SportsPrep Live

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You're listening to locally produced programming created in KU NV studios on public radio K, u and v 91.5. The

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content of this program does not reflect the views or opinions of 91.5 Jazz and more the University of Nevada Las Vegas or the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education.

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Hey everybody, and welcome to another episode of sports prep live, prep live, where we unbox the mic and talk excellence in athletics.

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Welcome back to sports prep live. I'm your host Graydon Prescott. Today, I'm on the mic with one of the best high school football prospects in the nation. He's received multiple division one offers and as a starting defensive end on the number one high school football team in the country. Bishop Gorman, we got Keaton Harris on the show today. It's great to have you, man.

Unknown Speaker 1:01
It's great to be on the show. I appreciate it, man. Of course.

Unknown Speaker 1:05
So before we get into your high school career, we're going to take it back to the beginning. What ignited your passion for football and what made you start playing?

Unknown Speaker 1:12
Um, I was like, six, you know, I just like been watching like a lot of I know, like college highlight rows on YouTube and stuff. So like, I remember my first time putting on shoulder pads was like in a front yard or my grandma house, I guess, my cousin. And you know, we just went like, head to head for the very first time and like, once I saw myself, like, make contact with him. And like he was on the ground, I was standing up. And I realized that like, that's something I want to do, you know,

Unknown Speaker 1:43
yeah. Do you have any stories from those earlier days of football that made you realize that you could really go somewhere,

Unknown Speaker 1:50
I'm also starting to see how God started to change my, my physique as a human being, you know, saying he started to like, give me my abilities. You know, he started making me bigger everybody at my age. And I started to show him the football field. So I started taking that serious and you know, saying now I'm starting to use that and I got, you know, same so offers Psaki. No help my family. I'm more. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 2:17
Do you have any older siblings, cousins, friends that like pushed you to participate? Um,

Unknown Speaker 2:24
I had an older cousin he's in. He's in college right now playing football. He's at corner. Um, you know, every time he come back, you know, I'm saying I talked to him, you know, I'm saying he gave me feedback on how he's doing in college. And when I was young, you know, so I used to watch his game and just watch how he like moved around the field so fast as of late that, okay.

Unknown Speaker 2:47
So you are obviously a multiple sport athlete football and basketball, from my firsthand experience as a teammate and as an opponent, you are very good at both. How do you balance the demands of being successful in both sports?

Unknown Speaker 3:00
Well, um, it just all is about like timing and like knowing when to like train my body for football season when, hmm, basketball season. But like, at the same time, it's just like, knowing when your body is ready to play that type of sport. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 3:16
Are you training more for football or for basketball these days? And why is that

Unknown Speaker 3:22
right now trying to Morpho football and that's because these offers are flowing in I mean, call the coaches are gonna start coming to see me and I mean, they could put me through some drills. I mean, I got to be able to withstand all type of drills, stamina, wise and physical. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 3:37
And against that backdrop, do you believe that playing basketball was beneficial to the development of your football career? And if so, why?

Unknown Speaker 3:44
Yeah, I feel like basketball helped a lot. You know, especially with my footwork, basketball footwear Jews has transitioned to my footwork job in football, and I say grabbing rebounds a basketball has helped me a high point the ball is in football. Okay.

Unknown Speaker 3:59
I'm great impressed got here on Sports prep live and I'm sitting down with star defensive end for Bishop Gorman Keaton Harris. Becoming the number one football team in the country does not come without hard work and discipline. Can you share with us what your team has done to become the best team in the country and what separates you from everybody else? Well,

Unknown Speaker 4:17
my team you know saying we are a bunch of guys who's not afraid to get yelled at by our coaches you know, say we don't just get yelled at and just start crying you know, saying we take those and we say we build them in we take them maybe a set day and then we be grinding we grind every single day in the summer. We've been grinding since January we hit the weight room hard we go straight from the weight room to outside we don't take no breaks at all. So

Unknown Speaker 4:39
it's that hard work that really gets you guys can you tell me more about those practices and what it's like

Unknown Speaker 4:46
so like this, select we go against Huskers you know, say Huskers it's like full on weight room left in? Yeah, you got like 30s You got like a minute and 10 seconds I say For people in your group in all you guys got to Finish, finish that lift in a certain amount of time, we're reps. So it can be like, say power cleans. You guys got eight reps, and you got like, a minute. And it's four people in your group. So you got a minute to complete eight reps. And that's all for you guys. And if you don't, you gotta restart the whole thing over. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 5:20
Like you said, one of the most important parts of being a great team is coaching and without a great coach, that team cannot be successful. What role has the coaching at Gorman played into your development, both as an athlete and as a as a person? And how have the coaches influenced your growth in scope refinement?

Unknown Speaker 5:37
pretty huge role. You're not saying especially coming from I'm not having any father figures in my life. You know, I'm saying Mr. Gorman, coaches, they take I'm being a adult, you know, say they don't just coach just a coach, you know, saying they coach to be a father figure to some of us. And it really shows, you know, like, they take their job very serious, you know, they, it shows that this football stuff is just, it's more to them, you know, saying they welcome us and that's like one of their owns. And like, no, like, a lot of these coaches take the time out of their day day and away from the family to like, come to us and like coach us spend time with us every single day on the weekends and stuff. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 6:18
Obviously, Bishop Gorman is not just a great football school, but it's also a school that takes academics very seriously. How do you balance the academic side with the very demanding football schedule?

Unknown Speaker 6:28
Um, it's just simple, you know, saying, You got to give away to little stuff, like partying and hanging out with friends and spending time with your girlfriend. So you can have the bigger things at hand like football and having good grades. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 6:43
As a young athlete, you've received a lot of division one offers, how do you manage the pressures and expectations that come with being highly ranked player? And what strategies do you employ to stay grounded and focused?

Unknown Speaker 6:55
Um, to be honest, I really, you know, I'm saying I started this, like, at a young age when I started seeing, like, a lot of people don't get offers. At first, you know, so it made me like mad because I was just wondering why I wasn't getting offers, but then I was just, like, read this quote, It was like, Don't chase the spotlight, let the spotlight chase you. So like, ever since then, I just been like, I don't really, I don't really, like pay much attention to that. So I just be grinded playing my own game. And then once I get the offers, you know, I say I appreciate them for it, but I'm gonna still continue to be humble and just do me. Do

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you think your coaches have played a factor played a role in that mindset of yours? Oh,

Unknown Speaker 7:33
yeah, of course, um, especially Coach Barna on, you know, saying, he, he talked to me every time, you know, he could tell when my game was off, because, you know, that's how much time I spend with him training. He knows when like, I'm like throwing off or something like that. He just talks to me, and I'm saying he loves me know, when I'm doing bad, he keeps my head in the game and everything like that.

Unknown Speaker 7:52
Last time I was on this show, we did an episode of my prep talk, where we go over topics that have been discussed on my blog. And one of the things that we spoke about was coach Browner and how he has these interpersonal relationships with his players and how that has helped you guys to become the top team in the country. Correct me if I'm correct me if I'm wrong, that that is true. He does have those personal relationships with you guys. Yes,

Unknown Speaker 8:18
Coach Bronner builds a bond with his players. Because without building a bond with a team, you're just a team. You know, I'm saying you gotta be more than just a team to win games. You got to become a family you got to become one. That's what Coach Barnard is teaching us at a young age. You got to really have a brother you got to be able to trust one another. And

Unknown Speaker 8:36
that leads me to my next question. Building chemistry with your teammates is crucial for a successful football team. How do you foster strong relationships and effective communication with your teammates?

Unknown Speaker 8:45
Start start early like I said we've been training since January so you know we do a lot of team bonding we do something is a thing called gala Olympics where he split us up in teams who all are teammates and then we'll be battling against each other in teams but it's mostly separate to you know, we go out and movie nights with the teams you're going to arcade and ice and stuff like that we just know if you want to be successful we got to do other teams are not willing to do and so be one so

Unknown Speaker 9:14
you guys really spend a lot of time together off the field as well. It's not just it's not just the time you spend on the field and in the weight room together.

Unknown Speaker 9:22
Yes more more off the field and I say we do on the field no and we really really take his brotherhood to a whole nother level you know saying we're always there for each other when somebody need us to be there for them.

Unknown Speaker 9:33
You got any stories from that off the field interactions with your teammates? Could be

Unknown Speaker 9:38
I say I say I'm with them Boise and you know he was a good barter could Ronnie say we could have right the scooters in like little scooters you pay or tap your phone you ride? Oh, yeah. But you know it's a it was a long walkway. So yeah. You know a couple of was the last time you spill a tire. So we tap scooter and he just like riding around and ABC coated Barney around the corner. So are you seeing just like 15 New scooters just turn it back around the corner. Everybody's just getting off the scooters. It's just funny man.

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How did the coach react to that? Oh, Stefan

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is day you don't know he don't know the stairs It is you know? No.

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You're listening to sports prep live on 91.5k u and v Radio. I'm great and Prescott and today I'm on the mic with my guy, Keaton Harris. All right, let's on a more serious note. Injury Prevention is a huge part of sports nowadays. To what extent do you think about injury prevention and recovery? And what do you do to help yourself stay as healthy as possible?

Unknown Speaker 10:45
Um, to be honest, um, I just, I just do like the simple things like stretches are I will go to our trainer it goes. It goes been in business for like a long time. He knows everything. Gus is great. Yeah, Gus is a really good trainer on. And if I do, like feel anything like small, I don't want to like develop anything big. So you know, as I go straight to Gus, we're out to our Saturday morning practices. Yeah,

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so you like to take care of things when they're small so that they don't get to grow to be a bigger issue. Yeah, that makes sense. So you've talked about achieving Division One scholarships. And that's a testament to that's a testament to your skills and commitment. What additional training or areas of your game have you focused on to stand out to college recruiters,

Unknown Speaker 11:32
um, I want to say this year I've just been focusing on really like showing them that I've learned the game and developed a lot from last year, because last year, I was just, you know, a tight end, I was just showing off my hands of speed. But this show, I want to show them the physical medium powerful guy down here in the trenches. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 11:53
So speaking of college coaches, I heard from a bluebird, you got invited to a national combine in January down in San Antonio, and one of your teammates and my good buddies, jet Washington as well. So tell me a little bit about that. Like, what is that?

Unknown Speaker 12:15
So like, it's the All American combine. So if you do good, and that combine, you get invited to the all America game, which is huge. And I'm saying you're putting your name out there more. But just getting an invitation to that already. It just, you know, setting yourself up for a great future and success, especially as a sophomore in the game. You're not saying know that you got to compete against you know, all them other students around the room. sophomores, juniors, seniors, you know, there's a lot of pressure on you as a sophomore.

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Are you faced by that pressure? Are you excited to go? I'm

Unknown Speaker 12:50
not I'm not fazed at all. I just see it as another task. Who knows? Hey, we'll coach cause training. I feel like if I win, I will just see you know, so

Unknown Speaker 12:59
do you have any other teammates besides you in jet that were invited to that combine? Oh,

Unknown Speaker 13:03
yeah. My good brother. Prince Williams was avoided too.

Unknown Speaker 13:07
Okay. Okay. So, as an athlete, a lot of athletes have role models? What role models or athletes do you admire? And what qualities and skills do you aspire to emulate in your own game? Um,

Unknown Speaker 13:20
I say, um, I like like Derrick Henry a lot. Yeah. Because people was like, saying he's too big to play, run it back. And like, he wasn't gonna be an impact or any teams because of how big he is at a rumba and run it back. There just like I just watched, he developed due to Lee and he was breaking guards, rushing yards, touchdowns and stuff like that. And I just took that to my game, because, you know, I'm saying, people people use this talk and say that I was too big to play run a bad I was too big to be any type of position. No saying but other than the line. So I just, you know, say ignore them. It just looked at this. It says Derrick Henry. Yeah.

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One of the important parts of being an athlete is diet. Do you have a nutrition plan? And if so, what are what is that like? Especially considering you are the high end athlete that you are? Um,

Unknown Speaker 14:15
so my nutrition plan is, um, it really depends on how I'm feeling that day. So if I wake up in the morning, on time, like you know, I'm saying not sore anything from practice. I'll make a granola yogurt bowl to go. And then my dinner when I come back would be rice, steak, and so green beans.

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Okay. I'm great impressed got here, sports prep live. I'm here with starting defensive end for Bishop Gorman's. number one ranked football team Keaton Harris. Looking ahead, what are your aspirations for the future in your athletic career and what are the next steps you plan to take to reach those goals? Um,

Unknown Speaker 14:58
A few my future goals are to just continue to build on what I've been doing this year, you know, so that's just continuing to make a name for my last name, you know, just keep on representing my family and God, you know, God blessed me with a talent so I'm just going to keep on representing him and thank him for it. And you know, the goes I'm gonna take to get to them love was in the tomb is just grind this offseason, you know, just really spent a lot of time in the weight room of coach cause. Yeah.

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So let's talk about the team a little bit. You've talked about your practices, you've talked about your off the field bonding. What about in games? Do you have if you're having a down moment? Do you as a team? Do you come together? Do you talk about it? Or is it just the instinct of a player knowing what to do, and how to overcome those challenges? We're

Unknown Speaker 15:49
like, we're on a field. Like, we know, we got to step up as a team, we just all give each other that looks, you know, say we go on a huddle. And we just talk to each other, you know, a lot of teams in a in a field and they get frustrated and start yelling at each other. And I really breaks them down. But you know, say as US warmer players, we know saying we look at each other, we pat each other on the bus, we say, Hey, we got to focus, we got to really get this. Our CS is on the line right now. And every time that happens, you know, saying we see the outcome of something being good, and we go get it. All right. One

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of the things that, that I love to do with my guests is a rapid fire. And what I will do is I'll ask a series of questions, hoping to get short answers and some hot takes as well. So you're ready to go. Yeah. All right. Do you have a favorite NFL team?

Unknown Speaker 16:38
Los Angeles

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pregame routines. This is a little baby. Okay, toughest opponent you've ever faced. Mommy Central? Most touchdowns you've ever had in a game? Seven. Seven, Said? Timeout. How old were you? This was actually last year. You had seven touchdowns in one game against two legacy. Okay. Tell me about that. How did that come to happen?

Unknown Speaker 17:06
So once I figured out I figured out I was like, eight touchdowns away from breaking. I liked the freshman of all times. Touchdown record. Okay, so I just told Micah, you all say I could be could do 30 Great here. So we score scoring. And then once I realized, like, I was two tests on the way I scored again. And then so you know, it's a running clock, so I had to get taken out the game, so I never got to break the record

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out. What's the most points you've ever scored in a basketball game? 30. Go to pregame music.

Unknown Speaker 17:43
Little baby Friday forever. Okay,

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favorite place to play on the road?

Unknown Speaker 17:49
I say. I really, I really don't like playing on the road. I like playing at home.

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Favorite pregame snack or meal?

Unknown Speaker 17:59
I like I like um, I like Johnny rent rancher gummies.

Unknown Speaker 18:02
Okay, and if you weren't playing football, what would you be doing?

Unknown Speaker 18:06
I'll be playing basketball.

Unknown Speaker 18:09
Okay, um, let's let's talk a little bit outside of sports. Do you have any passions that and this isn't a rapid fire, you can take your time with this one. Outside of sports? Do you have any passions? Off the field off the court that a lot of people don't know about? I'm

Unknown Speaker 18:26
actually you know, saying I'm a very good but like building things. So like, I was maybe thinking about like, taking my taking my skills and like majoring in engineering. Oh, really? Yeah. Okay.

Unknown Speaker 18:41
So talk about that. You know, you want to major in engineering? How did that come to be? How did you find out that you liked building things? So

Unknown Speaker 18:51
like, um, every time like, my family needed help build us up. They're not saying they will struggle with it. But they like when they asked me to vote it is just like, always hidden, like, click in my head. And like, I'll just like, think about it. And like, I used to watch like, videos, like military videos, or like military engineers, like fishing trucks in light tanks and stuff. It just seemed like pretty cool to me. Okay.

Unknown Speaker 19:18
So I'll ask you about this. For young listeners who would like to pursue a career in athletics, what's the best piece of advice you have for making a name for yourself in sports?

Unknown Speaker 19:29
Oh, I like what I said, you know, I'd say Don't Don't chase the spotlight, you know, saying let the spotlight come to you. Don't don't go out seeking attention. You know, say, just stay humble to game. Don't try to go be like anybody else. You know, I'm saying everybody else is taking just be yourself.

Unknown Speaker 19:45
Okay. You had a great freshman season at Gorman. Can you tell us about the transition from Flint from playing freshman football and coming off the bench for varsity to being Being a full time starter on varsity. And what's that? What has that been like for you? Um,

Unknown Speaker 20:04
it's, it's kind of been like, at first at the beginning of the season, it was like, low jitters, you know, because like, not only was it like, a first time playing like a starter, but it's like my first time being a defensive and like full year spirits. Well, I, once again, my brothers, and I'll say they just taught to me, they let me know that there's gonna be here with me the whole season. So they got my back. And after that, you know, I'm saying I just felt, I just felt normal. I just started making plays on the field flying around, and it just felt natural to me. So

Unknown Speaker 20:36
you had a position change as well, your position changed. So

Unknown Speaker 20:39
you were what position? Was it a tight end last year?

Unknown Speaker 20:42
And you're a defensive end? Now? How did that come to be? Why didn't you stick with tight end? Oh,

Unknown Speaker 20:46
well, because if the if you look at it, at the tight end position, by now my cousin EI is there. Okay? Yeah, he's like, five star tight in it committed to Miami. So like, you to him at that position. So I just, I just go just flipped over to defense of him, because we need more bodies on the defensive side. So

Unknown Speaker 21:11
if you could sit down and have a conversation with any athlete past, present, or future, who would it be and why it doesn't have to be a high school athlete?

Unknown Speaker 21:19
Um, I say, Taylor Lorenz. Why is that? Because you know, saying, he played back in the day, so like, they rose was different. But I just want to like, just ask them for like, a vise. And I'm saying just knowing that knowing the game and point of view for like, his perspective of his time of the year.

Unknown Speaker 21:40
All right, I gotta ask. basketball season is coming up. Starting next month, or the month after that your football season is still going, you're obviously trying to close out the year with a national championship. Do you plan on playing basketball this year? Or are you going to stay focused on your football?

Unknown Speaker 21:59
Well, that that answer will be revealed after I get my ring

Unknown Speaker 22:05
after you get your ring. So you're declaring yourself a national champion?

Unknown Speaker 22:09
I'm declaring myself as a national championship.

Unknown Speaker 22:13
Okay, what what causes you to have that confidence in your team that you are ready to go get this national championship?

Unknown Speaker 22:21
Because, you know, saying we put in a preparation every week for the team that we play, you know, we grind every day on, you know, we give every team we played a credit and respect they deserve. But nobody's just, we're not just going to lay down and let you come and just disrespect us on our home field or any field. We're going to come out there and we're going to play you guys. Like the girls have been playing every opponent since they ever started playing football.

Unknown Speaker 22:47
All right, I've witnessed a few of your games this year, I've seen you play liberty, who was a team that you beat for any nine to six, or something close to that. And I've seen you play Miami Central, which was a game that you won by four points in the last second. Does your team have a different approach to those lesser opponents as they do to those top 10? Top five opponents? Or do you take every opponent seriously and decide, hey, no matter what it is, it's a football game. Anything can happen. We have to go out here and execute.

Unknown Speaker 23:16
Oh yeah, we treat we make every game as a coach Brian is saying is every time a team playoffs play us we wanted to make it feel like it's a Super Bowl.

Unknown Speaker 23:26
Okay, so you're so you're trying your hardest to execute on every play no plays off under any circumstances, no matter who you're playing, even if it's a foregone conclusion that you're going to win the game by 40 5060 points. As an individual player, how do you stay focused even in those games that you are up by a lot? Or it's a close game? How do you how do you stay focused and no hey, I have to execute no matter what's going on?

Unknown Speaker 23:57
Oh, I just think about all the people that's counting on me like my mom to be honest and God because you know, saying if if I fail you know, I'm saying who's gonna take care of my mom so that's all I'm thinking about when I'm when I feel that close game and stuff like that. I gotta see sees log take my mom in the future.

Unknown Speaker 24:15
Yeah. And what about short term goals? You've talked about wanting to take care of your family, but short term goals just specific to you. Say start of your junior year. What are some of those short term goals that you have on the football field?

Unknown Speaker 24:32
I would like to I would like to lease you know, say my junior year lease break the sack record Araguari was relieved. They say it was seven sacks or something like that. Yeah, that's what I want to do. Seven

Unknown Speaker 24:45
sacks in a season. Yeah. Okay. So you want to break the sack record? And what are you going to do to try to pursue that goal?

Unknown Speaker 24:55
Yan has just worked out an offseason. Like some NFL trainers come back home during the season and the workout will coach calls. All

Unknown Speaker 25:05
right. You obviously have had a very successful high school career so far, one that most could envy. But if you could go back and tell give a piece of advice to your younger self, what would you tell yourself

Unknown Speaker 25:20
to not stress to not stress over a lot of things, you know? Just continue to grind. Just play you own. Try to change yourself because you see other kids get at things that you wish you had. Because your mommy will come home when you get that moment. You got to make sure you Shawn.

Unknown Speaker 25:37
All right. I'll ask you a few more rapid fire questions. But these are more specific to basketball. So I asked you about football. We're going to talk about your other sport basketball. Most or not. I think I asked that already. longest time you've ever gone without touching the basketball.

Unknown Speaker 25:55
for football season. I never touch a basketball or football season.

Unknown Speaker 25:58
So when was the last time you touched a basketball?

Unknown Speaker 26:04
ever touch a basketball since December.

Unknown Speaker 26:08
Who's your favorite player of all time?

Unknown Speaker 26:11
Shaquille O'Neal?

Unknown Speaker 26:12
That makes sense. You have a if you could play one on one against any player ever. Who would it be?

Unknown Speaker 26:18
She killed you? Would you win? Nah.

Unknown Speaker 26:23
Start bench cut Kima Liza one. Shaquille O'Neal and Kareem. I'm

Unknown Speaker 26:29
gonna start Shakeel. Okay, it's Kareem. They cut.

Unknown Speaker 26:36
I came Yankee high top or low cut shoes.

Unknown Speaker 26:42
It depends on like, it depends on the model.

Unknown Speaker 26:44
All right. Your favorite position? Um,

Unknown Speaker 26:50
I just like to play not knowing I had to play a position. And

Unknown Speaker 26:53
who's the toughest opponent you've ever felt individual opponent. So one player?

Unknown Speaker 26:58
I don't think I don't think I've ever played he is somebody who was like, dang, he really gives me a run for my money.

Unknown Speaker 27:03
Oh, so you you just you got it like that?

Unknown Speaker 27:07
Yeah. Yeah, that's going back since you know, say I play against everybody. Including great books. What?

Unknown Speaker 27:15
Books? Man, you're trippin. You know you like playing with me. All right, Catherine. Thank you for joining me on the show today. It's been a blast having you as always. Everybody, thank you for tuning in to this episode of sports prep live on 91.5k u n v HD, two radio. I'm Brandon Prescott and as always have a great day. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of sports prep live. I'm grading Prescott and don't forget to catch all of our episodes on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts and be sure to follow us on Instagram or Twitter at sports rep law. Thank you

Transcribed by https://otter.ai