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June 23, 2025 15 mins
UC's Basketball GM and newly-minted NBA Champion Corey Evans joins Mo.
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Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
So back in late in March, the University of Cincinnati
men's basketball program hired its first ever general manager, Corey Evans,
who comes to UC from the Oklahoma City Thunder, where
Corey had served as an amateur evaluation scout over the
last four years. And so the move occurred during the season.

(00:21):
The Oklahoma City Thunder win the NBA title last night
in a seventh game, and so that makes Corey, as
far as I'm concerned, and I'm sure he'll agree, an
NBA world champion. The UCGM kind enough to join us
this afternoon. Congratulations Corey, thank you for joining us. How
are you?

Speaker 2 (00:38):
I'm great, I'm great to I appreciate you having me
on here.

Speaker 1 (00:41):
I appreciate you doing that. So how what was last
night like? Your How are you watching the game? Are
you able to watch it as a fan?

Speaker 2 (00:48):
Like?

Speaker 1 (00:48):
What was last night like?

Speaker 2 (00:51):
Yeah, there's no fandom anymore. I would say, nervous energy
all alone. I kind of want to know one around
me there. And yeah, the first half I was kind
of on pins and neals there. I didn't know how
things would kind of pull out down one at halftime.
But that defense is just it just suffocates you so

(01:14):
it fell little bit better going into the fourth quarter
of twenty they may have close to the end, but
super super proud of those guys.

Speaker 1 (01:21):
Have you talked with and I'm sure you have over
the course of the last couple of weeks, but but
since last night, have you talked with anybody from the
organization about what it's been like to win the organization's
first championship since moving from Seattle.

Speaker 2 (01:35):
Yeah? Yeah, a couple of the scallops of front office members.
I mean, it's pandemonium down there. The fan base of
Oklahoma City is pretty unique as far as a professional
fan base. So you have a collection of crazy fans
and a city that's just kind of yearning for a
championship with I mean, they're the second youngest team in

(01:58):
the NBA history to win the title. They're like, I'm
a kids in extent with their personalities, which is a
kind way of saying it, they're unbelievable people through and
through data. Dale Williams get So, I think you have
a collection of all that intertwined and it had to
be a hell of a night last night.

Speaker 1 (02:20):
It's an organization that that gets a lot of credit
for quote building the right way with Sam Presty, as
as the general manager, as as somebody who was involved
in evaluating talent involved in the draft process. You mentioned
Jalen Williams, wh I want to talk about here specifically
in a minute. What is it about that franchise that

(02:42):
is so well run, is so enviable, and is so
set up to have long term success well beyond after
this season.

Speaker 2 (02:52):
I think the one thing that Sam Presty is amazing
at is in it sense, delayed gratification. I think it's
about well, not making the quick stick. It's about having
an ideal in mind and sacrificing and being patient with it,
especially in today's society and today's sports, where it's about

(03:15):
when now, When now? When now? And sometimes it's based
off maybe your contract or how much leverage you have.
But Sam really empowered the staff, I think, with finding
the right individuals with the right makeup that fit the
city but also would fit the organization and fit the

(03:38):
other players for bringing in. And I think it's why
you have guys like lou Dorton, case On Wallace and
Kenrick Williams and you're throwing Alf Crusso and those guys
are just it's it's one heart beat, and it's it's
It's true, it's but when you have a head of
snake like Jay Gilders, who is maybe the most humble

(03:58):
supertar that I've I could have come across over the
past several years, it kind of reverberates through and through
via Kresty and BSA eulogists and uh, just to make
them so unique.

Speaker 1 (04:14):
Are are there parts of that? And I'm sure there
are so, So I'll ask it this way, what parts
of how the thunder are run would you like to
implement at the University of Cincinnati. Understanding that while the
line has never been more blurred between the NBA and college,
there are differences.

Speaker 2 (04:30):
Yeah, I think from a from a intangible perspective and organizationally,
it's really being thorough with our gollering of prospects and
recruiting via the portal and being in high school. It's
what I've learned really fast here is at the NBA,

(04:54):
you make a decision and you have months on months
to decide, and in college that basketball, especially with the portal,
you have a few hours sometimes so it's way more hectic,
which means you got to be on the ball. But
I would say thorough as far as who the person

(05:15):
is and can they impact the program in a positive manner.
We want energy givers and we want to bring the
right people onto the bus. And one bad apple can
really upset the whole litter. And I think we saw
that in Olahoma City with those guys love each other.

(05:35):
And how do we find a way to bring in thirteen, fourteen,
fifteen young men with the staff as well? That all coaliates.
And that's probably the most difficult part because it's all intangible.
It's all you can't really put a number on it.
It's not finite. But came did an amazing job of that,

(05:57):
and we're going to do our very best continue to
got to create that here at Cincinnati, all right.

Speaker 1 (06:04):
One more specifically on the thunder. So I'm a big
Jalen Williams guy, and I'm sure you are too, So
you guys get him in the twenty twenty two draft.
I'm also a big Knicks fan. So New York was
picking twelve that year, you guys, I'm sorry, New York
was picking twelve that year. You guys are New York
was picking eleventh. You guys were picking twelfth. I'll get
this right at some point, Uh, we don't take Jalen Williams,

(06:27):
you guys do. I'd be line to you if I
told you I thought he was going to be a superstar.
But if he's not there yet, he's certainly on the verge.
Walk me through the evaluation process and ultimately what made
you guys to decide to take him and obviously a
move that has turned out to work out better than
I think anybody ever could have imagined.

Speaker 2 (06:48):
Yeah, he kind of snucked up on an everyone in
the NBA, right. He his stories background, It's pretty impressive
how he grew from six two, sixth three to six seven,
So we were all playing catch up. And it happened
during COVID as well. I remember going to see him
Plague in San Diego in February of the COVID year,

(07:11):
and there's twenty people in the stands out on the
West coast, of course, with the regulations they had going on.
And but every every month or two, even in that
small space of time, he was getting better and he
was checking the boxes, whether it was the background with
the family, whether it was the the physical tangible and

(07:35):
then you meet the person, it just adds to it
and when you have all that in one prospect, who
was the first to get better and improve and win
and it's about the team which he is. It was
not clear as day, but it was. It was pretty

(07:57):
You can you can imagine it's much better with a
guy like that, or I mean, we're so lucky. Sam's
amazing at having the forth sight, you know, the draft
a guy like chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams and the other
Jail Williams in the same draft, which could go down
with one of the bear drafts of all time, at
least in franchise history. But I think the the mental

(08:21):
makeup of Dalen and then the progressive nature of his development,
along with the physical tangibles and the mension, it just
made for too much of an intoxicating prospect the draft
that wasn't a top ten guy going into the draft.

Speaker 1 (08:39):
Corey Evans is with us, the general manager of the
UC men's basketball program and newly minted NBA World Champion.
What have the last two and a half months been
like since he moved to Cincinnati from Oklahoma City.

Speaker 2 (08:53):
It's been a sprint every day. It's the first, I
would say, the first, you know, I or five straight
years of knowing what to expect every March, dude, every August,
and you're working your butt off for eight nine months
of the year, but you work to a point where
you know you're gonna have a couple of months off.

(09:13):
And it went right from laid March through the portal,
which was one of the most crazy technic periods of
days that I've ever encountered. I hope that does not
happen again next year. I think that I can. I
can safely say I believe that everyone else industry is
still the same way. But I'm blessed and lucky this

(09:35):
place is. It's pretty impressive what I thought it was.
It's even better times ten as far as the resources
and support, and I'm really really excited about the people
in the building, whether it's supports staff, the coaching staff,
the administration, and better you get the players. So yeah,
it's been crazy. I feel like I'm finally getting my

(09:58):
feet on the ground here a bit. But man, I'm
just grave to seat in the star. I'm related to
get these gods better. And Coach Millern that guy that
done a great job so far having any organized and
planned out. So I think we're gonna I'm patiently optimistic
to hear about what we can't really have.

Speaker 1 (10:18):
Yeah, and you mentioned the season getting here. From my standpoint,
I can't get here soon enough. Your role, the role
of general manager in college basketball is becoming more and
more commonplace, but it is still relatively new and so
for those who here GM in college basketball, and it
doesn't necessarily make sense walk people through a what you

(10:42):
do and then be what your working relationship is like
with the head coach, who obviously in this case is
West Miller.

Speaker 2 (10:50):
Yeah, I'll take I'll take Aten b first. West and
I have Noni Shar for about twelve thirteen, fourteen years,
and he's been a big fan of myself the past
twelve thirteen years. And I've been a massive fan of
him of course from the Greensboro days and to here now.
So it's kind of like we're tied to hip. It's

(11:10):
great that we believe in very comparable similar dynamics in
virtues as far as how things to be run and
the people in the building and our value on character.
So it's been awesome so far, just having giving a
different lens to things as far as his coaching style

(11:32):
to my way of organizational and then DM role. It's
still ambiguous right now. I think everyone has a different
role and list of roles for that DM. Where you look,
some are going the former NBA player that it's kind
of like an ambassador from Afar, and some are going

(11:53):
the scouting role, and others are going the front office
NIL role. And what really drove me here Cincinnati was
I can I can cut practically every part of the
program and help these guys hopefully alleviate some of the
excess stuff that's pile up on their plates. These coaches

(12:13):
have gone from being basketball coaches to now being CEOs
or conciers the stores. It's crazy. So but the good
thing is I love that stuff. Like I don't want
to be a coach. I want to be the best
general manager for since names basketball, and that means helping
these guys eat the burdens of what's kind of added

(12:38):
up over the past few years. So whether it's NIL,
whether it's the impact of the brand as a whole,
whether it is recruiting and scouting, whether it is player relations,
booster relations, it's whatever you you think that goes on
to it in basketball program. And then some I'm touching

(12:58):
various parts of that every day, which really excites me.
It's reinvigorated me to assent to a different degree as
far as direct impact and helping these guys achieve their goals,
as far as the team and individuals. So I'm excited
about it, man, I really am.

Speaker 1 (13:17):
I am too, and I know a lot of other
Bearcat fans are as well. I can't thank you enough
for doing this. Congratulate. I assume you get a ring, right,
I mean you're you got to give him your ring
size and okay, see now right, so man, we got leakious.

Speaker 2 (13:31):
I'll say this. We got a league hearing your ring
last year and hopefully an NBA won this year. And uh,
I said, we we can't leave the third finger there,
so let's let's keep the singer rolling. Man. So it's
a day, my day approached sacrifice the right intent. But uh,
I'm very really excited about Plham and see, but even
more excited about what we can do here Sincnati.

Speaker 1 (13:52):
No question about that. Thank you so much. Congratulations and
I hope we can do it again.

Speaker 2 (13:56):
Man, Thank you, I appreciate it. Thanks man.

Speaker 1 (13:59):
That's Corey Evans, the general manager at the University of Cincinnati.
Joining West Miller's program in late March by way of
the Oklahoma City Thunder, which makes Corey a newly minted
NBA champion. Good stuff from him. We are late five
point three seven four nine, fifteen thirty. Chase Burns is
at Great American Ballpark. We'll have audio of him for

(14:20):
you coming up here in just a bit. It's four
o'clock on ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 2 (14:25):
This is sports set up.

Speaker 1 (14:31):
I'm Doug Brown.

Speaker 3 (14:32):
ESPN. Shaanschirania reports Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton does have
a torn right achilles. The non contact injury came in
the first quarter of Game seven Sunday against the Thunder.
Haliburton's availability for next season is in jeopardy. Shay Gilgess
Alexander of the Thunder is the second youngest player to
win the scoring title, the MVP and the Finals MVP

(14:55):
in the same season, behind only Kareem Abdul Jabbar.

Speaker 4 (14:59):
It's hard to believe that I'm part of that group.
It's hard to even fathom that I'm that type of
basketball player. Sometimes as a kid, you dream, and every
kid dreams, but you don't ever really know if it's
gonna come true.

Speaker 3 (15:15):
Shake, You'll just Alexander. At age thirty nine, Ryder Cup
captain Keegan Bradley is the youngest US captain since Arnold
Palmer was a playing captain in nineteen sixty three. Bradley
tells Golf Channel the door is at least open for
him to play in September after winning the Travelers Championship
in Connecticut on Sunday, your summer.

Speaker 4 (15:38):
Drink is here.

Speaker 5 (15:39):
Twisted Tea is a smooth, refreshing, hard iced tea with
five percent alcohol, making it the perfect drink to take
any day this summer to the next level. Twisted Tea
Brewing Company, Cincinnati, Ohio. Please drink responsibly.

Speaker 4 (15:54):
You see what I sa

Mo Egger News

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