10/29/24 - The Sean Miller Radio Show

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Dilly Bistro and Marymont. Welcome to the Shawn Miller Radio
Show on the Xavier Sports Network from lear Field, presented
by Try Help. Try Health provides surprisingly human care that
drives the best health outcomes. Be seen, be heard, be healed.
Visit tryhealth dot com. But late, easy to drink, Easy

(00:22):
to enjoy, and by Dilly Bistro, presenting sponsor of the
Seawan Miller Radio Show. Now Here are Joe Sunderman and
Byron Larkin. Welcome to the.

Speaker 2 (00:36):
Sean Miller Show live for Billy Bistro and Marymont. I'm
Joe Sunderman along with Byron Larkin and the head coach
of the Xavier Muskets. Here's Sean Miller and still October
October twenty eighth, and Xavier's already taken a bite out
of the Dayton Flyers, so it feels like it's the
middle of the year to me already. So it's we're
moving along quickly. Still it need to celebrate Halloween. But
it's good to be here at Dilly Bistro. It is nice,
wonderful crowd. Again, we appreciate the support. So great to

(00:57):
see everybody back. A lot of familiar faces and it's
gonna be a good night tonight.

Speaker 3 (01:02):
No, it is.

Speaker 4 (01:02):
It's this is the you know, when you have the
first radio show, it feels like, okay, now this is
the beginning of a new season. And glad to be
back here in Marymont at such a great place.

Speaker 3 (01:14):
The food is amazing and you know.

Speaker 4 (01:16):
The hospitality that we get from everybody here, and then
the amazing crowds once a week for the radio show.

Speaker 3 (01:23):
It's something to look forward to. It is.

Speaker 5 (01:25):
And we were talking, I think this is the earliest
we've ever had a show, and.

Speaker 4 (01:31):
Iron I don't know what to talk about. We're early on,
but I think we can look at it as kind
of a preface to our team, our season. You know,
we're sitting at zero and zero. We've had the opportunity
to play, you know, to one exhibition game and a
closed scrimmage. Our closed scrimmage was against Notre Dame. We're

(01:54):
allowed to talk about what we did who we played against,
which is at Notre Dame. It's very very beneficial and
excellent opportunity for our team to grow, and we did.
And then obviously at you the arena, which was open
to the public, and I think we equally in different
way grew that night, playing in front of a crowd

(02:14):
against an old rival.

Speaker 5 (02:18):
So talk about let's let's start with the Dayton game. Coach.
I mean I was kind of surprised when you even
agreed to go up there and play Dayton. Yeah, I was,
you know, because Dayton's been one to be part of
the Big East for such a long period of time.
So I thought it meant a lot. It's said a
lot about the confidence that you have in your team

(02:40):
to go up there and play an exhibition game. Well,
I think in Xavier's eyes, it was an exhibition game
for Dayton. It was their super Bowl, you know that.
So talk about like what the decisions that went in
to playing that game. I know it was for you know,
for a great call for mental health and suicide prevention,

(03:03):
and you know, coach Grant has has had some tragedy
in that particular area. I understand he's a good friend
of yours. So maybe talk about the decision to take
your team up there in a real hostile environment, albeit
for a good cause.

Speaker 4 (03:17):
Really, Byron and we looked at it as you know,
two different things. You know, first the cause, Anthony Grant
is somebody that I've known for a long time excellent
coach has done a great job as the as the
coach and in the person in charge of Dayton's program.

Speaker 3 (03:35):
And you know he lost a daughter.

Speaker 4 (03:39):
To just to a suicide, and you know, when something
like that happens, I can't imagine how unspeakable that tragedy
is and how heartfelt that cause then becomes. So to
be able to give towards mental health, the awareness of
it in our state, in our region, and and then
bring to life, you know, suicide which is becoming a

(04:02):
more prevalent thing in our society, especially with younger people.
So to be able to do that through a game,
raise money and raise awareness, which I think both was accomplished.
You know that if I could partner with Anthony to
help him in that in any way, shape or form,
we would want to do that. So we were able
to accomplish that, and I think we really felt good

(04:25):
our players or staff, I know, doctor Hanich our university
to be able to partner with the University of Dayton
in their basketball program for that cause.

Speaker 3 (04:35):
And that was well done.

Speaker 4 (04:37):
And so the second part is the game itself now
to play at ud Arena as Xavier it's not just
an away game, but it's a rivalry and one that
had you know, I think close to fourteen thousand people there.

Speaker 3 (04:50):
We knew that we were going to have to learn
a lot about ourselves.

Speaker 4 (04:53):
What better way to do that when you have a
new group than to test yourself against that type of crowd,
that atmosphere and against the quality team that has high
goals and is right now a perennial winning program and
a team that a year ago, if you remember, was
a seventh seed in the NCAA tournament. So to be

(05:13):
able to do both, we knew that it would test us,
we learn a lot about ourselves, and to do it
with the cause that just seems so right for both
of our programs and universities. So looking at it now
after the fact, you don't know how that game is
going to go. We did learn a lot about our team.
We had a lot of quality play in that game.

(05:35):
Certainly some things that we know that we have to
clean up and get better. And when you're playing against
the other team, they're doing the same thing, right, They're
a work in progress, They too are learning.

Speaker 3 (05:45):
About their group.

Speaker 4 (05:46):
But it gave us confidence. I think we know we
can score. We knew that before we showed up there.
We also feel like we have a chance to be
better on defense, and we played a lot of different
combinations of players. You start to learn who can do
what with who, and that game was a great test
for us to learn exactly what I mentioned. So the

(06:10):
other part Byron is we have such access to our players.
We've been at this since the beginning of June. If
you remember this summer, we actually scrimmaged our TBT team
in the Cintas Center. That was a great opportunity again
to grow to learn more about our group.

Speaker 3 (06:26):
But practice.

Speaker 4 (06:27):
One thing I've learned is I've grown older. You can
perfect practice, and at some point what you start to
do is you get better at practicing. But what you
fail to realize is like, although you're practicing better, at
some point you have to play another team, you have
to sit on the same bench, and you have to
grow and improve in a different way. And going to
Dayton scrimmaging Notre Dame, it allows us to do just that,

(06:51):
to grow and improve in a different way outside of practice.

Speaker 3 (06:54):
So our guys were fired up to.

Speaker 4 (06:56):
Have a chance to get on a bus, go play
in front of a crowd play another team besides each other,
and I think what it's done is it's broken up
our preseason and now here we are. We have four
practices left before we have our season opener, and I
feel like we have an eager, ready team to get
through those practices and then start.

Speaker 3 (07:17):
Up for real.

Speaker 2 (07:19):
Coach if Thore's only four practices left, I'm curious about
what it was like last spring. It used to be
fall was the big season for signing players. Now it
seems to be spring. And you sat down with your
coaching staff and what were you looking for as you
assembled this ball club? What was you what were your
goals and your philosophy and the team you've assembled here
for this Yes.

Speaker 3 (07:37):
We talked a little bit about it, Joe.

Speaker 4 (07:40):
If you remember down the home stretch of last season,
you know what would be our plan. And I think
number one is you always look at the team you
currently have, and.

Speaker 3 (07:49):
That is you have a lot of quality players.

Speaker 4 (07:51):
You have guys that are hungry winners, good people that
you want to keep.

Speaker 3 (07:56):
That you want to develop.

Speaker 4 (07:58):
I'll start with daveon McKnight to have him returning in
his fifth year as our starting point guard. When you
consider what he did a year ago. Now, you guys
remember how much he improved last year. And when we
first started off last year with our first radio show, first.

Speaker 3 (08:15):
Three to five radio shows Byron.

Speaker 4 (08:17):
You remember Davion really wasn't even looking to shoot, and Bryan,
you would ask me, like, you want him to score more,
and do you think he's capable?

Speaker 3 (08:25):
What about his shooting?

Speaker 4 (08:26):
And what I always said is I just feel like
he's getting better, and that's exactly what he did.

Speaker 3 (08:32):
And when you then had the chance to.

Speaker 4 (08:34):
Reflect back on last year, he was one of the
highlights the last season. His assistant turnover ratio, his durability,
quality play, and you could just see that we have
somebody that is a winning player. So first to get
him to come back, and I'd just use him as
that example of returning a group. Dylan Swain, Trey Green,

(08:57):
Zach Freeman, Jerome Hunter and Daveon McKnight, Brad Colbert and
a lot of the walk Ons that were with us
last year. You can't underestimate the importance of getting all
those guys back that have been in practice, that have
gone to school at Xavier, that love this place, that
have traveled and played in the hostile environments in the
Big East Conference.

Speaker 3 (09:18):
So I think that was the starting point.

Speaker 4 (09:20):
And then the second point was, you know, to get
older and more experienced and to create a team of depth,
so we're not going to necessarily be reliant on just
a couple of the same players every game, night in
and night out, that we can go to our bench
and get quality play. In my opinion, that's always been

(09:42):
one of the hidden.

Speaker 3 (09:42):
Secrets here at Xavier.

Speaker 4 (09:44):
It hasn't always been just the starters or a key
player on the starting five. It's been a group a
lot of times of non starters that would come in
each game and impact winning in a different way. So
we wanted to get deeper, Joe, we wanted to get
more experienced, and then I think the final part is
we just were really looking to add more firepower. The

(10:05):
game has changed. You need shooting, you need free throw shooting.
You need different players at different positions that can score
and really can be a threat when we have.

Speaker 3 (10:15):
The ball on offense. And you saw that at Dayton
that you didn't score.

Speaker 4 (10:21):
We didn't just score through one player or a couple,
but on that given night, forty minutes, we had a
lot of different players that could score and contribute, and
I believe this. I think that's one of the qualities of.

Speaker 3 (10:34):
This year's team.

Speaker 4 (10:35):
So Joe, we want to get older and experienced, want
to create depth. We want to return experience from the
last year's team. And then anybody that we added, we
really tried to look at, you know, do they come
from winning programs?

Speaker 3 (10:50):
Are they coachable at the program that they were at,
are they proven? Have they produced?

Speaker 4 (10:56):
And how are they going to fit into the big East,
to our universe city.

Speaker 3 (11:00):
And how we do things.

Speaker 4 (11:01):
And you know, in your best attempt to always get
it right, you know, there's always maybe we should have
did this, or maybe we should have did that. But
in this case, Byron, I really commend our staff.

Speaker 3 (11:12):
I love the group that we've put together.

Speaker 4 (11:14):
They've been a lot of fun to work with, and
you guys will see it as you're around our team
every day. One of the big qualities that this year's
team has is they truly love the game. And guys
that love the game they're so much easier to coach.
They just have a way of fighting through those tough
times and sticking with it. And I do believe we

(11:35):
have a lot of those types of guys on this
year's group.

Speaker 5 (11:37):
Now, coach, you talk about the experience. I think I
read somewhere where your your team is the fifth oldest
team in college basketball. You have no freshmen on your
team and seven new guys, and you gotta like that experience.

Speaker 4 (11:54):
I do byro any other and replaces that the one thing.
You might as well just get this out of the way.
We've talked about it off the airs.

Speaker 3 (12:02):
You know.

Speaker 4 (12:02):
Unfortunately again we were hit with a tragic injury, a
season ending injury, you know, not an injury that is
going to take a player out for a few weeks
or the non conference season or a month or so.

Speaker 3 (12:14):
Which happens sometimes.

Speaker 4 (12:16):
But we lost La Scene to Trey Or for the
year tour his ACL on a breakaway layup right in
centile center. And all I'll tell you about La Scene is,
as we talk about getting older and more experienced and deeper,
he has a lot of winning qualities. I know you
watched this practice, both of you guys did.

Speaker 3 (12:34):
You watched us through the.

Speaker 4 (12:35):
Summer, and you saw, for an alliance share of that
period of time, he would have been our best newcomer
or one of our best newcomers.

Speaker 3 (12:45):
So when you lose him. What did he do? Well?

Speaker 4 (12:48):
Shot block, best rebounder on our team and one of
the best rebounders in college basketball.

Speaker 3 (12:54):
Last year, Lacena averaged.

Speaker 4 (12:56):
Almost eleven rebounds a game for the season, and it
came down to us in Oregon and we recruited him
really hard, and there's no doubt with him, you know,
the firepower that I believe we have and the depth
that we enjoy.

Speaker 3 (13:10):
You know, as with this year's team, we would.

Speaker 4 (13:12):
Have had even more. There's no denying that. I'm not
going to sugarcoat that. Having said that, now that that's
out of the way, you know, we're going to get
him back next year and that'll be a real key
contributor and good thing this spring. And without him, we
have some other guys now that have a bigger role,
and I do believe it will be fine.

Speaker 2 (13:32):
This is a Sean Miller Coach a show from Daily
Bistro at Marymount on fifty five KRC and the Varsity Network.

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Speaker 2 (14:11):
Welcome back to the Sean Miller Show at Dili Bistrow.

Speaker 3 (14:15):
New this season, we have a new feature.

Speaker 5 (14:17):
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and check out the shows you may have missed.

Speaker 2 (14:38):
Coach you and Byron were talking about how experienced this
team is in one of the older teams in the nation,
and that's something you did talk about towards end of
last year. That's something you purposely went after and you
achieved that. At the same time, this team has no
freshman on it. I've heard you talk in the past,
though as you move forward, you'd like to have what
two or three freshmen a year.

Speaker 4 (14:55):
Perhaps no doubt, And that wasn't done on purpose, like
no freshmen allow, that wasn't our plan, and it just
it evolved that way. So, you know, I think for
us to build our program in terms of the player
development having balance, I'll just use Daylan Swain and Trey
Green as examples. You know, you look at them today

(15:17):
versus a year ago, it's a night and day difference.

Speaker 3 (15:20):
They're much more mature. They're that year older.

Speaker 4 (15:23):
You know, you forget academically, they have now two summers
under their belt, they have two semesters. They're in their
third semester this fall semester that will be completed here
in the next month. So they're just growing and you know,
so I think there's a real healthy element to that.
It's just with the way that we're we've been modernized,

(15:45):
the way college basketball is constructed, I think the number
of two maybe three in a given year is the
right number to allow those guys to have a role
and to grow and develop and become older and a
part of our program.

Speaker 5 (15:58):
Well, really, when you look at the freshman I mean
Trey Green and Dalen Swain, we're both all big eies
freshman players, and you know, Trey average five points and
Daylyn average four. So that tells you throughout the league, No,
not a lot of freshmen that are really making impacts.

Speaker 4 (16:19):
That's true, You're exactly You're exactly right Byron and.

Speaker 3 (16:22):
And that's you know.

Speaker 4 (16:23):
You you have to see it for what it is
and adjust, adapt, evolve, grow, And our plan this past
year and our plan moving forward is to truly know
that that is very important, and we want to always
be experienced and older. We want to create depth, and

(16:44):
we want to have a high skill level, and you
know we're going to always try to get it right.
That isn't a snap your finger decision. That takes name,
image and likeness. That takes recruiting, that takes choices where
who do you who do you go after him?

Speaker 3 (16:59):
Or him?

Speaker 4 (17:00):
In those decisions a lot of times are made very quickly,
So it's up to your staff to work closely together,
obviously know the league we're in, know the place that
we're at, and do the very best we can of
formulating that identity for each team. So I think as
a fan, when you see the names and faces change,
and there will be inevitably more change from one season

(17:22):
to the next, I don't think maybe as much as
it has been here the first couple of years as
it settles in, but there will be change. But as
change happens, we always want to get back to the
identity of depth, experience, firepower.

Speaker 3 (17:36):
And you know, even as far back as when I
was here the last time, the.

Speaker 4 (17:41):
Teams that we had that you would look at as
the best during that period of time.

Speaker 3 (17:45):
It's much different day and age, but I will tell
you you would be able to say those three things.
We did it in a different way.

Speaker 4 (17:53):
But you had an older experienced group, a lot of
guys that had been in the program for three and
four years. I remember when Drew Lavender and CJ. Anderson
joined that group. They joined that group as older veteran
players from other programs. You mix them in with that
experience and you think about our skill level and the depth.

Speaker 3 (18:13):
Right.

Speaker 4 (18:14):
It wasn't just like BJ Raymond for his junior year,
you know, Bj, he was so headstrong. If you remember
when the starting group would be announced and before they
would go out, he would go out with them. Do
you remember this, So six players would be on the
court and the first game it would happen.

Speaker 3 (18:32):
I almost wanted to yell out, BJ what are you doing?
You know?

Speaker 4 (18:35):
But that was his way of saying, I'm actually a starter,
but I'm just happen to be.

Speaker 3 (18:39):
The sixth man.

Speaker 5 (18:40):
I never noticed that.

Speaker 4 (18:42):
Then he would have walked off late sit on the bench.
But his point was well taken. There was no difference
between him and the starters, and it was depth that
won out over those thirty thirty five games. You feel
it in the Big East Conference in February, you know
you've been through each each team. Once the non conference
season is well in your rear view mirror, the weather's

(19:05):
cold outside, and everybody's starting to talk more about March Madness.
You know at that point, like are you a team
that's just on fumes limping to the finish or do
you feel like you have more energy? Well, a lot
of times that energy comes through through that experience and
that depth.

Speaker 3 (19:22):
And h and Byron. That's that's what I'm in charge of.

Speaker 4 (19:25):
That's what I think we look at is really important
towards our future, and that is to keep building each
roster from one year to the next and not lose
those those three key elements.

Speaker 5 (19:36):
And coach that being said, uh, I know you have
commitments for two freshmen next year. I don't know if
you can talk about them if you received the.

Speaker 4 (19:44):
I don't believe we have, but you can confirm that
what you what you said is true.

Speaker 5 (19:48):
Okay, But do you like the types of players that
you that you did give verbal commitments from.

Speaker 4 (19:54):
And and those guys, uh, you know, we're looking forward
to being able to welcome them here.

Speaker 2 (19:59):
Coach, I think a genter seeing you mentioned bj Raymond
right away in my mind a great memory flash of
the West Virginia game where he hit a three point
around the right wing and then from the top of
the key and propelled Xavier to a victory. And you
were talking last night how to get together a sentos
about all the wins that Xavier has community accumulated since
nineteen eighty five. This program has great tradition and it's

(20:19):
something that is starting to be talked about more and more,
which I'm very glad to see.

Speaker 3 (20:23):
No.

Speaker 4 (20:24):
I look at it as our role is to make
sure that we at least talk about the things that
in fact have happened. I mean, that's over with and
since nineteen eighty five, there's ten programs that have more
total wins than we do. You could pretty much start
naming them right now, right, and that's a lot of
the iconic brands that are associated with college basketball. But

(20:49):
to be eleventh, you know, there's a lot of teams playing,
and that's a long period of time. That's almost five decades,
so you're talking about five decades of college basketball seasons.
And to have only ten teams, ten programs that have
more total wins than.

Speaker 3 (21:08):
Us has something to really be a proud of.

Speaker 4 (21:12):
And it really shows the great players, teams coaches that
have been a part of our program for decades.

Speaker 2 (21:18):
Coach, you have experienced players, but they don't have experience together.
What's your take on that so far? Has that been
easy to sort of mould have been to a group?
They look good against Daton. When I watched them, the
ball side to side quickly and went north and south quickly,
you didn't really see the ball sticking anywhere, and they
were celebrating everybody else's scores.

Speaker 3 (21:36):
Yeah, I agree, Joe.

Speaker 4 (21:39):
It's going to take time for us to just continue
to grow and really be familiar. It takes more practice
than we've already had and then these game experiences.

Speaker 3 (21:50):
But I will say that we have.

Speaker 4 (21:52):
So many different guys that have been through their own experiences,
they know the importance of a good locker room. I
think they understand the importance of being together and pulling
for each other, and that you know you can't win
the game by yourself, you have to do it as
a group. And all those things you don't need to
teach them to some degree because they've already been through it,

(22:13):
and you feel that. In practice today we had one
of our best practices of the fall. And I really
think that part of why we had such a good
practice is everyone on our team recognizes that we only
have four left before our home opener, and that we've
been at this for a long time. Let's just make
sure that we finish what we've started so that we're

(22:35):
the most ready we can be on Monday.

Speaker 2 (22:37):
Well, just have a few seconds before the break. What
makes a good practice in a coach's mind, Like you
come here and you say we've had a good practice,
everybody's in the right spot, or just what is it?

Speaker 3 (22:46):
A lot of times you just feel an energy about it.
It's undescribable. You guys who've played you know what I mean.

Speaker 4 (22:52):
You just sometimes you in the middle of a practice
and you feel like you just keep going on forever
and just there's a good energy in every drill from
the beginning all the way to the end. And I
would say that's the other part, Joe. You don't Wean,
You know you don't. You're strong at the beginning and
not at the end. You want to practice to be
good beginning, middle, end, end.

Speaker 2 (23:12):
All right, you're listening to the Sean Miller Coaches Show
from Dilly Beistro and marymant On fifty five KRC and
the Varsity Network. Welcome back to the Sean Miller Coaches
Show from Billy Bistro and Marymont And thanks everybody for
being here. I appreciate you listening. And bud Light proud
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Speaker 5 (23:34):
Sean, you you have some returning players. We talked a
little bit about Daveyon McKnight, but I tell you one
of the guys I want to talk to talk to
you about is a guy who I believed deserves a
purple heart, and that's Jerome Hunter. I was I was
so happy to see his performance against Date and and

(23:59):
and just walk and seeing him in practice, he just
he seems to have a big smile on his face
because you know, he almost.

Speaker 3 (24:06):
Had it taken away from him.

Speaker 5 (24:08):
And he's the kind of guy that I'm sure kind
of appreciates the opportunity and doesn't take it for granted.
And knowing that to put on that uniform it is
a you know, it is a pleasure and a privilege,
and he knows what it's about. And talk a little
bit about Jerome and what he's been like the coach.

Speaker 4 (24:26):
Yeah, so you know, and I mentioned that our team
has a has a characteristic about it where you have
a lot of guys that love the game. Jerome would
be at the beginning of that. He loves to play basketball.
He just he does. It's what's kept him going through
through all the heartache that he's that he's really suffered through.
I mean, think about going through, you know, a heart

(24:49):
attack of any kind. You know, some people don't ever
ever experience it once, and you know, he experienced it
in his early twenties, you know, before he got here.
You know, he had surgery at Indiana where you know,
they had to repair like kind of like veins in
his lower leg, which at that point they weren't sure

(25:09):
if he was going to be cleared to play, and
he had to miss an extended period of time and
go through multiple surgeries there and missed the year, and
and then you know, coming with us, and then you
know he's on the other side of all that practicing
for Nope, he wasn't going to come back last year
at all, but just starting to practice to get his
rhythm and good for his cardio, good for his mental

(25:33):
health and his well being and Tares's achilles in practice.

Speaker 3 (25:37):
You know.

Speaker 4 (25:38):
So you know a lot of young people at that
point you just it's too difficult for them to keep going.

Speaker 3 (25:44):
He's never stopped, he's never.

Speaker 4 (25:46):
Wavered, went through the surgery, went through it with him,
his teammates, our staff, you know, Connor Barnes, our trainer.
I mean, he spent so much time with Jerome in
the last six months, nine months to a year.

Speaker 3 (26:00):
Remarkable, Coach Kettler. You know, the in the weight room.

Speaker 4 (26:04):
Jerome could only do a few things for a long
period of time, but when he went into that weight
room he was pushed in a really good way. A
lot of people contributed to him being ready to go
here this year, nobody more than Jerome himself. But you're
right Byron, and I think the last step for him
is it's hard to describe to somebody the difference between

(26:25):
practice and games or doing nothing to practice, you know,
skilled development to practice, and when the speed of the
game and referees are out there and you have a
crowd and the pace, it's sometimes knocks you back. I
remember as a young player, as a freshman, you know,
when you first experienced it, You're like, wow, this is

(26:45):
really different. This is way faster than I've ever gone
through this before. Jerome almost has to experience that all
over again, and I think he's done it in both
the scrimmage against Notre Dame and the exhibition game against Dayton.

Speaker 3 (26:59):
He's getting in better.

Speaker 4 (27:00):
Shape, he's getting more confident, he's getting used to playing again,
and I think he's playing really well right now, you know,
almost like I describe him as picking up where he
would have left off two years ago.

Speaker 3 (27:11):
And by the way, that's about where it's been.

Speaker 4 (27:14):
You know, in the NCAA tournament, the last time we
saw Jerome, he would have been playing against pitt against Texas,
against Kennesaw State. You know that those were the last
three games that he played.

Speaker 5 (27:25):
They were three outstanding games for you, Kennesaal State. I
think he Hamley won the game for you that he
averaged like nineteen points a game in those in this
NCAA tournament period of time. So just really happy, really
happy to see him.

Speaker 3 (27:39):
And you feel it in our locker room and on
the bench.

Speaker 4 (27:41):
His teammates love him and they know more than anybody
because they've shared a locker room with him and they've
gone through the dark days, the lonely days, and watching
him last year and watching him this summer, and if
some guys were here even two summers ago, and if
you've been around him and you've you've gone through it
with him, and you know those those questions, am I ever.

Speaker 3 (28:01):
Going to be able to play again?

Speaker 4 (28:03):
Then when you see him get back out there, it's
really it's an amazing feeling. It is It's one of
the great things about sports.

Speaker 3 (28:11):
When those types of.

Speaker 4 (28:12):
Stories become a part of it, that's when it's super
rewarding for everybody.

Speaker 3 (28:17):
No more rewarding than it is for Jerome.

Speaker 4 (28:19):
And Jerome has been able to graduate, so he has
his undergraduate degree from Xavier. He's now working on his
graduate level courses and he's in a good place moving forward.

Speaker 2 (28:30):
Coach, When you recruit players like a Dante Maddix and
even a Marcus Foster, they've already accomplished a lot in
their career run as through the story of recruiting Dante Maddix.
When you because you must do it in amount of
a week or so, I guess, yeah.

Speaker 4 (28:44):
It's longer than that. But you know, I think the
whole process usually is in and around the month, sometimes
on the more side, some times on a little less
than a month. But you know, Dante is somebody that
once he was in the transfer portal, really caught my
eye because first and foremost, Toledo has won back to

(29:04):
back regular season championships in the MAC, and you know,
there's some really good coaches and players in the MAC.
If you're on a team that in two years has
won the conference, says a lot about your team.

Speaker 3 (29:18):
Your coach.

Speaker 4 (29:18):
And you talked kul Chip to coach at Toledo has
been there for a long time. I think he's one
of the more outstanding coaches in the country. His record
speaks for itself. So you knew that Dante was really
well coached. You knew he was a winner, and he
had a lot to do with both of those championships
at Toledo, and then when you really look at what

(29:40):
he did well on the court, you know, his free
throw percentage and attempts at Toledo, his three point percentage
in attempts, and then just his efficiency from the field.
His efficiency really jumped off the page. And those types
of guys a lot of times, they translate. If you
looked at through let Boom, Quincy Oliveri, and you looked

(30:03):
at them leaving on one level or one program and
coming to ours and being successful, those are some characteristics
that those two guys had. And then as you did
your research, you know Dante played for his dad. His
dad is a high school coach, so he's from a
basketball family. People raved about his character and his love
of the game. Dante loves the game. He's in the

(30:25):
gym as much as he can be. He's one of
those guys we almost sometimes want to push him out,
go home, you know, come back tomorrow. But so all
those characteristics went into us really wanting him. And then
clearly we weren't the only program. He could have gone
to Illinois, he could have gone to Louisville. He could

(30:45):
have added a long laundry list of names of schools
because of what I just described to you. He's from
the Chicago area as well, so for us to be
able to get him that was a big moment for
us this spring. And Dante's played well in both of
our exhibitions and scrimmages.

Speaker 3 (31:03):
That we've had, and uh, he's a fun guy to coach.

Speaker 2 (31:06):
Quickly, here, you have some good free throw shooters. Mannix
last year shot eighty six percent, Marcus Foster shot eighty
one percent, Dave McKnight shot eighty one percent, Ryan.

Speaker 3 (31:15):
Conwell and shooting silk and Trey Green. We have it.

Speaker 4 (31:18):
Conwell, we we have the makings of a very good
free throw straight.

Speaker 2 (31:22):
Green was ninety five to lead them all.

Speaker 3 (31:23):
So I've never seen a free throw shooter like Drey Green. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (31:26):
This is a Sean Miller Coaches Show from Dilley Bistro
and Marymont on fifty five in the Varsity Network. Welcome
back to Dillley Bistro and the Sean Miller Coaches Show.

Speaker 5 (31:40):
When you're out of town and want to keep up
with live college sports, be sure to download the new
Varsity Network app, available for both Apple and Android. Listen to
college sports live with the Varsity Network app coach.

Speaker 2 (31:54):
I want to talk about John Yugley six ' eleven,
listed at two hundred and sixty pounds, but he is
here quite a career in the sense that he played
extremely well at Pittsburgh as a sophomore, recognized by the ACC.
I think he made the second team. He averaged fourteen points,
known as a good pastor a good shooter. Then he
had knee problems, made his way to Oklahoma. Now he's
at Xavier. Tell us about his journey and how he's

(32:15):
progressed here at Xavier rather rapidly. I'd say from when
he arrived.

Speaker 4 (32:19):
You know, everything with John starts with just his conditioning
and his weight.

Speaker 3 (32:25):
You know, he's worked very, very hard.

Speaker 4 (32:28):
I don't think I've seen anybody in a four month
window transform their body like he did.

Speaker 3 (32:36):
And John deserves.

Speaker 4 (32:37):
Like we talked about Jerome being surrounded by a good
group of people, but it really starts and stops with Jerome.
You can't motivate somebody who's not motivated. I mean it
has to start with the player himself. And with John,
he has an amazing strength coach, coach ketler, a world
class weight room. He's surrounded by a coaching staff and

(33:00):
a program that's going to support him in every way
possible to become somebody that can have a great last
couple of years here. And the starting point was getting
him in the best shape that he's ever been in.
And I wouldn't say he's there yet, but he is

(33:22):
well well on his way to doing that. Byron, he's
he's lost right at fifty pounds.

Speaker 5 (33:28):
And how long has he been here?

Speaker 4 (33:29):
So late may so I would let's just call it June,
July and August three, all of September four, and now
all of October. So in fairness, I would say right
at five months, he's right at fifty pounds. And the
other part of him losing weight is he replaced a lot.

Speaker 3 (33:50):
Of what he lost with muscle.

Speaker 4 (33:53):
So you know, to think about that translation, it's like
not fifty to nothing, it's you know, he's gained a
lot of of of muscle. He looks different, he feels different,
he's running better, and you know, my hope is that
he can be healthy here too for this for this
final year.

Speaker 3 (34:10):
But he's he's getting better.

Speaker 4 (34:12):
What I think is almost on an every day, every
week basis a little bit more comfortable. You know, he
fouled at Dayton a couple questionable fouls, but again learning
how to move with his new body almost it's I
think it's going to take a little time, and the
same thing in and around the basket, you know, being
able to get back his polished scoring. He's always had

(34:34):
really good hands, he's his free throw attempts, he's been
somebody who's lifted the foul line, and those are characteristics
that we want to get out of John as a player.
But now you invest and you lose weight, that doesn't
mean you're also simultaneously getting better as a player. That
becomes the problem. You know, you're replacing one thing with

(34:54):
the next. So now that we have like okay, that
that hurtle out of the way, now it's basketball and
it's about learning a new system and developing his touch
and starting to give him i think the tools that
he that he has in them and then maybe even
expanding those. But he had, you know a couple of good,
good plays here this weekend. But he looked even more

(35:17):
comfortable in maybe our second game than he did in
our first.

Speaker 5 (35:21):
Coach, when he's at his best, what kind of things
are you expecting out of him now that he's got
the weight down and now he can refine some of
those skills that attracted him to you to recruit him.
What are those things that you think he can become.

Speaker 4 (35:39):
You know what he really can do, Byron, is he
can really put fouls on the other team. And as
you know, that is a very valuable characteristic in basketball,
ducking in physicality, rebounding, catching it in a low post,
being able to get second shots.

Speaker 3 (35:54):
I mean, he's.

Speaker 4 (35:55):
Very strong and he's got quick feet, and his history
when you look at what he has done well, he
gets to the free throw line, he gets fouled, and
he's shown that in practice. And then now you start
to think about scoring and a depth. I do think
that he can become a good low.

Speaker 3 (36:12):
Post scorer for us.

Speaker 4 (36:13):
The second part of it, and it's gonna he has
a much better chance, and at the shape that he's
in now is to be a better defensive player.

Speaker 3 (36:21):
You know, rebound better. So many pick and rolls out there.

Speaker 4 (36:26):
That you want him to be able to do a
good job in that area and guard the variety of
great inside.

Speaker 3 (36:32):
Players that are on our schedule.

Speaker 4 (36:34):
So being able to do that without fouling and you know, again,
John's not a freshman. He's been through the Big Twelve,
he's been through the ACC He's played for some really
good coaches. He's also a smart guy, and I think
now that he has almost like this newfound conditioning element
to him. You know, there's a big ceiling that we

(36:54):
have to get him to as a player. And I
think that you know, you asked me about our team
to know each other. It wouldn't surprise me if John
doesn't take a couple months of our season to really
get both feet on the ground and to be at
his best, like after Christmas, we might have a chance
to see the best version of John getting games under

(37:14):
his belt, two more months under his belt and getting
used to playing at his new weight.

Speaker 3 (37:21):
His old weight, by the way, wouldn't have worked well, Coach.

Speaker 5 (37:26):
I understand you are too happy with that number.

Speaker 4 (37:28):
When it was a scary day, I thought there was
a get told coach, Kat take the scale.

Speaker 3 (37:32):
That must be wrong with Zach Fremail.

Speaker 4 (37:38):
Zach is doing really well at the moment. I think
he's more mature than he's ever been. Like Jerome, he
has his undergraduate degree and he's working on his graduate
level classes He's been through a lot. He really has
the game being taken away from him. We talked about Jerome.
The last time that we saw Jerome play was against

(37:59):
ken Saw State pit in Texas in the NCAA Tournament
two years ago. Well, if you go to Zach, the
last game that Zach played in, it would have been
at Creighton earlier in that year, So the last time
he played in a real game.

Speaker 3 (38:15):
And that's what like.

Speaker 4 (38:15):
Even before the Dayton game, he could tell he was nervous.
He had butterflies because he hasn't been out there in
a long time. So but it's good to see him
settling in.

Speaker 3 (38:25):
You know.

Speaker 4 (38:25):
I think one one comment I will make about him
is it is remarkable to see physically where he's at.

Speaker 3 (38:33):
His body.

Speaker 4 (38:34):
I mean, he he took a negative and turned it
into a positive, his diet, what he eats, how he
works out in the weight room, on the court before
or after practice. I mean, Zach has a four percent
body fat. There isn't a big guy in the country
that's in better basketball condition than Zach Fremantle. And you

(38:57):
feel it. He's practicing better and I think he's set
to have a very good season.

Speaker 3 (39:03):
And you know, knock on wood with both him and Jerome.
They need some good fortune.

Speaker 4 (39:08):
They need they need good health, and we're surrounding them
with everything the time they practice, the reps, they get,
the days off, the strength and conditioning, checking on them,
you know, everything off the court, and just making sure
that they're in the best place possible to be healthy.

Speaker 2 (39:26):
All right, this is a Sean Miller show from Dilley
b Strow our fifty five KRC end of Our City Network.
In fact, the Dy b Strom The Sean Miller Coaches Show.

Speaker 3 (39:40):
Coach.

Speaker 5 (39:40):
We haven't I've seen that there's not much time left
in the show and there's so much more to talk about,
and you talked about wanting to have more firepower. Marcus
Foster and Ryan Comwell, boy, they really seem to fit
the bill.

Speaker 3 (39:56):
Love both of them.

Speaker 4 (39:57):
I'm so glad we have both of them, and one
Characterristic that stands out. They're both incredibly well coached. You know,
Marcus Foster playing in Furman's for Furman coach Richie, He's
one of the best young coaches in the game. Knows
how to practice, knows how to play. Ditto for Ryan Conwell.

(40:19):
Josh Shurtz was his Coach in Indiana State, and you
feel it. They know what to do and how to
do it, and that's a powerful quality.

Speaker 3 (40:27):
All right.

Speaker 2 (40:27):
Unfortunately, granted time. Thank you for joining us for the
Sean Miller Coach the Show from Billy Bestown, Marymount on
fifty five ARC and the Varsity Network.

Speaker 1 (40:43):
Live from the Dilly Viistro in Marymont. This has been
the Sean Miller Radio Show on the Xavier Sports Network
from lear Field, presented by Try Help. Try Health provides
surprisingly human care that drives the best health outcomes. Be heard,
be healed. Visit TriHealth dot com, bud Late, Easy to Drink,

(41:06):
Easy to Enjoy, and by Dilly Bistro, presenting sponsor of
the Sean Miller Radio Show. The preceding has been a
Learfield presentation on the Xavier Sports Network Spout fifty five
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