SEC SQUAD - Spring Game CRISIS | Will LSU CANCEL Future Spring Games?

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0:40

Some key injuries in some of the SEC spring games over the Weekend could we see the end of spring games soon? It's time to get our squad together.

1:11

You're talking ball with the SEC squad.

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From Alabama to Tennessee, from Georgia to

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Oklahoma, Oklahoma, from Auburn to Texas, it's

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the local experts of the Locked On

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Podcast network bringing you scoops, breakdowns and the most comprehensive preview of the upcoming SEC weekend. It's the SEC Squad and we have a seat for you.

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Hurt feelings and thin skin are prohibited.

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Squad up. You're part of the SEC squad.

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Hey, what's up everybody? Welcome to the SEC squad. Sit back, grab your favorite beverage and join us as we get you ready for another week talking all things sec. And thank you guys for making Locked on the number one sports podcast network out there. Joining us on our squad show this week, we've got Corey Burton from Locked On Vandy, Chris Marler from Locked On Gamecocks. We got Jimmy Stein locked on Bama and John Miller Locked on Mizzou. I'm Chris Gordy, host of Locked on sec. And guys, we had seven spring games last Saturday. Really six. Texas was a scrimmage, but nonetheless two were televised in Georgia and A M. But others like Auburn, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Texas A and M and Vandy, you had to attend if you wanted to see the action. So I want to start there because we had a couple of injuries right out of the gates. Georgia running back Nate Frazier suffered injury on the first play of Georgia spring game. Texas A and M lost their captain, linebacker Damian Sanford. He had to Be carted off. So it sounds like a pretty serious injury there. Astro Beth, Ashton Bethel Roman got hurt. Sounds like he'll be okay. But any concern, guys with teams may be saying, you know what, we're gonna shut these things down. Spring games just seem to not be much good for anybody. Or is that just an overreaction?

1:47

Alabama also lost a receiver, Noah Rogers, a transfer from NC State, sort of, I guess you could say, kind of won a starting wide receiver role. Looks like he's going to miss most of the season. So that is, that is a big blow for an Alabama. I don't think spring game injuries or spring practice injuries are new, but people, people pay more attention to them. Chris. I think, I think it's a situation where, where teams, schools, programs are almost looking for an excuse not to do it. Like, what excuse can we use? And, and if they'll use an injury excuse. It's certainly been de emphasized at Alabama for, for whatever reason, from Saban to deboer. And there's external factors, sure. But the spring games have been DE emphasized at Alabama over, over DeBore's three seasons.

2:59

I'll tell you what, at Vanderbilt, the quarterbacks went live in a couple of scrimmages, so I don't think Clark Lee's backing off anything.

3:50

I think it's already over.

3:57

Darius Rucker concert instead of an actual spring game. That's where we're at. I personally love it. I think they need to do away with all spring games and we need to move to a 48,000-team playoff. And that's the only way we're gonna fix this.

3:59

Yeah, really, just, just shift the entire college football schedule to the UFL schedule. Let' all dominate our lives for 12 months a year.

4:14

Why not just have two seasons and like, just have it every. Like TV is like the fall season, spring season, you know, I like that idea, but no, in all seriousness, I. I think it's. You're gonna start to see it kind of mimic the NFL where you have like two or three OTA periods. Like you have an OTA period and in March, you have an OTA period in April and you have one in June right before fall camp. And then obviously training camp pops up. But I mean, you get injuries in training camp, so where does it stop?

4:23

I mean, Corey, from your mouth to God's ears. As far as getting that much access in the off season, if we could have an NFL like model, that'd be great. I haven't seen Austin Simmons throw live football yet. I mean, Missouri, I think, is the ultimate example of a team that has looked for the excuse to not have a spring game in public the last couple seasons. They've got the, of course, the Memorial Stadium for O field construction that is ongoing. It's going to be done by this fall, supposedly on schedule. But to me, that's just an obvious excuse. And I just think you're not going to put the toothpaste back in the tube. I think the Missouri black and gold game, something that's gone on for, I don't know, decades, maybe even 100 years, I think it's done. I really do.

4:50

Yeah, I mean, I, you know, I think the fear, like if guys are gonna get tampered with, they're gonna get tampered with. It doesn't matter if you have a spring game or not. If it's televised. It's not. If the teams want to tamper with your players, they're going to tamper with your players. But, you know, as far as having the access and giving, you know, having that showcase for the fans, like, I love this time of year from an NFL perspective because I just saw clip and, and this could just be the, the most mundane clips ever, but you see just quarterbacks throwing in OTAs, you know, like Falcons quarterbacks and Titans, you know, Titans players in their new digs at. At. notas and things like that. You just kind of like to see guys running around making football plays, things like that. Competition. I don't know where you go with the contact, but the way things have evolved from a practice standpoint, you can pretty much go full contact in minimal equipment. I mean, they do one on ones with just the little, the little pet pad shells.

5:35

Yeah, not even shells, but spider pads.

6:32

Yeah, just little spider pads. They were under their jerseys even. And you can, you can even do thud tempo with those things. So it, it's that evolution of how people practice. You can still get contact ground as

6:36

college football becomes the NFL. Notice that the NFL doesn't have spring games. They've never had spring. There's no spring games in the NFL. It's shorter periods that are more sustained over the course of the year. I think, I think Corey's right, John's right, Chris. I think we're just moving towards more of an NFL type type schedule and the NFL just doesn't have spring games for a reason.

6:52

But let's be very clear here. There should be zero effort to mimic anything the Atlanta Falcons are doing ever,

7:17

ever, ever from a front office standpoint. Yeah.

7:24

Yeah.

7:28

The one thing I was gonna say the one thing I like the NFL has done over the years is they do joint practices. You know, they'll have, the Panthers will come over and I don't know, visit the, whoever, the Patriots and they'll have joint practices. You imagine that a world where like the Aggies go over to Austin and

7:28

dude, I need an LSU Ole Miss.

7:45

College. College basketball already does.

7:47

Like, I need air to breathe.

7:49

Could you imagine college basketball already does it. I mean they have, they have secret scrimmages against other teams. It's not, not for the public. It's just for the coaches and the program. So college basketball does it. Obviously with football.

7:50

We did it in high school. Like we would bring over, you know, Donaldson Christian Academy and scrim and practice with them. Not, not a scrimmage. Like we would practice against them more like you get Franklin Road Academy or Battleground Academy and we join together and we have our practice where we do our individual stuff and then we come together, do 7 on 7 inside period team, all that stuff and we compete against them. So I mean, we do that in high school. We did that in high school.

8:03

Well, baseball and softball do it, have done it too. So is it, is it the craziest thing to think? I mean, maybe, you know, you do two hand touch. No, no, no. Tackling or something, but like, I don't know that you guys might be onto something here.

8:30

You can have a regular.

8:43

No, you know, I'm gonna date myself heavily here. But who was the, who was the Georgia running back that got tore his acl. He's in the NFL, but he was at the Pro Bowl.

8:44

Edwards.

8:53

I mean like injuries are going to happen. Freak injuries. There's always going to be a reason why steer away from anything like football related. But like in physical contact. But did the, the Texas A and M guy, like, I know he had to go up on an air cast, but was it something in a contact play? Was it like. You'll see stuff all the time. It's non contact injuries, which is just as bad and sometimes, you know, significantly worse. The Aiden Anding kid from lsu, we were sitting there in the press box and that kid towards Achilles on an interception. So it's like non contact. So there's always, I think, going to be a reason to say no to it. I think that like my thing has always been with the spring game, there's benefits to it. Of course. There's, you know, there's pros and cons, all kind of stuff. But what I really hate about it going away is for the fan that can't afford to go to a game that costs so much money to take a family of four out to, you know, a game on a fall Saturday. It just becomes increasingly more difficult to be able to afford that. I feel like nowadays, and like this used to be something that was free, it was fun. You can go and like, you know, see how much the stadium you could fill up. I miss those things. But I also understand all the reasons why a lot of people are going away with them.

8:55

Yeah, it's a great thing for people with young kids. I've realized recently too, because you can just take them out there a good time to just, hey, see the cheerleader, see Truman the Tiger, all that extra stuff. Because that, you know, it's not always about the football. You get to see the band and all that good stuff. I mean, really, the little kids love it. And that is something that's lost there when you have to give them a fifty dollar to a hundred dollar ticket or something.

10:02

Yeah. So stop having kids so we can see spring football. I think that's we're all trying to say.

10:25

That's what I was trying to say. Thank you for finishing.

10:30

I got you, fam.

10:33

Yeah, that's the message, I think.

10:34

I didn't realize your mascot is Truman the Tiger. Is that. Is that his name?

10:36

Yeah.

10:39

100. 100 accurate.

10:39

And named after somebody with Harry S. Truman, I suppose.

10:41

Bingo. You got it. Liberty Missouri,

10:45

still not yet a real SEC team. You guys will get.

10:50

Oh, good lord. It's been 15 years. Let us in, for God's sakes.

10:53

He's the show me mascot.

10:56

When we return, guys, we'll touch on some of the storylines that come out of the spring games this past weekend. Stay there. The squad is talking more ball next. But first, guys, workplace chaos. Deadline stacking up, inbox overflowing. That one position you need to fill and that job's still sitting open when the pressure is on. You need to make the right hire. This is a job for Indeed Sponsored jobs. Indeed is going to help you reach the people who actually fit what you're looking for from the skills experience location. So you're not just hoping the right candidate stumbles across your post. And here's a stat that says it all in the minute. We've been talking to you. Companies like yours made 27 hires on Indeed according to Indeed Data Worldwide. So if you're hiring, spend less time searching and more time interviewing the candidates who actually check all your boxes with Indeed sponsored jobs. Talking less stress, less time, more results when you need the right person to cut through the chaos. This is a job for Indeed Sponsored Jobs listeners of our show. You'll get $75 sponsored job credit to help get your job the premium status it deserves. At indeed.compodcast go to indeed.compodcast support our show. Tell me you heard about it right here. Indeed.com podcast terms and conditions apply if you need to hire. This is a job for Indeed Sponsored Jobs

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12:15

All right, just jumping back into it, some of these storylines that come out of the weekend that was in the SEC spring games. We'll start over on the plains of Auburn as reports came out that Auburn transfer quarterback Byron Brown was maybe less than impressive in his spring game debut. Any concern there if you're an Auburn fan or you just say, yeah, no big deal, it's a spring game.

12:45

You know, he's he beat Florida last year. He's played Alabama twice and looked pretty good both times. I mean, I guess as a guy that's faced him a couple of different times, I think he's a good player. I think he's also attached to the hip to Golish. He might even struggle in some fall scrimmages, but I'll be stunned if he's not Auburn starter. He transferred to Auburn to be the starting quarterback and he's goal ish's guy. You know, I don't think spring game performances that are bad are too much of a sign. I think spring game performances that are good, particularly from new players, are exciting for the fans, for the team. But I didn't read too much into it myself, but I think that's just because we've seen this kid play pretty well against against good teams.

13:08

Well, let's also say this though. I've said this repeatedly. I think about about him and he's a good, he is a good college quarterback. If he could, if he had any accuracy at all in a deep ball, they would have been 20 against Alabama. Like, like they there were so many points like in those two games where they could have gotten a Lead pulled back into it. Yeah. And it just. And he just could not seem to do it. Now, I think my favorite part of this was it was a very bad stat line and you can make whatever you want to out of that.

13:52

I don't.

14:21

I don't think it's the biggest deal in the world. I think he's going to be a good college quarterback like he has been for the last 11 years in college. Now for Auburn fans to immediately say, well, Cam Newton's numbers in the spring game, he was only three of eight. It's like, let's do that. Let's definitely compare him to Cam Newton. I think it's a great starting point, a great jumping off point. What could go wrong? And the final thing was, have you. I mean, it doesn't matter who the coach is, doesn't matter who the quarterback is from the portal. This is just Auburn football now. Like, this is who Auburn is. They are basically just a more glorified Kentucky where they're going to bring in a transfer quarterback and absolutely ruin his life apparently every single portal season.

14:21

I think you just signaled Zach to come in, but I think. I think it all depends on, like, how rational you are when you think about spring games. Because for me, it is what it is. They're reps. It's just a glorified scrimmage. So is it really that big of a deal? No, but some. For some fans, it might be the end of the world that Byron Brown had a bad scrimmage. Oh, Auburn's cooked fire go less. All that good stuff that I'm sure there's a. There's a. There's a side of the Auburn fan base that's probably saying that right now, but I think the more rational side is probably like, okay, well, he struggled. Yeah, he's got fall camp to kind of figure it out. And he better have it figured out by the time they kick off against Baylor. Or there might be some true panic there from everybody. For Vandy's sake. I just hope they wait until after that game for him to stop struggling. So maybe, maybe he can be good in game five.

14:58

It's not even really like the preseason NFL games. I wonder if there's NFL fans out there that get late November with their NFL teams and things aren't going so well. And one fan looks the other says, I don't know what happened. This team, they look so good in that hall of Fame game in Canton. Right. You know what happened. I mean, I think half the players

15:55

that looked good, the spring games are

16:14

just to me, sort of forgotten once quote, the real football starts. But that said, I do think there's some insights to be made in these games, particularly the positive ones, particularly new players or young players that hadn't been contributors before. But as to the proven guys, and I consider Byron Brown sort of proven. I mean he's, he's been out there for, for a while and even against good competition, I don't think it's a referendum on them at all. To me, it's more about freshmen, transfer portal guys, guys that are new, that look good, that can get the fans and the coaches excited about those guys. But if, if Arch Manning, for instance, I don't think played really well in Texas scrimmage, I, I don't, I don't look too deep into that either.

16:16

But if you, he played really well in that scrimmage, can you effing imagine what the media would do with it? I mean, my God.

16:58

Well, let's, let's go there real quick. I want to get John Miller's thoughts on this. Arch Manning, he's been limited the entire spring after having off season foot surgery. Any concern at all with. From the aspect of they had a lot of roster turnover, he's got a lot of new pieces on the O line, a lot of new receivers. You know, the chemistry is real. Like any concern there with all the, the time that Arch is kind of missed. I know he's practiced still, but without doing a lot of the team stuff,

17:05

I guess, you know, gosh, it seems like was April 21st today as we record this. We got a lot of time until the first game. Still, foot injuries in general are a little concerning. I, I'd kind of like to know that. What is the specific injury? We're not talking Liz Frank or anything that concerning, are we? So I think Arch is going to be fine. And really just year two of Arch, it seems like he should take a big step forward here. He's been kind of open this off season about, hey, he just kind of started, started just playing ball, letting it loose the second half of the season, which makes all the sense in the world to me. The more experience you have at that position, the kind of pressure that that name brings being the starting quarterback in Austin. I think we're going to see a much better version of Arch Manning in year two.

17:32

John, any chance that you think that that part of this is also a ploy for more nil dollars for him to show pictures of his feet on social media?

18:19

Oh God, I'm glad somebody finally Said it. I wasn't willing to go there, but

18:27

I'm glad all over this.

18:32

Just to clarify, it was a preventative off season foot surgery. They described it as a minor surgery to fix a nagging issue. So I almost wonder like maybe it's, you know, that's some more fragments.

18:34

Yeah.

18:48

You know, one thing I want to throw out there. There's gonna be a lot of talk this week about the 2027 quarterback class in the NFL draft. Next year's quarterback group and Arch's name will be very prominent. Every time on the draft broadcast they bring it up. I don't think myself it's a foregone conclusion that he's going to enter the draft next year either.

18:48

Really.

19:10

No, I don't. I think Peyton Manning and I think his uncles sort of showed the way on that. I think he's going to develop in college until he's comfortable with where his game is developmentally, not caring if he's a projected third pick. The 33rd pick, third round. I sort of half expect Arch to complete his eligibility in college. I might be the only person out there saying that, but he'll be the third Manning to do that, not the first.

19:10

Yeah. Especially if the Chargers have the number one pick. Definitely go back for sure.

19:34

I mean he really has like the, the patience that he's shown. I think for, for the level of player that he has been. I think there's, there's a lot to be said for. That's a really good point, Jimmy.

19:38

Well, the money.

19:46

The money will not matter. The money will not matter.

19:47

Yeah.

19:50

Yeah. I think we'd all love to see that. And I think how this season plays out matters too. Right. Like if. What if they go 9 and 3 and they lose a last second field goal is what keeps him out of the playoff. I could see him going. Yeah.

19:51

If he has Mendoza season. Yeah, of course he's going to. I mean, if the national championship Heisman going to be the number one pick. Well, yeah, because how much more development could he need? But I, I think if he, if he, if they feel at the end of the season like I can be a better player entering the NFL than I am now, I, I sort of expect him to go back and you'll hear none of that talk this week on the, on the draft, during the draft broadcast.

20:03

Whatever he does, he just needs to avoid any kind of podcast talking about Indiana's defensive coordinator scheme.

20:26

So I think that. Don't do that.

20:30

As long as he can do that, everything will be fine.

20:31

He's not crazy, Corey.

20:33

I know you got to get over to Vanderbilt's spring game in person. It sounds like Jared Curtis, the five star freshman was pretty impressive.

20:35

He was, he was, he's pretty impressive. And I saw a scrimmage before that as well and I feel like he's turned a corner like he was kind of being a freshman a little bit. Like kind of, you know, you could see that, you could see the spurts, you can see the flashes of him, of his talent. But he didn't quite have the command yet. He, I think he's taken, I think he's taking command now. I mean if it's, it's even right now with him and Blaze Berlowitz and a lot of people are saying Blaze Berlowitz is the favorite to start because they think he's better. But like I think Blaze Berlowitz is topped out his ceiling. He's hit his ceiling. And, and Jared Curtis still has miles to go to his ceiling. And you saw in the throws, you saw it in the, in the pocket awareness, you saw it just overall just, you just felt everything was elevated as soon as he walked on the field. And the most talked about throw in that spring game was an incomplete pass, was an overthrow. It was a, it was a, almost a 70 yard bomb to Tristan Brown. He overthrew him by like a yard or two.

20:44

Wow.

21:48

Byron Brown.

21:49

Yeah. So he steps up in the pocket and just rifles when that ball just sails through the air. I mean it was, everyone was up out of their seats. I mean the talent's undeniable. Yeah, it's, it's undeniable. And they're going to have a good run game. The offensive lines coming together as well. He's getting, they're creating good pockets for him now. It's only going to get better. So it's, it's going to be a Jared Curtis show.

21:51

And this is a kid who's supposed to be like having his prom right now. Right. Like, I mean think of how, how early, like an early enrollee, like how ridiculous this could, could become later in the year.

22:15

I think national legend actually has her prom this, this weekend. This weekend. So I think that statement is more

22:25

true than you think fun he's having in college in Nashville than at prom for his high school.

22:30

Oh my God.

22:36

Well, he still would be in Nashville in his is prominence. Yeah, yeah. Just as a, as a freshman at Vanderbilt. He's. Yeah, I can only imagine. But I mean the dude, he's legit. I mean the, the talent's there. The command is almost there. And he'll have some summer sessions where he gets a, he gets a call sheet. Same with Arch Manning. They're going to get a call sheet. They're going to take the guys out to the practice facility, probably the indoor, and just run routes and do things. He's probably going to lead several practices throughout the summer.

22:37

Any, any school that didn't change. Head coaches undergoing a more radical offensive change from Diego Pavia to an NFL drop back pocket passer like Jared Carson. Jared's a good athlete, but this is not the Pavia offense that Vanderbilt is

23:08

going to be running once.

23:23

If you guys want to see what Vanderbilt is going to be like offensively, watch the Vandy Kentucky game. That'll give you an idea of what they're going to do. They're going to be more vertical, they're going to be more aggressive. They're going to be. And still centered around the run obviously, but they're going to be more aggressive down the field.

23:25

The guys were kind of joking by the way, but I'm actually being serious here. There is something to be said for being a student in Nashville, a student athlete and actually having some walking around money. Now that's pretty cool. That's something that have I. I'm telling you, it's a little bit more fun to go to Vanderbilt these days.

23:43

You need it. The beers cost 18.

24:03

Sure do.

24:06

I gotta have an nil Deal. Have an nil deal. About 2 rupees.

24:06

Pull it down a little bit, guys. Come on.

24:11

They had a special the other night. They were 15 guys. Okay.

24:13

this rate he'll own his own honky tonk by the end of.

24:18

Oh God.

24:21

Right next to Garth Brooks's bar.

24:23

Dirk Bentley's.

24:25

Hey, I had fun at prom. Marlowe, who, who'd you bring to prom?

24:27

You want me to dox my prom date?

24:31

Please do. Let's check her out right now.

24:33

It was my high school girlfriend. First night I wore an all white tux. Tried to get the hashtag zero tux given really going. It did not go. It did never. It never was trending. When I was in high school, I was like a good kid. I didn't drink at all. So like prom was not for me. I, I didn't, I didn't. I didn't find myself as a dancer yet or in any debauchery. So I had to wait till college to start tasting the sweet nectar of Bud Light. Before I could get that going, I

24:36

found myself with many Coors lattes out there.

25:05

Oh yeah, she did. Looking like Will Must champ out there.

25:08

Yeah. Just kept giving me free stuff. They're like, hey, Coach Must champ. Hey, coach, how you doing?

25:10

It's not weird to hear a prom at all.

25:15

Did you bring, did you bring your now wife to prom? I feel like you did.

25:19

No, no, no, no. I. I had a girlfriend for junior prom. I'll be honest. Senior year I went stag and just had a good time as I was

25:22

about to have a loser.

25:28

I know, loser. But hey, junior year I had it going for me.

25:29

I had a high school girlfriend that took to both proms. We went to Fern Bank. Chris.

25:33

Yeah, dude, that's where our. So we had our 20th high school reunion. I'm dating myself again at Fern Bank. A couple weeks ago I. Or a couple months ago, I didn't go.

25:38

Jimmy, what was your prompt?

25:47

Oh, I've got like 50 stories like this. I didn't go to the prom because I had chickenpox. Oh my 11. I was 18. 18 with chickenpox and sick as like big time sick.

25:49

Wow.

26:06

So I can't, I can't talk about prom without choking up. Mainly because I was intubated.

26:07

Yeah,

26:14

I'll date myself. We had our. Our prom was at Six Flags New Orleans.

26:17

Oh yeah.

26:22

This is pre Katrina. So we got the. They shut down the park, let us ride all the rides and then they had a band perform and it was really cool.

26:22

That is cool. Wow, that sounds way cool.

26:29

There's no Six Flags in New Orleans anymore, right?

26:31

No, Katrina wiped.

26:33

Wiped it out.

26:35

Did you go to Isidore Newman or something? I mean Six Flags in New Orleans.

26:36

Six Flags. I was gonna say. Yeah. Southern Boone didn't have that kind of budget.

26:40

I was not a manning that kind of budget. All right, we'll return, fellas. We'll talk a little bit on the hoops portal because things have been heating up there. More squad talking, more ball. Next.

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27:01

I roll along here our SEC Squad show and guys, a little bit of talk on the basketball portal because things have really heated up here in the last week. Just kind of thought we'd go around the horn and just give your initial impressions on what your team's done through the basketball portal so far. Cora start with you?

27:46

Well, they've done quite a bit. They've gotten four guys from the portal. They, they got a guy whose name that I'm gonna. It's gonna take me all season to learn how to pronounce. From Nebraska, Burke Bukajal 610 forward. They got Ace Glass from Washington State. He's a guard. He's going to pair with Tyler Tanner which Tyler Tanner might be the fifth portal edition because he's thinking about going to the NBA. So it'd be like getting a portal edition if he announces he's coming back. Then they got the dude from Auburn, Williams, Adams. I can't remember his, his full name. Yeah.

28:05

Bastion or something.

28:41

Yeah, something like that. I haven't, I haven't looked into it yet. He just committed today. And then of course they got the 7 footer from Colorado Banggot DAC. So pretty, pretty productive Portal hall for Mark Byington so far And I saw

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the news they're hiring Rodney Terry the former Texas coach who helped who's a really good recruiter at Texas. So that will help Mark Byington. But the bad news for Andy though is if they're really good again next year I think buying to this probably going to take a. The next big job that that opens

28:56

but I don't know.

29:14

I mean Vandy gave him a pretty sizable extension so I don't see why they wouldn't do it again.

29:14

Seems like teams that are seem as coaches I should say that are at the SEC Big Ten level. It just seems like there's a lot less desire and maybe incentive to jump like you're saying. I don't know. I don't. I think I kind of agree with, with Corey here. I think, I think Mark's going to

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stick around job security. I mean if he has another good season like that. I mean Vandy's athletic department is know knowingly or notably patient with with coaches and they like to stick with coaches long term if they can.

29:35

John, let's talk your guy Dennis Gates. So I think at one point fans were out on and then they kind of bought back in. They've made some nice additions. What, even a guy from Kansas, right?

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Yeah, they finally crossed that Rubicon. Bringing a Kansas Jayhawk over to Missouri. It's, you know, you know, for an old school fan, it feels incredibly bizarre. I know Corey has experienced this with Tennessee guys going to Vanderbilt and vice versa, but. Yeah, this is weird. But I'll tell you this. Bryson Tiller I think is worth it. I think he's a guy who if he comes out maybe of next year's draft, could even be a first round pick. He's that talented, you know, an athletic 6 foot 11 type of guy to go around. Jason Crow Jr. A high school kid who's gonna be a true freshman. This guy season could be probably a top three pick in the 2027 draft. So Missouri is, I think they're off to a great start. They've really, they've really supplemented their front court nicely. If they can just add some back court pieces, I think they're in really good shape. And honestly, if Dennis Gates can't make it happen with a, at least I, gosh, give us one win in the first round, something like that. Missouri fans are really desperate and just thirsty for some March Madness success right now.

30:02

John, did you. Did t. I know Tio Barrett was. It was in the portal and he was looking at Vandy pretty, pretty heavily. Then I think I, I saw where he signed back at Mizzou. Is that, Is that the case?

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No. You know, the funny thing is, is t, there was some talk that, gosh, maybe to is going to come back. It seems like there may have been some, I don't know, chicanery with his Instagram profile where he put in his bio, oh, he put at Mizzou hoops back and then a couple days later changed that to a laughing emoji. So maybe he's just having some fun out there. I know the word is it's not as though Missouri didn't want to have Barrett back, but I think he and his camp and his agency wanted more than what was pretty obviously wanted more than what Missouri was willing to pay. So maybe if this goes along and he doesn't get the price he wants, he comes back. But I think we're running out of time on that. I wouldn't count on it.

31:14

Yeah, there's got to be a statute of limitations.

31:55

Yeah, I think we're running out of time on that pretty quick. Quickly. I mean, Jalen Reese, a kid from lsu, a backup point guard Missouri's had on a visit Recently. So that tells me they're looking to replace him still at this point. So I wouldn't bet on it. So I think Barrett will be out there. I know he's, he's talked to Ole Miss as well. So it's possibly still ends up in the sec. We'll see.

31:57

Yeah, Jimmy, what about what Alabama's done?

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Yeah. Landed four guys so far out of the portal when. When Alabama lost to Michigan in the sweet 16. Nate oats at the post game press conference said Alabama's roster needs to be bigger, stronger. Need bigger, stronger kids inside. And three of the four portal signees are big guys. A big kid. Drew Fielder from Boise, the latest one, he's. He's 6 10, 6 11.

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I like. He can also shoot by the way. Yeah, I like that. Signing for Bama.

32:44

Yeah, yeah, he was. He's a 43 point shooter too, which is going to interest NATO every single time. The other two guys are more interior rim protectors. Brandon Garrison from Kentucky, Jamari and Davis Fleming from Mississippi State. These were guys that were not starters, they were rotational pieces but they're inside rebounders and rim protectors which is exactly what NATO's was looking for. So he's done exactly what he said he would do post game. Michigan get bigger, stronger. The fourth signing, Cole Clore is a red shirt freshman from NC State that left that program and Will Wade left. He's more of a typical Nate Oatsani in the sense he's a tall wing who can shoot but, but the emphasis has been on big guys and so far Alabama feels like they've done really well.

32:48

I think a lot of people in the SEC have gone, gone after size in the paint because Vandy did it with you know, the, the buka gel guy. 610 coming from the big ten. 610 lefty facilitator coming from Nebraska. They got the seven footer Dak from Colorado. I mean they've got, you know, Jaden Levered already on the roster. He's a big dude. Ako Kirk is coming back and then of course, you know there. I think there's another guy there or the, the kid from Auburn who's also a big big forward. You know that they're, they're trying to increase their size of toughness in the paint. That was the thing that I think held him back against Nebraska in the, in the second round.

33:34

Let me just give you guys a couple other nuggets from around the sec. Big news for Florida this week is Thomas Hawk and Alex Conda announced they're coming back. And then Reuben Chinulu, their leading rebounder, declared for the draft but with the opportunity to return. So if he does not hear what he likes in the draft process, you're talking about Todd golden getting three of his big pieces back and Floor is going to try to run this thing back again.

34:13

Sounds like a preseason number one team to me.

34:37

If they're all back, that's assuming golden doesn't get recruited by the Warriors.

34:39

Well, that's a fun rumor.

34:44

That is a fun.

34:46

As an Alabama fan and not a Florida fan, it's not going to hurt my feelings.

34:46

Brandon Olson about that. And he said I think he's coming back. So take that for what it's worth. Brandon's real locked into the, to the

34:51

game because, you know the, the lure of the NBA, I guess. I don't know.

34:57

Tired of the nil stuff. I get it.

35:04

It's.

35:06

It's. If you just want to lock into basketball, not worry about recruiting, I get it. I really do. The one thing is the money is almost is basically equal at this point. It seems like if not better sometimes in college.

35:06

They've been doing that nil stuff in the NBA for a long time.

35:19

Yes, they have.

35:22

The getting let go there earlier this week. Could he return back to Florida? I mean that would be a fun story.

35:24

That would be a fun story.

35:31

It could be an analyst at Alabama.

35:32

I think that's what he's working for. Saban. He's a Saban analyst on game day.

35:34

Nick Saban's busy these days. He's searching for a GM for the National Predators.

35:40

Just a few other tidbits I'll add. Mississippi State guard Josh Hubbard announced he is going to return next season. So that's big for them. He has a chance to become the program's all time leading scorer. I saw Auburn or Texas picked up a couple of SEC guys, Elijah Freeman from Auburn and Amari Evans from, from Tennessee. So Texas going, hey, we're going to keep some guys in the conference. Kentucky still looking for some more big pieces. They got Alex Wilkins as a guard. Zoom Diallo's a guard, but still feels like Mark Pope's looking for that big golden age.

35:45

Lost Donnie Freeman, lost Donnie Freeman to St. John's yeah.

36:16

And then Arkansas, they go get Jeremiah Wilkinson who was one of Georgia's leading scorers this year. Big pickup there for John Calipari. So just kind of interesting to keep an eye there on the, on the basket. We don't talk a ton of basketball, but the portal still being open in this window. It's interesting to track what's what's going on around the conference, so we will leave it there. Gents, thanks so much for checking us out. Remember to follow and subscribe to your favorite SEC show. We'll be covering your favorite team every day throughout this off season. Don't forget, I'll have you covers the entire conference every day with Locked on sec, part of the Locked On Podcast network. Covering your team every day for Chris Marler, Corey Burton, John Miller, Jimmy Stein, I'm Chris Gorey. Talk to you guys next week right here on the SEC squad Squad.

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