Seg 6 - MBB Show Nov 6 w Mike Nardi

Mike Crispino looks back at Mike Nardi's High School days against Dan's father 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
We're back with Mike Nardi, you kind of assistant coach
Lynden New Jersey. We're gonna go to Jersey here for
a moment, went to Saint Patrick's. We were talking Dan
Hurley about the great rivalry of Saint Anthony Saint Patrick's
over the years. Uh, Mike, you were part of that.
That that was probably a baptism by five any basketball player.

(00:21):
I mean I was broadcasting some of this stuff, but
you guys on there, I mean, it was it was
pretty intense.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
It was it was it was it was kind of like, uh,
we were playing football out there, you know.

Speaker 3 (00:34):
It was.

Speaker 2 (00:35):
It was always the you know, really grinded out rock
fight type of game, low scoring. You know, Coach Hurley was,
you know, obviously the best coach in the country at
the time, and anytime you're going into a game to
play against.

Speaker 3 (00:51):
Them, you just knew what you were in for. And
and coach Boyle at St.

Speaker 2 (00:56):
Pat's had a ton of respect for Coach Hurley, you know,
and I think as was part of kind of where
the relationship started to become, you know, something for myself,
because you know, coach Hurley was at Rutgers as an
assistant at the time, and he would come in to
watch practices at Saint Pat's and we kind of got
a chance to you know, know each other a little bit.

(01:17):
And then he ended up going to Saint Benedict's and
we started you know, playing against them because they came
became really good. Yeah, so, uh, it was just a
great rivalry and and New Jersey basketball at that time
was just, you know, I think at one of his
all time highest with with the coaching and the players
and just the competitive nature within the state. But always

(01:40):
a ton of respect and you know, going up against
coach Hurley senior and coach Early.

Speaker 1 (01:47):
You went after college and played professionally in Europe, Netherlands
and Italy. Tell me a little bit about that, because
that was something that guys did quite a bit of
and still do these days. But that was a that
was a leap you had to go play, you know,
in another continent. What was that like?

Speaker 3 (02:06):
You know what, Mike, it was an awesome experience.

Speaker 2 (02:09):
You know, we all, I mean I say we all,
but as players, you want to play in the NBA,
right that was my dream.

Speaker 3 (02:14):
That was my goal.

Speaker 2 (02:15):
Obviously that didn't occur, and you know, I always felt
like I got the most out of my talent, but
I I had a backup plan.

Speaker 3 (02:23):
I wanted to keep playing. I love the game.

Speaker 2 (02:25):
Uh it was it was a way to to make
a great living as well, you know, financially. But it
really came down to I just wanted to continue, you know,
playing and I enjoyed it. And I got a chance
to play eight years in Italy, you know, and and
and my great grandfather through him, I became a naturalized citizen,

(02:46):
so that gave me an advantage over there as well,
becoming a you know, an Italian passport player.

Speaker 3 (02:52):
So that was a great experience.

Speaker 2 (02:54):
I got a chance to travel and and you know,
within Europe, and it really just opened my eyes to uh,
you know, another part of the world, my heritage, you know,
and where my family was from, and just being appreciative,
you know, of of everything that we do have here
in the States, because it is different, you know, they

(03:14):
move a little bit slower, they tend to relax a
little bit more, you know, And it kind of just
opened my eyes to where if you can find a
great balance of that, you know, you can you can live,
live a long time.

Speaker 3 (03:27):
And really enjoy yourself.

Speaker 2 (03:28):
So it was it was a fun experience and I
got a chance to meet a lot of great guys
and stay in touch with you know, players and friendships.

Speaker 3 (03:37):
So it was fun.

Speaker 1 (03:38):
Yeah, the afternoon nap is a daily thing.

Speaker 3 (03:41):
Yeah, it's real.

Speaker 1 (03:43):
And the red wine.

Speaker 2 (03:45):
Yeah, yeah, it's real. It's real. Everything shuts down, you know.
I remember my first week I was there. I was
just asking, hey, can I get this? Can I get that?
And you know, everything was closed like the afternoon right, yeah,
well what do I do here? And yeah, everybody's just like, hey,
this is it. You know, this is the siesta. This
is where everyone rests and they get ready for you know,

(04:06):
the evening.

Speaker 1 (04:07):
A little R and R in the middle of the day.
All right, Mike, we appreciate it. We'll be along on
the ride with you in this season with the Huskies,
and I'm sure we'll spend some more time together. We
appreciate you.

Speaker 3 (04:18):
Thanks, yeah, and great to be here.

Speaker 2 (04:20):
I'm really excited, you know, just to continue this journey
and you know, be in pursuit of another championship.

Speaker 3 (04:27):
So go Huskies. Yeah, you got it.

Speaker 1 (04:30):
Thanks. That's Mike Nardi, Thanks to Dan Hurley, and that's
the Yukon men's basketball Coaching Show Mike Chris Pino, thanks
for joining us. Everybody