The fellas sit down with Roland Jones, Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator of Old Dominion Women's Basketball. Snowed into his hotel in New Orleans, Coach Ro joins the pod to talk all things recruiting. We discuss the pros and cons to recruiting high school, junior college, and the transfer portal in addition to much, much more.

The following presentation is brought to you by the pride of

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ODU, the official NIO collective

of All Dominion Athletics.

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Be a Monarchist.

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Join the pride.

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Monarch Nation, welcome back to

the Monarchist Basketball Show.

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Today is all about recruiting.

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So we had none other than

coach Roland Jones joining us.

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Because he is the face of ODU

Women's Basketball recruiting.

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Thanks for joining us today, Road.

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How are

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Roland: you

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Mike: doing?

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Roland: Doing great.

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Um, snowed in in New

Orleans, um, Louisiana.

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So, stuck in the hotel.

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Hopefully, I'll get out in the

morning, fly to Charlotte, drive

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down to, uh, Boone, North Carolina,

and catch up with the team.

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And, um, get on the floor Thursday

night and get that victory.

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Aaron: Mike, before you get

started, when was the last time

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that someone actually got snowed in?

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New Orleans.

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Roland: I don't know if that's

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Aaron: ever happened in

the history of the world.

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Roland: You could tell that the

people in the hotel, when I, I

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actually left the hotel, got on the

road and thought I was just gonna

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be able to drive through the snow.

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They had shut down all the exits

to all the, the, the highways

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and the, and, and the interstate.

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So I couldn't even get on.

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I had to actually come back,

check back into my hotel.

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And now, now I'm, you know, just

hanging out, enjoying watching some tv.

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It's actually good for me 'cause

I don't get to sleep that much.

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Like.

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I'm on the road quite a bit and

you know, in and out of town.

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So this is actually pretty

cool for me just to be able

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to just lounge and just relax.

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But what's crazy is I do have

to get on the phone and talk

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to recruits here shortly.

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So work is work.

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Mike: All right.

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Well, we appreciate you

giving us the time today.

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So I first want to, we want to

do this kind of educationally so

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fans can kind of understand more

of the process, uh, the challenges

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and kind of everything that you're

going through on a day to day basis.

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So let's start from the beginning

at the beginning of each season.

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When do you start mapping out the

recruiting for the next season?

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Roland: Um, I don't, I don't

think there's a point in time to

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where you're starting to map out.

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I think you're actually mapping out in

the middle of the season or, or it might,

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sometimes it might be earlier, but I

think you're already kind of watching

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how your team is going and you're mapping

out kind of how, how, as you go pretty

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much like, I don't think it's like, okay.

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The season ends, let's say March 12th

and we're gonna, we're gonna have these

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big recruiting meetings and we're going

to start mapping this thing out on, on

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the first Monday after we lose, like, no,

we're mapping out the whole way through.

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Cause I'm getting calls from a, you

teams or, um, different people in the

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business telling me this kid or that

kid may be in the portal or about

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a juco kid or a high school kid.

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So it's really not a map out process.

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You're just constantly on the move

and you're constantly on the go.

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Um, just putting the

jigsaw puzzle together.

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Mike: So, obviously, you are

kind of the mastermind behind the

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recruiting process for Old Dominion.

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You're out on the road.

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Uh, you're the one usually

identifying these athletes, but

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what are the other staff members?

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What are the, what's

their role in recruiting?

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Roland: So, during the

season, it's kind of tough.

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Like, um, so game day, you have I

handle personnel, which which I'm

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breaking down every player, what

they do and what they don't do.

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Um, Coach Josh Pace.

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Our new coach is over

the other team's offense.

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Coach Danielle is over

the other team's defense.

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So for them to leave during mass

mass amounts or leaving for days at

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a time during the season is pretty

tough because they're the one that

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has to break down the other team.

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Um, they do a lot more recruiting in

the summertime, going out to these big

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time high school events or whatnot.

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And pretty much during the season,

it's tough for all of us to get out,

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you know, to go out on the road.

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So it's really just me going out now

towards the end so that we all can lay

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eyes on a player that we really know that

we're about to sign at some point in time.

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Josh may go out for a day and get right

back and give his feedback on the kid

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or Coach Danielle the same and You

know, Coach D doesn't like it, but I

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make her go get out on the road too.

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Even if she has to miss a practice.

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Like, no, you gotta go.

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It's great that you trust me.

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Um, but you need to see this kid too.

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It's not only that she needs to see the

kid, but the kid needs to see her too.

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So, you know, they're always

seeing me walk in the gym.

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Like, there goes Coach Ro.

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So when they see Coach Dan, Coach

Danielle, Coach Josh, you know, they

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know that it's, that it's pretty serious.

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So, um, you know, that's the process.

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It's just during the season,

man, it's, it's really tough.

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Like, I'm in Miss, I went to watch

a game in Mississippi last night.

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And it only worked out

because they played on Monday.

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But most teams usually play on Wednesday

and Saturdays or Thursday and Saturdays.

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on the juco side of things

or high schools, and it's

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the same days that we play.

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So sometimes I don't even

get a chance to go out.

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Aaron: You're not kidding about it

being a multi kind of a multi front

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war when it comes to recruiting

there and delicious seeing them.

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When I interviewed, uh, Dom Manila

and Sofia Johnson from tennis, I

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asked Sofia, it's like, why do you,

like, what made you choose here?

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And she said when Dom was recruiting

her, she knew and she felt that she

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was a priority and not an option.

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I think that goes to

what you're saying there.

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With uh, you know, everybody taking

a look and, and, and that student

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athlete understanding that they're

a priority and not just an option.

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Roland: I, I'll take

it even a step further.

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Like, it may be times to where, you

know, sometimes you go through, they

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may talk to me or another, you know,

the other two assistants, but if a

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kid is really, really important, like,

I'll put them on the phone with D right

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away so that they can start building

that bond and that relationship.

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I'm not saying that us as assistant

coaches aren't important, because we

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are, but the most important coach that's

important is Coach D, our head coach.

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So if a kid is really that important,

like, I'll be like, nah, D, you need to

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start building that relationship with her.

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You know, we can always come in on the

back end and pop in and, you know, they

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can get a chance to know us, but these

kids are coming to this university

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because it's a phenomenal university, but

they're really coming for the head coach.

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That's just what it is.

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At least, at least on in our

situation, the logo in women's

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basketball is, is, is an amazing thing.

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But then you add the benefit

of having Coach DeLisha and who

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she is in the basketball world.

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It's just like, kind of

like a no brainer, you know?

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Aaron: All right.

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So there's challenges of benefits to

recruiting wherever you decide to go.

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High school, junior

college, transfer portal.

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So let's talk about that

for a couple minutes.

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Uh, let's start with high school.

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So what are the challenges and the

benefits of recruiting high school

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student athletes in today's game?

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Roland: The benefits we play

in the Sun Belt Conference.

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It is a very Juco driven

portal driven league.

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So if I'm a high school kid and we signed

a high school kid, like Mariah Clayton.

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You have to go after the best of

the best high school kids because

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you want these kids to come in

and give you something right away.

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Like, we don't, like, not saying that

we're not in the business of developing

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high school kids, which we, which we can,

but in our league, they got to be able

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to come in and do something right away.

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And, and I think the benefits, um,

as a high school kid, if I get a,

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if I get an offer from ODU, it's

really like getting a P4 offer.

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It's really like getting an offer.

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Like I tell these kids all the time,

like you're getting an offer from like

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Notre Dame, UConn, South Carolina, that,

that, that is what an ODU, ODU offer is.

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And that's, that, that is the,

um, shit, the level, and that

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is the, the, the standard.

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You know what ODU stands for

as far as women's basketball.

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So we love high school kids.

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But if we, if we do get one, they have

to come out of a well known program.

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They have to be really well coached.

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They have to be seasoned because they

have to, you just can't be a kid that's

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coming from a bottom high school and

average 30, but you've never been coach.

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You, you've never been taught

to pick and roll coverages.

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You've never been, you know,

you just, you're just, you're

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just out there hooping.

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But you never played basketball

like, like we have some hoopers.

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We have some basketball players.

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But if you're gonna play for Coach

DeLisha Milton-Jones, you got to be able

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to play basketball and it starts here.

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First, it starts with the, with the,

with the, the concept in the mind

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and what, what can you, what can you

think and hold on to on a daily basis

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more than the physical side of things.

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So high school kids, if we signed

a high school kid, you better

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know, all that kid must be special.

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And, and I'll, and I'll piggyback on it.

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Like we signed another kid out

of Duncanville High School.

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Um, Laila Coleman is her name.

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She signed early.

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Had torn ACL and all and we still signed

her and that's how special she is.

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One of one of one of the best shooters

I've seen in high school, she was

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probably the best shooter in the state

of texas coming out of high school and

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we still signed her on on a torn ACL.

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She hasn't even played a

high school game this year.

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So she's she's gonna be a valuable

asset coming in and go and going down

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the road and have an understanding

of how to be coached on this level.

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Mike: All right, so continuing

on the challenges and benefits.

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What are the challenge and benefits you're

seeing to recruiting portal athletes?

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Roland: The portal is so tricky.

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It's so tricky because a kid is

leaving for a particular reason, right?

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So usually the reason the kid, the

benefits obviously as a kid is already

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seasoned, has played on a certain

level, um, is different from a high

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school kid or a juco kid because

they're playing, they're playing on a,

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a P5, a P5, a P4 level or, or a level

that we play on a mid major level.

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So they're, they're adaptability and

they're, they're being able to come in and

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just plug and play should be a lot easier

than a juco kid or a high school kid.

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But what we've run into is that it's not

always worked out for us because these,

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these, these portal kids, they come in

with issues and problems and it takes

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them time to get caught up to speed.

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Now, the benefit is definitely

understand the language.

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They understand that the day to day

situation as far as coming to practice,

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you know, going to study hall.

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getting treatment.

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They understand the day to day

walk on this level compared to

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a juco kid or a high school kid.

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So they understand what practice is going

to be about because they've done it.

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But really, what type of

program are they coming from?

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Is the program that they're coming

from from the same standard of ODU.

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Like I just used for example,

like a kid coming from Memphis.

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Um, their standard of a program.

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It may, it may be different

from ours and they may struggle.

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Because what Coach DeLisha may be asking

from them that wasn't that wasn't a

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demand or they weren't asked of that at

Memphis and that and that's hypothetically

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me saying that or you know, a kid from

Wichita State or a kid from SMU, you just

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trust me even getting these portal kids.

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The benefit is definitely that they've

already played on the college stage and

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they touched the floor at some point in

time, so they shouldn't be shell shocked.

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coming in and and and not

and not being up to speed.

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Um, you asked me the benefit in the work.

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What was the next

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Mike: challenges?

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So, I mean, I think you've kind

of mapped it out there like, um,

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they're leaving for a reason.

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Like either they're not producing.

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Uh, you also talk about how

they might not have the right

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mentality to play for deletion.

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So I think you can walk us through

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Roland: both.

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If I didn't tell me, because I want you to

be educational enough, I could be saying

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the same thing over and over though.

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Aaron: But no, no, you're good.

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But you got the third leg of this

of this stool is the junior college.

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So there's obviously some pros and cons

for Juco we have a number of junior

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college players on this team in half.

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So what?

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What are the pros and cons of junior

colleges on, you know, with regards

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to bringing them into your program?

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Roland: I'm a juco product.

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Um, I love them because number

one, the, the, the benefits is that

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they're, they're, they're hungry.

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They, they, they, they

want the scholarship.

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They want to come to this level.

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They want to produce, they come on

visits to our school and they think

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they're, they're at Notre Dame.

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They think they're at South Carolina

and they're looking at what we have.

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And they're like, Hey, I could come

and play in front of these fans.

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I can play in this arena.

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Um, just this, just the benefit is,

is that they're hungry and usually you

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can plug them in right away and play.

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Now, the con is every juco like

Northwest Florida is the number one juco.

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Um, usually like they won, they lost

to Hutch this past year, but usually

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they're, they're, they're in the final

four of the national juco tournament.

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I go to this every year.

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You get a kid from Northwest Florida,

and you know, Bart Walker, who

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is one of the, you know, premier

coaches in, in the juco world.

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You're going to get a tough kid.

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A kid is going to be culturable.

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They understand the terminology.

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They, they play in a, they play

in a college system already.

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So their, their adaptability or them

being pushed into a system to, to ODU,

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they're like Kaye Clark, like they were

able, she was able to come in and provide

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something right away to where you can go

get another juco kid, like another good

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juco hutch out of, out of, uh, Kansas, um,

we're recruiting one of their top players.

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Um, the number one, the number one

power forward in the juco world.

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Um, we're, we're top on her list.

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The one thing we know about her right away

is, is that she's going to be to come in.

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Yeah.

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And understand the terminology and being

able to play from day one, you go get

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another kid that played in Seward in

Kansas, who may be dropping 20 a night,

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but she's just dropping 20 a night.

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And you're really getting her for

her talent more or less than her

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being able to be able to be plugged

in right away and understanding the

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terminology because you get a lot of

kids that just haven't been coached.

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They're just out there just hooping and

they're just playing, but there, there,

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there is a place for a kid like that too,

though, because, because at the end of

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the day, like y'all said, we've had lows

to where we're not, we're not scoring.

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So you do need a kid that can come

in and just go get a bucket for

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you and provide you something.

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You know, it may be a

top role player for you.

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So the pros is definitely a kid

that's playing at a great, great

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program that can come in and

just think the game and know it.

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But then, you know, the cons is

getting a kid that really hasn't been

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coached, but has the talent to do it.

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Mike: All right.

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So you, you've stressed.

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mentality and your answers here when

you're recruiting an athlete, how hard

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is that to identify in an athlete if

whether they're going to be mentally

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strong enough to compete here,

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Roland: Mike, that is a phenomenal

question because sometimes

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with these kids might You just

don't know until you get them.

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You can go watch them play

eight, nine, 10 times.

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And you think they have the mentality,

but then when you get them in your own

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system, it's like, who is this kid?

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Like I recruited this kid the whole time.

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Like you just don't know until you

get them into an ODU practice uniform.

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You just don't.

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You just don't know.

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And the coaches, first of

all, did you call coaches?

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They're going to tell you, they're going

to tell you all the right things anyway.

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Cause they want that kid to get

the opportunity to come to ODU.

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Like I, there's, there's one or two

coaches I can say out there that'll

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tell, they'll tell you the truth.

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Like, Hey Ro, the kid is talented.

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Now I'll take a look at her, but she

might not cut the mustard, but then

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you have a lot of these coaches.

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You know, they're just trying

to get these kids out trying

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to get them signed or whatnot.

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But but the really it's really hit or

miss because there's been some kids

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that I did not think would have the

mentality and we'll be able to come in

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right away and do it and they do it.

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And there's some kids you would think if

they just gonna come in here and knock

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it out the park and they struggle like

I'm talking about majorly struggle like

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Like one of our best players right now,

that is a JUCO kid, um, a junior, her

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first two months, she cried every day.

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And when I say cried, I mean cried,

because her biggest thing was, she

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was like, dang, I went to JUCO for two

years, and they didn't teach me nothing.

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And she's now, the beauty of it is when

these kids finally figure it out, figure

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it out, and you see the brain is clicking

and they're moving, they're doing stuff

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without hesitation, it's beautiful.

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But everybody's process is different, man.

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It's really like going to Vegas and

playing and putting a million on black

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and, and, and a Russian roulette and you,

you, and you like 13 black and that ball

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gets to hopping into bouncing and click,

click, clicking, and sometime 13 blacks.

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But then sometimes, yeah, but then

sometimes it might be 11 red and you

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like, shit, so, um, man, in today's

society with these kids, man, it's

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really like playing poker, uh,

blackjack, and roulette all in the one.

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Aaron: Well, you got the right

guy right there because Mike

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knows all those games and

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Roland: okay,

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Aaron: if I ever got a question on

that kind of stuff, I'm the wrong guy.

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Roland: Mike, you've been to

a couple casinos in your day.

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Yes, sir.

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Okay.

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Okay.

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You, you, you and I'm probably going

to say this on there, but you're the

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least you need to, you need to hang out.

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I could, I could tell y'all the

story every time they would go play

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Connecticut Sun at the Mohegan Sun Casino.

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So D would stay up to three.

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If the bus left at six.

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Um, D was coming.

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D was coming back to the room at at 545

like she would stay up all night and play

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and play uh blackjack and one and one win

a dime but she would stay up all night.

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Mike: Okay.

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Yeah.

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I like it.

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Yeah.

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Alright.

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Aaron: NIl.

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Obviously, uh, you know,

we spent a lot of time.

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Mike and I spent a lot of time

talking and thinking about NIl.

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Collective, theprideofodu.Com.

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Obviously, things are changing.

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It seems like every single day with

regards to collegiate athletics

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and those sorts of things.

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How was NIL impacted you?

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And recruiting in college basketball or or

has it really not impacted you that much?

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Roland: I think it's we're about

to go down the road road to where

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it's going to be impactful for us.

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I don't, it hasn't really

impacted us as of as of now.

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I mean, we have great cost of attendance.

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Um, I think they're about to get some

money called Alston money, um, to where,

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you know, I think it hasn't really

impacted us yet, but I think we're

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about to go down in that road and get

in the shark tank with all these other

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sharks and hopefully we don't get bit.

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Um, you know, we're in the cage, you

know, looking at all these beautiful

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sharks, you know, you know, swim by,

but now it hasn't really impacted

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yet like, um, I'm not a big fan.

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I'll just be, I'll just be real with you.

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Um, I think the kids

definitely deserve it.

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Me being a fellow player, but it's

tough, man, because when you start giving

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money, there's going to be expectations

when you're giving out big dollars to

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certain players from not only from the

program in the school, but from fans.

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And I just think That's tough

because you you can't there's no

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guarantee in this thing that you're

going to get what you need out of

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every player that you bring in here.

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Mike: Yeah, and before you go any

further, we are a part of the collective.

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I just want to make sure you know that.

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Roland: Yeah, yeah, for sure.

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One thousand percent.

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Uh, so, so, you being a part of the

collective, what, what are you, what are

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you expecting out of your investments?

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Aaron: Well, from a fan's

perspective, that what

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Roland: Any perspective you want to give

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Aaron: someone who, as I mean,

obviously somebody, you know, a

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member of the collective, they

all have different expectations.

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There are some members of the

collective who just love giving to

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Old Dominion, just like to ODAF.

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And they have no expect their

expectation is that the people who are

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stewards of their money treat it well.

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And they take care of the

student athletes in the program.

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And you got other folks who look

at it as a return on investment.

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And they're like, I gave X amount.

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What are the results on the court?

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So, I think it's very different

depending upon who you ask.

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Then you got like guys like me

and Mike who do this as a hobby

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because we love Old Dominion.

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And we're trying to give the programs

and the student athletes, uh, the

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tools to be able to compete at a

minimum at the top of our peers, we

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should be able to compete at the top

and be the best as a starting point.

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That's so I agree.

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Mike: And I will say this,

my, my own personal stuff.

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I'm a big fan of nonprofits.

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I work for a health care company.

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Uh, for me, when I can give back, I

try to give back because, uh, I want

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others to have the opportunity that

I had to build a life for themselves.

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And I know some of these kids every dollar

matters because it might be a difference

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between them lasting another semester

here or dropping out or transferring

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and I want them to feel supported when

they're at Old Dominion proud to be a

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monarch and I think that money can help

make that happen more successfully,

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I guess.

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Roland: I agree.

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Um, 1000%.

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Um, I think our resources

is phenomenal at ODU.

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I think, um, us and obviously JMU

or at the top of the food chain in,

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in, in, in the Sun Belt Conference.

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For what I understand, I think we have

the biggest budget, I think, from what,

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from what I understand and whatnot,

but, um, you know, the collective does

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put us in a different ballpark now.

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Now, what I will say, I do understand

this thing a lot more now, what I want

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to say, what it does do, like, a top

juco kid, I'll just use this for an

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example, cause it happens all the time,

it'll come down to like us and Clemson.

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Um, I think it puts us in a situation

now to where we can, we can, we can,

418

you know, we can go to the table,

sit down at the blackjack table

419

and, you know, we can play now.

420

Um, before the kids were just going,

they were just going to P4 for the money.

421

Um, and not like I give you, I'll give you

an example, uh, can't really say the kid's

422

name and I know y'all are not answering.

423

So you asked me about recruiting

earlier, um, with the portal,

424

I'll give you an example.

425

You would not, there are kids on

rosters right now that they're knowing

426

that they're going to go on a portal.

427

As soon as the season is over,

not, the coach doesn't even know.

428

So I'll give you an example.

429

We have a kid at a P4.

430

Um, she came down to, came down to us

in the, in the school in the Big 12.

431

She chose, she chose to go that route.

432

They threw some money at her.

433

If we had this kid, I could

almost, I could almost guarantee

434

almost that we would win.

435

We will, that we will

win conference this year.

436

She's that good of a point guard.

437

Chose to go to a school in the Big 12.

438

Now this kids, people are hitting me back.

439

Hey, we made a mistake.

440

She's getting in the portal.

441

Um,

442

I'll hit you as soon as, as soon

as they play their last game.

443

Um, uh, we'll, we'll, we'll,

we'll, you know, we'll reach out.

444

This is the AAU coach, obviously,

um, giving, giving me a call, like,

445

like she knows she's screwed up.

446

She's a starting point

guard in the Big 12.

447

And one of the bottom teams in the Big

12 numbers is not like that, but she's

448

a phenomenal talent and she will be

the difference between us winning and

449

losing a championship at ODU this year.

450

So that's where I feel like

the collective and everything.

451

It benefits us.

452

Um,

453

am I making sense of what I'm saying?

454

Mike: Yeah, that's a great answer.

455

Roland: Okay.

456

Okay.

457

So, so they're there.

458

Now, this is where it gets scary for me

and I want to break this down to y'all.

459

So I think with the collective

and the NIL, which is two

460

different things, I think, um,

the resources are coming for ODU.

461

Now this is what scares me.

462

The cons y'all said the cons about this,

this port is going to get the 13, 14,

463

15 kid off the Tennessee roster or, or

464

Ole Miss or South Carolina, a kid that's

not playing, but a kid is not playing.

465

You get this kid, this money.

466

This kid doesn't play whatsoever, doesn't

touch the floor and we get the kid to

467

come down to our level and we're expecting

for this kid to come in here and kill it.

468

But realistically, they're not

going to come in and kill it because

469

they didn't play in South Carolina.

470

They don't, they don't, they, they,

they, let me tell you, playing is

471

something like if you're going to get

a top order kid, you want a kid that

472

has actually been in the fight and not

sitting on the bench for a whole year.

473

Cause.

474

I'm telling you not playing

the game for a year.

475

You you're out of touch in

so many different areas.

476

And of course, if we get a kid from

Tennessee, all of our wonderful

477

fans, and you both are going to be

looking at this kid, like, well, shit,

478

this kid's coming from Tennessee.

479

This kid was this, this, this

in high school, y'all are

480

going to expect production.

481

And it doesn't always level out that way.

482

So that's the scary part for me.

483

Cause now I think with the situation

we're in, I think I can go into some

484

other rooms now and recruit some other

type of kids, but I just don't know, is

485

it gonna, is it going to cash out from

the jump or is it going, or is it going

486

to take a minute and go down the road a

month or a year before the kid, before

487

the kid can produce and do something.

488

So that, that's, that's the cons for me.

489

Mike: Hey, uh, we're is a good

example of that right now on

490

the men's basketball team.

491

Um, and Mike Jones talked about it a lot.

492

Caelum is a talented big man, but he has

not played a lot of college basketball

493

because he was a off last minute guy off

the bench to come in and commit fouls.

494

Really, uh, He hasn't played much

basketball in the last two years

495

and he's finally playing it now

and we're seeing like he's got to

496

relearn the process of being the guy.

497

Um, and he's not there yet, but

it's going to take some time

498

and he'll eventually get there.

499

So I think for me now, I have a live

example of exactly what you just said.

500

And so do most men's basketball fans.

501

Ro, I want to thank you so

much for joining us today.

502

We're going to have to have

you come back on part two.

503

Roland: Absolutely.

504

Mike: Because, uh, I need it.

505

One part interview is

the recruiting offerings.

506

We're going to be offering.

507

And inside information we're going

to be offering on the pride of ODU.

508

com.

509

Thanks to our relationship with

you and the rest of the ODU

510

women's basketball team and our

support and, uh, of the program.

511

So I'm excited about this relationship

and growing it and having you back on.

512

So thank you so much for joining us today.

513

Stay tuned, fans.

514

It's going to grow.

515

Roland: Thank you.

516

Anytime y'all need me on here.

517

This is what I love to do.

518

I love to talk and I hope I answered

the questions in the right ways.

519

Um, if not, we can, we can, we can

break it down even more in a part two.

520

But, um, you know, we're in a

new world of athletics though.

521

So, let's jump in, let's

see what can happen.

522

And, and like all three of us on here,

we want ODU to win at the end of the day.

523

And we want to be champions again.

524

And, uh, we're going to do that.

525

We're going to, you can,

you can quote me on that.

526

We're going to do that.

527

So, um, y'all have a phenomenal evening.

528

Mike: Coach Ro, I want you

guys to win so much here.

529

That we can't afford you anymore.

530

Aaron: That's a good problem to

531

Mike: have.

532

That's a good problem to have.

533

Because

534

Aaron: people are going to

be trying to hire you away.

535

You know what I'm saying?

536

Roland: Y'all will be very, very,

very surprised how me and Coach

537

DeLisha are blessed to do this.

538

Because it's not promised.

539

If Georgia calls, we're going to

be afforded the same opportunity

540

to coach with each other.

541

So, so Norfolk, Virginia is home for us.

542

And, and, and everybody's saying,

I don't believe you coach Ro.

543

I know y'all are going to win elite.

544

Like,

545

let me tell y'all a quick

tip and I know we got to go.

546

You've been in the

practice facility, right?

547

Aaron: Oh yeah.

548

Roland: Y'all see those coaches

names, those, those head coaches

549

names that are on that floor.

550

Yep.

551

DeLisha wants her name on that floor

more than you will ever realize.

552

She can't, she can't, she can't do that

at a, at a, at University of Florida.

553

She can't do that at the

university of Georgia.

554

Like, like I'm telling you, like, like.

555

This means something to me, man.

556

It does.

557

I don't say a lot of say a lot to

the, to the fans, but, but I remember

558

Nancy Lieberman playing for the

Dallas, the Dallas Diamonds, um, in

559

a professional league in my hometown.

560

Like I, like I know Ticha Penicheiro,

DeLisha played with Ticha.

561

So I know, I know the

great Ticha Penicheiro.

562

So for me to know people that, that,

that, that did a great thing for this,

563

for this, I, I know what this means.

564

So when I go out and sell it.

565

It's easy.

566

And then, and then you, you, you

level the greatness of ODU and the

567

standard with DeLisha Milton Jones,

the legend, the hall of famer,

568

like that's a powerful combination.

569

The only thing that's left is for

us to bring a championship home and

570

get back in the NCAA tournament.

571

And then we, and then

we can build from there.

572

That's, that's what I want.

573

Let's get back in the NCAA

tournament and let's make a

574

run and let's see what happens.

575

And we can build even more from there.

576

And we're going to do that.

577

You can mark, you can,

you can quote me on that.

578

Mike: Let's do it.

579

I will reword what I said then.

580

How about, I want you to be

in a position where you have

581

to turn down these other jobs.

582

Because you are winning so much.

583

I appreciate you.

584

Roland: I appreciate you.

585

Awesome.

586

Thank you, sir.

587

Aaron: Good luck getting out of the snow.

588

Drive safely to App State and go Monarchs.

589

Thank you.

590

Go Monarchs.