so, so many people, you know, because
there's, there's a stigma with mental health that they, they
avoid asking for it, asking for help and going for treatment.
And it's, it's very difficult tosee.

(42:17):
I was one of those people. I was, I was, I was a hardcore
drug addict for a good year. I was, I was using fentanyl
pretty bad. And you know, when you're in
active addiction, you, you're fine, everything's fine.
There's no problems. And you know, I, it took a

(42:38):
couple good friends and my father, I was, I, I, my fiance
had kicked me out. I was living in an Econo Lodge
and my father and my friends came out and they basically said
we can do this the easy way or the hard way.
You can go to treatment or we'rethrowing you in the car and

(43:01):
taking you to treatment. I said, OK, I'll, I'll, I'll,
I'll, I'll take the easy way. I'll take the easy way.
And I, it was, I agree with you.I mean, going, going to
treatment was such a culture shock for me because, you know,
I, I was the one who had everything together.

(43:24):
I coached college football for years.
I never had any problems. And then, you know, you, you do
one thing and it just spirals out of control and it consumes
your existence is the best way Ican put it.
So I was, I remember getting thetreatment and I, I couldn't

(43:44):
count the days fast enough because it was 28 days.
You had to stay and you know, after the 28th day, I realized
my fiance did not want me to come back.
I did not want to go home and and stay with my parents.
So I decided to stay for their intensive outpatient program and

(44:10):
I ended up staying close to six months and I grew to actually
enjoy it. It's something I look forward to
and it, it was almost like a philosophy class to me.
You kind of learned about the brain, the limbic system, and
you know, your dopamine receptors and.

(44:32):
Of course. You're fucked up and This is why
you're fucked up and, and it became, it became such a huge
help that, you know, I, I, I really enjoyed it.
I learned a lot and yeah, yeah. And thankfully I've been able to
stay clean for years and I never.

(44:55):
Congratulations. I don't see any more
congratulations. But yeah, people, other people
do. I just see, I, I see it as, you
know, normal people should be able to stay sober.
Like I it's, it's, it's, it's normal like I should.
This is normal. I don't see it as much as an
accomplishment as other people do, but I realize how

(45:18):
significant it is because, you know, if things have gone the
other way, it could, you know, Ilook back on pictures and
there's two people still alive out of the 16 I went in with.
And that's, that's just crazy. That's just crazy how it

(45:39):
happens. So I, you know, I, I understand
how you recognized some of the troubles you were struggling
with and how you went in and yougot help and the difference that
it made for you because it completely changed you and not

(45:59):
necessarily changed you, but it got you back on track.
It got you back on track and youhave such a wonderful life right
now with everything you're doingand you're doing so much, you
know, between therapy, between between your art, It's so
impressive. And, and congratulations on
being a newly mother. That must have been a wonderful,

(46:22):
wonderful experience. And I think you're going to be.
Crazy. A great, great mom.
Was it a tough pregnancy? No, so he was born the day right
before lockdown of COVID. Oh, oh, OK.
Yeah. So then.
Oh, so so when you want to go get.

(46:42):
Her so then I think 3 months is when I entered or I applied for
grad school to get my MSW the masters of social work.
You got your masters in social work, OK?
Yes, yes. So you have to get your masters
in social work and then you haveto get what is it like 1500

(47:05):
hours? That's clinical hours and then
100 supervision hours within twoyears.
And then you take a licensure exam for LCSW, which is a
licensed clinical social worker.That's what a good friend of
mine is. She's a no, she's a LMH.
She a licensed mental health counselor.

(47:26):
Yeah. And yeah, she had talked about
that as well. So you went right into that
after your pregnancy? Yep, right after my son was
born. God bless you for doing that.
Just, I mean, have you always been so ambitious?
Like, I mean, you really seem, you're very easy to talk to,

(47:48):
which is because you're a therapist, but and you're very
sweet. But have you always been so
focused, ambitious, ambitious and driven and had the goals set
for yourself? Yes, so a positive thing of my
like core self, but also a negative thing is striving for

(48:13):
perfection. Like I think it's health.
I think it's healthy to strive to be the best and whatever you
can be. But again, it's a double edged
sword. You can't just make it your God
or the ultimate or have your worth tied up in it.
So I've always been, I've alwaysbeen a go getter.

(48:34):
I've always been someone to create something.
I've always been someone to do things very differently than
others. Meaning so many people told me I
couldn't make a living art with artwork.
And I was like, that's I can stop telling me what to do and.
That's true. I actually had talked with a

(48:58):
former UConn football player, Robert McClain.
And yes, he's fantastic. He's a fantastic artist.
I love seeing his stuff. Well, I bought AI, bought a
piece from him. Sadly, I'm a big pro wrestling
fan and I love Hulk Rogan. Keep going.

(49:20):
So there was a picture of Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior
that I loved. And I sent it to him and he
painted it for me. And it's it's it's hanging in my
room. It's like my biggest prized
possession. So, but yeah, that's why if, if,

(49:41):
if that if you do anything like that, I would send you a picture
if you want to paint me a picture of two wrestlers
touching each other. But it's one of it's one of my
favorites. Cool, send me something.
I will. I will for sure.
Fun fact is I tried out for the WWE.
You did? Yeah.

(50:03):
You had one of the NXT tryouts with all with everyone there.
I saw. Who did I see?
Oh my God, I saw a lot of peopleand I'm drawing blanks now.
Well, because I'm trying to think of your age, if you
probably were there with maybe Charlotte Flair or Alexa Bliss
or Mandy Rose and Alexa. Bliss and her sister were there.

(50:27):
With Morgan, Yeah. Oh.
My God what is his name? He So after I tried out he like
a couple weeks later he passed away.
I forget his name. OK, it may have been I can't

(50:48):
Omaga, Andrew Martin, I can't remember.
He was an old school wrestler. Oh he was.
He was an old school wrestler and this was probably 09/20/10.
No, I think I, I think I, I think it was 2014.

(51:08):
Oh, OK, 2014, OK. But anyway I tried out.
They told me. They told me they're like.
They love. You, but we want you to train
for a year and then come back and try out and I said, well,
that wasn't on my list. Yeah.
You're going to take me now or not so.

(51:31):
Now, do you think you could havedone it?
Oh God, yeah. I think you could have done it.
Already had like this alter ego of.
This. You had a character, played out
everything. Like this Amazon artist?
Whatever, it would have been great.
Oh my God, yeah. That's that's how they do it.
They make you train down down there.

(51:53):
I don't know how far away it is from you, their facility, but
you have to go to Orlando. So it's a couple hours away, but
that was when I was in Indianapolis.
Oh, OK. Yeah, so the reason I got picked
for that is one of my good friends in college, she ended up
being a photographer for WWE andshe they were looking for cast

(52:21):
mates or whatever. And so she's like, hey, Triple
H, right. She goes, she goes to him and
she's like, I have this perfect person.
So she shows him some pictures and he said yes, she can try
out. And I was like, and then she
texts me. She's like, so I kind of offered
your name to try out without asking if you'd want to because

(52:41):
I know you'd say yes. And I was like sure, when is the
tryout? She was like 3 weeks and I was
like fuck. Are you ready for this?
It's. Like I have to start working out
again. Oh I know the IT was probably
the Total Divas show that had come out at the time.

(53:01):
They were looking for cast matesfor that.
No. So there was men and women there
it was. It was a full.
Oh well, they were OK. OK, there was.
Like 50 people. I OK, I know what show you're
talking about. It was on the WWE Network and
they filmed all the new, new menand women that were coming in to
the MXT training center and following them through their

(53:25):
journey. So that that would have been
you. Wow, that's so crazy.
That is so crazy that do you do you like wrestling?
Do you watch it at all anymore or no?
I don't. I think it's cool.
I think it's all, I mean, it's really like a dance.
It's like a theatrical performance.
If you look at it, it's all choreographed.

(53:45):
And. It's acting and I think that's
that's cool and it's crazy to me, 'cause when you when you see
and you understand the amount ofpeople that follow wrestling,
you're just like, wow. All these nerds.
It's, well, it's not nerds. It's like everybody I know.
It's almost like NASCAR. NASCAR has an absurd amount of

(54:07):
people following it. And I'm like how?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I've been.
I've been a fan ever since I wasa kid and I, I, I always wanted
to do it as well. But it, yeah, it is so
athletically challenging. It is choreographed, but you
have to work so well with your partner and you have to make

(54:28):
things look so smooth. And, you know, with your size
and athleticism, my God, they, they would have, they would have
loved you. It's, but I just commend you so
much on the life that you've managed to to build for yourself
and everything that that you have had to overcome because

(54:51):
people aren't capable usually ofgetting knocked down, getting
knocked down and then getting back up and having to start
over. And you did that.
You always did that and you never lost that belief in
yourself and belief in your talent and your belief in your
abilities, which is so impressive.

(55:13):
And how so? You're did you have a son?
Yes, his name's Luke. Luke OK, so is he's going to be
5 coming up. He he just turned 5.
How do you like being a mom? It's it's, it's undescribable.
Like, I didn't imagine being a mom because because of what I

(55:36):
did to my body, I was told I couldn't have kids.
So the fact that I had a kid, I was like, Oh my God, they're
like. This is a miracle on myself.
And just seeing how just anotherhuman can really change you for
the better. And I think one of the the
greatest things that his presence has done for me is that

(56:00):
like, before he was born, like, like my eating disorder was
still hanging out in the room. I, I know how to talk to it.
I know how to put it in its corner.
It stays there. But when he came along, it
disappeared, like, at all. And I'm just like, wow, OK, that

(56:22):
was a gift. And it's.
Definitely. So it's definitely a learning
experience. Nothing I would trade for the
world. He's he's the coolest kid ever.
I have adult conversations with him.
It's great. They're so smart and people
don't realize how smart they are.
It's, it's that it's crazy like that, that wow that you have

(56:45):
such a great relationship with your son.
Do you think your son will be anathlete?
I think so. I mean.
He's a fellow. He's a fellow Pisces like
myself, but he's really empathetic.

(57:07):
But he's really, I mean, we wentto the Final Four and we got
back like before going to the Final Four, has zero interest in
a basketball. And I don't push anything.
So whatever you want to do, we'll do.
And so we took a couple of the basketballs from the Final Four
room. And then so at home he's just

(57:28):
dribbling it non-stop. And he's like, why can't I
dribble like them? And I'm like, son, you just
started dribbling, it's going tobe OK.
We just got to work at it. But he's really good at soccer,
too. And Luke's dad was a crazy
hockey player. Oh, OK.

(57:50):
Like. On skates.
Yeah, you. Know the different mindset of a
hockey player like. Yeah, hockey stuff.
Right. And I'm just like, I really hope
Luke has that mentality of just like owning everybody.
I think he will because he's gotyour mentality too.
I mean your mentality. I don't know many women being

(58:14):
recruited who would say it's either UConn, Tennessee or Notre
Dame. I'm not talking to anyone else.
But you had that mentality and because you believed in yourself
and you had confidence, like, I'm going to the best school and
I'm going to win the national championship.
And that is such an incredible mindset to have.

(58:34):
And you've, you've kept that throughout your entire life.
So I, I just think that's, that's amazing to be able to do
that and have support along the way.
And you know, you, you do everything yourself.
You do your artwork, yourself, your therapy by yourself.
I mean, you, you do a lot on your own.

(58:56):
Like you don't need people around you.
You don't need to be in a big crowd.
Yeah. And that's that's amazing.
That's amazing because, you know, some people aren't like
that. Some people are just drawn to
crowds. Some people are drawn to the
wrong crowds. But you, your entire life had

(59:17):
just been such a special accomplishment.
And. Yeah, really, Really.
I, I can say I admire everythingthat you've done because I know
how hard it is and I know that it's not easy, but I mean,
you're, you're definitely just such a gentle soul, very easy to

(59:39):
talk to. I can see why you would be an
excellent therapist and I can, Ican see why you're, you're great
at art and I can see like, I think if we sent you to NASA,
you would find out how to be an astronaut.
The I probably would the the thelast thing I was just wanted to
ask you and get your thoughts onbecause college sports has

(01:00:02):
changed so much and I always askpeople this.
What are your thoughts on the transfer portal in NIL?
So I I'm all over with mixed feelings because I'm like shit

(01:00:23):
like why wasn't this here when Iwas in college?
I know, right? I.
Would have made a killing on some.
Anyway, you would have. You would have, yeah.
That's like, what if? But I'm happy that people are
getting compensated for what they're doing.
But I think it's like a wild, Wild West.

(01:00:44):
Area. Where there's no rules and
regulations around it that I think it's promoting poor people
skills, meaning it's teaching a kid you can go anywhere you want
regardless without any repercussions.
No penalties actually. You're going to be.

(01:01:05):
Because you're going to probablyget more money where you're
going, yadda yadda yadda. So it's all, I think a lot of it
is really ego driven and I feel bad for the coaches.
So like, let's say you invest 10years recruiting this kid, this
kid comes there to play for one year and then all of a sudden
they disappear. Like that's a lot of money.

(01:01:28):
So I think I, I think I watched on TikTok of coach saying it's
like, OK, you need to figure outif we're going to make this like
pro or if we're going to keep itNCAA because.
Yeah, I mean it. It basically is pro best.
It's a semi pro league. Right now, right?
Minus the contracts which keeps players accountable to their

(01:01:51):
teams, right? Exactly.
So either keep it, try to keep it NCAA like, college like, or
if you want to be a professional, have a contract.
Make them employees and and makethem all under contract.
No, I, I fully, I fully agree with that.
We have this debate all the timeand the Big East, you know,

(01:02:15):
they, they did the payouts from the NCAA tournament.
The SEC got 3.7 million, the Big10 got 3 point something
million. UConn was fifth with six or the
Big East was fifth with $650,000and they won the national
championship. Do you think that UConn can

(01:02:39):
survive staying in the Big East and for basketball in the next
10 years? That's a good question.
I'm not sure. I mean because as you know like
if this nil and transfer portal still stays in place, you never
know what conference is going toget.

(01:02:59):
And Gino doesn't take transfers usually.
I mean, we had one transfer thisyear and you know, he always
takes freshman so, and he, he's not going to be around forever.
So that's, that's what's scary. And I, I know the Big East is
primarily it's basketball, but Ijust, I, I hope that we can

(01:03:23):
sustain our success if we do stay in the Big East, but I hope
we aggressively at least tried to get into another conference.
So we're financially solvent. That's that's my biggest.
What conference are you thinkingof?
Allegedly, the Big 12 ACCI talked to Mike Burton, who does

(01:03:47):
the NIL for football, and Mark d'emilio, obviously for for
basketball. And, you know, they're pushing
David Benedict to really be moreaggressive to try to get into a
conference because they're like,we, you know, football can't
survive as an independent. The Big East, you know, hurts us

(01:04:11):
basketball wise. You know, we, we, we do a Husky
hoops. We did a Husky hoops podcast.
And, you know, Maria was on and Joe D'ambrosia was on and they
would they would just talk aboutthe Big East is so bad it
hinders us. And, you know, by tournament
time, you know, they were worried that we're playing SEC

(01:04:32):
schools and we're not, you know,we're not going to be able to
match up. And because we're playing such
poor competition. And thankfully, we were able to
turn it on and come out on top. And it was the first time in 10
years. So I just I, I, I, I think that,
yeah, I, I. But it was so great seeing Don

(01:04:55):
Staley throw a temper tantrum. Right.
That that was worth it for me. That was so worth it for me.
Just just she, she just lost hermind and it couldn't happen to a
better person when I saw her do that.
And and I love how she, she throws her players under the bus

(01:05:17):
all the time, never takes responsibility.
It's never her fault. It's always the other.
It's always so it's always a player's fault.
It's always a player's fault. That could be a whole another
conversation. Yes.
Well, I, I have to thank our last sponsor is Ned Von Young

(01:05:40):
Fresh himself. He runs the Fresh Fold Laundry
company, which is a high end laundry service, not a laundry
mat. Basically they are amazing.
They're in Carrboro, North NorthCarolina, just outside of Chapel
Hill. You can book online for

(01:06:01):
scheduling and you drop off yourclothes and they wash dry and
fold them at lightning speed, record, and then you just come
and pick them up. It's an amazing service.
They opened in January. They're doing absolutely
incredible. And Ned Vaughn did his research.

(01:06:22):
He picked a great business. And there's also deals for
college students, anyone who goes to North Carolina, North
Carolina Central Duke, Duke University, there's offers and
deals for for you guys as well. And go to the website
itsfreshfold-laundry.com. That is the website.

(01:06:47):
So I have to say. Cassie Kearns, former UConn
basketball player, therapist, artist, model, almost WWE star.
I, I, you got to be an actress probably sometime.
I mean, you can do it all. Thank you so much for being on
Potsky Talk. You're welcome.

(01:07:09):
And I am Steve Cooley, the best podcast host in the universe.
Remember, when life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade.
Take two oranges. Throw them right back at life.

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