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Graydon Prescott 0:17
Hey everybody, and welcome to another episode of sports prep live. Sports prep live, where we unbox the bike and talk excellent in athletics.

Welcome back to sports prep live, everybody. I'm your host. Graydon Prescott, today we got, we got more of a fun conversation, not not too many serious things going on in the sports world. So we can take an episode here for me. You know, the last few I've, I've probably got my blood pressure up a little bit too high. So I can sit back, relax and just, you know, enjoy myself a little bit on this one. Okay? Got my man KB here as usual. So we got a lot of things to talk about. We're gonna start we're gonna start with, we're gonna start with the WNBA, okay? And as we predicted on the last episode, to both of our credit, extremely accurately, and a few days prior to the actual signing, Stephanie white is the head coach of the Indiana Indian Indiana Fever. Yes, you know, like we said last time, Christie sides was, was they parted ways? Is their terminology, but the real word is, they fired her. She got fired, so they parted ways with Christy sides, Connecticut does the same with Stephanie white, and us knowing the history of Stephanie white with the fever, although

K.B. 1:41
there's an asterisk on that one, because, yeah, yeah, we, they only did. We covered that she was gonna walk. They knew she was on her way out

Graydon Prescott 1:49
the door, right? So they just, you know, made it look better for them and she wasn't gonna be harmed by it at all. So she takes the job in Indiana. I think it's a great fit. Indiana girl, absolutely went to Purdue. Yes, she coached for the fever for a couple of years. A few years back, she played there, played there, she was a member of the organization in their championship year. So that's a big thing for her. And I think her her first interview after signing with the team. I think she really, really hit the nail on the head over the things she stressed. So she said that things she was looking forward to were number one generational talent, Caitlin Clark, she's got that. And she also emphasized Aaliyah Boston, who was also a rookie of the year. So she said she has the last two rookie of the year. She's got a young team she can build on. But what I was happy to hear was she made sure to emphasize Kelsey Mitchell. She did. Kelsey Mitch, yes, I didn't hear these comments, yeah, yeah, yeah. So in her, in her, in her, in interview, introducing sure as the coach of the Indiana Fever. Officially, it was, it was kind of a zoom interview, and you know, the reporter asked her, you know, some questions about what she thought of the roster and why she decided to take the job. So she talked about her past with Indiana a little bit. And then she talked about the roster. She called Caitlin Clark, a quote, generational talent, right? Said Aliyah Boston was also, you know, huge part. She loved having the idea of having the last two rookie of the years. And then she went on to talk about Kelsey Mitchell, and saying that Kelsey Mitchell is as important to as anybody else to this team. She can't wait to have the opportunity to coach just a baller,

K.B. 3:33
and this needed to happen. Yeah, absolutely, because Kelsey Mitchell is a free

Graydon Prescott 3:37
agent. And I think what she said about Kelsey Mitchell, it's gonna help keeping her in Indiana, sure, which is something that I'm fully in support of. I think that Kelsey Mitchell should stay. I think they gotta go ahead of them she can. Yeah, absolutely. So I think it's in her best interest and the fevers best interest. Obviously, it's the fevers best interest. But you know, my personal belief is that in her best interest as well, she should stay in Indiana. She's got a coach who already has expressed her joy and excitement to coach

K.B. 4:09
resigner back up the truck. So super, Max, Max, whatever it is that drive in the W and BM. So

Graydon Prescott 4:15
I think that woman absolutely, you know. So I think this is perfect for both parties. Of course, Stephanie white and the fever. They're gonna thrive under her. Her style fits. She likes to play fast. She's gonna help them on decent she

K.B. 4:32
is a great coach. She's a great coach. That's an upgrade. No disrespect to Christie sides, yeah, yeah. There are levels to this. Yeah, yeah. We know. Stephanie White is a really good coach, obviously, a hometown girl, as you said, played with the organization there when they won a championship, assistant coach, and I think she had an interim stint as head coach for a couple of years as well. She knows them really well, and I think she's excited to get back, you know, to the her basketball roots. And, you know, kind of a hometown girl with respect to the state there. So I could not endorse this more. I think it's a big upgrade. I expect some really big things from out of Indiana Fever this coming season and over the I mean, she's, she's a workhorse too. So just in their preseason, you're going to be able to see a noticeable difference, right? She approaches basketball differently.

Graydon Prescott 5:22
So you said you expect big things from the fever. How big? Obviously,

K.B. 5:25
I expect a playoff win. I play off birth. I expect them to win a series or two, really, yes, so they have the talent.

Graydon Prescott 5:34
So let's talk about that. Four teams in the WNBA can win a playoff series, just four, and those are going to be your four teams that are in the semifinal round. You think the fever are going to be one of those four teams to win a series?

K.B. 5:50
I think the fever can win a series. Minnesota is going to win one. What happened last year? I felt needed to happen. Yeah, they needed to get the cobwebs out. The second half of the season was outstanding for the Indian favor. I think that was important for their confidence to know what they're capable of. And now, because there were some, you know, in some games that we watched, there were some questionable calls with respect to Christie sides, there were some decisions that she made that I just did not understand at the time, and maybe some higher ups, if the organization didn't understand those decisions. And I think those decisions were the difference between a 20 and 20 season, and maybe a 22 or 25 right, in 14 or whatever season. So I think that those small steps are going to lead to big outcomes, those, those kind of changes that you will see in decision making with respect to the coach. So I do expect some big things. I expect to play off birth, obviously, and I expect them to win a series, and possibly two. If they win two, they're in the finals. They're in the finals. Now I so I'll take that back. I expect them to win. I personally

Graydon Prescott 7:00
think that the finals are going to be a rematch. I think I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be New York and Minnesota again. And I'm going to, and I, I will stand by for those teams. Whoa, yeah, and I'm going to stand by Minnesota. I think Minnesota. I'm not going to go off on another tangent here, but I will say I think Minnesota deserves to be the champions now. And I think too, I'm not gonna go off on another tangent. I'll

K.B. 7:24
leave it alone, yeah, but I do too. All right, it's

Graydon Prescott 7:26
great, impressed out here on Sports prep live, we're discussing a lot today, so make sure you stay right into it. So on the topic of the Indiana Fever, there is, there's a person who's a common topic of discussion on this show. Her name's Caitlin Clark. She she received an offer, yes, that I was made aware of from the unrivaled Basketball League. That's

K.B. 7:50
the league owned by, well, started by Stewie Brianna Stewart and Nafisa Collier, who were teammates at

Graydon Prescott 7:57
UConn. Yes. So they started a league together. It's a three on three basketball league. It's gonna be on TNT starting in January, right? And they made Caitlin Clark an offer for 600 or, excuse me, $760,000 correct, over three months. Yes, you made it

K.B. 8:19
closely, grossly she would be grossly underpaid, grossly underpaid.

Graydon Prescott 8:25
Why? Let's just say annually in the WNBA, she's making about 75 $76,000

K.B. 8:33
right, right? Money she probably is not even aware of. I don't even know what she's cashing those checks.

Graydon Prescott 8:37
So making $760,000 over three months is $253,333 a month. Yes, roughly, yes. And some change, underpaid. How underpaid? All

K.B. 8:50
right? How underpaid, yeah, how, as in, why do I say no?

Graydon Prescott 8:56
What? Give me a number. What

K.B. 8:57
number would make it? Let's

Graydon Prescott 8:59
Okay, let's just go by month, right? So she's making $253,000 a month, roughly correct. We'll round it down to 250 Okay, give me a number that you think should be added to that. 250,700 $50,000 $1 million a month. Yes, for three months. Yes, in a 3v three basket per month, per a million dollars per month, yes

K.B. 9:21
to play three on three basketball, yes. And here is why, by a league that hasn't had a single game played. That is not Caitlin's problem. That is not Caitlin's agents problem. That is the problem of the organizers and the sponsorship development team and the production team and the sales team. Do

Graydon Prescott 9:43
they even have the resources to give her a million dollars a month? Well, then

K.B. 9:47
I would say, if they don't have the resources to give her a million dollars a month, come back when you do right because we already know right past this prolog. We know what Kayla. Clark brings to the table in terms of interest, viewership, sponsorship, engagement, yeah, we don't have to go over that again. Caitlin's got probably 15 sponsors in her backpack, right? She comes with sponsors, right? And there's no way you can tell me, Caitlin's going to be a part of a league and Gatorade is not going to get involved. Nike's not going to get involved. Now, Nike does have a relationship currently with Brianna Stewart, but not to the extent that she they do with that they do with Caitlin Clark. So you got Gatorade, you got XFINITY, you've got Nike State Farm. I mean, we could go on and on here. GM, so there is no way that some of those companies aren't going to get involved in a league that Caitlin is a part of. So I know that they want to give her equity cool. I think they're giving everyone equity who participates in it. And so maybe they give her a little bit more equity, but their budget or a lack of budget is not Caitlin's problem. If you want Caitlyn, because you know you're going to get more eyeballs, which is more viewerships, which is more sponsorship revenue. With sponsorship dollars, if you want that outcome, you've got to have the input. So $250,000 a month doesn't even get me to pick up the phone. If I'm Caitlin Clark's agent, it's got to be a million dollars a month, nice round number, and that might be a bargain. So we already know, right? And so that the listeners understand that there is a little bit of of history here. Ice Cube in his league, right? The Big Three they offer, they play about the same amount of time that the unrivaled league will play. You know, in fact, I think they're a little bit less, right? About three, let's call it three months, 90 days of basketball. He offered Caitlin Clark $5 million a year. And a year is three months in this league, right? So ten million to sign for two years, which is really about 12 to 14 weeks of work.

Graydon Prescott 12:07
And he said with the POS or with the strong possibility of more correct,

K.B. 12:13
because he knew the eyeballs that she's going to bring. He knew the sponsorships that were going to be brought to bear. So if he's starting and ladies and gentlemen, stay with me here. Bear with me. Now. That was the opening offer, ten million I heard as high as 15 million, but that was the opening offer. So his initial offer to Caitlin, the Clark's team, was 10 million for about 12 to 14 weeks of work, and unrivaled wants to pay her $250,000 a month for three months of work. Well,

Graydon Prescott 12:48
let's, let's, let's talk about this though big three yes

K.B. 12:52
is established. Well, I know where you're going.

Graydon Prescott 12:57
Ice Cube has resources that Brianna Stewart and Nafisa collei are as great as they are, don't have but ice cube is a multi, multi ice cube is worth $100 million

K.B. 13:07
however, but unrivaled has a resource, a content, resource that the big three doesn't have. What's that we respect the guys that are playing the big three, but these guys are past their prime. A couple of them are college players, but most of them are guys who are past their prime. They did have

Graydon Prescott 13:26
experience. They played into him. Shout out to my guy, Jason, Richardson.

K.B. 13:30
Jason, maybe, and he's been hooping so but most of it still Duncan. He's crazy. He's crazy talented, but most of those guys are past their prime, and so the eyeballs that they are going to generate is nowhere near that's why ice cube offered Caitlyn Clark what he offered her, because she is going to bring eyeballs that they just cannot Garner themselves. And Caitlin would do the same thing for on right? Absolutely, absolutely, and they've signed.

Graydon Prescott 14:00
Let's go, let's go over Stewie and Nafisa as possible sponsorships. So I know you said Stewie has a

K.B. 14:10
deal with Nike.

Graydon Prescott 14:10
I'm pretty sure it's Puma that she signed to. She has a signature shoe with,

K.B. 14:14
oh, okay, okay, I'm sorry. I knew she had a shoe. Yeah, it's

Graydon Prescott 14:19
with Puma, and that's all the more reason. But the problem with that is those are conflicting. So you bring in Caitlyn Nike becomes interested. What the heck are you going to do with Puma? Well,

K.B. 14:29
I don't think that they would say you have to wear Puma shoes. And even if they did, they would make an exception for someone who was under she signed a Nike Yeah, correct. So they would make it except, so that's not the issue, that that's a small that's a mole hill. They need to deal with the mountain. And the mountain is the amount that they paid her. Now I think that they did something that was strategically shrewd, which was they signed Lexi Hall to unrivaled, and they signed, yeah, and they signed. Kate Martin, that was a chess move. I like that. I respect that. That was a chess move. And so they're trying to pull on her heartstrings. And they may need to do that. It could be that Caitlin says, You know what, I don't need the money. You know who else they signed? And she doesn't, you know who else they signed? I know they signed jewel Lloyd.

Graydon Prescott 15:20
We're missing one more to pull on Caitlin's heartstrings a little bit.

K.B. 15:24
Oh, what's her name? The college player that she was with? No,

Graydon Prescott 15:30
no, this is a college rival. Now turns Oh, Angel. College rival turned teammate, actually, well,

K.B. 15:40
Angel was a college rival, but you said to her team, okay, Boston, yeah, Boston,

Graydon Prescott 15:43
there you go. Yeah. They brought in Aaliyah, Boston. Okay,

K.B. 15:47
so that's two teammates and one of her best friends, if not her best friend in the sport, yeah. So they are, they're going for the heartstring, and that may work. Caitlin may say, You know what? I know that you guys are young. You don't have the money yet. I'm going to do it because

Graydon Prescott 16:05
they have quite the list of people. They do. They got, obviously, we got Stu and Nafisa. They don't have Asia, and they don't have Caitlin. They have, they have the people to get Asia, though, you got Kelsey Plum, yes, they got Jackie young. They got Chelsea gray. They got jewel Lloyd, who, you know, they got Kalia copper, close with Asia and Jackie young, you know, we could go on so, so Angel Reese. They're

K.B. 16:32
going to get sponsors that, but they're going to have to share that revenue with the 800 pound gorilla in this roster. And Caitlin Clark is the 800 pound gorilla in terms of viewership, interest, eyeballs, sponsorship, interest, all of that sorts of fun stuff. We all know it. Her agents know it. So again, they may be tugging on those heart strings. And maybe she says, You know what? I'm going to do it anyway, because I'm good financial financially and she's good, she's beyond good. So maybe she does that, and if she does, I understand it. I have no problem with it, but I'm just talking about pure economics. $250,000 is not going to get it done per month. And I know that's a lot of money for most people. I'm only talking about in the context of who Caitlin is as an WNBA star. Yeah, she deserves it. She may not demand it, but she certainly could get it. Great.

Graydon Prescott 17:28
And Prescott here on Sports prep live, you're listening to the hottest news going on in women's basketball right now. Now, Caitlin, she was a superstar. She is a superstar in the WNBA. You know, she's well on her way to becoming a mega star, but she was the biggest star in the history of college basketball. You know, who's on pace to break her scoring record right now? Yes, I do. Juju Watkins, yes, I do break her scoring record. And Juju was in town just recently, right playing against Ole Miss. Ole Miss is no slouch, ladies and gentlemen, awesome. Ole Miss has been a perennial Sweet 16 team sure for the past five bulletin squad, they're ranked number 20 in the country right now. They went up against USC put up a little bit of fight. It was, you know, 1314, point game, but, but juju, she showed out, not

K.B. 18:20
at the end. It wasn't, yeah, it was for 6866

Graydon Prescott 18:25
Yeah, I mean, but if you look, if you watch the game, USC was in control the whole way, and then at the end, Ole Miss kind of clawed back into it. Okay,

K.B. 18:35
well, the end matters, right? That, you know, we, I'm not convinced we play until the clock hits triple zero. Yes,

Graydon Prescott 18:43
that's true, but I'm not fully convinced, but I get it. That's not your point. If those teams play five six times, that's not gonna USC just let their foot off the gas. This is tough though they are, but they're tough. USC, for my money, is a top three four. They're probably under ranked. They're tough, but USC is one of the best teams. Your point being Juju Watkins. But Juju Watkins, 27 points in double double effort, rebounds,

K.B. 19:09
yeah. I mean, just does everything she could play. I heard Stephen A and she could play in the WNBA round talking about it, and that's the point that they were making. She could play in the WNBA today and be an all star and be hoping, yeah, yes, absolutely. Juju Watkins is the truth. I can. I'm I was so glad you know she's right here in Las Vegas. In that game against Ole Miss, just an exciting basketball player. She was here last year, so we got a chance to see her last year. Yeah, you get a chance, folks, ladies and gentlemen, she's at USC, so there'll be a lot of opportunities to check them out. You know, we Vegas residents go find all sorts of reasons to go out to California. So if you get a chance to check Juju Watkins out, she is unbelievable as a basketball player. Yeah,

Graydon Prescott 19:54
she had 27 points. And

K.B. 19:57
speaking of which, there was a hometown boy. That's. Came back. Was also in that tournament, played a couple days ago at Ohio State.

Graydon Prescott 20:05
Yep, I used to go to school with him, Judy, John Mobley

K.B. 20:09
Junior. Shout out to shout out to Judy. Played at Bishop Gorman, and he balled out for Ohio State, and Ohio State wasn't ranked, and they beat Texas, and their All Star freshman guard Trey Johnson, who was, I believe, the number five recruit in the country freshman class. Trey Johnson is a Hooper. He played here as well earlier this year, and they actually played at the practice arena for the ACES against Cooper flag squad. Yeah, and Cooper flags team, for the most part, was putting it on them, and then Trey got in his bag, and I think it might have been a three point separation by the end of the game this this kid can flat out ball. He shouldn't have gone to Texas. He broke Kevin Durant's record for the most points ever in the history of Texas by a freshman. I think Kevin had Katie had 20, and I think in a debut, or in a debut, in a debut, freshman, I think KD had 20, and I believe Trey dropped 29 points, 2929 five. Unbelievable. Yeah. But Ohio, and they're ranked, I think, 19th,

Graydon Prescott 21:19
but

K.B. 21:20
he got the victory.

Graydon Prescott 21:21
He shouldn't have gone to Texas. And let me tell you why. Trey Johnson, freshman, 18 years old. So true, true freshman. This kid is nice. He comes in. They play Ohio State. Trey Johnson, 29.5 rebounds and four assists. You want me to read off everybody else who scored 10 points and five rebounds, zero. Sis, 10 points and five rebounds, zero. Sis, eight points and eight rebounds, five, two and 283520,

K.B. 21:50
okay, I get it sub par, but that's an initial game, so let's see what happens after about four, oh and two, actually, oh, really, yeah, okay, so I'll say it's early in the season. Let's see what's what happens about five, six games in, and then, you know, I may be in agreement with you that, that maybe he should have gone to a different program. Well, he's going straight to the league, but, yeah, he's a who. He's only, he's only going to be there a year. He's only going to be there a year. Trey Johnson is the truth. But also in that game again, as we were referencing, is, was Judy, yeah,

Graydon Prescott 22:24
14 points.

K.B. 22:26
He hooped. I mean, he shot lights out for the start, 14 points in 13 minutes. But he earned his minutes, and I thought he should have been on the floor longer than he actually, yeah, they ended up winning the game. He

Graydon Prescott 22:37
only played 13 minutes. Yeah, and he scored. He was the fourth highest score, 14. He

K.B. 22:41
is a baller. I can see his body is filled out. Yeah, it was really good to see him. I mean, hoping you can tell you know he's going to be, he's not a starter yet, but he's going to get that role. Yeah, he's going to be in the next year to year or two. Yeah, he's going to be just fine. He was actually a part of that really talented Bishop Gorman team that

Graydon Prescott 22:59
just kind of fell apart. Yeah, we talked to Jackson about that. Yes.

K.B. 23:03
Jackson Richardson, Chase Richardson, Chris newly, Junie, Chris newly, both of those guys went up to Wasatch in Utah, that team, which you thought might have been able to pick up two state championships, just completely fell apart and

Graydon Prescott 23:19
a lot of friction, and probably could have contended, or should have contended, for a national. National, yes,

K.B. 23:25
I mean, they opened up the season, the personalities got in the way. They opened up the season ranked number eight in the nation. That team was for real, yeah, but, but personality conflict, no chemistry,

Graydon Prescott 23:36
yeah, no chemistry whatsoever. Lost to teams. They shouldn't have lost

K.B. 23:40
it. So all those guys leave. They had those guys together. They didn't win the championship. They all leave, yeah, and then kind of basically the second unit steps in and wins a state championship, right? Because there was cohesion and chemistry and eagles weren't at play right

Graydon Prescott 23:53
on one on one final note, sticking to college basketball as we got about six minutes left here. UNLV men's basketball program started off the season one and Oh, with a 93 to 79 victory over Alabama State. Yes, big win for them. You know, I'm happy to see them getting on, getting in the win column first,

K.B. 24:18
expecting some big things from them. What is in the water here at UNLV, right? Football team, the basketball now.

Graydon Prescott 24:25
Now let's, let's not, let's not get over zealous. It's one game, it is. But

K.B. 24:30
you see things, right? They're telegraphing some things. Let's

Graydon Prescott 24:35
talk about Jeremiah cherry, aka bear, 24.1 missed shot in his division. One. Dave, unbelievable. He

K.B. 24:43
went 10 for 11, just balling out 24 points. DJ, dropping dimes left and right. You know we know about DJ. Thomas logo three, a hometown boy from from Liberty High School.

Graydon Prescott 24:53
Yeah, man. You that team we were talking about. DJ, ripped them to shred. Yeah? Yes. I mean, he had a triple double, yeah.

K.B. 25:04
He's another kid that just completely skipped his senior year in high school. That's how nice he was. Comes into UNLV Division one. So he go. He goes from 11th grade, ladies and gentlemen, to a division one basketball program. Starts.

Graydon Prescott 25:19
Immediately. Starts. Yeah, starts immediately.

K.B. 25:22
DJ, Thomas can ball, he is cold. He is a Hobart,

Graydon Prescott 25:26
yeah, DJ, DJ is cold blooded. So I'm really looking forward to this UNLV team, absolutely,

K.B. 25:32
you know,

Graydon Prescott 25:33
I think they're going to do some,

K.B. 25:35
expect some good things out of him this year. You bet, absolutely

Graydon Prescott 25:39
is great, impressed out here on Sports prep live, and we're just wrapping things up. But I got one more thing to ask you. KB, okay, what do you think of that Duke opening game?

K.B. 25:51
Man, this kid, we have talked about him on the show before. I just, I don't know if I have they played Maine, I don't, it doesn't matter. They know him in Maine, they know Cooper flag in Maine, so I should have been ready. They should have been ready. And what we mean by that lady Cooper flag is from Maine, yeah, mains,

Graydon Prescott 26:13
I'm waiting for,

K.B. 26:13
I'm waiting for the 12th. They know, yes, I'm waiting for the 26th

Graydon Prescott 26:17
Yeah, that's when they but their first ranked game is the 12th, and then they play the 22nd and the 26th they're going to be some tests. The 22nd they play number 10, and

K.B. 26:29
I think these are just that they're going to pass like this team is looking incredible, Cooper flag. Oh, my goodness, another guy, and that's who I was referencing when I talked about DJ Thomas jumping from the 11th grade to division one basketball. Well, being a starter, technically

Graydon Prescott 26:47
speaking, technically speaking, Cooper jumped. He skipped 11th grade altogether. He just went from two grades, yes. He just went from sophomore year to senior, a senior, yeah. And then went, made the jump, correct one. But I mean, he he's 17 years old. Cooper

K.B. 27:03
should be a junior in high school, like senior. Now. He's 17. He skipped two grades. He'll be 18 in December. Okay, okay, which is so he's crazy, which is crazy to think he'll be eight, unbelievable somewhere, and to come in and D work into a d1 program like that as a young buck, yeah, 17 and just balling, man, balling, dunking. The crowds getting hype. You know, Cameron indoor arena is just, yeah, yeah, that's some of the best basketball in the world, which case I expect nothing, but there's just not enough adjectives to describe this kid. He is unbelievable.

Graydon Prescott 27:37
Thank you everybody for tuning in to this episode of sports prep live. Make sure you're tuned in next week, we're gonna have some big things to talk about, a lot of things to recap in the sports world. I'm Graydon Prescott. Everybody have a great night. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of sports prep live. I'm Graydon Prescott, and don't forget to catch all of our episodes on Apple Spotify or wherever you get your podcast, and be sure to follow us on Instagram or Twitter at sports rep live, thank you.