It feels odd when you say it, and maybe I’m just taking the salesman bait, but there are a lot of class acts in college basketball. That was the phrase Mark Madsen used last night to describe Andy Kennedy, and Kennedy spoke similarly of Madsen. Following these NITs up close, seeing coaches in this narrow channel of being humbled while succeeding, you see a lot of class.
That’s on the mind today because Scott Drew was unnecessarily nice to me last night and gave The Barking Crow an interview at halftime of the second game while taking in the NIT Final Four:
On the list of coaches who’ve been unnecessarily nice to me once and mean to me zero times, Scott Drew now joins Shaka Smart. Does this mean we’ll defend Drew as ardently as we defend Smart? Only if it comes to that.
More From the NIT
A few things I didn’t get to in About Last NITe:
- We learned, via Myron Medcalf, that Kai Huntsberry’s dad is Howard Huntsberry, who was in the movie La Bamba and was on the soundtrack for Ghostbusters II; and that Kai Huntsberry is related to Lil Fizz, who was in attendance last night.
- It’s still unclear (to me at least) why Drew was in attendance, but the best guess seems to be that he was supporting Grant McCasland during their final moments before being conference rivals. That, or Baylor is about to go into the transfer portal and take every piece of talent the NIT Final Four had.
- Mark Madsen is officially taking the Cal job, and as of fifteen hours ago his wife still hadn’t had their baby.
- For the first game, I was sitting in between some of Max Klesmit’s family and I *think* Connor Essegian’s family. A big chunk of NIT Final Four attendance—especially in situations like this, where the schools are either smaller brands or further away—is family.
UNC Transfer Update
Since we last spoke about UNC, two more players have entered the transfer portal, bringing the number to six. Caleb Love wasn’t a surprise, and Will Shaver will be transferring downwards, but six players in the transfer portal is a lot. Plenty of UNC fans are saying Love’s departure will bring UNC back to greatness, citing the fact this year’s team seemed to hate each other. Strangely, many UNC fans said Love’s shooting against UCLA last year kept UNC great in the first place. Which is it, dear friends in Chapel Hill?
Heading the other way, UNC picked up Paxson Wojcik. Wojcik, a second-team All-Ivy Leaguer graded by EvanMiya as the third-best player on the fifth-place team in, again, the Ivy League, gives UNC a human being willing to wear its uniform, which is something this program desperately needs right now.
The Aaron Rodgers Latest
I’ve been off my Aaron Rodgers Whispering, and I’ve missed it. Let’s see what could possibly be meant by the following:
“I was really looking forward to the conversations with Aaron to see how he fit into that,” Gutekunst said Monday. “Those never transpired. So there came a time where we had to make some decisions, so we went through his representatives to try to talk to him [about] where were we going with our team. At that point, they informed us that he would like to be traded to the Jets.”
You know how in some cultures, the old walk off alone into the wilderness to die when they feel they’ve become too much a burden on their tribe? I don’t think that’s what Aaron Rodgers is doing here.
One way to understand Aaron Rodgers is that he’s Jordan Rodgers’s brother. Jordan Rodgers, famously, is prone to behaving like a loser and a piece of shit. There’s an instinct here to use this fact to prop Aaron up in the Rodgers Family Cold War. I’ve done it a lot myself. But really, what this should probably tell us is that due to both their DNA and family of origin being largely the same, they’re probably similar people, and neither is probably all that great a guy. For Aaron, this seems to manifest itself in him dubiously claiming rejection by those close to him, which in this case is the Green Bay Packers.
Could Gute have been lying? Ehh. Why would he? It doesn’t do a lot for him to cast Rodgers as the bad guy. It’s not necessary. Unless Gute is really reading a different part of the room than I am, Packers fans wouldn’t be that mad if the Packers had just decided it was time to move on from Rodgers. At the very least, it’s mixed. Also, what Gute said was mostly things that are either true or false. There aren’t impressions there. The conversations either happened or they didn’t.
Joe Kelly Opening Day Watch
The first pitch of Astros/White Sox tomorrow is allegedly at 7:08 PM EDT. (Yes, they’re making Joe Kelly watch the Astros hang the banner, congratulations to the Astros fans who are turning their first universally respected banner-raising into a continuation of their feud with a pitcher they say they think so little of.) The NIT Championship tips off at 9:40 PM EDT. Did Rob Manfred install the faster pace of play rules to win me back by getting my favorite pitcher into the game before North Texas and UAB begin play? I don’t know. But it would be very nice of him if he did.
Keith Tkachuk Loves the Sens
I’m in a weird spot in between hockey fans and people who don’t follow hockey at all, and within that weird spot, I peripherally follow the Ottawa Senators as a semi-joke that hasn’t fully developed yet. I say all that to say: Some of you know exactly who Keith Tkachuk is, and for the rest: He played in the NHL, his son Brady plays for the Sens, and his son Matthew plays for the Panthers. They are a chaotic family. Today, Keith had this to say on Toronto 1050:
“(The Panthers) are a soft team and they are getting everything they deserve right now.”
He went on to say that the Panthers should hit a little more instead of fawning over the Maple Leafs’ stars, and that while the Senators “may not be the talented team…they’re going to play hard.”
Strong words after the Sens spanked the Panthers on Monday, with both teams chasing the Penguins for the final playoff spot in the East. Sens don’t play tonight, Panthers play the Leafs, Islanders plays the Capitals and at this point a Capitals win would probably offer more hope for our Sens. Eight games to play for most of these guys.
Pat Bev vs. LeBron
The Bulls lost to the Clippers on Monday, so no West Coast sweep, but now they get to play the Lakers again back in Chicago with both teams in the middle of the Play-In Tournament seed jostling in their respective conferences. LeBron James: He’s just like us.
Anyway, when the two played this weekend, Pat Bev punked LeBron with the “too small,” so I for one am excited for the rematch. Also scared. But really? I don’t know. What does LeBron gain by scoring 50 against Pat Bev? Some adoring TikToks from 29-year-olds whose lives revolve around being an Online NBA Fan™? LeBron is supposed to be better than Pat Beverley. LeBron is supposed to be better than the Bulls.
House money.
