SPEAKER_00 0:34

Welcome to the Five Arms and the Lucky Finn podcast. I am your host, Brendan Cormack, with my co-host David Soloway. He is for the people. The people are for him. And David, you're the Michigan Wolverines, not your Michigan Wolverines. No. The Michigan Wolverines have won the national championship in college basketball with Dusty May bringing in the first championship since I believe 39 years for the amazing blue, what a turnaround Dusty May has done for the Wolverines and what a miss of a hire the Hoosiers could have had. Keep thinking about it. But what is your takeaway of this Dusty May performance?

SPEAKER_01 1:21

I mean, just a masterclass all season long. Uh, we talked about them from the players era tournament back in November, feast week. They were beating everybody by 40. They did it all year. Their three losses were all close games. One was to Duke, another was to Purdue, who was a two-seed. Just one of the most dominant teams of the 21st century, most dominant champions. And they cap it off with a win over Yukon when Yukon was going for a dynasty. They had a chance to win that game and win three out of four and cement themselves as the I mean, when's the last time we had a dynasty in college basketball? We had a chance, Yukon couldn't pull it off.

SPEAKER_00 2:07

Yeah, I mean, what Dan Hurley did though, can't discredit the guy, man. I mean, he just finds ways in March to win. Yes, he didn't win a championship. Dusty May obviously won. Not not trying to take anything from what May has done this year. That Michigan team was absolutely loaded, though. I mean, we we knew that coming into it. They went in the portal, spent their money. But also think if you look at Dusty May and you look at Hurley, they're easily top five of the best college basketball coaches right now.

SPEAKER_01 2:49

Yeah, I think that's easy to say when their teams were in the national championship. Um, and they've been in two out of the last, well, Hurley's been in three out of the last four Final Fours, May's been in two out of the last four, because Florida Atlantic was there in 2023. So yeah, these guys have cemented themselves as the top of the coaching profession in college basketball. And I don't see either one of these teams going away anytime soon. Um, yukon might not have the best regular season every year, and I think this year showed that the year they won their first uh national championship under Hurley showed that. But when they get to play teams in the non-conference in the tournament setting, they show up.

SPEAKER_00 3:32

What like what juju is that though? This team, this Yukon team lost to Marquette.

SPEAKER_01 3:41

I think it's just getting out of conference play. I think I think that really is the thing. Yukon has been great in non-conference the past four years, ever since they really started this run to the top of the sport. Right. Um, they get they get beat up in the big east, and we know the big east isn't like the best conference, obviously. Right. They only have three teams to make the tournament this year, but it's it's a lot of teams that play physical style of ball, and yeah, that can wear you down over a season. So then you get to see some fresh teams, some fresh looks in the tournament, and I think it opens them up to go on streaks like this.

SPEAKER_00 4:22

I also think it's just a tribute to Hurley and his staff. I think he's very great at preparation, he's very great with matchups, and he's great at breaking down film and seeing what your weakness is and attacking that. So I just hurley is just to me, just I mean, I'm really high on Hurley. Like, obviously, it's easy to say that after the success he's had the past several seasons, but I mean, he just he just wins. Like, I really like whoever he has on his like granted, he's had he has talent on his roster. It's not like he has yeah, but the talent on this team wasn't wasn't spectacular. No, not in I mean, years past it was a lot better than this year, like yeah, I agree.

SPEAKER_01 5:10

I mean the 2024 team was absolutely loaded. 23, I think we could still argue that's that that's the worst of his three teams to make it to the championship game.

SPEAKER_00 5:21

But you could argue that, you could argue that. But yeah, this I mean, just what Hurley's building is just insane. But diving in the Michigan Wolverines, David. I mean, Linda Berg, Lindeborg gets banged up with his knee, and he still plays, and I would say he's probably 60, 65. He didn't look like the same Linda Borg that could easily take over games. Um, and then Tim talking about maybe doing more damage to his knee. I mean, just the courage and willpower it shows to play like that at a high level is honestly just a true testament to who he is, the grit that he has. So that was really yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:04

In in a season where we had Darren Peterson refuse to play basketball, Linderborg strains his MCL in the final four. His agents, his family tell him, do not play, it's not worth it. Do not play, especially in the Arizona game. They were up 30 at the time. They told him do not play. And he said, No, screw that. I'm playing basketball, and that's all we wanted to see out of DNP this year. Yeah, that's the toughness you want. And and we can, I mean, you can argue whether Lendeborg's the leader of Michigan, but he's the most senior player there, he's a six-year guy, he's 24 years old, grown a lot over his career in college basketball to where he's gonna be an NBA player, you know, pretty easily. And he was willing to put his body on the line for the team, and you gotta give him prince props for that.

SPEAKER_00 6:59

Yeah, I know definitely. You know, some unique stats, David. I'm gonna I'm gonna provide them real quick because you know, I love a good opta optostats, you know, yeah, breakdown. And shout out optastats. If you guys don't follow them on X, give them a follow. I just love statistics and then breaking it down. But in the NCAA tournament, teams are one in 50 all time when scoring under 70 points, shooting under 40 from the field, shooting under 15 from three and 15 15 plus attempts and getting out rebounded. The one win was by Michigan for the national championship.

SPEAKER_01 7:37

Yeah, as we were talking about pre-show, I think Michigan played a C level game. And I I thought Yukon got exactly what they wanted. They wanted to muck it up, they wanted to uh keep Michigan's big men kind of under wraps, which they did with Lindeborg and Mara. Johnson had a really good game. Uh, but even then, Michigan played a C game and came out on top, and I think that just goes to show how great of a team they were.

SPEAKER_00 8:06

I mean, yeah, I mean, all season, man, just just domination. I mean, the length that they've had, and then also the athleticism, but also like not being complacent in certain times throughout the game. There was several games that they Linda Borg talked about, especially during the Iowa game, where you know they kind of slowed them down a little bit, and Michigan just found found ways to win throughout the tournament and throughout the season. It's just whatever other teams try to do, they trade tried true to what they were fast pace, high scoring, and I mean they put the beat down on some teams.

SPEAKER_01 8:46

So, yeah, and a lot of people talked about their offense. Their defense was number one in the country. During the tournament, they they held every team under 70 points, other than Arizona, I guess. Oh, Howard may have scored like 80. That was a 116 game, though. Yeah, but yeah, their defense is like, yes, their offense was great, great shooting. The big men down low, don't turn the ball over too much. But the defense is really what carried them. Having those being able to play those three big men at the same time a lot of times, you don't see that a lot in basketball these days, but they were able to do it mostly because Lendeborg and uh Johnson both very athletic, able to guard the three and the four, and then you got the the big guy down low, Mara. But a very unique roster construction, and it worked, it worked perfectly. The pieces fit together as well as they could.

SPEAKER_00 9:50

David, speaking of portal, there there's already, I believe, 1,200 players in the portal.

SPEAKER_01 9:56

Yeah, it opened 21 hours ago.

SPEAKER_00 9:59

That's just absolutely insane to me. Absolutely insane. I can't blame them. I'm not blaming them one bit. I'd probably hop in there too to see you know what people are trying to offer me.

SPEAKER_01 10:10

That's 25% of every player in college basketball, and I'm not even factoring out seniors, so it's probably closer to a third.

SPEAKER_00 10:21

That's just that would give me so much anxiety of me not knowing where I'm going. Oh, yeah, dude.

SPEAKER_01 10:29

A lot of those guys, too. I mean, not I guess I don't want to say a lot. There's guys at the bottom of that list who might not find an opportunity anywhere, and they're done. Well, like they could go D2, D3, NI, but yeah, they're not getting paid. They probably entered the portal thinking, I'm gonna go get paid. Nope, you're not getting paid. Yeah, it's not always glorious as it looks, it's not always as glorious as it looks, but sometimes it is as glorious as it looks, and Michigan showed that. Starting up full of transfers.

SPEAKER_00 11:01

I think also, too, though, you have to find the right players that can gel. Like, yeah, you can go get it. It's more about that.

SPEAKER_01 11:11

Yeah, it's more about that than getting guys one through seven in the portal rankings because the portal rankings are all BS. Part of that is you're the guys at the top of the rankings are are good, but they're just there to get a check. Florida Badunga. I'm not gonna say he's just there to get a check, but let's say he signs somewhere. Actually, I'm gonna I'm gonna take his name out of this. Okay, Kansas State the past two years. Okay, two years ago, they paid Coleman Hawkins two million dollars. Oh, that's a great great player from Illinois. Yeah, but if you put him in a system like Kansas State where you're not surrounding him with the same talent and the same system, yeah, he doesn't flourish. This year, PJ Haggerty, they get from Memphis, they pay him two plus million dollars. How'd that go? Jerome Tang got fired midseason. Just because you're paying the top guys and getting the top guys does not make it a successful portal uh uh season, and and you're gonna see rankings that come out at the end of this portal, like these are the top five teams in the in portal transfer rankings. It doesn't matter. It we'll see when the season starts next year how these teams actually work on the court because it I agree with you when you're getting all these players together, it's a lot more about chemistry and fit than it is just getting the most talented guys. It's great to get one or two really, really talented guys, and Michigan obviously has that. Oh, yeah, but it's also a lot about the fit.

SPEAKER_00 12:41

Yeah, it's it's just a new world college sports, David. Like when someone enters the portal, like I'm almost like numb. Like I'm just like, oh yeah, like great, cool.

SPEAKER_01 12:54

Yeah, I mean, even players who are very successful at well-performing schools for a badunga, just enter the portal now. It doesn't matter that you're well established with a team who's already good. You just go chase a bag.

SPEAKER_00 13:08

The crystal ball on Flory, though, is uh good old Texas Tech Red Raiders. And supposedly he was asking five million, David, was the going price for Florida. I don't doubt that. Yeah, but we'll see. Why why would tech need him?

SPEAKER_01 13:30

Like I don't they're all about just using that oil money to pay guys. Why they're all like I just said, they're all about using that money. They who's their quarterback next year?

SPEAKER_00 13:45

Brendan Soresby.

SPEAKER_01 13:47

Is that guy worth the money they paid him? No, is no, no, I mean we both know that they don't care, dude. They're going after the top the top targets. They they're just there to spend money. I just you get a donor in your ear who's gonna give you five million dollars if he gets in the coach's ear and says, Hey, I'll give you five million dollars, but only if you go get this player. What's the coach gonna do?

SPEAKER_00 14:12

I don't know if you saw it on X too, but Cody Campbell, the big donor for tech, got into it with uh Big 12 commissioner, and I'm just like, Oh lord, like this the commissioner doesn't realize who Cody Campbell is. Like, this dude I'm sure he knows.

SPEAKER_01 14:26

I'm sure he knows.

SPEAKER_00 14:27

I don't know, dude. They got into an argument. Cody Campbell had to clear it up basically on X saying, like, no, I don't agree with playing a Friday night game on the Big 12 level, which I agree. I mean, and I know where he's coming from. He's basically saying that Friday nights is made for Texas high school football, like it's huge here.

SPEAKER_01 14:44

Yeah, you know, it absolutely is, but yeah, there's so much money in college sports that it is steamrolling high school sports at this point, so there's nothing you can do about it, and he's part of the reason that there's so much money in college sports, so that's hypocritical to me.

SPEAKER_00 14:58

It's a very, very, very little hipper hypocritical there. Can't even talk. Hypocritical, but no, I uh I definitely agree, and you know, you and C, David, we both texted about this. Made a very what do you want to say, unique coaching hire? Uh out of left field coaching hire. Um, there were reports, David, that Ben McCollum instantly shot down the interview for North Carolina. He is loyal to the Iowa Hawkeyes, didn't even entertain it, is what some some reports said from that. That's not what I saw. What'd you say?

SPEAKER_01 15:39

Yeah, I saw that he was in in communication with them, and then they wanted him to interview Sunday, and he turned that down. We don't know why he turned that down. It may have been that he thought they were gonna go a different direction, so he didn't want to waste his time and make it look as if he was trying to leave Iowa.

SPEAKER_00 15:58

Gotcha. That's interesting. I heard it the other way.

SPEAKER_01 16:04

Yeah, I think I saw who was Matt Norlander from CBS reported that he was talking to them and then just didn't accept the interview invite, which I don't think we know exactly why. He's McCollum's obviously gonna frame it as I didn't want to leave Iowa, I was never gonna talk to them. He his agent and him were absolutely back channeling the you can literally tell your agent no, don't even entertain that. Right, they were entertaining it, they were talking, yeah. So he's framing it that way, and I think that would have been a way better hire.

SPEAKER_00 16:36

Way better.

SPEAKER_01 16:40

Wild, absolutely wild.

SPEAKER_00 16:43

Who where do they even go to think that this was a good idea?

SPEAKER_01 16:51

I think it was a panic move. Portal opened at midnight last night, so they they had to get someone in the door. Portal's only open for 15 days this year, it's not the long, extended one, and players can no longer transfer outside of the portal window. Oh, that's huge. So you had to have a coach at some point as this opens, and apparently Billy Donovan was in talks, but he didn't want to leave the Bulls until the end of the season. Well, the season ends in ten days, right? So that you know it would have been a tight timeline there. But yeah, it's just a weird hire, it's just really strange. It's it reeks as if they struck out on every one of their top targets, like one through ten. And so then they were like, We gotta find a guy who doesn't have a job right now. This guy, this guy, he was good in the NBA. We'll pick him. And now UNC really is going into next year with their football coach being Bill Belichick and who was fired from the Patriots and then spent some time in media, and Michael Malone, who was fired by the Denver Nuggets last year.

SPEAKER_00 18:13

It's just UNC is definitely trending down with these with these hires.

SPEAKER_01 18:21

I just the m the craziest thing too, I looked it up yesterday because I I heard that I heard recently when the Hubert stuff was going down that their athletic director was retiring this summer at the end of the school year. That's true. So then I was like, is he the one leading this coaching search? Turns out he was co-leading it with the AD who's coming in to replace him. Which I think that's an issue to have a guy on the way out making the hire in the first place or having any say in it. But the guy who's coming in to be the AD spent the last 15 years as the president of a NASCAR team. Hey, what does a guy like that know about hiring a basketball coach?

SPEAKER_00 19:07

You know, Michael Jordan's in NASCAR now, too. They should have hired Michael Jordan. Do you think he'd want that?

SPEAKER_01 19:15

No, of course.

SPEAKER_00 19:16

No, yeah. I mean, no, we ain't gonna. I was about to say that.

SPEAKER_01 19:20

This is just such a strange hire, man.

SPEAKER_00 19:23

We took we talked about it on other episodes how they're all about family, they keep things in the family. It's been passed to play former players or people on the coaching staffs. I mean, North Carolina doesn't just hire a coach for three years, they hire a coach for five to ten years, even longer. Like the North Carolina job is not rarely open with Duke as well.

SPEAKER_01 19:48

Duke's never been open. Well, definitely. North Carolina's been open five times in the past 25 years.

SPEAKER_00 19:54

Yeah, since well, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:57

Roy took it around like 2000 and then so I guess five times in the last 30 years, probably, because they had two guys before him. Between him and uh Dean Dean, Mr. Dean, but I want you to tell me what NBA, what primarily NBA coach has ever gone to college basketball, and succeeded.

SPEAKER_00 20:27

I mean, zero.

SPEAKER_01 20:32

Zero. I think the closest example would be Jawan Howard. Oh no. They were good his first couple years.

SPEAKER_00 20:43

He inherited that roster.

SPEAKER_01 20:45

Exactly. Thank you. That's a John B line. That is a John B line led Michigan basketball. That's not, but I think that's the only even close, close comparison. And then what yeah, once he lost B line's players, he fell off completely. Then he punched him completely off the face. He slapped a man in the face.

SPEAKER_00 21:02

Yeah, I was about to say I saw that highlight today, and I'm like, what is this? I totally forgot about that. Did you really? Oh, yeah. Oh man, that's always at the front of my mind. I saw TikTok of like basically where Michigan basketball was and where it is now. Yes, that was like a reel, and I'm like, oh my gosh, I forgot that happened.

SPEAKER_01 21:22

Like, I mean, it's only a few years ago.

SPEAKER_00 21:25

I know.

SPEAKER_01 21:26

Slapped a grown ass man, sure did because he was mad about a timeout. Get over your stuff, buddy.

SPEAKER_00 21:33

I'm like, who do you think you are? Who do you think you are?

SPEAKER_01 21:36

Yeah, insane.

SPEAKER_00 21:38

So many great moments, though. This college basketball season, David. Like the North Carolina game winner against Duke, you know, the the high prolific scoring uh freshman with the bonza, a cuff, and I could go down the list, Wilson and and everyone else, boozer. I mean, just what a what a season. I mean, really.

SPEAKER_01 22:01

Yeah, great season. So many great moments. Like you said, the year of the freshman. It's going to be hard to have a freshman class who lives up to this one for a while because this one was really special. I'm actually excited for the NBA draft for once. I will never watch the NBA after the draft, but I'm excited to see where these guys go because there's just so many, so many big name freshmen.

SPEAKER_00 22:25

We'll talk about it though.

SPEAKER_01 22:26

Of course we'll talk about it. Yeah, and I'm gonna watch, I'm gonna watch the NBA playoffs. I will always watch the NBA playoffs. I will never watch the NBA regular season because it is a joke of a product.

SPEAKER_00 22:37

Listeners and viewers, we're not very much pro sports, but we will watch.

SPEAKER_01 22:42

I'll watch playoffs. I promise you, I'll watch the NBA playoffs.

SPEAKER_00 22:46

Yeah, I will too. I mean the finals last year were awesome. Yeah, it I mean the NBA playoffs are different because, like, truly they do care at that point.

SPEAKER_01 22:54

Yeah, and they don't during the regular season, which is a problem. They have to do something. I we used to love the NBA. The NBA we did the NBA growing up and college basketball was awesome then too, but the NBA growing up was incredible.

SPEAKER_00 23:08

Oh man.

SPEAKER_01 23:11

And now it sucks. There's no reason to watch a regular season game. I used to love throwing on TNT midweek watching an NBA game, man. Ah, those days are gone.

unknown 23:22

Young.

SPEAKER_01 23:23

But I can't wait to I can't wait to see Darius Aycuff leading the Timberwolves in the playoffs in three years. I can't wait.

SPEAKER_00 23:33

Man, I think that's what I'm most excited about moving forward for college basketball and the NBA is this class. I think this class is so special. And what I mean by special is it's just really so unique and different. Like it's very rare. Like this freshman class brought so much to college basketball this season. And I think that's part of what made it so great. Like a big part of it, actually, not just a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 23:59

Think about the different types of players we had too. It wasn't just a bunch of scores or a bunch of great big men. No, you had Boozer, who's a double-double machine. You had Peterson who's a great scorer but refuses to play basketball. You had Devanta, who can do everything and he's a great scorer. Acuff, one of the best point guards we've seen in college basketball in a long, long time, but can also put up 36. Caleb Wilson, not really a shooter, but he's a slasher. Dunker loves to break his hand. You know, a lot of a lot of different types of freshmen. And then you got other guys who are gonna come back and gonna still make a mark on the sport. We talked about Abuka Corey really early in the season. We did. He's undersized, so he's absolutely not going pro, but is he in the portal? No, I don't think so. I think he's staying. He's he apparently wants the Stanford degree. I think that's kind of part of it. Wow, really, really smart kid. So that makes sense. But yeah, he could average 25 next year and be in national player of the year running. Like he was incredible this year as a freshman. I'm sure there's other ones around the country that I'm not even thinking about. Uh, we had a guy like Wow uh Wagler come out of nowhere for Illinois, and he's gonna be a top 10 pick in the draft. Like, what a year! I agree with you. We had Buzzer Beater in North Carolina, we had the Mullins uh shot against Duke in the tournament. We had high point, yep. We had Kansas on Big Monday when Kansas was up and down all year. You could count on them on big Monday at home, coming out and beating anybody in the country. Yeah, what a year.

SPEAKER_00 25:36

That's why I don't think this that's why I think this year showed me that like an NIL can't completely ruin basketball.

SPEAKER_01 25:45

Totally agree.

SPEAKER_00 25:48

Yeah, it's gonna shift it and try to form it the way it wants to, but I don't think it's ever gonna take away how great college basketball is.

SPEAKER_01 25:54

Yeah, I was talking, I was talking to uh a friend of work about this today. Yeah, with even with all the off-the-field and off-the-court stuff that has happened in college basketball and football, even now to the literal course stuff, the Charles Bediaco, the James Najee in college basketball this year, even with all the crazy stuff, the portal, the NIL, this college football and basketball season, I think are as a whole might be the greatest year in my lifetime.

SPEAKER_00 26:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 26:27

And part of that might be that we're IU football fans, so we had a really, really good football year. But I I even think the playoff was awesome all around. Ole Miss making a run, Miami finally being back, and then you yeah, the the tournament obviously wasn't great. We didn't have a bunch of Cinderella, a bunch of upsets, but just the the the level of the sport right now, the level of the teams, I think it's in the best spot it's been in a long time.

SPEAKER_00 26:52

I I completely agree with you. Yeah, we might be a little biased, listeners and viewers of it uh of the football season, but I do agree with what you're saying with the playoff. I mean, there were great games, yeah. There were great games in that playoff, even from the other than Texas Tech. Yeah, I mean, I love Barron though. I'm sorry, I'm everyone hates.

SPEAKER_01 27:11

Going back to the Texas Tech quarterback situation.

SPEAKER_00 27:14

I love Barron. I always got my heart Baron. I always love you. Um I'll always protect you too. Um, you did lead that team to a Big 12 championship and brought some a college football player.

SPEAKER_01 27:26

Yeah, he sure did in the worst conference in football.

SPEAKER_00 27:29

Still did it, baby. You still did it. But but I mean, no, I agree with you. Like it's it's just NIL is always gonna be a part of it. It just is. Whether certain things go through or not, it's gonna be a part of it. I do think that there needs to be limitations to the portal. I do think if there's a coaching change or things like that, sure, hop in. Go go where you need to go to flourish. And I think I think college football has shown that in a in a in a good way with you know, especially, I mean, I'm gonna be biased with the JME players that came to Indiana and then won a natty. Like, that just shows like okay, these group of five players can they they can play, they can play with them big boys in college football.

SPEAKER_01 28:11

100% of Oregon in college basketball. I mean, that's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_00 28:16

And I think we're and I think it's just so new and fresh right now that especially us fans of of of the sports of college football and college basketball just don't know how to I don't want to say cope, but just don't know how just feel, you know.

SPEAKER_01 28:33

I agree, and people are inherently resistant to change, yeah. And college sports have changed drastically since COVID. Yes, NIL basically started right after COVID, and since then, yeah, the entire sports uh college sport landscape has changed. But sometimes change is good, and I think the change of NIL and the portal have led to the the top-end talent in college sports being better than it's ever been. That's why I say the level of the level of play, I think, over the football and the basketball season, I think are the best ever.

SPEAKER_00 29:12

Completely agree, completely agree, man. Can't wait for next college basketball season. That's all I'm gonna say. But stay tuned. We'll have we'll have some great content coming, guys. We'll have some golf stuff coming throughout the spring and the summer, and we'll continue to keep things rolling, but we'll also keep college football, probably hit that back up around August as well. So hang with hang with us during the dead months, we'll make it fun. We'll we're bringing back BS talks. So we're gonna talk about some just random stuff that we're discussing and debating. So stay tuned. We'd appreciate your guys' support. Go to our Instagram, TikTok, 5ALF Podcast, and also X5LF Podcast. And if you go to our YouTube Five Arms of Lucky Finn, make sure that you subscribe and watch our our latest interviews. We have John Kaufman, Purdue Fort Wayne. Great, great interview with him. Drops analysis of what it feels what it's like to be in a mid-major coach and also NIL at a mid-major and how how he has built a mid-major and had great wins. So check that out. We'll see you in the next one. Peace.