April 7, 2025 • 10 mins
Coach Fran Fraschilla Joins The Show Before NCAA Championship
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
It is the Matt Thomas Show with Ross.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
We come to you from San Antonio tonight the Houston Cougars,
hopefully we'll win their first ever national championship.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
And our next guest is a man who knows.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
The University Houston program as well as anybody in the nation.
Respected former coach, longtime ESPN broadcaster, did the Big twelve
package this year. Coach Francis Schella is with us on
the show. Coach, thank you very much for joining us.
How many games did you want up doing at the
University of Houston this year?
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Oh boy, I'd probably say in the neighborhood attend that
last year it was a lot as well. And of course,
because of my friendship with coach Sampson and his staff,
I try to get to see them in September and October,
watch watch a couple of practices. Then the season gets underway.
I did that. I did that Auburn game to start
the year. That was the second game of the season.
(00:50):
And what I always do is I try to get
there a day or two early and watch practice and
hang out and I really get to know the kids,
and uh, you know, I'm not pulling I guess I
am pulling for them, I can't. I Uh, Todd Golden's
a friend at Florida Wins. I'll be excited for them,
but uh, just my relationship with Houston and Kelvin. Uh,
it'll be fun if if the Coups can pull this off.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Fir An, I wanted you to explain to the audience
because I see it a little bit with him. Before
I get to my Rocket season, I get to do
some of the non conference games. Uh. Yeah, Coach Sampson
isn't built for everybody. His practices aren't built for everybody.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
The people that he brings in the program and and
and friend. He brings up the.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Term culture and that's yeah really I often used term
in sports, but what he really means and I want
you to take the audience into that culture. That doesn't
necessarily mean that every top ten national player in this
country is gonna say the University of Houston's the right
fit for me.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Well, it's a great it's a great point, Matt. I
guess the best way to describe it is you could
walk into any ten minutes of the Houston practice, any
ten minutes and know what the program is about. Uh,
you know, beginning and middle you know, whatever it is,
everything's done at a high level of intensity. Uh, there's
no faces, there's no bad body language. He's recruited great kids.
(02:06):
The majority of those kids are from great families. And
in order to go to Houston, it's it's old school.
You know, you got to check your ego at the door.
If you have talent and talent enough to play at
the next level, he's proven that you'll get there, whether
it's a Sass or Grimes shed, et cetera. But if
you're just a kid that's going to be a really
(02:27):
good college player, and you're willing to check the ego
at the door, work hard every single day and the
best way to put it. And then and I'll you know,
I'll let you you know, I'll let you talk. I
mean monopolized. But first year, no man, I asked him.
Last year, I said, what happens? You know, I coached
and and we we all have bad practices. I said
(02:48):
to him last year, what happens when you have a
bad practice? And he looked at me sternly and said,
we don't have bad practices. I don't allow it. And
that's rare. Their program is rare. There culture is rare
in this modern age if you go there, which is
what excites me about the three all Americans from high
school they're getting next year. All three of those players
(03:10):
chose Houston knowing that even if they have NBA ability,
and they all do that for at least a year,
maybe it'll take two in a couple of cases or three,
that they know they're going to be pushed to their
limit to be the best player they can be, and
ultimately it helps everybody involved with the program. And as
I said, a perfect example is Jamal shed who probably
(03:33):
as a freshman and sophomore, there's not anybody that thought
he would be an NBA player, and now the rest
is history.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Frank Fischelo with us here on the Matt Thomas Show
of Ross Coach. Yep, I don't I mentioned this the
very first segment of my show, Duke doesn't do what
Duke did on Saturday Night? That was not like because
my family is full of Duke fans and my audience
knows this.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
My oldest son's name is Cameron.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
I meant, my wife, who I've met at the University Houston,
frant rooted for Duke on Saturday.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
She goes I look, I've been to the fansince I
was five years old. She was blown away.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Yeah, that Duke basketball team in the last five minutes
was a five minute stretch that anybody in this country
never saw from the Blue Devils.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
Well, i'll tell you Ross, it's interesting you say that
because I thought for the first thirty minutes they were
the rare team this year that bullied the Cougars, you know.
And by the way, I was with Coach Shire and
Cooper Flag yesterday as he received a Nasmith Award yesterday morning.
I host it every year and it was a classy
gesture that before they took off for Durham that they
(04:35):
showed up to get his award. That was cool. But
I felt during the game that Duke for thirty minutes,
made Houston play poorly. You guys know, early in the
game Houston miss way ups golden opportunities. Defensively, they were
not sharp, they weren't crashing the offensive glass. And so
the irony of this it wasn't like a back and
(04:56):
forth game. It was a thirty minutes of Duke dominating
a team that doesn't usually physically get dominated. And then
of course it all turns around in the final five minutes,
and I think you just have to you know, certainly
Duke hurt their chances with some inexperience indecision, no question
that I know John Shire is going to you know,
(05:17):
rule the last five minutes and over things he could
have done better. But on the other hand, what we
saw from Houston was typical Houston Cougar, never quit. We
work hard every single day for these moments. We know
how to play from ahead, we know how to play
from behind, and if you're gonna beat us, you're gonna
(05:38):
have to beat us over forty minutes and not thirty five.
And that really was the difference in the game.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Frank Fischela with us here on the Matt Thomas Show
with Ross coach you have, I don't know how much
you've watched Florida this year. You obviously were in sant
Antornio on Saturday. Give me a thumbnail sketch of them
as a whole forgetting about who you root for, who
you don't root for? Just what is I think their
last five minutes of games really starting. Since the SEC Tournament,
they turned into a different basketball team, a team that
(06:07):
can shoot lights out when necessary.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
Well You're right, I would say this. They're a very
good team with a transcendent player, and I think the
I think what Walter Clayton Junior is doing right now
could end up being historic. If Florida is to win
and Walter Clayton Junior has any near where the kind
(06:30):
of games he's played in this tournament, we're going to
be talking about him with the greats in the history
of the NCAA tournament. You know, Carmelo's freshman year certainly,
you know comes to mind the great Bill Walton teams
of the seventies. You know is twenty one to twenty
two against Memphis State. I'm old enough to remember that game.
So they have they Uston has to stop or slow
(06:54):
down Walter Clayton because he's just been incredible. Other than him,
they were really solid a team. Veteran backcourt along with
Will Richard, four bigs up front that can all play.
Terrific young coach, they play hard. So there's certainly a challenge.
You don't get to the National Championship Game without two
(07:15):
great teams, and I think that's what we have tonight.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Farlot, You're on.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
You such a great perspective on the sport, and look,
I love college basketball. I grew up as a kid
watching fire Slama Jam. As a matter of fact, I'm
gonna read get his trying me in about twenty minutes here.
But let me ask you about Look, everybody has their
own little anecdotes, thoughts, beliefs about the transfer portal and nil.
So let's fast forward five years. Coach, you'll be still
doing games with Boug Shan. Beyond ESPN and whatnot college
(07:42):
basketball is going to be in five years.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
Uh, this is an honest answer. I have no idea.
I have no idea. We are all down here in
San Antonio, coaches, administrators, you know, media, and I get
a First of all, I'm not I'm not a get
off my wall guy. I think the NIL and the
ability of players, especially at the high level, to take
(08:08):
advantage of name, image and likeness and partake of some
of the let's say profits of college football and basketball
is important. The transfer portal important, but not to the
point where the best way to describe it is if
you were coming down the home stretch of the second
round of the NBA playoffs, and every single player in
(08:29):
the NBA during the second round of the playoffs become
an unrestricted free agent, we would have chaos. And I
put a tweet out this morning that Colin Gillaspie, who's
one of the best guards in college basketball in the
last decade from Villanova, is making five hundred and eighty
thousand dollars right now playing for the Phoenix Suns. There's
no way that next year, five hundred college players not
(08:50):
named Cooper Flag by the way, just good players, good
starters on top power conference teams, should be making more
money than him. That's just you could say free mark
at all you want, but that in itself is unsustainable.
So free market to an extent, yes, but not at
the expense of ruining and really maybe destroying college athletics.
(09:12):
And again, I know it sounds like it's it sounds
like dark and gloomy, but I don't think that kind
of model is sustainable. And here's the bottom line. We
don't really have a model right now. There is no model.
And so I'm hoping that somebody, and I don't know
who it is, because there's nobody really just had the
(09:32):
courage to take take the bull by the horns, whether
it's NCAA presidents or college conference commissioners, We're in a
completely unknown charted waters and I honestly don't know how
this is going to end. And I know it sounds
gloom and doom, but it's what everybody's talking about down here,
no question about it.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Fran. It's been an honor to have you on my
radio program. I thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
If you ever want to come call the University Houston
versus Lamar game, you know where to find me in
like early November. Uh, if you can come to an
ESPN Plus game, I'd be honored to work with you.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Thank you for the time and.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
Get to Houston. Yeah, thank you, Matt. Anytime I get
to Houston and watch the Coobs, it's a cool day.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Absolutely, Coach Fran, thank you very much. Frank Fischilla joining
us here on the Matt Thomas Show with Rossar
It is the Matt Thomas Show with Ross.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
We come to you from San Antonio tonight the Houston Cougars,
hopefully we'll win their first ever national championship.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
And our next guest is a man who knows.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
The University Houston program as well as anybody in the nation.
Respected former coach, longtime ESPN broadcaster, did the Big twelve
package this year. Coach Francis Schella is with us on
the show. Coach, thank you very much for joining us.
How many games did you want up doing at the
University of Houston this year?
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Oh boy, I'd probably say in the neighborhood attend that
last year it was a lot as well. And of course,
because of my friendship with coach Sampson and his staff,
I try to get to see them in September and October,
watch watch a couple of practices. Then the season gets underway.
I did that. I did that Auburn game to start
the year. That was the second game of the season.
(00:50):
And what I always do is I try to get
there a day or two early and watch practice and
hang out and I really get to know the kids,
and uh, you know, I'm not pulling I guess I
am pulling for them, I can't. I Uh, Todd Golden's
a friend at Florida Wins. I'll be excited for them,
but uh, just my relationship with Houston and Kelvin. Uh,
it'll be fun if if the Coups can pull this off.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Fir An, I wanted you to explain to the audience
because I see it a little bit with him. Before
I get to my Rocket season, I get to do
some of the non conference games. Uh. Yeah, Coach Sampson
isn't built for everybody. His practices aren't built for everybody.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
The people that he brings in the program and and
and friend. He brings up the.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Term culture and that's yeah really I often used term
in sports, but what he really means and I want
you to take the audience into that culture. That doesn't
necessarily mean that every top ten national player in this
country is gonna say the University of Houston's the right
fit for me.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Well, it's a great it's a great point, Matt. I
guess the best way to describe it is you could
walk into any ten minutes of the Houston practice, any
ten minutes and know what the program is about. Uh,
you know, beginning and middle you know, whatever it is,
everything's done at a high level of intensity. Uh, there's
no faces, there's no bad body language. He's recruited great kids.
(02:06):
The majority of those kids are from great families. And
in order to go to Houston, it's it's old school.
You know, you got to check your ego at the door.
If you have talent and talent enough to play at
the next level, he's proven that you'll get there, whether
it's a Sass or Grimes shed, et cetera. But if
you're just a kid that's going to be a really
(02:27):
good college player, and you're willing to check the ego
at the door, work hard every single day and the
best way to put it. And then and I'll you know,
I'll let you you know, I'll let you talk. I
mean monopolized. But first year, no man, I asked him.
Last year, I said, what happens? You know, I coached
and and we we all have bad practices. I said
(02:48):
to him last year, what happens when you have a
bad practice? And he looked at me sternly and said,
we don't have bad practices. I don't allow it. And
that's rare. Their program is rare. There culture is rare
in this modern age if you go there, which is
what excites me about the three all Americans from high
school they're getting next year. All three of those players
(03:10):
chose Houston knowing that even if they have NBA ability,
and they all do that for at least a year,
maybe it'll take two in a couple of cases or three,
that they know they're going to be pushed to their
limit to be the best player they can be, and
ultimately it helps everybody involved with the program. And as
I said, a perfect example is Jamal shed who probably
(03:33):
as a freshman and sophomore, there's not anybody that thought
he would be an NBA player, and now the rest
is history.
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Frank Fischelo with us here on the Matt Thomas Show
of Ross Coach. Yep, I don't I mentioned this the
very first segment of my show, Duke doesn't do what
Duke did on Saturday Night? That was not like because
my family is full of Duke fans and my audience
knows this.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
My oldest son's name is Cameron.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
I meant, my wife, who I've met at the University Houston,
frant rooted for Duke on Saturday.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
She goes I look, I've been to the fansince I
was five years old. She was blown away.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Yeah, that Duke basketball team in the last five minutes
was a five minute stretch that anybody in this country
never saw from the Blue Devils.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
Well, i'll tell you Ross, it's interesting you say that
because I thought for the first thirty minutes they were
the rare team this year that bullied the Cougars, you know.
And by the way, I was with Coach Shire and
Cooper Flag yesterday as he received a Nasmith Award yesterday morning.
I host it every year and it was a classy
gesture that before they took off for Durham that they
(04:35):
showed up to get his award. That was cool. But
I felt during the game that Duke for thirty minutes,
made Houston play poorly. You guys know, early in the
game Houston miss way ups golden opportunities. Defensively, they were
not sharp, they weren't crashing the offensive glass. And so
the irony of this it wasn't like a back and
(04:56):
forth game. It was a thirty minutes of Duke dominating
a team that doesn't usually physically get dominated. And then
of course it all turns around in the final five minutes,
and I think you just have to you know, certainly
Duke hurt their chances with some inexperience indecision, no question
that I know John Shire is going to you know,
(05:17):
rule the last five minutes and over things he could
have done better. But on the other hand, what we
saw from Houston was typical Houston Cougar, never quit. We
work hard every single day for these moments. We know
how to play from ahead, we know how to play
from behind, and if you're gonna beat us, you're gonna
(05:38):
have to beat us over forty minutes and not thirty five.
And that really was the difference in the game.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Frank Fischela with us here on the Matt Thomas Show
with Ross coach you have, I don't know how much
you've watched Florida this year. You obviously were in sant
Antornio on Saturday. Give me a thumbnail sketch of them
as a whole forgetting about who you root for, who
you don't root for? Just what is I think their
last five minutes of games really starting. Since the SEC Tournament,
they turned into a different basketball team, a team that
(06:07):
can shoot lights out when necessary.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
Well You're right, I would say this. They're a very
good team with a transcendent player, and I think the
I think what Walter Clayton Junior is doing right now
could end up being historic. If Florida is to win
and Walter Clayton Junior has any near where the kind
(06:30):
of games he's played in this tournament, we're going to
be talking about him with the greats in the history
of the NCAA tournament. You know, Carmelo's freshman year certainly,
you know comes to mind the great Bill Walton teams
of the seventies. You know is twenty one to twenty
two against Memphis State. I'm old enough to remember that game.
So they have they Uston has to stop or slow
(06:54):
down Walter Clayton because he's just been incredible. Other than him,
they were really solid a team. Veteran backcourt along with
Will Richard, four bigs up front that can all play.
Terrific young coach, they play hard. So there's certainly a challenge.
You don't get to the National Championship Game without two
(07:15):
great teams, and I think that's what we have tonight.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Farlot, You're on.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
You such a great perspective on the sport, and look,
I love college basketball. I grew up as a kid
watching fire Slama Jam. As a matter of fact, I'm
gonna read get his trying me in about twenty minutes here.
But let me ask you about Look, everybody has their
own little anecdotes, thoughts, beliefs about the transfer portal and nil.
So let's fast forward five years. Coach, you'll be still
doing games with Boug Shan. Beyond ESPN and whatnot college
(07:42):
basketball is going to be in five years.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
Uh, this is an honest answer. I have no idea.
I have no idea. We are all down here in
San Antonio, coaches, administrators, you know, media, and I get
a First of all, I'm not I'm not a get
off my wall guy. I think the NIL and the
ability of players, especially at the high level, to take
(08:08):
advantage of name, image and likeness and partake of some
of the let's say profits of college football and basketball
is important. The transfer portal important, but not to the
point where the best way to describe it is if
you were coming down the home stretch of the second
round of the NBA playoffs, and every single player in
(08:29):
the NBA during the second round of the playoffs become
an unrestricted free agent, we would have chaos. And I
put a tweet out this morning that Colin Gillaspie, who's
one of the best guards in college basketball in the
last decade from Villanova, is making five hundred and eighty
thousand dollars right now playing for the Phoenix Suns. There's
no way that next year, five hundred college players not
(08:50):
named Cooper Flag by the way, just good players, good
starters on top power conference teams, should be making more
money than him. That's just you could say free mark
at all you want, but that in itself is unsustainable.
So free market to an extent, yes, but not at
the expense of ruining and really maybe destroying college athletics.
(09:12):
And again, I know it sounds like it's it sounds
like dark and gloomy, but I don't think that kind
of model is sustainable. And here's the bottom line. We
don't really have a model right now. There is no model.
And so I'm hoping that somebody, and I don't know
who it is, because there's nobody really just had the
(09:32):
courage to take take the bull by the horns, whether
it's NCAA presidents or college conference commissioners, We're in a
completely unknown charted waters and I honestly don't know how
this is going to end. And I know it sounds
gloom and doom, but it's what everybody's talking about down here,
no question about it.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Fran. It's been an honor to have you on my
radio program. I thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
If you ever want to come call the University Houston
versus Lamar game, you know where to find me in
like early November. Uh, if you can come to an
ESPN Plus game, I'd be honored to work with you.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Thank you for the time and.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
Get to Houston. Yeah, thank you, Matt. Anytime I get
to Houston and watch the Coobs, it's a cool day.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Absolutely, Coach Fran, thank you very much. Frank Fischilla joining
us here on the Matt Thomas Show with Rossar
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