The Monarchists Basketball Show is back!

Coach Mike Jones joins Mike and Aaron to break down the Old Dominion University Men’s Basketball program as the season tips off. Coach Jones shares insights from the Costa Rica trip, talks about the team’s depth and personality, reveals what he learned from the exhibition vs. Hampton, and previews the upcoming matchup with Miami (OH).

He dives into the development of Scottie Hubbard and Zacch Wiggins, the team’s scoring potential, defensive growth, and what makes ODU’s depth their “superpower.” Plus, he discusses leadership in the locker room, the fan experience, the challenging but intentional road schedule, and why this season feels special for Monarch Nation.

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📖 Chapters

00:00 – Intro & Welcome Back to The Monarchists Basketball Show

01:00 – Coach Jones on Goals for Camp and Building Team Chemistry

02:00 – What the Costa Rica Trip Taught the Team

03:00 – The Value of Personality and Team Bonding

04:00 – Scottie Hubbard’s Transformation and Hard Work

05:00 – Freshman Standout Zacch Wiggins Impresses Early

06:00 – Depth is ODU’s “Superpower”

07:00 – Building Trust Through Practice and Game Situations

10:00 – Takeaways from the Exhibition vs. Hampton

12:00 – Learning Moments, Metrics, and Why the Exhibition Was Valuable

15:00 – Offensive Firepower and Style of Play This Season

17:00 – Defensive Identity and Game Plan Versatility

18:00 – Scouting Miami (OH) and the MAC Challenge

20:00 – A Tough Road Environment and What to Expect from Miami

22:00 – Rotations, Injuries, and Building Chemistry

24:00 – The Excitement Around ODU’s Depth and Talent

25:00 – Playing Small Ball and Creating Mismatches

27:00 – Shooting, Rebounding, and Offensive Confidence

28:00 – Players to Watch: KC Shaw, LJ Thomas, Drew McKenna, and More

30:00 – The Road Schedule and Preparing for the Sun Belt

32:00 – Fan Accessibility and Intentional Scheduling

33:00 – How NIL and Revenue Sharing Impact Scheduling

34:00 – Building Momentum from Last Season

35:00 – Leadership in the Locker Room

37:00 – Team Personalities, Energy, and Culture

38:00 – Meet the Monarchs Night and Fan Connection

40:00 – Making ODU Basketball Events More Accessible

42:00 – Will There Be a Basketball Breakfast This Year?

43:00 – Looking Ahead: Selection Sunday Dreams

44:00 – New Dining Hall, Future Plans, and Coach’s Vision

45:00 – Closing Thoughts: Excitement for the Season & Go Monarchs!

The following presentation is brought to you by the pride of

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ODU, the official NIL collective

of Old Dominion Athletics.

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Be a monarchist.

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Join The Pride.

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Monarch Nation, we are back with

the Monarchists Basketball Show.

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As always, I'm joined by my

co-host Aaron, and we are blessed

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to be with Coach Mike Jones.

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How you doing today, coach?

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Coach Mike Jones: Doing great.

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Doing great.

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Great to see you guys.

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Excited for a lot of these this year.

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Aaron: So are we.

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Mike: So last we talked was, uh,

before really you got going with camp.

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So we talked about the roster

and the schedule and all that.

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Let's talk about camp and, uh,

what were your biggest goals

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for camp and where we're at now.

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Coach Mike Jones: Um, so just

continuing to build you know, we,

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the Costa Rica trip gave us some

insight and, you know, a head start.

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Or jumpstart into how we're gonna play,

um, the speed we're gonna play with some

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of the defensive things we're gonna do.

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So that was really good for us.

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And when we got back, you know, we gave

the guys a few days to be able to kind

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of get their bearings and, be normal,

you know, 18 to 23-year-old kids.

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And then we got back into it, uh,

about a week after school started.

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So we've been really just grinding

on, little details really.

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Continuing to kind of get

our continuity together.

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Um, it's been really good, big difference

from last year because we have plenty

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of guys that know exactly what we're

doing, how we're doing it, when to do

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this, when not to do that, and so all

the new guys could follow their lead.

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Um, that was such a just a breath

of fresh air for me this year.

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And, uh, just, again, just getting

on the same page with the guys.

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It's been really good.

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Aaron: Hitting the road always gives

a great opportunity to get to know

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people and learn things about folks.

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'cause you're just in a

different environment.

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You're you get rid of a lot of

the noise that you have at home.

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Mm-hmm.

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Is there, are there one or two things

that you learned about the team or

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about any of the players in particular

while you guys were in Costa Rica

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that you just didn't know before?

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Coach Mike Jones: It's just

we got a lot of personality.

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That's, I think everybody can see

that if you spend any time, just,

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not even with us necessarily,

but just in a, the same space.

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Um, if you come to a practice, you'll

see just the guys just hopping around.

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And to be honest with you, I think

one of the very underrated advantages

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of the Costa Rica trip and the time

we've been able to spend together is.

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Someone's quirkiness

isn't annoying anymore.

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Like it's just you.

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That's who he is and

that's what we're gonna do.

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My quirkiness doesn't annoy them anymore.

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It's like that's coach or

vice versa, like just us.

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Truly.

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Like I think one of the things that's

great about us and our community and

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our family is we let you be you and

we embrace who you are and I think

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our guys have full confidence in that.

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And it makes everything else so much

easier because there is no, like, I

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don't have to pretend I don't have

to be someone I'm, I don't have to

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act like I'm someone that I'm not.

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And I think these guys

really embrace that.

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Mike: So, uh, we got a chance

to watch this team this week.

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Fans did that.

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Went to the exhibition game.

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Uh, one of the players that surprised

me the most was Scottie Hubbard.

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He looks like a different

player this year.

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He got in great shape, obviously.

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I think um.

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Talk to us about his growth

from last year to this year.

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Coach Mike Jones: Hard work.

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Hard work.

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You know, when when we got Scottie

to commit to coming to ODU I think

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we knew potentially the, the player

that, the potential that he possessed.

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I'd been watching him for quite a

few years and watched him grow up.

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He'll admit that when he showed up.

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To campus Summer after his

senior year, he was outta shape.

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Only he can tell you why,

but he was outta shape.

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He was not in great shape, and it

took him a while to get over the

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shock of what college basketball was.

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But he kept working.

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He didn't quit.

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He was there every day.

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He, he, he just worked.

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And the biggest thing that you see

now is a young man that has been

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in shape, stayed in shape, and.

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He's reaping the benefits of that.

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Scottie's always been

able to shoot the ball.

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Scottie's not soft.

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Scottie is as physical

as you can be as a guard.

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He has versatility.

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And then the one thing that

I don't think most people

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realize is how smart Scottie is.

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He sees things before they happen.

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He's able to communicate with

his teammates to help them.

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He's somebody who has earned

a, a huge spot in our rotation.

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He will play a lot of minutes for

us this year and he will impact us

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winning on both ends of the floor.

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And I'm, I'm, I'm proud.

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Like, I mean, he's, he's, everything

he gets this year, he will have earned.

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And it's, it's gonna be one

heck of a season for him.

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Aaron: Another guy that played quite a

few minutes the other night that I wasn't

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necessarily expecting to play as much.

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Zacch Wiggins true freshman.

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But Zacch looked like

he belonged out there.

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Yeah.

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Now I don't know if it was because we

had a couple guys not starting that

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might normally, and it gave him an

opportunity, but boy did he seize that.

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I was impressed what I saw.

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Coach Mike Jones: Again, we

recruited Zacch to play right away.

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Um.

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That.

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So his, his role and the amount

of minutes he played, that is

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not a surprise to him or us.

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The thing that is gonna be huge

for us is Zacch provides so

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much versatility as a guard.

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He can shoot, he can drive,

he can defend, he can rebound.

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Zacch goes through every now

and then the normal freshman.

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Speed bumps.

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But again, you're talking about a

young man who's really smart and he's

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able to overcome them pretty quickly.

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You, you want everybody on your team like,

you know, only make mistakes one time.

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Well, Zacch, we'll say Zacch

will make the same mistake twice.

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But then that's it.

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He won't make it again.

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And just, I mean, you saw it

like, I mean, he's athletic.

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Again, incredibly smart.

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He's a sharer.

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He doesn't hog the ball.

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He doesn't hunt shots for himself.

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He hunts plays.

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He wants to make the right play.

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Very happy to have him.

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He's again, those two young

men, Scottie and Zacch, both.

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We, the depth that we have, we, we,

we talk in our locker room all the

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time about depth being our superpower.

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That is gonna be our,

our team's superpower.

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And those two guys greatly

contribute to that.

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Mike: So after I left Chartway Arena

on Sunday, I ended up watching the

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Duke Tennessee exhibition game in

Knoxville, and they interviewed

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Rick Barnes during the game.

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They asked him, uh, what does he get

the most out of these exhibition games?

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And he said, trust.

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And Jimmy Dykes asked him to explain that.

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And he goes what I learned from watching

these games is who I can trust to

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run the offense, who I can trust to

play hard-nosed defense, to be in the

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right spots, to be a good teammate.

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Would you say one game is

enough for you to judge that or.

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Is that something that with the

portal error, it might take a

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little bit longer than that?

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Coach Mike Jones: I think what it

does is it supports or contradicts

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what you've already started to see.

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For our team, and I don't know what Coach

Barnes does, legendary coach, great coach.

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I don't know what he does with Tennessee.

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If you talk to any of our guys,

they'll tell you, we go through

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situations every single day.

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This is the score.

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This is how much time left.

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These are the foul,

these are the timeouts.

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This is the direction the

possession arrow is going in.

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Like all of those details, and for our

guys to process that information and then.

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Hey, we're running this plan.

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I'm drawing it up, and it's

the first time we run it.

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And to me, that is

where you earn my trust.

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And every one of these guys

will tell you the one thing.

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I don't care how good you are.

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If I don't trust you, you can't play

because if I can't trust you, I'm putting

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you out there with four other guys.

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They have to know you're gonna be

where you're supposed to be and you're

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gonna do what you're supposed to do.

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Or it doesn't matter how great of

a play it is, it's not gonna work.

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Even if all five guys are on the

same page and they're wrong, it

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actually has a chance to work

because they're all on the same page.

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So for me, the practices we've had

initiate that level of trust, and

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then when we get in the game where

the lights are on, there's people

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out there, there's real refereeing,

there's all of those other attributes or

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characteristics of a pressure situation.

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If they continue to do what I've seen

in practice, yeah, I one game is,

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nothing's enough, but one game does

support it or you know what you do.

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Everything I asked you to do in

practice, but now, 'cause there's

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a couple thousand people here,

you kind of went off on your own.

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That gives me some pause.

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Aaron: So let's talk about that

exhibition game a little bit.

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So great to get back in the

Chartway Sunday for the game.

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On the surface of if people weren't

there or just watching very surface,

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some folks may have been fans, may

have felt frustrated or, oh, I can't

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believe we lost a Hampton or whatever.

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But I noticed after the game in the

post-game presser your body language.

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Your tone of voice, that

wasn't how you felt.

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So talk about that a little bit

of what, what you took out of the

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exhibition game and, uh, kind of what

gets you excited about this season.

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Coach Mike Jones: Um, well, first

and foremost, let's I you nailed it.

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I was excited after the exhibition.

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I'm as competitive as it gets.

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I, I don't wanna lose anything.

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Don't wanna lose anything.

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Sunday was good for us, really good

for us, like, really good for us.

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I'm not gonna sit here and

be like, oh, Rob didn't play.

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Drew McKenna didn't play.

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Like we couldn't do this.

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Like, it depth is our superpower.

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If we're going to be the deep team,

like, and they're gonna be things that

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during the season that we're gonna

have to play different lineups and

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younger guys are gonna have to play

and guys are gonna need to step up.

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So having the opportunity to do that.

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Was really good.

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Offensively we were like clicking,

you know, if you take away,

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so we dribbled off our foot.

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I don't know how many times

we had we bobbled passes.

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We still only had 11 turnovers.

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Like we still only had 11 turnovers.

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Like we, that, that is

a positive sign to me.

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You know, we have five metrics that

we're looking at and we're gonna

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add a six, but five of the metrics.

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We had, like, we were really close to,

either we did get the metric or um, we

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were really close to getting the metric.

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These are things that

translate to winning.

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Like it's proven, like if you go back

and look at those five things in our

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games last year, if we got three to five,

four to five or five to five, we won.

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If we got zero outta a five, one

outta five or two outta five, we lost.

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And like it, it is truly

something that after that game

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I felt like, you know what?

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We'll learn from this, this things that

we did that we would never do in a game.

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There are things that we tried

that we'd never try in a game.

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There's things that we would

definitely do in a game against

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a team like Hampton that.

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You know what, we're not gonna do that

just in case there's some film that

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gets to Miami of Ohio or Randolph or

Norfolk State or whatever like it,

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like, and every coach in America, like

I, I like to think they all do that.

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You don't want to, shoot every bullet

in your gun in the exhibition game like

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this that, that content is too valuable.

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And we didn't lay an egg like we, we did.

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We scored 79 points.

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We scored 79 points where we had 74

possessions in a game where, so that

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means we played the pace we wanna play.

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Um, we had 74 possessions

out of those 74 possessions.

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So if you double that, and that's 148

possessions in a game, 40 of them are

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very simply correctable mistakes made so.

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40.

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So that's what, almost 30% of the

game and we still score 79 points.

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And we, defensively a lot of things we

gotta do better, but we play defense

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differently if that were a game that

counted, like we play defense differently.

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We don't play full court against

a guard that can just blow your

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doors off from start to finish.

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But it was something

that we were trying to.

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Take a look at what can we do here?

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Um, there's so many things

like, we'll play some zone,

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like against a team like that.

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You probably could

probably play some zone.

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I'm not getting ready to show

a zone in an exhibition game.

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That's not what this is.

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It, there's just so many things.

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Like I, I was very enthused Monday.

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The day after coach Ivan and I,

we've known each other for years.

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We got together and talked.

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It was like, Hey, what'd you see?

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What'd you see?

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Give me some advice about

what you think of my team.

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I'll give you some advice of what

I think of your team, like just so

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many things, and honestly, like just

his comments and somebody that I

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would trust to tell me the truth.

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His comments about our team.

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Directly coincided with the

way I felt and what I saw.

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So it, it was confirmation

for me and vice versa.

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So yeah, I was I was, and I am incredibly

enthused about the start now I.

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So having said all that, and I know

it's a long answer, I apologize, but

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none of that has anything to do with

Miami because Hampton is not Miami.

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Like they're two totally different styles.

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They play way differently.

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So there's so many things that, you

know, we gotta shore up this week

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to help us prepare for that game.

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That we are, that we, you

know, we gotta start to that.

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And again, I'm, I'm happy with

where we are with that too.

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Mike: All right.

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So we know this team will

grow a lot over the year.

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The team in March was not the team we're

gonna see play against Miami this week.

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What would you say is your biggest

strength right now as this team?

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And then what's the one area that you want

to improve on as we move forward the most?

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Coach Mike Jones: Um, I hope I'm right.

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I think we're gonna be

able to score the ball.

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I really do.

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You know, we have, last year we

were handcuffed with our offensive

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ability, uh, from top to bottom.

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We will not have that issue this year.

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We've got multiple guys that can shoot.

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Uh, we've got guys that can get

in the paint and do things with

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it once they get it to the paint.

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You know, our bigs have gotten better.

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The style that we're playing

is more conducive to.

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The way I want to play the

actions and things like that.

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Last year, like we a lot of

times had to really slow down

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to do what we wanted to do.

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Last year we had to call a lot of plays.

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This year we won't have to do that.

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These guys know how to play.

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They like, you know, you hear coaches

talk about it and it's a popular thing

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to say now is, oh, we don't run plays.

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We run actions.

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Well.

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Some of that is BS when the coach

is telling you that he's just trying

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to convince his team that I don't

wanna call the play every time.

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That is who we are.

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Like, you know, we'll call

plays out of a timeout.

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We'll call the first

play of the game maybe.

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But when the game is just flowing,

these guys like, we trust them.

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They're old, they're experienced.

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Our ability to score.

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Is gonna be a strength.

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And we'll be versatile.

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Like our goal is to have four or five

guys average double figures and six or

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seven guys average eight points or more.

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And I truly believe we can do that.

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The one thing that has to improve and

it will, is our clearly our defense.

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And I think with that though.

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We're so game plan, you know,

you guys got to see it a little

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bit in Pensacola last year.

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We're so game plan driven where,

you know, you go against Hampton

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and you like, there's no data

to go off of other than the guys

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individually where they came from.

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So I firmly believe, especially with

the versatility we have defensively,

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we can play zone, we can press,

we can switch up our ball screen

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coverages, we can play a little bit.

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Less aggressive man to man, just

to keep things in front of us.

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We can be really aggressive in our

man to man and deny, like we have

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the ability to push different buttons

there, and that will take time to truly,

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like in game situations really grasp.

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Again, sorry for the long answers, guys.

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I'm excited to be talking to y'all.

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So sorry,

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Aaron: This is your show.

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We're asking you, you're the guy

that people want to hear talk.

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So long answers are good answers.

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All right, so after the game the other

night, Harry Minium asked your question

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you know, fans are asking about.

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Rob and, uh, Drew not playing.

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And uh, I'm not gonna ask you that 'cause

you answered, if people wanna know what

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your answer was, they can go back and they

can watch that on the YouTube channel.

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But going into Miami, Ohio, obviously you

guys are looking at them for, the fans

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are gonna be watching this game at home.

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What should they expect with Miami, Ohio?

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Coach Mike Jones: Huh?

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So one of the things, one of the reasons

why I am excited about our team is we

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got selected to play Miami of Ohio.

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And Miami of Ohio is ridiculously

good and they're, I have not seen one

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publication that has picked them to finish

any lower than second in their league.

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Mm-hmm.

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Many picked them to win their league.

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The premise of the whole Sun Belt MAC

Challenge is you match like teams.

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So whenever the decision was made for ODU

to play Miami of Ohio, first game of the

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season, that means that you think that

we're a contender at worst for our league.

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So I feel good about that.

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I feel really good about that.

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The other side of that though

is Miami is really good.

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They lost their first home game

last year against Wright State and

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then did not lose another home game.

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It is a tough place to play.

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I played there my sophomore year,

uh, in the NIT in the second or third

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round of the NIT my sophomore year.

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It is an incredibly

difficult place to play.

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They.

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We're 15th in the country last

year in three point percentage.

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They recruit shooters.

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They, they are shooters,

they develop shooters.

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Um, we're gonna have to guard that

three point line like nobody's business.

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They've got great size, they have their

conferences preseason player of the year.

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They have last year's conferences.

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Freshman of the year, they got

one of the best shooting bigs in

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the country out of the portal.

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They've got size, they've got quickness.

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Ipsaro, their point guard who came

off the bench for them last year

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probably was better than their starter.

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He is a blur when he gets going.

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They all can make shots.

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They're tough.

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We brag about the

continuity of our roster.

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We return to most starters in the league.

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They return to most

starters in their league.

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It's the continuity that they have.

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Uh, this will be an incredible challenge

for us, but also a great measuring stick.

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A road test.

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You know, we've got some great

venues we're playing in this year.

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I don't know if the home court advantage

that another team has will be any bigger.

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Than what Miami has.

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But again, I'm excited

about the opportunity.

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What makes that venue such

a a difficult place to play?

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It's a college town, like

they live and breathe.

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Miami of Ohio, they, the Red Hawks,

they, that is they're all about that.

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And last year they won 25 games, I

think, which was the most, they had won,

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I think, in their school's history and

their first 21 season in a long time.

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You talking about the energy around

the program there, like that place is

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gonna be rocking and rolling on Monday.

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Mike: All right.

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I'm really excited about this season.

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I can't wait to see, uh, how it shapes up.

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But this time of year fans wanna know who

can we expect to see on this, the floor?

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Was Hampton a good example or because

you weren't trying to show too much

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and you know that you're just trying

to test, try different things out.

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What are we looking at?

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What, who should we expect to play

a lot on this, uh, first game?

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Coach Mike Jones: Hampton is not a great

example because obviously again, I believe

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two guys that'll play a lot for us.

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Were not.

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We're not healthy and we

didn't put 'em on the floor.

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So, the one frustrating thing, if there's

anything frustrating about our preseason

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is Steph didn't play in Costa Rica.

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Everybody else did.

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So getting a true rotation in

Costa Rica wasn't able to happen.

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The two, the one scrimmage we had and

the one exhibition we've had, neither Rob

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nor Drew played in either one of those.

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So again, trying to really kind of

solidify rotation we haven't been

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able to do because we haven't had, you

know, 100% participation when we get

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to that I don't expect it to cause too

much of an issue, but like I'm excited

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to see what it's like when I have.

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You know, a full roster

that we can tinker with.

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I think our guys are excited

about that as fluid as our things

414

offense looked in Costa Rica.

415

Uh.

416

You don't have a Steph Walker doing that.

417

And that it, it limits truly

what you get a chance to see.

418

We're gonna play 10 guys.

419

I, I can probably say with

the utmost confidence, nine

420

guys will play every game.

421

Most games, if not all the games

10 guys will play and all of

422

them good minutes, we will not.

423

Unless we have just bad injuries

we will not have guys that average.

424

I mean, we had two guys average

35 minutes a game last year.

425

There's no way that's happening.

426

You guys will be able to play

shorter stints, but give maximum

427

effort for those shorter stints.

428

You take a Rob off the floor.

429

You're probably replacing him with a

guy that can really shoot the ball.

430

So you're not losing that, that floor

space or that dynamic that you have.

431

Yeah, we're this is gonna be fun.

432

This is gonna be fun.

433

Aaron: I'm excited already.

434

Coach Mike Jones: Um, I mean,

seriously, guys, look, we have,

435

we have our league is tough.

436

We know that great coaches in our

league, they're gonna do everything

437

they can to prepare for us.

438

But the multi-layered, like this

is what this is supposed to be.

439

We have, we're not beholden to like,

if he plays well, we can be successful.

440

Like you can have an off night

'cause there's four other guys

441

that are gonna pick it up.

442

Like you can get in foul trouble.

443

We don't want you to, but if you get in

foul trouble, we've got guys that can

444

pick up the slack and just look at it

the other day, like without Rob and Drew.

445

Jordan Battle gets in foul trouble.

446

Like Jordan Battle is huge

for our team this year.

447

Huge.

448

But Zacch Wiggins is able to do what

he did because Jordan had to sit

449

out a lot of minutes, Steph got in

foul trouble and had to come out.

450

Like Jared Turner steps

up and he's able to play.

451

And Jared Turner was our leading in our

scrimmage that we had, and he went six

452

for eight from three in that scrimmage.

453

He didn't shoot the ball as much

or as well in the exhibition the

454

other day, but he did so many other

things, like he was so impactful

455

defensively with his effort and energy.

456

Like there's just so many layers to this

and I could not be more excited about it.

457

Yeah, like this is gonna

be, we missed layups.

458

We dribbled off our foot.

459

We, our transition defense was horrible.

460

It was still a one possession game

without two of our best players.

461

With another of your best players being

in foul trouble with a young guy, a

462

freshman playing his first college.

463

I mean, just there's so many.

464

Like, I, I need everybody to

understand why I'm excited.

465

I've seen this before.

466

I've seen this movie play out.

467

I know how it goes.

468

Like we're, we're in a good spot.

469

We are in a, we're in a great spot.

470

Aaron: So the other night you

know, the game's going through

471

its flow and at some point.

472

You transition to a smaller lineup and

you played a smaller lineup for a while.

473

Coach Mike Jones: Yep.

474

Aaron: We briefly talked about

it in the, the post game.

475

Um,

476

Coach Mike Jones: and that was on purpose.

477

That was on

478

I, who knows what this

season's going to call for.

479

So much of that was a wonderful

opportunity for me to see what we can

480

look like if we have to play that way.

481

Size wise, we can match up with

pretty much everybody on our schedule.

482

We don't wanna do that just to do it.

483

Like if we can make you, again, we talked

about giving coaches heartburn last year.

484

Well, you know what?

485

I think our smaller lineup, we'll give

coaches heartburn, especially with someone

486

like Jared Turner playing the five.

487

That means literally you potentially could

have five guys on the floor that all shoot

488

37% or better from three point range.

489

How do you guard that?

490

How do you guard, how do you

guard that with a true center?

491

Like how do you guard that and then

you wanna switch everything and now

492

you're gonna have your six foot point

guard, guard, Jared Turner, who's six,

493

eight with a seven, whatever, wingspan.

494

Like, there's just so many

layers to what we can do.

495

And again, I'm excited.

496

Now none of this means anything.

497

Like we still gotta go out and

our schedule's cra crazy tough.

498

We're going, you know, get smacked

across the face a few times,

499

but we're, we're good to go.

500

Like it's, we're we're built

for, having a really good year.

501

Mike: I could see the pieces.

502

I'm excited to see how the

puzzle all fits together.

503

Gotta say, I was happy to see

how well Scottie and Jared

504

rebounded on the offensive end.

505

Those extra possessions are

crucial in the game of basketball.

506

But like I said, I, I can't wait to

see how this puzzle fits together

507

because you see, you see the vision.

508

But

509

Coach Mike Jones: yeah, one thing

about that, like, so as we were top

510

10 in the country last year, offensive

rebound, like top 10, I'm gonna tell

511

you right now, we're not gonna be top

10 offensive rebounding this year.

512

And there's one huge reason why.

513

Mike: Couldn't make more shots,

514

Aaron: shots, shots.

515

They won't have the opportunity.

516

Coach Mike Jones: Yes, let's go.

517

And it's not like, let's go.

518

It's, we're not worse.

519

We're not gonna be worse at it.

520

It's just we're gonna make way more shots

so there won't be as many opportunities.

521

Like it is just yeah, like this

is, this is gonna be a lot of fun.

522

This is gonna be a lot of fun.

523

These guys are working really hard.

524

We're pushing them.

525

But yeah, this, this, this

is gonna be a lot of fun.

526

KC Shaw had a horrible

first half the other day.

527

Horrible.

528

And we gotta see the KC Shaw that we

all expect to see in the second half.

529

Just stuff like that.

530

The exhibition provided us an

opportunity to get that out

531

of our system for Jordan to.

532

Not play great.

533

And you know what?

534

It wasn't the end of the world.

535

It didn't cost us anything for KC to

like, you know what, let me kind of

536

get my feet under me a little bit.

537

And it didn't cost us anything.

538

That, that was so good to see LJ

running our team the way he did.

539

And he'll tell you like, I'm as hard

on point guards as I am on anybody.

540

Like LJ could have affected us in

so many more ways, but everybody

541

gotta see a little bit of what

he's gonna bring to our team.

542

Like yeah, this is.

543

I haven't even talked about Cal.

544

You know, I have, it just, there's

just so many, so many pieces here that

545

have us really, really, really excited.

546

Mike: I mean, you even said it earlier,

Jordan was in foul trouble, but how many

547

games is he gonna just score two points?

548

Coach Mike Jones: I don't

think there'll be another one.

549

Mike: Right.

550

Coach Mike Jones: But he wouldn't

shoot the ball like it was.

551

It was, yeah.

552

We're, we're good man.

553

We're good.

554

Jordan made a shot today.

555

We all celebrated it 'cause

he shot the ball and it's just

556

like, where was this on Sunday?

557

Like we, you know it.

558

Hey,

559

Mike: and, and I will add this.

560

We were at a practice a little while

ago and I got to see a play by Drew

561

McKenna and the fans haven't got to

really see him yet, but that was maybe

562

one of my favorite plays I've seen

in a while related to ODU basketball.

563

He hits Cal streaking down the

court with a beautiful pass.

564

Remind me of something

Kevin Love would do.

565

Just like the perfect pass entry

pass like Threequarter Court.

566

Mm-hmm.

567

Cal catches it beautifully dunks it

that sort of play we haven't been

568

able to pull off in a long time.

569

Coach Mike Jones: Yeah.

570

Drew is a, a great passer.

571

It's one of the things that's

most underrated about his game.

572

He is a terrific passer.

573

Mike: Yeah.

574

And I'm excited for fans be to see that.

575

'cause they haven't seen it yet.

576

Yeah, this, we didn't

see anything yet really.

577

It's just, and that's

why we're all excited.

578

Yeah,

579

Coach Mike Jones: like again,

we, you know, we, we play our,

580

our schedule's ridiculous, but.

581

I, no matter what it is going to

prepare us to face, whatever comes

582

our way when we get to Sun Belt play

we don't want to be the 10th seed.

583

We don't want to have to play six games.

584

We don't have to want to have to win

six games to make it to the NCAA's.

585

We want to position

ourselves to have vote.

586

A little bit of rest after that

last game, Friday February 27th

587

in Atlanta at Georgia State.

588

Give us a few days as we prepare

and then we go down to Pensacola

589

and hopefully we're talking about,

2, 3, 4 games to get outta there.

590

And that is very doable, again, especially

with a, a deep team that we will have.

591

Yeah, like we're excited, man.

592

We're excited.

593

We're gonna have our bumps.

594

We, we acknowledge it.

595

We know it.

596

You know, when you go play at Villanova,

at Xavier, at Maryland, at Richmond, at

597

George Washington, at George Mason, when

you have to go play those games, and

598

then you still gotta go though William

& Mary, you still gotta go to Drexel.

599

Uh, you know when you have that

type of road schedule, you can't

600

help but be prepared for what

the Sun Belt's gonna bring.

601

Aaron: So the coolest thing about

this road schedule though, is

602

it's really accessible to fans.

603

Coach Mike Jones: Yep.

604

Intentional.

605

That was intentional.

606

Yes.

607

Aaron: Brilliant.

608

And you executed on that Well,

'cause I'm looking down and I'm

609

going easy drive like William & Mary

Easy Drive Richmond a little bit

610

further, but it's a Saturday Perfect.

611

December 13th at George Mason.

612

Oh.

613

Mike and I are gonna put

a bus trip together to get

614

fans to go up for that one.

615

I mean, there's, you got Maryland,

like there's all these opportunities.

616

Do you be able to go on the road?

617

Which is fun for fans too.

618

Like you're talking about how good it is

for the team to get to know the, the team.

619

It's good for the fans too.

620

So there's tons of opportunities

this year that excites me.

621

Coach Mike Jones: Yeah.

622

Yeah.

623

I mean, technically if you really look

at it, the only plane ride trip outside

624

of conference play that we have is Miami.

625

Xavier, every other of those great

road games that we'll play are

626

all a bus ride or all a car ride.

627

And Villanova's not Philadelphia's

not far of a car ride.

628

DC's not far of a car.

629

You know, we play GW on a Saturday.

630

We play Villanova and Drexel on a

Sunday and a Tuesday before Thanksgiving

631

when a lot of people are already off.

632

You play at Maryland.

633

On, uh, in between Christmas and

New Year's when a lot of people are

634

already off, as you already mentioned,

the Richmond game, the the George

635

Mason game, like they're, those are

accessible games because of not only

636

where they're located, but then also.

637

The time of the week, they are.

638

We, all of this was intentional.

639

You know, I don't like not being able

to play more games in Chartway, but

640

again, with the way the game goes

now and NIL and Rev Share and all of

641

that, we were very intentional about

how we put this schedule together.

642

And it was the happy medium of playing a

ridiculously tough schedule to prepare us.

643

Getting the resources from the games

we're playing, but then also making it

644

fan friendly as much as we possibly could.

645

Mike: Me and Aaron are trying to figure

out how many games we can get to.

646

I know we, we,

647

Aaron: as many as our

wives will let us go to,

648

Mike: we did a little football road trip

recently and the whole time we were on

649

the way back, we were trying to figure out

what basketball games we were gonna go to.

650

Coach Mike Jones: Um,

yeah, let's make it happen.

651

Let's make it happen.

652

We like, oh my gosh, this

is gonna be fun, man.

653

This the, the momentum that we had

at the end of last season it, it just

654

to watch our team progress the way

it did and to finish on the note that

655

we did and then for us to get better.

656

Um.

657

These, excuse me, these guys that are

here wearing that jersey now, like the,

658

the, the growth in our team last year.

659

Just think about what it will

look like with this group.

660

The talent that they have, the experience

they have, you know, some of the speed

661

bumps and hiccups we had a year ago,

we won't have to go through them.

662

Um, again, it's just it's so.

663

Exciting and just

energizing to me every day.

664

You know, I sat in our film room today and

just told these guys, even when I'm mad at

665

'em, it's still a blessing to coach them.

666

It's a blessing to coach at ODU.

667

It's a blessing for them to play at ODU.

668

Like, and as long as we never forget

that things are gonna be okay.

669

Aaron: So every successful

locker room has got.

670

A guy kind of steps up and he

develops into just call the leader.

671

Not necessarily 'cause they want

to, maybe it's just how they are

672

and guys gravitate towards them.

673

Do y'all have that guy yet?

674

Coach Mike Jones: So this is

the, yeah, some people might

675

hear this answer and cringe.

676

We have different leaders for

different circumstances, so

677

no, there's not one person Rob.

678

Is a natural leader because

of that's who he is.

679

And then his status on our team,

Jordan is a natural leader because

680

that's who he is as a person.

681

He is a 757 native.

682

He, like, he's just, he's

got that bubbly personality.

683

You know, LJ Thomas is quiet,

but he's our point guard.

684

So there's leadership expectations

placed upon him that I

685

think he really thrives in.

686

Steph Walker is the old dude on our team.

687

Like he's the guy that's been

through everything in his life.

688

He's mature, he has leadership that comes

out when we need to see that Cal is.

689

Just a great person who wants to

like, yo fellas, we gotta do this.

690

Uh, like he's, he's a

leader in what he brings.

691

Jared Turner's energy is so contagious.

692

Like when Jared is hyped, we're hyped

and there's nothing you can do about it.

693

There's just so many guys on our team,

and then there's the guys that are

694

quiet about it, that, you know, KC Shaw.

695

KC Shaw is as experienced as it gets,

played a lot of great basketball in

696

his life, and KC's one of those guys,

kind of like Sean was for us last year.

697

He doesn't say much in terms of

speaking to an entire group, but when

698

he does, everybody stops and listens.

699

'cause it's not like if you just got that

one voice all the time that's in your ear.

700

It's like the little gnat

that you wanna shoe away.

701

In case he talks.

702

It's not that it's impactful

because most people know that

703

he doesn't normally do that.

704

And I could keep going like, these guys,

man, they're, they're, again, I'm excited.

705

Yeah, I think you guys can tell.

706

Yeah,

707

Aaron: it's spot on.

708

I think what the Monarch Nation gets

a chance to, to see these guys, we'll

709

see exactly what you're talking about.

710

I mean, at this Seven Cities, ProAm,

Jordan's going into the, the stands,

711

staffing people up, Jared Turner's

slapping the floor, playing defense and

712

we'll just say meaningless games, but

like locked in, like it means something.

713

It's, that game was just as important

as, you know, a conference game.

714

Yeah.

715

To him.

716

So it's and anybody that got to go,

we didn't even talk about the Meet the

717

Monarchs Night, which was a great event.

718

Coach Mike Jones: You got

to see their personalities.

719

They got to get up there.

720

Ted is just a maestro, you

know, just, holding any

721

interview or anything like that.

722

He knows what to ask.

723

He's, you know, he was able to.

724

Give them the open-ended

questions that allowed them

725

to be themselves and our fans.

726

Got to see that.

727

Again.

728

Yeah.

729

Yeah.

730

Just come on man.

731

This is a beautiful place.

732

Our basketball fan

community is unbelievable.

733

The support we get, and you

know what, even the people that.

734

Don't agree with every decision

that's made or everything that we do.

735

We still have their support though.

736

Like they're still rooting for us.

737

They still wanna see us win.

738

Yeah.

739

There's so many out there that like,

yeah, man, come on Coach Jones, your

740

home schedule's gotta be better.

741

And I, I'm telling you, it will be.

742

This just wasn't a year

that was gonna happen.

743

It's not like they're

just like, you know what?

744

We're not supporting you though.

745

And that's the part that I love

about this, that this is unlike

746

any other place I've been.

747

Aaron: Another super cool thing about that

event is how accessible it was for fans.

748

I mean, the old event was cool at the.

749

Yacht club down the road, but it

wasn't accessible to a lot of fans.

750

Cost too much.

751

It was a little stuffy.

752

This event, you really get to know people.

753

Everybody can come.

754

They got a chance to watch you guys

play and practice if they could

755

get outta work, you know, for that.

756

But hopefully that's something

that you guys can build on because

757

everybody I talked to had a phenomenal

time and really, you know, helped

758

them connect to the program.

759

Coach Mike Jones: Yeah,

we already had plans.

760

I haven't talked to Jena Virga about it

yet, but we already have plans for what

761

we want this to look like going forward.

762

We do want it to be just

like it was this year in that

763

there's an open practice before.

764

I do wanna make that at a time that way

more people can attend the open practice.

765

Um, I do want it to be.

766

In a much bigger space that

can accommodate more people.

767

Because I do think, again, as we

build this thing the way like I dream

768

about it man, like as we build this

thing, the way this thing is gonna be

769

built, there are gonna be plenty of

more people that want to attend that.

770

And I don't want anybody to

feel like they're not welcome.

771

I don't wanna feel like anybody feels

like there's not a place for them to sit.

772

You know, I love this community so much.

773

I want.

774

All of y'all to feel like you have

a part in everything we do and, uh.

775

Especially the winning.

776

Yeah, like next year that, that,

that event is gonna get bigger

777

and bigger and better and better.

778

And I appreciate ODAF's support.

779

Ashley, the aligns behind the

scenes this year did so much.

780

You just, so many people you

know, a lot of people know Jena,

781

A lot of people know KD now.

782

A lot of people know John Vellines,

but there's so many other people

783

behind the scenes that don't

get the recognition that make.

784

Things like that go off very well

785

Mike: and I I'm happy to hear you.

786

You don't wanna have it on a weekday

at like four o'clock again, 'cause

787

I'm one of those many that had to work

788

Coach Mike Jones: Yeah.

789

And couldn't make it.

790

So if, if Jena Virga sees this, she's

she might cringe a little bit, but

791

we'll talk, we'll negotiate something.

792

But yeah I, I wanted

to be at a time where.

793

Way more people can attend.

794

Um, last year we did our open

practice before we played Virginia

795

Tech and football on a Saturday.

796

That was, I thought, smartly done.

797

There's no way to really combine an

open practice like that at a Meet

798

the Monarchs on a football game day.

799

But we we're, we're

throwing around some ideas.

800

So we're, we're working on that.

801

I'm not gonna, probably not

gonna think about that much

802

until, you know, we get to April.

803

But but it's definitely something we've

already discu discussed amongst ourselves.

804

Mike: There's an event that's been

going on for years that I imagine

805

some fans are gonna be asking about.

806

Uh, is there, the basketball

breakfast, will that be held this year?

807

Coach Mike Jones: After the first

of the year, we've discussed

808

the possibility of doing that.

809

We have not firmly said anything,

um, yet because we don't know.

810

I'm hoping that there's just so

much excitement about what's going

811

on with us that, I mean, it's just

almost demanded that we do that.

812

Aaron: I'm demanding now.

813

Coach Mike Jones: I would love to, to be

honest with you, I would love to 'cause

814

it is another opportunity to connect.

815

You know, I, I, if you can't tell me, I'd

do pretty much anything for our fan base.

816

But the one thing that I know

fan base wants us to do is win.

817

So that's got the priority

in terms of our focus.

818

But stuff like that, breakfast,

I, I would love to do that.

819

To be determined.

820

But I would not be surprised if we have

one in the beginning of January, in

821

the beginning of February, and then,

hopefully we we're playing it well into

822

March, so we come back from Pensacola

and we have one before we go somewhere

823

else to play, if you know what I mean.

824

Oh, we know what you mean.

825

Mike: I'm ready for another selection

party, selection Sunday party at Chartway.

826

Coach Mike Jones: You guys deserve it.

827

You guys deserve it.

828

Aaron: So I have to update my pictures.

829

I think my last pictures had like,

uh, Xavier Green and Kalu Ezikpe.

830

It's been, it's been a while.

831

So we're, we're ready.

832

Coach Mike Jones: Hey.

833

And we've got the new

student athlete dining hall.

834

That opens in January.

835

Um, we had a all staff athletics

meeting over there last week, and we

836

actually talked about the possibility

of selection shows, like the parties in

837

the, because that's a beautiful space.

838

Um, like I, I would love.

839

Not nothing against Chartway, but I would

love to be able to do that over there.

840

Just in that it's a more intimate space.

841

It would be, I, I hope to do that in 2026.

842

That sounds like a plan.

843

Mike: I think the last was at Mitchum.

844

For what it's worth.

845

Aaron: It was.

846

Coach Mike Jones: It'd be

pretty cool to do that.

847

You know what a selection show party

that we're a part of would be cool.

848

I don't give a dag on where it is.

849

Shoot you.

850

We can go down under the overpass

and freaking have it there.

851

I don't care.

852

As long as we're involved,

853

Mike: you're not gonna

disagreements from us.

854

But, uh, we do.

855

Thank you for your time.

856

Uh, we hope you have a safe,

smooth trip to Oxford, Ohio.

857

To play the redhawks of Miami.

858

Uh, we can't wait to reach route.

859

You're on next week at

Chartway Against Randolph.

860

Thanks again for joining us.

861

We really do appreciate it.

862

Coach.

863

Coach Mike Jones: I appreciate you guys.

864

Go Monarchs!

865

Mike: Go Monarchs!

866

Aaron: Go Monarchs!

867

Outro: I.