Hosts Mike Guidone and Chris Caputo engage in a deep discourse with distinguished guests from the realm of collegiate basketball, beginning with Chris Jenkins, the iconic figure behind Villanova's 2016 national championship buzzer-beater, and offers a reflective account of the pressure and triumph that defined that moment. Next, Lennie Acuff, head coach of Lipscomb University, discusses the significance of strategic preparation and team cohesion as they advance to the NCAA tournament. Finally, Yale's head coach, James Jones joins the program to share his insights into his team's journey and the evolution of their program amid the competitive landscape of the Ivy League.

The episode intricately weaves personal anecdotes with broader themes of teamwork, resilience, and the relentless pursuit of excellence, making it not only a celebration of past achievements but also a poignant reminder of the ever-evolving narrative of college basketball. Each guest brings forth a unique perspective, enriching the discussion with their experiences and visions for the future, ultimately crafting a multifaceted portrait of the sport.

Takeaways:

• Chris Jenkins vividly recounted the strategic decisions made during the tense moments of the 2016 national championship game against North Carolina, highlighting the importance of defensive execution under pressure.
• Lennie Acuff emphasized the significance of self-scouting and player management during the critical lead-up to the NCAA tournament, reflecting on the challenges of maintaining team sharpness amidst a rigorous schedule.
• James Jones discussed the emotional complexities of leading a successful program, balancing the satisfaction of winning with the pressure of upholding expectations in the NCAA tournament.
• Chris Jenkins shared insights into the camaraderie and shared sacrifices of the Villanova team, which contributed to their championship success and camaraderie among players.
• Lennie Acuff's Lipscomb team demonstrated resilience and adaptability after losing a key player, illustrating the depth of strategy involved in NCAA basketball.
• James Jones articulated the importance of a composed demeanor in coaching, suggesting that a coach's temperament can significantly influence player performance during high-pressure scenarios.

The views expressed in the following program do not necessarily represent those of the staff, management or owners of wgbb.

Live from the WGBB studios in Merritt.

New York, this is Sports Talk New York.

Chris, Mike and Chris here in New York, welcome to the program.

Thanks for joining us.

No, thank you guys so much for having me.

I'm excited and it's an honor.

I appreciate it.

Yeah, we are.

Well, I'm a huge Villanova fan.

Jay Wright's my guy, always helped me out when he was at Hofstra, so, you know, I kind of followed you guys every step of the way.

So reliving things from eight years ago is always fun.

And, you know, Villanova's had some positivity and had some national championships, so it's always nice to, to think back to, to those times.

And we can talk a little bit later about where Villanova's at now.

And I'm going to let Mike run you through it and then you can talk to us a little bit about strategy.

Then we'll play the clip for you and you can explain to us what's going on.

All right, so Chris, we're going to bring you back a little bit.

It's about a minute and 30 left in the game.

You guys are up 70, 64.

Marcus Page hits a three, cuts it to a three point lead, you come down, your teammate Ryan, Archie Dionacano unfortunately turns it over.

Then things start to get a little tight, but we'll fast forward.

It's about 13 and a half seconds left.

Josh Hardy hits two free throws.

You go up 74, 71.

And then the fun begins.

The first question I had for you was, and Chris and I were talking about this off the air, so Carolina's coming down, you're up by three.

Do you remember, was there any talk in the huddle about maybe fouling at that point or were you just going to play it out straight?

I'm a play it out straight kind of guy.

And I think, Chris, are you a foul Guy.

Yes, Chris is a foul.

I'm going to play it out straight.

So I'm curious to see on that level at that moment what the thought process was for you guys.

Yeah, so in that moment right there, we were definitely trying to be in the defense in which we, we were not going to give up any three point shot at all.

So that was the game plan going into that at all.

I wouldn't say that we would necessarily foul, but we would have taken an easy two or we would have taken a foul over giving up the three that we gave up.

Well, I think it's hard for you to determine as giving it up because that had to be one of the all time circus shots that I've ever seen in any circumstance.

But to tie a national championship game, I mean, a double clutch, deep three.

Every Bill Rafter, he's yelling onions.

You know, it just, it was crazy.

I think you guys defended pretty well.

One of your teammates, I think, fell down actually, and you all rotated out and then, boom, he hits that shot.

Yeah.

Daniel Tefu.

We were actually, like I said, we were actually in a defense in which we were trying to deny and take away all three point baskets and basically give up.

Back door cut.

And Daniel thought that he could get a steal and just know a typical, typical J.

Wright Villanova attitude play because bad technique, just like a bad scenario, just everything just didn't go our way in that spot.

But you know, we had some, some veteran leadership and we had some young guys who were, who were ready for the moment.

So, you know, we were, we were all excited.

We knew we still had a chance to win the game.

Nobody was panicking.

You know, I think that's why we were able to come out with the outcome that we did because everybody was just so calm and confident in what we had going on.

Yeah.

So now a timeout is called, but let's talk about the last play before it happens.

You guys get in the huddle.

And this was a design play.

Obviously there's different options to it.

Is this something that had to be drawn up or is this something you guys practice pretty much every day?

Yeah, we definitely pretty much practice it every day in practice, dating back to when we start our first practice just in the game situation, looking at lineups, different lineups, different scenarios, who's going to have the ball.

We pretty much knew Archer was going to have the ball and Daniel was going to be setting the screen and we had some other stuff going on.

So we did draw it up just so everybody could understand, you know, what we were going to be, our spacing and just to refresh everybody, because that we were going into an intense moment right there.

All right, so we're going to play this.

Then you can come back and kind of talk to us about what happened after the streamers all came to the ground.

So go ahead.

Brian's going to play this 30 second clip for us.

Three seconds at midpoint.

Jenkins gives it to Jenkins for the championship.

The national champions.

With Jenkins hitting the winner at the buzz.

There's nothing to check.

Well, they're going to check the clock.

If there's any time and.

Boy.

All right, so when you.

When you hear that, does it still give you the chills every time?

No, it doesn't give me the chills, but it does bring back, you know, a lot of great memories.

Just a lot of hard work that you put in with your teammates.

A lot of time spent a lot of energy, a lot of effort just to come out with the win.

At the end of the day, we all just wanted to win so bad.

But you get the nickname the Big Smooth after that.

Shout out to Gus Johnson.

Gus Johnson gave me that nickname.

That's a heck of a nickname, I'll tell you.

Yeah, no, he's showing love.

He's showing love.

No, that's fantastic.

Listen, I'm five foot eight.

I never get that nickname, that's for sure.

I'll tell you.

I know watching that was unbelievable for me.

And I had some friends that were students at the time, Matt and Alex watching.

You could see them in the background, you hitting that shot, and it just relives a lot.

And, you know, it's got to be something that you look at the lineup and the guys that were on your team, and a lot of them, obviously at some point played for the Knicks or still do.

But you guys had a lot of guys that went places, and you had Archie Diacono as well, as well as Brunson and Booth and Bridges and DiVincenzo.

And this was just a squad of guys that could score.

Yeah, no, we definitely.

You can't forget Eric Pasco.

We had Darryl Reynolds, Daniel Tefu.

Like, we had a.

We had a crew.

We had Dante DiVincenzo who came off the bench, like, who had the red shirt that year because he had an injury.

Like, we had some guys, man, we.

A lot of guys sacrificed to.

A lot of guys sacrificed individual goals just so that our team could be good and so that we can all have a chance to play professionally.

And that's what it's all about.

So, Chris, let's rewind here just for a second.

So you're taking the ball out for this and as you pass into Ryan, no one's guarding you coming up the floor.

Were you a little surprised that they weren't, that they didn't have anybody on you at that time?

And you know, Ryan, he obviously had to handle the ball with some pressure and made a great pass to you and you executed the shot.

But were you surprised, honestly, that they weren't up on you at that moment?

I kind of wasn't surprised.

I just.

I knew that that's what the defense kind of was doing up until that point when I was taking the ball out, they just wasn't putting anybody on the ball.

So coming out of the timeout, you know, because I, I do take the ball out in most situations just because I was trusted in the situation with, in the bounding the ball and in any scenario, coach trusted me with that.

So I was able to get to Ars because he's our point guard and he's going to get the ball.

And I was able to tell him, like, look, I think I might be open because nobody's going to be on me.

And I think he just heard me get close enough to him and scream his name.

And when he saw how wide open I was, I think.

I think he was shocked maybe, which is why he had no.

Like, he, I guess he kind of figured like, oh, my gosh, like, of course I'm going to pitch this back because this is like, I bet you on the team, he's so wide open.

Selection Sunday.

Give us a little update as to what you've been doing the last few years.

I know you were with Villanova for a little while.

You did some announcing.

Give us an update of what you've been up to.

Yeah, nah, I've been doing some broadcasting with Fox Sports 1.

This was my first year and it was definitely fun.

I'm definitely going to take it serious and continue to move forward with it and see where the networks come of it.

I also have my initiative that I'm starting up just to get back on track and give back to the community and let the kids know about nil and educate them just on opportunities.

And just what it boils down to is it's always going to come back down to hard work and commitment.

And Whether you make $50,000 or you make $2,000 or $100, you still have to get up every day and put the same amount of time and effort in if you want to be good or great at something.

The money doesn't matter.

The money will come if you put the work in, and it doesn't matter if you don't know what to do with the money when you get it.

So it's just a lot of things that I want to continue to do and help and give back along with building my professional career, and just see where it goes.

Chris, I gotta ask you this question.

So when you hit the shot, there's the famous video of Coach just kind of walking down the sidelines.

You know, he's got.

He's got no expression.

What was the deal with that?

I mean, come on, when you got in the locker room, you must.

Was he jumping up and down?

Was he finally showing that emotion?

I mean, you know, Chris knows him a lot better than I do, but I know he's a cool guy, but, my goodness, I don't know if I could have ever stayed that composed.

Yeah, no, I mean, that's pretty much who he was, I think, honestly, because, you know, we speak after the game as a team before, you know, any media or anybody comes in.

So we had a little moment to ourselves, but we were all able to talk and stuff.

So, you know, he.

I think in that moment, he was honestly just thinking about if there was any time left.

Like, I still kind of wondered if there was any time left.

And there was definitely a sore spot in his heart for Roy, because Coach Wright's been on the end of, like, you know, unfortunate situations in the tournament, maybe not in the National Championship, but you don't have to lose in the National Championship to experience heartbreak and pain of losing.

You know, that's a very interesting angle that I kind of never thought about that he was.

He felt for Coach Williams, you know, to go through that, that just kind of shows what a great guy that Jay Wright really is.

Yeah.

Nah, absolutely.

Because he understands, you know, it takes a lot to get to that point and to get to that point and lose and to lose in that fashion.

You know, anybody would be hurt, especially if you love and give your all to something, which the Carolina program obviously does each and every year.

Couple more for you.

We're talking with Chris Jenkins from Villanova, the Roommate show, Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart.

Have you listened to that?

Yeah, of course.

I always get a chance to tune into it and support those guys.

They have a great thing going.

They get a lot of good guests on their show, too, of course.

Are they just as much of clowns in college as they are, you know, on these shows?

I mean, it's absolutely hysterical to listen to these guys talk about their favorite candy and rip on each other.

Yeah, no, absolutely.

They were great dudes, man.

Always been great dudes.

I've known Josh since high school.

I actually saw him and his wife.

I actually drove with a friend of mine to see them off at prom.

That's how far back we've known each other since, like, our sophomore year of high school.

So I always, always love to see those guys enjoying doing what they're doing.

And they've been great guys since I've met him.

Especially Jalen in college, too.

Just been super mature and focused and locked in.

And as you can see, his first year in our program, we won the national championship.

And, you know, we just been.

It's just been great to see them grow and see them with their families and everything like that.

And now to see Mikel on their team.

And Dante was there last year, Arch was there before.

It's just so humbling.

And I'd just be so happy to see those guys thriving and doing what they love.

Chris, we just want to finish up real quick.

You know, Villanova's a great institution.

Excellent tradition, you know, with yourself and previous teams.

A little bit of a tough year this year, you know, Unfortunately, a change is made.

So moving forward, you know, your role as a former player, with everything that's kind of taking place at the moment, do you talk to you guys, kind of rally everybody together and try to move forward with the players currently on the team and your alums?

Yeah, no, absolutely.

First and foremost, you know, Cal is definitely a part of my family.

Yeah, absolutely.

We love Cal.

His first year as an assistant coach was my freshman year.

So, you know, we go back a very long.

Yeah, we go back a long way.

So now we definitely love and appreciate Cal, everything he's done for our program.

And he's still definitely a part of our family, our Villanova family, because he helped build the program to what it is today.

And we don't want that to get mistaken or lost in what's going on, because, like you guys said, it is a tough situation.

Yeah, it's a tough.

But we know what we sign up for when we get into certain things, you know, and we make sacrifices and other people do, too, and there's a lot that goes into it, and there's a lot of pressure for everyone to win.

It's not just Cal that has a lot of pressure to win.

So we have to continue to just support the program, and, you know, that's what we're going to continue to do.

And, you know, we're going to keep a great attitude.

You know, that's our motto on the program.

Oh, absolutely.

Just, you know, one thing that I always continue to think and preach, when good things happen, bad things happen.

You know, it's just to stay humble and better days ahead.

Just continue to pull at it and keep going.

Yeah, go Cats.

We got to try to rile things up again.

And, you know, no matter what direction they go, I know it's going to be the right move for Villanova, and hopefully they get to play out in Vegas in a tournament with, you know, Nardi might be the coach, I think, during that time, so that'll be interesting to see him have the reins for a little bit.

No, absolutely.

And we're going to support Nardi, and we love him, too.

And, you know, we want to go out and always put on a great Villanova product.

So when we go out there, the mindset is to win.

So we want to continue to always put that at the forefront, no matter what's going on in the college basketball space.

We want Villanova to be known as a certain way, a certain program, and winning is the standard there, and we want to continue to have that in the highest regard.

So we'll support whichever direction we go in, especially the alumni, you know, because, you know, we help build a certain thing, and it's important to everybody that's involved that, you know, we stay involved as well.

And like you said, it's just tough.

Well, we appreciate you coming on.

Thanks so much, Chris.

No, thank you so much for having me.

I really appreciate it.

Absolutely.

And all the best to Villanova and the family, and look forward to talking to you in the future.

Thanks again.

Yep.

God bless you guys.

Thank you.

Same to you.

That's Chris Jenkins, Villanova University game winner for the national championship.

So we're going from a buzzer beater now.

We're going to take the ball out, bring it up the court.

And we're joined by former coach at University of Albany and College of St.

Rose women's program coach Will Brown, currently Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.

We've had you on the program before, Coach Brown.

Welcome.

And welcome to March Madness.

Hey, I appreciate it, guys.

This is the best time of year.

And, you know, I think whether you're a basketball fan or not, you've got the brackets in front of you, whether it's an office pool or you're actually watching the games.

But this is what it's all about.

If you love the game of college.

Basketball, any early things that you saw from the bracket that you can help us break down a little bit?

Well, you know, 14 teams from the SEC, I think that was interesting.

And I think the bottom half of the sec, those last seven teams, watched them closely because I have a feeling that they would have finished much higher in other leagues.

You know, I think there's some great matchups, though.

First round games, second round games.

Like, I love the draft, Drake, Missouri game.

Because you have two different types of teams that play.

Yeah, yeah.

The styles make matchups, and you've got Missouri that wants to play fast and Drake, who's going to, you know, grind you out in the half court.

And Ben McCollum has found a way to win his entire career.

So I think, you know, that's interesting.

I was anxious to see where St.

John's ended up.

You know, I think they've got, you know, I think I.

They've got a tough draw because they've got Texas Tech looming In the sweet 16, who I think is really good.

But, you know, I'm boring.

You know, I look at these matchups and I love the top four or five teams in the sec.

I just think they're really that good.

And I think the only team that can burst the SEC bubble, in my opinion, is Duke with a healthy Cooper flag.

And I think for them to win it all, they also need Malik Brown back, the Syracuse transfer.

I'm not sure, you know, his status, but I think this might be the best tournament in a long time as far as early round matchups.

Yeah, it's going to be interesting to see some of the matchups.

I mean, sometimes you sit there, coach, and you like a team and then you see who they're matched up against and you're like, well, I like them if they were playing somebody else.

But like a BYU VCU matchup, like, you look at something like that and you're like, oh, BYU scores a lot of points, but then you're like, ah, they're up against vcu, who's playing really well right now.

And it kind of changes your atmosphere of where that game goes.

Right?

Well, it all goes back to styles.

You know, it's not necessarily, hey, this team has more talent or this team was in a better league.

It's all about, you know, can a certain style frustrate a team?

Like, is somebody going to come out and sit in the zone for 40 minutes against St.

John's and I'm looking at, you know, the teams that they potentially could play, and there's no zone teams, you know, which I think is good, you know, for St.

John's because, you know, I think that's their.

That's their biggest challenge.

I'm not sure they can go through an entire NCAA tournament where they consistently make shots from the perimeter, but you look at the other side of it, you know, that defense creates so much offense for them, you know, so, yeah, you know, I'm looking forward, you know, to watching these games and following, you know, there's.

There's some injuries that are going to be a factor in this tournament.

You know, Iowa State just announced that one of their best players averages 14 points a game is out.

One of Memphis.

One of Memphis.

Best players, Tyrese Hunter.

You know, to be determined, you know, Cooper flag.

And I think a lot of these teams want to keep quiet because they didn't want to hurt their seat.

And I think.

I think what John Calipari did helped Arkansas two or three days ago.

He came out and said, boogie Fland is playing in the NCAA tournament.

Correct?

Yeah, because I think a team that got hurt by that was.

Got left out of the tournament.

West Virginia, the guy's son was hurt.

And because yes, like, as soon as they said he was hurt, they wound up taking him from like a 10 or 11 seed to out of the tournament and putting North Carolina in, which I think is kind of crime, because North Carolina had 11 tries to beat somebody in the top and did not.

You know, I think some of those teams get left out and, you know, they could have had a shot.

Well, West Virginia played a lot of games without DeVries.

DeVries is special, really good player, but you have to feel for those kids.

Six Quad one wins.

And then you look at North Carolina and listen, I'm in a household with die hard North Carolina fans, my wife and two boys, all three of them thought Carolina had no shot.

I mean, it isn't.

You know, they say it's, you know, is it who you play or who you beat?

You know, because they played a lot of good teams, but they didn't beat any of them.

You know, that's the thing.

That's a head scratcher for me.

You can put together a great schedule, but if you don't win any of those games, you know, does it really matter?

Should you be rewarded for that?

I think that's, you know, the concern I have.

And even whether you like Indiana or not, look at some of the.

Look at the Quad One wins Indiana had, you know, again.

And I just look at those resumes, and then I look at North Carolina, you know, and Jay Williams said it best.

You know, one of the shows, he's like, you know, how does North Carolina get in the tournament?

They don't deserve to be in the tournament.

And a lot of people are saying, well, he's a Duke guy.

No, you know, take that out of the equation.

He's right, you know, in my.

In my opinion.

And, you know, they actually have a first round matchup where I'd be surprised.

If they didn't win.

Yeah, Coach, they.

They played 11 games against teams in the tournament.

They were one in 10, and the one win came in December.

So, I mean, whether you're from Duke or not, as you said, I mean, it's really hard to make a case for them to be in this tournament.

And then they get a great draw.

And I don't understand a lot of this.

I mean, the committee has a very difficult job.

I mean, it's easy for me to sit here and say, you should have done that.

You should have, you know, you made this mistake.

But the other thing that was, I scratched my head and I'm sitting here saying, how is Duke not the number one overall seed in the entire tournament?

Auburn lost three of their last four games.

Right.

I know, I know, I know.

They were against terrific teams, but, you know, Duke just won the ACC tournament without the number one pick in the NBA draft.

Yeah.

You know, now Auburn clearly is a number one seed and it's the best league in the country this year, but they did lose three of their last four.

And right now, if you ask me, the eye test, I'm looking at Duke and Florida as the two best teams in college basketball right now.

Yep.

And Duke in the east is going to play in Raleigh, and then eventually they can get themselves to Newark, but might have to run into eventually an Alabama squad or at some point, maybe even Arizona.

This Akron team, to me, looks pretty good.

Do you have any other sleepers out there besides maybe like, the Drakes that, you know, people might not know about that could pull off an upset?

Well, you mentioned them earlier, and I think they're really good.

They're older, with the exception of their point guard, who is supposed to be a lottery pick.

And it's based on potential.

Is BYU I think BYU is good.

They're well coached.

It's a pro system.

They can really put points on the board.

I like them.

I think they're good.

I don't think the west coast conference gets enough love.

I would not want, if I'm Houston, I do not want to see Gonzaga, you know, in that second round.

I think Gonzaga is playing really well.

They've got a good point guard and they've got size up front.

I love St.

Mary's and then a team that you have to watch out for.

I know they're seeded pretty good, but I don't think anybody's talking about them.

Where they can potentially get to a sweet 16 is Oregon.

And the one thing is Dana Altman is known for playing multiple defenses and when you don't have a lot of prep time and he's playing, man, matchup zone, throwing some 1 3, 1 at you, you know, all in a half of basketball that can really eliminate any type of flow, you know.

And then early on, like I think Colorado State beats Memphis, especially when Memphis, if they don't have Tyrese Hunter.

And then I like Arkansas as a 10 beating Kansas.

How about a Calipari patino match in round of 32?

I think that would be, that would be.

But too many people are talking about Drake.

I think that the style, you know, whoever can control the tempo will probably win that game.

But because everyone's picking Drake, I just have this feeling that Missouri's going to win the game.

Yeah.

Can we just go one second on the two time defending champs now having an eight seed, UConn if they, if they win that game and you know, could they get hot and beat Florida?

I think Florida right now is probably the hottest team in the nation.

But, you know, could, could UConn come back and make another run?

Honestly, you know, I don't think so.

I don't think they defend well enough.

I do think they will beat Oklahoma because I do think they have that NCAA tournament.

They have enough guys that have that NCAA tournament experience.

Danny Hurley does like to run a lot of offensive sets.

I think that can bother Oklahoma.

I just think that this Connecticut team doesn't take on his personality.

Like we're in a phone booth and I'm walking out, you know, I just, you know, they don't have, you know, they're just not as good as they've been from a talent standpoint.

I mean, they lost four starters from last year's team, you know, and that's hard to replace.

So I think they win a Game.

I think that's about it though, in my opinion.

Yeah, Coach Hurley was on 60 Minutes last week and he was talking about.

I'm not really sure even when he was interviewed if it was current, but he was saying that there was already five guys on his team that knew where they were going next year or how much they were going to get.

It just seemed like.

I wouldn't say a fractured team, but I don't think he deep down even believes that they can do much more than they've done.

No.

You know, I've listened to a couple of his interviews and I think he's so driven and so competitive and, you know, I get the feeling that he thinks it's like an utter failure if they don't win a national title again.

I think he's raised the bar to a level that nobody can get to, in my honest opinion.

I mean, I think what he's.

What he's done the last two years.

When was the last time that's happened in college basketball?

Was it, was it Billy Donovan in Florida?

Yeah.

And basically with.

I wouldn't say the same team, but you know, very different circumstances.

Well, we played those teams when I was at Albany, when they had Al Horford and Joachim Noah in those guys and you know, we had them on the ropes.

And then my best player, who was the player of the year in the American East Conference, I think he had 19 in the first half, had a breakaway layup.

We were up with about four seconds left in the first half, hard foul and he wasn't able to play in the second half.

And then Florida became Florida and you know, and did what they were supposed to do.

But I just think you go back to Billy Donovan and then before that, I'm going to take a guess, maybe John Wooden era.

Yeah.

Where there was a back to back champion or maybe Bobby Knight did it.

But I don't think so.

No, I don't.

They were three.

Three different eras for sure with that.

Yeah.

So yeah, I don't think there's an.

I don't think.

Listen, I've only met Dan, Danny a few times.

I got a tremendous amount of respect for how good of a basketball coach he is and what he's done that program.

You know, I do think though, I mean at some point there's got to be an appreciation factor for how hard it was.

He knows this.

Who'd had to mind.

But how hard it was to do what he did and at some point, you know, for the rest of his coaching career is not going to win a national title every year, you know, so.

Yeah, no, but I do think they're going to win a game.

But I also do think that, you know, they'll be more than competitive in that round of, you know, 32 game because I think it's going to be pride, especially for those kids.

They're not going to go out without a fight.

Yep.

Well, Coach, before we let you go, do you have any Final four predictions this year or you didn't get there yet?

No, no, I love the brackets.

I looked them over quickly and pretty boring right here.

I've got three SEC teams in the final four.

I've got Auburn, Florida, Dallas, Tennessee.

I got Auburn, I got Florida beating Auburn in one semi and I got Duke beating Tennessee and I got Duke cutting down the nets as long as Cooper Flagg has no setbacks and he's the Cooper Flag we've seen all year long.

Because I don't know if you've watched Duke of late.

Malawatch is going to be a lottery pick.

The 7:2 kid from the Sudanese big, but they're backup big who started playing about mid year.

He missed his entire senior year.

It's.

I'm going to pronounce his name wrong.

Nugbana Patrick Ngbana, the six'11 seven footer that's coming off the bench, he's given them like six or eight points and six and eight, six or seven rebounds now and playing meaningful minutes.

So now they've got basically two seven footers that they're playing up front.

So they're even deeper right now.

So I do think if there's any step back with flags, then I'm going to pick Florida to win it.

Well, I know it's boring.

No, it's fine.

It's, it's, it's you picking the tournament and we'll see what happens.

Obviously we watch out for Houston though.

Watch out for Houston.

I'm.

I still can't see them six games scoring it enough.

But this is the best offensive team Kelvin Sampson's had.

So, you know, I know they're a number one, but if there's anyone that maybe bumps Tennessee out of the Final four, I think it would be Houston in the Elite Eight and then Houston advancing instead of Tennessee.

But yeah, I don't see too many upsets, you know, at the highest level.

Well, we appreciate you coming on.

Enjoy the tournament.

We have another guest coming on after this, but it's been a lot of fun kind of reliving things and I'll always think of Peter Hooley When I think of Ualbany.

Well, that's my guy.

I appreciate you guys having me on.

Thanks, coach.

Enjoy the tournament.

Take care.

You as well.

Thanks so much.

Take a one minute break.

We'll come back with Lenny Ako from Lipscomb Home.

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And now back to the show.

Welcome back to the home stretch here on our NCAA March Madness coverage.

And at the moment we are very happy to be joined by head coach Lenny AKA of the Lipscomb Bisons.

And they have a matchup on Friday with the Iowa State Cyclones in Milwaukee.

Coach Acuff, welcome to the program here in New York and Mike and Chris with you.

Hey, thank you guys for having me.

I appreciate you asking me to be on.

All right.

Congratulations.

My pleasure.

Welcome to the tourney.

Is it sunk in yet over the last few hours?

Yeah, it's kind of been surreal.

You know, we played, we finished last Sunday, we beat North Alabama in the finals of our tournament here in Nashville.

And so it's really been good for us just to have a chance to recalibrate.

But obviously today when the bracket comes out, everything kind of gets fast forward and you know, we knew when you're going to be a.

It looks like we were the top 14 seed.

I thought we might have been a 13.

That's what we're hoping for.

But anyhow, we ended up being a 14.

You know you're going to get a high level opponent.

I mean, yes, there's no secrets to that.

It's like I told all the folks that are selecting the show tonight, there's nobody going to pop on that screen.

You're going to be excited about playing.

But we're, but we're thankful to still be, you know, able to play and have a chance to play in the tournament.

For sure you got a good squad coach.

So we are excited to have you on and talk a little bit about them.

Sure.

Yeah.

I like our team a lot.

I appreciate you saying that.

We do have a nice team.

You know, we'll see where it goes on Friday for sure.

So as you mentioned, you won your conference title last Sunday.

You had a week off until now and then almost another week until you play.

So what do you do in this week in between where you have your one Sunday night and you're waiting for your next opponent?

What do you do with your team to keep them sharp?

Is it a matter of just kind of managing injuries at this time?

Are you doing anything live up and down the court?

Can you take us through what your practice week looked like?

Yeah, yeah, that's a good question.

I think that, I think for us we just took this week to self scout.

Our whole thing was let's just figure out a way to, you know, to get better.

And obviously you're working on a faceless opponent and we had no idea who we're going to play.

I mean there were eight or 10 teams that kept, you know, popping up, but that's a waste of energy.

So we.

And the other thing is we needed to rest.

I mean we had really played a lot of high pressure games the last three weeks, games we basically had to win.

And so that was good for us.

But starting tomorrow, I mean even tonight, we're starting to get ready for Iowa State and you know, we'll head up there on Wednesday and play Friday at lunch.

Yeah.

So coach, obviously the news came out, their coach wasn't against letting you know, but a 13 point scorer, Keyshawn Gilbert will be out for the rest of the season.

Does that kind of put a wrinkle in things or you guys knew kind of ahead of time some of this stuff and you just have to roll with the punches?

Yeah, no, not really, you know, because we honestly, I guess they kind of released that simultaneously as they announced they're in the tournament.

And we like the last bracket we saw, we looked like we thought we may play Kentucky, so.

And we already played Kentucky this year.

I think that's probably the reason we're not playing in the first round.

Right.

So we haven't gone too deep dive.

I have watched them a good bit ever since TJ's been there.

I mean they been really good.

And so, you know, as a coach you study other programs that have consistent success and play at a high level.

So.

But I knew they'd had a couple kids out.

I think the other kids gonna be back though, so I mean there's still a handful.

They're big, they're physical and I know they travel well.

You know that regional is kind of going to be interesting.

You got Kentucky, you could have North Carolina.

I mean that Site, you have Iowa State, Illinois could have Texas, you got Kentucky, could have North Carolina.

I mean, that would be a pretty hard ticket because I know Iowa State travels well.

Yeah.

So before we talk about some of your players, I want to talk a little bit about style.

I kind of looked it up.

It seems like you guys shoot about 47% of your shots or three.

You make about 36% of the shots.

But then on the other end, you guys are third in the nation in fouls per game.

Committed only 12 fouls a game.

So you guys are playing good D.

It seems like you, you run people off the three point line.

They're not shooting that many threes as you guys are.

So, so is that kind of the way you guys work is no fouls and run people off the three point line?

Yeah.

You know, guys, there's, there's, you know, basketball is, you know, there's always new things, there's new fads and I think you have to study that stuff.

But there's also things that stand the test of time.

You know, you can't turn it over.

We're 15th in the country in fewest turnovers.

Yep.

You got to keep them off the foul line.

We fouled the third fewest times in the country.

And you have to make free throws.

We're the best, fifth best free throw shooting team in the country.

And so I think we're top 20 in the country.

And assist the turnover.

We start four fifth year senior guards that are good players and are high IQ guys.

And so our big thing is we want to win the lines, we want to win the free throw line and we want to win the three point line.

And we've been fortunate to do that.

So that's kind of our formula.

And I just know this.

Most games have lost, not one.

You just can't turn them all over.

You cannot do that.

And so that's a big deal for us and keeping people off the free throw line.

So coach, you mentioned about self scouting this week and trying to get some things together.

Since February 1st, you're 11 and 1.

Is that a product of the entire season?

Was there something that kind of gelled here in the last six weeks or had you just kind of been playing well and everything came together at that point?

Yeah, actually what happened is we thought we had a nice team.

We were picked to win our league and we got to a really good start in the league.

Well, we lost our center.

We have a 6, 9 kid, this Dylan Faulkner, who is the most talented kid here.

I mean, he Allowed us to play above our weight class, great rim protection, great athlete.

When he breaks his foot in the third conference game around January 10th or 12th, I can't remember the date.

And we kind of went a little bit in the pit right there for about three weeks trying to figure it out.

But once we kind of recalibrated and, okay, this is how we need to play a little bit different without him.

We have played well and given ourselves a chance.

We miss him greatly.

But a young man named Charlie Williams, who's a 610 transfer from William and Mary, stepped up.

And he gives us a big kid.

That can pick and pop.

And then we, you know, we have a player of the year in the league and Jacob Nokovich, who's a good player.

I mean, he's one of the most.

Yeah, he's one of the most efficient players in college basketball.

And he's been that way since he's been here.

And just a side note, we're really happy for him.

He's.

He's actually from Sheboygan, Wisconsin, which is 45 minutes from Milwaukee, so.

Good.

So I was sitting next to him and he was jacked up and he's.

Like, coach, I need like 150.

Of course, yeah, you better talk to.

Somebody else other than me.

That's above my pay grade.

But he's a great kid and a good player.

Coach, just a quick follow up.

You mentioned that early in the season you played Kentucky and I believe Arkansas as well.

That was all the way back in November.

Anything from those.

Is there anything from those games back in November that you can take right now, or is that just coach speak, that those games were so far, you know, from now that you just kind of experiences from then?

No, no, you can take a ton from that.

And, you know, at our level, guys, we get bought five times.

That means we go play five games every year on the road that we're paid to lose.

And so those, like, we all, we, we've won a game every year the last five years.

We opened up at Duquesne.

This year we won there.

We won at Florida State last year.

We won it Louisville the year before, we won it.

Dayton the year before that.

And I think those are the things you draw upon.

But I actually told the guys we played well in Arkansas.

We were down four or four minutes to go and had the ball.

But then we go to Kentucky and they ripped us.

But I told the guys after the game, I said, look, I said, this is what a first round NCAA tournament game is going to look like.

Okay, so there's your barometer right there.

There it is.

And we really did not play bad at Kentucky.

We shot poorly and we really turned it over six times.

And I mean, we got shots.

How you play and how you shoot are totally different.

There's just some nights you just don't make shots and it's a hard game when that ball didn't go in and.

But we've really shot it well lately.

And now, you know, getting shots against these guys on Friday is going to.

Be a different deal.

I mean, they're really good defensively, but we will draw upon that for sure.

And you know, we've played in some big environments and I don't.

If it doesn't go well for us, it's going to be because they're a lot better than us.

It's not.

I really don't think will be too big for our guys.

But you spent 22 years at Alabama Huntsville.

You get to those conference tournaments, you don't win, you still have a pretty good chance of making the D2 NCAA tournament.

How has this been different?

And you know, does.

Is the excitement still there now that you were able to do this at the D1 level?

It is.

And it's just different, guys, because you're right, we were really fortunate.

We had great teams there.

Usually before we got to the tournament, we were in, it's a conference tournament, we were in the NCAA tournament.

But this deal at this level, low to mid level division one of the conference tournament is brutal.

Everything, it is cruel.

We've lost the last two years at the buzzer in the conference tournament.

We've won 20 games the last three years.

And in the last two years we've lost just gut wrenching games.

And you know, we lost at Kennesaw.

They made three buzzer threes in the last two minutes.

And then we lost to North Alabama last year in our own building from about a 30 footer.

And so, yeah, you know, we had won the league and so you're playing at home.

But boy, I tell you what, I mean, even in our conference semifinals, we're down 10 with seven minutes to go against Queens.

I mean, it's, it's a different animal, guys, really.

This is my 35th year as a head coach and it's the most difficult thing as far as pressure I've dealt with.

Well, you're doing a great job as a coach, but also, I want to Talk.

You got four seniors that are averaging 31 plus minutes and 11 and a half to 20 points a game.

Can you talk a little bit about how you rely on them and are you a little bit worried about depth in the NCAA Tournament?

We are, we are and we do.

Particularly when we lost Dylan, the young man I talked about earlier, our depth was shrunk significantly.

And so the one thing I know in the tournament, talking to guys that have played it now, you know, the timeouts are longer, which that'll help us.

Okay.

You know, the timeouts go up a little bit, but we have to stay out of foul trouble.

But the thing we have with those guys, our three leading scorers, Jacob Anakovich, Will Pruitt and Joe Anderson, those guys, they could have went and played other places.

They had a lot of opportunities to go make money and they stuck with us.

And they're really experienced.

And my thing is if I'm going down, I'm going down with those dudes.

I mean, that's just the way I'm rolling.

And I think loyalty is a two way street.

And they showed tremendous loyalty to Lipscomb by coming back and loyalty to me.

They've been a part of a lot of wins and they've meant a lot to this school.

And you know, I just, you know, we talk about it all the time.

We can rest the rest of the summer.

You know, we need to cut it loose and if we're going down, let's play our dudes.

Well, Coach, I'll tell you, I was a volunteer assistant for two years on the men's side, Division 2.

I lived on Arby's and Twinkies for two years.

I know what that lifestyle was like.

So happy that you've gotten to where you're at.

And I'm sure that, you know, that last couple of minutes there, the game was tight, but that last minute against North Alabama had to be just a tremendous feeling to get to that level that you're at right now.

And we can't thank you enough for joining and we're definitely rooting for you come Friday 1:30 there against Iowa State.

Thank you guys.

Really a pleasure to be here and I appreciate you guys.

Thanks.

What you do for college basketball.

Have a good night.

It's our pleasure.

Very humble coach and really just a tremendous job cap to have him on tonight from Lipscomb.

So if you're looking to find a team, they're there.

So thanks again, coach.

So pretty.

Pretty.

You know what, this is something just before our last guest comes on that I'm really, I don't Want to say impressed by.

But these.

We've been around basketball coaches a long, long time, you know, on all different levels.

These guys are just so excited and so humble and they're going into March Madness.

I mean, I don't know if you had.

And this is no knock on any of these guys because, you know, I met John Calipari a bunch of times.

He was very nice to me.

But I'm sure it's got to be different than what Lenny Acuff is feeling right now.

Oh, my gosh, Mike.

This is just.

Just to think about our time.

6:00, the brackets come out.

Figured by 6:40, everything's done.

Do you know what these guys have done the last three hours?

And this guy from Nashville is on with us, gives us 15 minutes.

Not running off the phone.

He's waiting on hold.

I mean, unbelievable.

He's going to fly through.

And our last guest here, which is going to be coming on right now, I'm going to let you bring him on because, you know, we've had him on a couple times, but an interesting weekend for him and Cap.

It was a great.

Well, last year at this time we invited on James Jones from Yale.

They pulled off the upset and beat Auburn and almost pulled off a second one.

So we're happy to welcome back.

He was on the show a couple weeks ago with his brother, James Jones from Yale.

James, congratulations once again.

Thank you very much.

Appreciate it, gentlemen.

All right, so Long island again in.

The house, going to the tournament.

This is good.

Now listen, Coach, I've been watching the games and yesterday I was on pins and needles watching the semifinals.

And you got a kid on your team, Simmons, man, he is nifty.

He finds a way to get to the hoop.

He does everything.

And then I look it up and his father was a track runner at Princeton.

I'm like, how did you steal him away from Princeton?

Well, listen, he was an interesting recruit.

He had gone to Northwestern out of high school, and he went to Milton High School prep school.

And his high school coach and I are good friends, Lamar Reddick.

And you know, we thought we were going to get him out of high school, but, you know, he went to play in the Big Ten and kind of lost his love for basketball somewhat there.

And he transferred and he transferred late.

And this got in the portal before, excuse me, after the admissions closed.

So he had to sit out a year.

So he ended up going to taking classes at a community college and working out on his own before he came in last year.

So we were fortunate to get him.

And he's certainly a difference maker for us.

Yeah, he's a good player.

So Yale today wins, beating Cornell.

It's the first time that they've won in back to back years.

Three times in the last four years.

What was the feeling like today?

Was it satisfaction?

Was it relief?

What did you guys feel today with the win?

Well, I can't speak for everybody, I can only speak for myself.

And there's probably a combination of satisfaction and relief to get it done.

You know, we dominated the regular season going 13, 1 average winning games by average of 12 and a half points.

So, you know, knowing that we had to go in and win two games to reach the ultimate goal of getting to the NCAA tournament, we weighing on you a little bit.

And we were fortunate enough to play well enough in both games to get it done.

So, coach, you're going to get on an airplane, head out to Denver, Colorado, and you have Texas A and M.

Talk a little bit about the preparation for that.

I believe you're playing Thursday.

It's kind of a short turnaround and maybe the challenges that playing in that high altitude out in Denver is going to bring.

Well, you know, my trainer, she talking about getting some oxygen for the guys and you know, prepping them for the travel and all this kind of stuff.

And you know, we played Colorado a few years ago and I've gone to Denver a number of times.

I work with USA Basketball and we're in Colorado every time to pick the 18 on the national team and I don't notice any difference.

I've run out there and I worked out out there and I don't notice any difference.

But people say it's a real thing.

I just haven't experienced it personally.

But the prep is real, that we only get, you know, we just had two games, so we're not going to do a lot tomorrow.

Then we're going to jump on a flight on Tuesday and try to get a practice in somewhere on Tuesday.

And then, you know, we have a walk through kind of practice on Wednesday, we play on Thursday.

So it's just a short week of practice.

As you said, there's not a lot you can do in terms of, you know, preparation, but we'll certainly digest the scout and we'll do as best we can to ready our guys at this time of the year.

You know, there's not a lot you need to do.

You know, we've had 90 some odd practices so far this year, hundred some odd, some odd practices this year.

So our guys will be Ready and we'll get them understanding a little bit more about Texas ammo over the next couple days and we'll go out there and do the best we can.

Yeah.

And I think the experience that you have, most of these guys came back and you added a couple of pieces.

I like this Kit Selliskin, the freshman.

You trust them.

You got some other guys that have definitely stepped up.

Towson's taken on a bigger role this year.

Backs people in.

I think he's a great passer.

Forget about being a scorer and when it comes down to it, yeah, you have a great shooter who today had a great second half.

I thought he had three halves that were a little bit off, but he put up like 21 in the second half today.

And if he could shoot the ball like that, you guys are going to be great.

Well, he's certainly capable of doing that and we expect a lot out of him.

The good thing is we had a five point lead and I think he had two points at halftime.

So we're more than just a one guy and that's a real good thing about our team.

We're well balanced.

Nick Townsend is sort of an unsung hero.

You know, John was the MVP of the tournament, Bez was on the all tournament team.

And Nick Townsend, I don't know what he.

But he averaged in a two game, probably close to 20 points and you know, six or seven rebounds and four or five assists.

So he's absolutely tremendous and does all the dirty work for us.

A great, great player as well as those other guys.

Yep.

And if you're looking at Yale, Bez Mbang, three time defensive player of the year, does it all so aggressive and you know, even today I saw your kids, you had a tough situation with Simmons picking up a technical foul and I just look up and you got guys that maybe even they're just seniors, they're at mid court taking, you know, talking to him, telling him what he needs to do.

You guys just seem well rounded.

But I think, I think a lot of that coach probably comes from you.

Your demeanor doesn't change.

Up 15, down three, you sit, you kneel and boom, there you are, ready to go.

So do you think maybe some of your relaxation rubs off on your players as well?

Well, that's sort of the idea, right?

You want your team to take your personality and you know, our guys were yesterday when we played Princeton, came down to some great possessions, they made some big plays and we had to come down and match them to have an opportunity to win that game.

So you want your demeanor to, you know, your kids to resemble your demeanor.

You know, my first few years when I was coaching, I was crazed.

I was throwing my jacket half the time and all that did was make me look silly, didn't make us any better, and gave my guys carte blanche and do whatever they wanted out on the floor.

So I try to be cool and calm.

So, you know, for me, it's hard to think about that foul and decisions I got to make through the course of a game.

If I'm up going crazy, yelling at people and going screaming, it's just not who I am as a person anyway, so.

Casey is probably the most mild man, a kid on the team.

He never says anything.

So I was so surprised when he picked up a technical today.

Coach, we just had Lenny Acuff from Lipscomban and he was talking about in November he played Kentucky and Arkansas.

And I asked him if there was anything that he, at this point in the year can take from those games, even though they were in November, and he said that there were, you know, in terms of atmosphere and just different things.

You played Purdue in Minnesota back in November.

How do you feel about.

Is there anything.

Do you agree with that?

Is there stuff that you can take from those two games, that atmosphere that translates to this kind of, you know, timing now playing in this NCAA tournament?

Well, this is what I take from it.

Well, I thought we got robbed at the Minnesota game.

It was quite honestly one of the worst officiated games that I've ever coached in terms of my team.

Okay.

So I thought we were robbed and I thought we should have won that game.

That being said, we also played Purdue and I think we played them to a seven point game.

So what I take from it is that if we get a team like Purdue who, you know, they're.

I don't know what they're four or five seed or whatever they are.

If we get a team like that in the NCAA tournament, I felt at the time that if we get them on a neutral court, we'll have a chance to win if we play well.

So that's the way I feel about going to Texas A and M.

I have a great deal of confidence in my guys and our team and again, we're going to try to get a.

Scout in them in a couple of.

Days here and get outside ready to play.

Sounds really good.

One last thing.

I always feel that there is some type of conspiracy with the NCAA.

I see St.

John's possibly having a second round matchup against Kansas one of their players plays for Kansas.

You guys have a possible second round matchup against Michigan.

Do you feel at all that that stuff is kind of planned, knowing that Danny Wolfe played for you guys last year?

Well, I was finding it hard to believe that they would care about something about Yale in the NCAA tournament, But you never know.

There's conspiracy theories about it all about how all this works out, but I don't think that Yale comes into the equation.

I think they got bigger fish to fly than our.

I don't think that many people believe or have any idea how good we are or how good we've been.

So, again, I'm just looking forward to playing the game.

I'm happy for my players in our program and Yale Nation for having this opportunity to experience this joyous opportunity to play an NCAA tournament because it's just a wonderful thing.

My phone is blown up.

I got a thousand messages to try to return in emails because everybody, you know wants to touch you somehow and let them know that they let them know that you let you know that they care about what you're doing.

So it's really special and we're proud and happy to be part of it.

Well, we thank that you came back on the show last year.

We had some luck with you here, so we're hoping to bring it back.

Coach, 26 years at Yale.

To me, one of the best coaches in America.

I think you don't get as much credit as you deserve, and I wish you guys the best of luck.

Hope you guys can get some W's out in Denver.

I appreciate you guys.

Take care.

And Strong Island.

Strong Island.

There you go.

Our pleasure.

That's James Jones from Yale University, a.

Real friend of the program.

Thanks to James Forrest, Scott Cross, Charlie Ward, Chris Jenkins, Will Brown, Len Acuff and James Jones.

As we just mentioned, fantastic job, Cap, getting all these guests tonight.

Tremendous.

Brian Graves doing his magic on the other side of the glass.

I don't know if we can ever top it, but that was two fantastic.

Two hours and I had a blast.

And hopefully the NCAA tournament lives up to some of this.

Hope so.

Everybody have a good couple weeks and we'll talk to you soon.

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