Monarch Nation, this was a must-listen episode of The Monarchists Basketball Show.

Head Coach Mike Jones joins Aaron and Mike for a deep, honest breakdown of the week that was—what went wrong against ULM, how the team responded against Ohio, and why the next three games inside Chartway Arena will define the stretch run.

Coach Jones takes you inside:

- The emotional hangover from the road trip

- A powerful 6:00 AM practice that reset the culture

- Zacch Wiggins’ growth as a true freshman

- Cal’s impact when he stays out of foul trouble

- LJ’s clutch, ice-cold finish

- The goaltending no-call everyone’s still talking about

- Scouting Marshall and Georgia State

- Game-day preparation during doubleheaders

- What he learned from this season so far

- Ronnie Valentine’s jersey retirement on Valentine’s Day

- Why these final home games matter more than ever

Plus:

🎙️ A special message about The Mane Event w/ Coach Mike Jones at Afterglow Brewing on Thursday, 2/19 at 6PM and a plug for our upcoming episode with ODU Women's Basketball Hall of Famer Clarisse Machanguana, Mozambique flood relief, and a rallying call for Monarch Nation.

Go Fund Me: Rebuilding Clarisse's Home After Mozambique Floods https://gofund.me/00e5a6e74

The Mane Event: https://www.facebook.com/share/1C6K2q3pGu/

Buckle up. This one has everything. Go Monarchs!

⏱️ Chapters

00:00 – Intro & ODAF Message

00:45 – ULM Recap: “We Didn’t Answer the Call”

01:55 – Mental Hangover from Texas State

02:35 – Ohio Win & Late Rebounding Surge

03:55 – Chartway Crowd Energy Impact

05:00 – The Goaltending No-Call Breakdown 😬

07:45 – The 6:00 AM Reset Practice

10:05 – Zacch Wiggins’ First Home Start

11:25 – Freshman Development & Work Ethic

12:35 – Finishing Through Contact & Physical Growth

13:45 – Cal’s Impact When Out of Foul Trouble

16:05 – The “Pass of the Year” Moment

17:30 – LJ’s Crunch-Time Takeover

19:50 – 16-of-18 From the Line & Only 6 Turnovers

20:55 – ODAF Mid-Roll

22:30 – Marshall Preview & Doubleheader Setup

24:10 – Game-Day Prep Changes Explained

25:20 – The Mitch Advantage (24/7 Access)

26:55 – Spurs Practice Facility Experience

28:15 – Ronnie Valentine Jersey Retirement ❤️

29:45 – Georgia State Preview

31:10 – Louisiana Game Reminder (President’s Day)

31:55 – Senior Day Discussion

33:40 – Conference Scheduling Frustrations

35:05 – The Mane Event at Afterglow Announcement

36:45 – Baseball Season & Clarisse Machanguana Tease 🌍

38:20 – Coach Jones’ Message to Monarch Nation

39:55 – Go Monarchs

This episode is brought to you by the Old Dominion Athletic Foundation.

Because of you, we create winners in the classroom, in athletic

competition, and in life.

Become a member today.

Monarch Nation, welcome back to the Monarchists Basketball Show.

As always, my partner in crime, Mike Langston and head coach Mike Jones.

Mike, how you doing today?

Doing great, man.

Doing great.

Excited about these next three games at home.

Absolutely.

Uh, before we talk about those, let's talk about the past week.

The last time we discussed, we were leading up to ULM on Wednesday.

Didn't come out of that with a victory.

Let's talk about that game a little bit.

Yeah.

Just, uh, you know, I, I kind of feel like we, first of all, we,

we didn't come out ready to play.

Um, I, I feel like we were feeling sorry for ourselves a

little bit because we knew we.

Didn't answer the bell, uh, the second leg of that road trip to

Arkansas State and Texas State.

And I think we just, we didn't answer the call.

And it, you know, we, we fought, you know, to get back in it, but we

had put ourselves in such a hole and given, uh, ULM a lot of confidence,

and I mean, like I said this last week when I spoke to you guys, like

they're better than their record.

Um, those guards are incredibly talented.

We got to see that.

I think all three of 'em had 20 plus.

We, uh, we just we didn't answer the call there and it was very disappointing.

So you mentioned, uh, maybe you guys were feeling bad for yourselves

after the Texas State trip.

Um, how early in the game or in the day did you know that that might be lingering?

I mean, to be honest with you, I probably knew it the night before,

uh, that we weren't necessarily

as mentally locked in as we needed to be.

We tried to address it.

And, you know, they, they, they jumped on us.

Not the horrible start, but they.

Definitely imposed their will from the first play.

You know, one of their kids who had not shot great from three hit two

threes, uh, to start out the game.

And, you know, again, his confidence went through the roof.

And, uh, yeah, we just we didn't, we didn't have it.

So in that game, I know rebounding was something that

really, that really hurt us.

There's a big disparity, but the next game against Ohio, you guys get the

dub and most of the game we're kind of losing the rebounding battle.

But towards the end of the second half, something kind of changed

and, and we really took off.

We ended up winning that rebounding battle.

Let's talk about Ohio a little bit.

Well, I think the biggest thing with that is, we were fighting on every possession.

Just, unfortunate we didn't get more early on, but we, we stuck to it.

Um, we, we kept, you know, we've put an emphasis on a few things here

lately, and one of those has been just being as physical as we possibly

can, especially with our box out.

You know, as the game wore on, we.

We got more rebounds because we kept after it.

We kept after it and we did not veer off from what the game plan was in

terms of boxing out and going to find bodies and hitting people, and then

really actively pursuing the ball.

Um, and a couple of our guys did that, pretty well.

Cal being one of them

for me, walking into the to the Chartway on Saturday.

I was surprised by the crowd given what we saw on Wednesday, like

complete 180 and the crowd showing up.

And I, I feel like it had a really big impact, uh, late in the game.

Oh, no question.

Uh, the energy in there the excitement the, I think I, I hate to say it

like this because you don't have any control over it, so to speak, but,

you know, I, we played harder because of the energy in that building.

You hit a couple of shots and you know, when Jared hit his two shots, he hit

a three and then a tone the line two.

And how loud it got in there and just the vibe that our players

got, our sideline got, I mean, that was, that was tremendous.

And it just goes to show like, just our we have a, such a great fan base,

such a great facility, you know, it is just a great basketball environment

and um, you know, I was happy to see Saturday our guys feed off of that.

I need to take a step back.

I want to ask you a question, and I don't want to get you in trouble, but

it, this is an education for Aaron and the ULM game towards the end of the,

Going to ask me about the goaltending?

Yes.

Oh man.

Not a reviewable.

So, so the, the, and again, three officials that.

I have been really good, so I don't, yeah, that was quite unfortunate.

And you know, I, you don't blame anything on that, who knows what

happens if that call is, or that play is officiated correctly.

Um, but like, let's be clear.

One, it was 100%, no doubt about it.

Goaltending.

Two.

What should have happened was the referee's call goal, tending

in a close game like that, that there's any confusion, whether

it is or it isn't, you call it

and like that is.

So unfortunate because to me it was an easy call.

Now, part of the explanation that I've been given is we were pressing, we

stole the ball, we threw it underneath the basket, and we go right up with it.

So in the transition of being on defense, getting the steel, being on

offense and shooting that quickly, the referees weren't necessarily in the

positions they normally would be in.

So seeing the goal 10, well, let's just say it was just more difficult to see.

And I don't have any choice but to accept that.

But that was a huge call, a huge no call.

If you think about it, what happens?

We get our shot blocked, they go down, we have to file that.

It, it changes.

Now you call it.

Think about what just happened.

We had a set defense.

We steal the ball, we score, you call goaltending.

We get to set our defense again and potentially something similar happens

if nothing else, we definitely have them on their heels and we don't

get the benefit of any of that.

Forget just the two points, but just the momentum that would have provided us.

Unfortunate, uh, thanks for asking me.

'cause that was a huge play.

Um, but again, we put ourselves in that position.

You know, I would like to think that 99 times out of a hundred we perform way

better than we did in that game, and it doesn't come down to something like that.

But, uh, in a two possession game, that was a huge play.

So in the post game, you talked about the early practice after ULM.

Yeah.

Uh, I, I'd like to hear what the leaders on the team, kind of how

they reacted to that game, the ULM,

how they reacted to the game?

What was their kind of like their end, their focus like

on Thursday after the ULM?

To be honest with you, at 6:00 AM I don't know.

You know, we, as I mentioned, like, you know, we, it was not my suggestion.

I was talked into doing it, um, by the staff.

We came in, we met as a staff at 5:00 AM and we kind of mapped out,

how like, so we got 'em in here this early, what are we doing?

Like, what's our vibe?

Is this punitive?

Is this, we pour positivity into 'em.

Like, Hey, we've got Ohio in a couple of days.

Are we gonna start working on them?

Like, and it was literally, no, no, no, no.

Like, we're literally just gonna worry about us.

So we got in there.

So we met from five to about 5:55.

Uh, we all go down to the floor Coach Socha, you know, got 'em and

stretched them and warmed them up.

And then we, we, we got after we started competing immediately.

So I mean, you're talking about, you know, 6:10, 6:12, um, we're going full tilt.

And it wasn't pretty basketball, it wasn't fluid, it wasn't, I mean, it

looked like basketball being played at 6:00 AM in the morning, but.

They competed, they did not whine.

They all showed up on time ready to go, like, you know, you gotta get taped.

You gotta, all the stuff you gotta do before six.

They all did that.

So the, what I took away from it was, no matter what, these guys ain't quitting.

They're here, they, and they're, they're ready to go.

And for whatever.

Good or bad, we can get out of this.

Like we're still in here together.

Um, and then we came back at two and had a normal practice, got up some

shots and things like that, and then we totally dove into Ohio on Friday.

So Thursday was really good for us from a mental standpoint.

From a discipline standpoint, from a comradery and togetherness standpoint.

And to be honest with you, those three areas, exactly what we needed.

So in the game the other night, uh, Robert ended up being a game time decision

and Zacch Wiggins ended up getting his first start, first career start.

And you know, Zacch rallied, he's had two good games in a row for you.

He had 20.

He,

he started a couple times.

That was his first home game start.

Oh,

thank you for Yes.

First home start.

First non-conference start.

Yeah.

So basically the first time he heard his name called In Chartway.

Okay.

Which is a pretty, pretty cool thing.

Absolutely absolute.

So it gives you almost 27 minutes a couple nights ago.

Gives you over 30 minutes.

If you look at the stat sheet, it's not anything spectacular, but

he's around in a lot of places, grabbing rebounds, no turnovers.

Couple of assists.

I know, I think I probably ask you about this every time we get

together, but can you talk about his development a little bit?

I mean, it's hard being a true freshman coming in and playing meaningful minutes,

but he, that's what he's getting now.

Yeah.

And it, it's hard to do it.

And the physicality of just college basketball and then the physicality

of the Sun Belt definitely takes time to adjust to, but he's been great.

He has been.

A breath of fresh air, is when I left practice today.

You know, we Marshall's coming in a little bit later, so, you

know, we can't as we would Yes.

Like yesterday, you can just shoot around till you don't feel like shooting anymore.

Today there's a time limit on it.

And the last player in the gym today was Zacch.

And, many times when I peek outta my window into Mitch, you know, Zacch's

out there getting up shots like he, he is putting in the work to improve.

He is putting in the work to get his reps in.

And everything you just said, like, I mean, he's taking care of the ball.

He's becoming a better defender.

He can shoot it, he can drive it.

He's athletic, he can finish.

You know, he's a playmaker.

He can pass the ball.

Like he does a little bit of everything and hey he's one

of the reasons why we won.

And like you said, his, his stat line didn't jump off the page at you, but

you know, the fact that he was out there for 30 plus minutes to tell

you all you need to know, like we, we wanted him and needed him out there.

One thing I have noticed about him, and you could tell me whether it's

common in, in someone who hasn't played that much college basketball and

especially as physical as our league is, is he seems to finish through

contact or around contact pretty well.

He does.

He does.

And he's, I mean, we, we were just literally teasing him, I think yesterday.

Ask you guys, how much do you think Zacch weighs?

How tall is it?

205.

205. Yeah, he's six.

Let's give him 6'4".

Yeah.

198.

Yeah.

So we all kind of shortchanged him a little bit.

Like, you know, Zacch, Zacch's a big boy, Zacch's close to 210, and.

I never would've guessed that.

And we were like at the scholarship luncheon yesterday at the table,

and I forget how it came up, but that became a discussion.

And I mean, he's really worked on his body.

Um, he's gotten stronger.

Um, but I think the biggest thing for him is he's the same.

He could have missed a shot.

You look at his face, there's no difference than if he

made his last five shots.

Unfortunately at times when, if he turned the ball over.

You can't tell, like it, you thought he just maybe made the best play ever

or the worst play ever because the, his facial expression doesn't change

and that calmness that he brings is pretty unique for a freshman.

And it is something that definitely bodes well for his career because he,

he, he's very, he's not easily rattled.

And, uh, I, we talked about this from the post game, but Cal.

Only having one foul at the half.

I feel like it had a huge impact on how he was able to play in the second half.

Talk to us about how and what, what he could do when he's avoiding that.

Those early fouls.

Yeah.

And if I'm, if I remember correctly, the foul he had in the

first half was an illegal screen.

Um.

It's, it's,

I don't think anybody, and again, I, I, I don't wanna speak for our

fan base or anything like that, but I have always had the impression

that none of us, myself included, appreciate him as much as we should.

Um,

he, I mean, I'll go back to last year and.

Who knows.

We, will we have won the game or not?

But I mean, we're playing Arkansas State.

Uh, in our first game after the new year, we, we were one and on the league after

winning and overtime at Monroe, and it's a 32-32 game or something like that.

It's a tie game beginning of the second half.

And Cal gets whacked across the nose and breaks his nose and has to come out and

we lose, but we're going toe to toe with.

One of the best teams of, well at that time, the best team in our league.

You take Cal outta the equation.

We're just a, we're a different team.

We're a different physicality team.

We're a different defensive team.

We're a different team.

And like that was a year ago and he's done nothing but gotten better.

He is literally the linchpin for everything we do,

especially around the rim.

He is our anchor.

And.

If he can stay out of foul trouble, like again we have so much more

flexibility and versatility.

You know, no offense to Ben and Don, but you know, if Cal plays

against JMU, we don't lose.

And I would venture to say a couple other games if he weren't in foul trouble,

we, we've got a much better shot to win.

And he maybe had the best pass of the year in against Ohio.

Yeah, the back door or the alley-oop to

the AlleyOOP is the layup.

alley-oop, yeah.

He, yeah.

We will not encourage that, but, um, it was, it was, I

know LJ looked a little worried for his job,

so let's, let's, let's be clear, like, you know, those are one of those plays

that when you're making it, it works.

I'm not saying a word to you like, Hey, you, you, you earned that.

If you make that play or try to make that play, that doesn't work,

I might, my mind might explode.

So, um, for a team that doesn't always make the best decisions and that was

in crunch time, but to be honest with you, he didn't have many options.

He did not have many options.

So he made the play that was open and available and he did it with confidence.

And I don't know if y'all can hear him, but he asked me about it sitting

there at the table in the presser.

Afterwards, he was like, Hey, what do you think about that pass?

And so, but hey, I give him, it worked.

It worked.

So yeah, we're good to go.

Nice.

Mike, you got any more that you want to talk about before we move on?

Well, I will tell Mike before he walked in, I had told Cal he may

have made the pass of the year.

He did say that.

Yeah.

So we talked about it for a minute and then you walked in.

So he was feeling good about himself.

Yeah, I'm sure he was.

I mean, he like, let's get he played a great game.

He played, you know, 14 points, 7 rebounds, however many assists.

Three blocks.

Like he, KC's back door dunk in the first half was off a cow.

You know, he's, and the thing is, he, he can still play better, uh,

he can still play better and he wants to, I mean, you're talking

about another young man who's very regimented and routine oriented like he.

He has his routine.

You know, you're gonna, you can plan your day around it.

He's gonna be in there 90 minutes before practice.

He's gonna go through his own personal stretching, and then he is gonna

do the stretching with the team.

You know, he eats a certain way.

He he does everything, um, a certain way.

And that discipline required to do that translates to his game.

And before we move on to the ad. I do think we need to talk about l J's Crunch

time performance before we move on.

'cause I believe with about six minutes ago he had zero points.

Yeah, I love that kid.

I love that kid.

And, and I love the fact that he said when they asked him about

it in the post game, he said he wasn't happy with his performance.

Yeah.

At that point

He didn't have the best start.

I love that kid.

He, he and I have a really good relationship because I, I do feel

like, and again, I'm, I don't mean this to demean anyone else, but I

feel like I can actually coach him.

I can communicate with him sometimes with a high level of intensity,

sometimes put him in close and, you know, give him some love with my words.

But I feel like I, I can't communicate with him in whatever way the situation

requires, and he's not gonna.

Wilt because of it.

Like he, he's going to listen.

He's gonna try to process and he's gonna try to respond in, in kind because of it.

I, I really enjoy coaching him.

He knows that like, and again, my whole career, I've been really,

really hard on point guards.

Um, because of their effect on everything.

You know, he can tell you today like, Hey, man, like you, there are certain

things you have to do and to run this team for us to be the best team we can be.

So I put a lot of pressure and ownership on him and, um, again he, he definitely

came up and clutch didn't have the best start, but as they say, it's not

how you start, it's how you finish.

Not only did he come up with 13 points in like six minutes,

but he went seven for seven.

Yeah,

from the free throw line.

And I don't wanna throw shade at any because the team went

16 of 18 from the line, I mean great performance and only six.

Turnovers for the whole squad,

man.

Six turnovers.

And like if you go back and count 'em again, Cal illegal screen was a turnover.

LJ getting a rebound, but then having his heels on the baseline was a turnover.

And then there's one other one that was just like, just bad luck.

I mean, we, we really took care of the basketball.

Alright, well I think now's the time.

We gotta pay some bills, fellas.

So 90 seconds, grab a drink, whatever you gotta do, we'll be right back.

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receive exclusive benefits such as priority points for postseason and

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that voice Blaine, we know him anywhere.

Awesome.

So since people are watching this on Wednesday.

And we're looking at the past.

'cause that meant I edited this last night.

We got a game.

We got a game today, coach.

Yes sir.

We got a game at what, 7:30 PM I think it is a little bit different than normal.

Yeah.

Because of the doubleheader.

Yep.

Yep.

That's right.

So we've got Marshall, uh, and since you mentioned it, it is a double header.

The, I think the ladies tip off at 5:00 PM I think so.

Pretty sure.

Uh, everybody get out there early, support the ladies, uh, before the men.

So talk to us a little bit about, about Marshall.

What should fans expect?

Incredibly talented team.

One of the best teams in our league.

Uh, when it comes down to, who goes to the tournament from this league

Marshall will definitely be in that mix.

They score a ball they score the ball.

They've got multiple guys that shoot a ridiculous percentage from three.

They get out and transition really well.

Not sure if the big fella's healthy or not.

They have a 7'4" kid who did not play their last two games two games ago.

The league game midweek last week he was in, he was dressed and didn't play.

This past Saturday when they played Miami of Ohio, he was in

a boot and did not dress don't know what that means for tomorrow.

But if he doesn't play, they still, the backup is 6'10".

They're starting four.

Man is 6'8", 6'9".

They've got another 6'10" that comes off the bench.

And then they've got guys that can make shots.

One of the most offensively talented teams in our league.

And we are, we're gonna have to guard our rear ends off tomorrow,

so double header.

Obviously it's a it impacts your schedule, but how much does it

impact your game day preparation?

A lot.

A lot.

And this is not complaining but it definitely changes.

So, you know, what we'll do tomorrow is normally, you know, we're in the facility.

If the game's at seven, all of our guys are in there by 5:30, uh, we

go through our position groups.

To get their workout in before we start working out as a team, um, about

at the 42 minute mark or whatever.

And then they go to about 30, and then we talk to 'em a little bit and

then they go back out and they come back in the locker room at 12 minutes.

And then go back out and finish their warmup at, let's say four and a five

minutes or six minutes left on the clock.

So, you know, three different segments.

Tomorrow we'll only get two.

Um, but we will, I guess if you feel like you have to have that pre-workout

that you normally would have around 5:30.

Obviously they can come a little bit later because of the women's game

and just get shots up in the Mitch.

But, that is, it definitely changes.

The, what the normal game day, uh, routine is.

Well, how nice is it to have a facility like the Mitch?

So when you do have things thrown at you this way that the fellows

have the opportunity to be able to do something like that.

Yeah, I mean it's, it's, we are so blessed and lucky.

The Mitch is.

One of the best facilities I've seen definitely at our level.

But shoot they, it competes with Power Five facilities, uh, when it

comes to a practice facility as well.

That the fact that they have 24 hour access to it.

So not just in the situation we'll be in tomorrow, but I mean 365

days a year, like when we're on campus, Hey man, I can't sleep.

I'm gonna go get some shots up.

Or, Hey man.

You know, I went seven for twelve from the free throw line.

Like I just, I, something's not right with me.

I'm gonna go in and get some free throws up.

You know, we, give credit to our managerial staff, like those guys and

young ladies or like, they're ready to go.

Like you put in a group chat, Hey, I need somebody to rebound for me

00 AM and you've got guys like begging to be the ones to do it.

We, we've got a really good thing here in terms of structure and infrastructure

and, and it's, it's, it's time.

All of that pays off for us in the win and loss call.

So I got two questions for you first, um, with that weird game

day schedule, obviously Marshall's impacted a little bit too.

Will they have the ability to use the niche as well?

Or is that just like No, it's just

Nah, nah.

Homefield advantage.

Yeah.

Nah, I don't think so.

Yeah.

Speaking of practice facilities, during your trip to Texas, you go spend

some time with the Spurs facility.

Yep.

Talk to us about that experience and, uh, what the guys took from it.

So it, I mean, that was really cool.

The gentleman that was running USA basketball our junior national team, um,

that hired me to go from assistant coach to head coach of our junior national team.

He is the general manager of the Spurs G League team and assistant general manager.

For the Spurs, NBA franchise.

So, we reached out to him you know, we wanted to do something cool with

our guys and the opportunity to do that doesn't exist after this

season, 'cause Texas State's leaving.

So we reached out and, uh, he was very accommodating.

It was a pretty cool experience just to be in there.

Coach Popovich, like we were practicing Coach Popovich.

I didn't see him, but they told me afterwards he.

Into our practice, which is a tremendous honor for me.

Um, it was, it was a pretty cool experience.

All right, so on Saturday.

Valentine's Day.

There's a lot going on campus.

I think they're, I think the women's tennis team's playing and then baseball's

playing, and then the women's basketball team's playing, and then you guys are

playing and there's an event going on.

Let's talk about that first before the actual game.

It's the retirement of Ronnie Valentine's jersey.

It was supposed to happen earlier in the season, but perhaps it wasn't supposed

to happen then because it's happening on Valentine's Day, and that's just,

yeah, Valentine's Day means a little bit something different this year.

This is absolutely 100 cent percent Mr. Valentine's Day.

Um, and it, it is gonna be huge and it happens to coincide with

us celebrating our seniors.

'Cause it will be senior day and alumni day.

It, it is Saturday.

Should be.

An unbelievable experience for just the community of Old Dominion

University and our basketball program.

And, uh, I'm excited to be able to be a part of, you know, what should

be a memorable experience as we watch number 42 go up into the rafters.

Absolutely.

Listening at home.

This is your warning.

It's Valentine's Day.

If you're planning on coming to the game, make sure you do

something nice for your lady.

So she's not mad that she's watching basketball and Valentine's Day.

Yeah, that's right.

Yeah.

Be like me.

We're doing it on Thursday.

Alright, so Georgia State coming in and

the game's at three 30.

So come root us onto a win and go have a very nice dinner afterwards.

You know, do your celebration.

But let, let, let, let's spread the Monarch love and, uh, we'll be

spreading a lot of Monarch love in inside Chartway, um, all day long

with the women and the men's team.

And then you can go spend time with is significant other afterwards.

Absolutely.

All right.

Talk to us about this Georgia State squad.

Again, you guys know me, I'm, I'm locked in totally on Marshall Georgia State

again two weeks ago or a week and a half ago, they were number two in the league.

Again, very talented team.

They've got.

League's leading score in Jelani Hamilton.

Um, many of us remember him from last year 'cause he was very good.

Uh, he's a Power Five portal.

Get for them a year ago.

They, they, they're good.

They're good.

They shoot it, they guard it, they rebound, they push.

But again, they, we have.

We've got so much to worry about for Marshall.

You know, if you guys wanna talk again on Thursday, we can, but this is, uh,

yeah, we, we we're focused on tomorrow.

That's fair.

I'm not even gonna ask you about the Louisiana game, but I wanna make

sure to put it on here because we probably won't talk before that.

So the Louisiana game is on Monday the 16th at 5:00 PM So if

you're listening to this, make sure you put it on the calendar.

You don't show up at seven or don't show up on some other day.

We've got free ball games,

President's Day, a lot of us will not be at work.

That is a, a day again, and it'll be our last time playing in Chartway this season.

So yeah.

These three games are incredibly important to what's gonna happen here.

Um.

I'm pretty sure Georgia State is just a couple notches above us in the rankings.

And Louisiana is also just a couple spots above us in the rankings.

And these three games that we're about to play will have a huge

impact on our, on our seating.

Absolutely.

And while Monday, next Monday is the last home game.

This Saturday is senior day.

Yeah.

So get to your seats early so we can honor this big class of seniors.

I guess a question I've asked other coaches I may have asked you this

the last year, but senior day,

yeah.

Some coaches think it should be earlier in the season, so we can give them an

appropriate, uh, good thank you and honor, but they don't want the distraction

from the, a crucial late season game.

What are your thoughts on senior day and when it should be?

When it should be done?

I've never heard that before.

Um.

Yeah, I've never heard that before.

It is what it is.

You, uh, wow, I've never heard that before.

I don't, I mean, it, it's when it is again, like for me, especially

with, everything we've got going on, I don't give a that

going I just wanna win the game.

You know, we've got.

A number of seniors, like, and we gotta figure out exactly, you

know, lineups and things like that, what it'll look like on Saturday.

But we're, I know we're replaced, but we're in the thick of this.

And like, you know, I love these guys to death.

Like these, the, these guys are my family, my job.

And my promise to them is like, I'm gonna do everything we can to put us

in the best position to be successful.

So, if the senior day was in December and January, if it's

when it is, it is what it is.

I guess if you wanted the silver line, I don't like our last home game.

'cause technically.

The 14th was supposed to be our last home game.

I don't like the fact that there's still basically two weeks left in the season

and we're never gonna play at home again.

So I wish that weren't the case, but other than that, it, like, we

just gonna roll with the punches.

Like hopefully we can be talking here one day and we're doing so well that

I can complain about stuff like that.

But that we, we ain't there.

Me and Aaron have complained about this schedule all season long for you.

The conference didn't do us any favors this year, and I hope it gets

rectified because again, we shouldn't be playing rivalry games in December.

Uh, we shouldn't have weeks of the season remaining when we're

playing our last home game.

Yeah.

And you can go on, like we shouldn't, you know, our first eight games

of the conference season are against the same four opponents.

That's, yeah.

There's just so many layers to this.

But again, right now I am not in a position to complain about a

daggon thing, like just figure out how to win a game coach.

Well, we got three games, three dubs, and then it's not the fan's Last opportunity

to to see you before Pensacola because we have an event on Thursday the 19th

at Afterglow we have The Mane Event.

Mike, you're the, uh.

The main attraction.

So opportunity for fans to come out and interact, ask questions.

Um, we're gonna do that at 6:00 PM we'll do that for about an hour, and

then we're gonna watch the women's basketball game there on the road.

We're gonna have that up on the big screen and just have a good time.

Really looking forward to that event.

Yeah, I, I am too.

I am too.

Regardless of what's going on, like, I, I love this community so much and

the opportunity to be amongst fans and just spend some time and, you know, I'm

looking forward to the opportunity to get the vibe, you're gonna ask me questions.

Some of them are gonna be great questions, some of them are gonna be questions that

you personally want to know the answer to.

I'm I know what I'm walking into.

Like, hey, ask away.

You know, I will answer as best I, I can.

But I'm doing this because first of all, you guys, great idea.

But then most importantly, because like I, I owe y'all, I owe our fan base.

I am so blessed and lucky to be the coach here at ODU.

I feel like our team is something that represents our community,

and I just can't wait until it's representing our community.

You know, going to NCAA tournaments and winning Sun Belt

championships and, and all of that.

And as this process goes it, it's, it's, it wouldn't, like, I, I look

forward to the opportunity to be amongst Monarch Nation because it, it, it.

It means that much to me.

Well.

Mike, before I give you the floor to give your closing message

to Monarch Nation, I just wanna mention, uh, a couple quick things.

It doesn't feel like it outside, but baseball season is starting on Friday.

Yes, sir. Yes, sir.

Um, Gary and CB have been pumping out the episodes one just dropped

on Tuesday, which they help you get ready for the season.

There will be a link to the episode, uh, afterwards that you guys can do it.

So, bundle up where your, uh, electric jackets, if you have them

on Friday, 'cause it's gonna be 40 degrees I will have mine on.

More importantly, in about two weeks, we're gonna have

Clarisse Machanguana on the show.

Obviously a Hall of Fame, old Dominion women's basketball

player, WNBA, but more importantly.

The amazing things that she's doing in the world.

More specifically, Mozambique, if you haven't seen, they've had some

catastrophic flooding in Mozambique, and we're trying to draw some awareness

to what's going on over there in the call to action from Monarch Nation.

So stay tuned for that episode in about two weeks and the show notes,

we will put a link to the GoFundMe.

That's out there right now, but keep an eye out for that episode.

Now.

Mike, your message from Monarch Nation.

Uh, so let me piggyback on both of those messages.

One Clarisse and I went to school together.

I've been to Mozambique to do basketball clinics before.

It's a beautiful country.

So I would also Encourage Monarch Nation that anything we

can do to help to please do so.

One, two, I'm so excited for our new baseball facility to be debuted and,

and for our team to get out there.

Um, you know, Friday's gonna be a huge day.

And I I, I'm so excited for, uh, Coach Finwood and, and, and his squad.

Like, let's have a great season.

Um, with that being said, Monarch Nation.

We got three games left here in Chartway.

We are literally two games out of fifth place.

We have a tremendous opportunity to kind of set the stage for our last

three games that'll be on the road.

But I am begging you guys to come out and support tomorrow, Wednesday, or today as

you're watching this, uh, this evening.

You know, we've got double headers, the next two games with the women come

early if you can, to support them.

Um, and then stick around and, uh.

As we round into shape to play our best basketball when we get to Florida this is

going to be a tremendous opportunity for us for these next three games to kind of.

Get true bearings of what we gotta do those last three games

to get the type of seed we want.

So, uh, I am looking forward to saying thank you once again for what you did

for us this past Saturday, and if we could just keep that going for these

next three games, I'm telling you, these young men will perform and,

uh, and, and we will make you proud.

I'm looking forward to this week and looking forward to tonight.

Um, and go Monarchs.

Go Monarchs.

Go Monarchs.