Hoops & Headsets

7th Grade Champion: King Josiah’s Championship Run

• Ray • Season 2 • Episode 14

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0:00 | 39:40

This episode of Hoops & Headsets features rising young star King Josiah after leading his team to a middle school championship victory over Galaxy Middle as just a 7th grader.

We talk about the championship journey, handling pressure, leadership at a young age, and the mindset it takes to win big games. King Josiah breaks down key moments from the title run, what made his team special, and the work he puts in behind the scenes to separate himself on the court.

From clutch moments to future goals, this episode gives a look into one of the area’s up-and-coming hoopers and the mentality of a champion.

SPEAKER_02

Welcome back to Hoops and Hairset. Today we got a special guest, champion, winner, leader, and one of the rising young hoopers in the area, King Josiah. As a seventh grader, he helped lead his team to a middle school championship, win against Galaxy. Now we just want to talk to him about that, about that journey. All right, Coach, it's on you, boss.

SPEAKER_01

King, what's up, man?

SPEAKER_03

What's up, man?

SPEAKER_01

Well, you know, it was a interesting middle school season, you know, preseason and post. But I'm gonna start with this. You know, I get a phone call one day. We ain't gonna say no names, but I get a phone call one day, and they asked me, they was like, man, who the best middle school hooper in the county is. You know me, I say, without hesitation, I say keen. They say keen. I say, yeah, man, it ain't close, man. I say it's not close. So these some coaches. So, you know, I guess they didn't really know who you was, you know, like you know, I know I already knew who you was and stuff like that. But so to me, it just felt good to watch you play this season. You know, in the season y'all had, y'all won the championship. You get what I'm saying? So I think you really put them on notice for the ones who didn't know. You know, y'all getting ready to get high school. So I think you really answered the bell about who was the um best middle school and uh player in the county. But one of my questions is I had to ask you this. What? And I think Ray wanted to ask you this, but I'm gonna ask you first since I'm on. Now you feel it. I gotta steal it because it I this is why he was number one. I should have gone first. I stole my what what drives you to play so aggressive when you play? Dude, hold on.

SPEAKER_02

Hold on, okay. No answer that question. You a hater. Dude, that was my question. But I had to pick it because that's why he was number one. That's why I'm telling everybody that's gonna go.

SPEAKER_03

Go ahead, big dog. Go ahead. What drives me is really my work ethic. Like, I put in the work to do it every day and every day and every day. So normally I know what I can do on the court. I know how strong I am, I know how athletic I am, so I keep putting in the work, and it turns out the best I can be.

SPEAKER_02

Man, listen, man, I love that. Now, I'm gonna be super transparent. King, I was one of the coaches in the area that did not know who you are. So I'm gonna admit it. And so, you know, AJ ain't wanna put me out there, but I was the one that called him and asked him, and he told me it was you. So um, I told myself I was only gonna go to maybe two middle school games this year, and I probably ended up at seven or eight, and I'm probably losing y'all game. So, man, I really enjoyed watching you play. But coming into the season, did you think that y'all was gonna win a championship?

SPEAKER_03

Not really. I had faith in my team, but we had some upsets and some losses throughout the season. So we had to fix and adjust, so now we know what we can do, and we put the pieces together, and then our coach he gave us the love and support. So now we feed off of that, and then that's how we won.

SPEAKER_02

So, Coach Pina. Listen, Coach Peanut called me one day, and I believe you were in his office or in the gym with him when he called me during during the middle of the day, and he told me about you. So, like I said, man, I I had really enjoyed watching you play, but my question in regards to why you play so hard, like watching you play, man, it's like you are so intense.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And like, where did that come from? Being so intense all the time. Because I watch a lot of middle school guys and they just kind of just going through it a little bit, but like for me to be in the seventh grade, you were super intense.

SPEAKER_03

Why was that? Because I wanted more. I wanted more than all these other kids. I wanted more than them.

SPEAKER_02

Listen, man, I love confident players, man. And I think because we got the championship game on Tuesday, and when you hit that first three, um when you shot him, and I I had already knew that it was gone, that it was in, and then I saw you kind of get amped up into the game. So, what were your thoughts going into the championship game against Galaxy Man? Because they had some big boys out there. What were your thoughts about that?

SPEAKER_03

Our thoughts was that I know ain't nobody on the court can mess with me, so I keep going off of that. I love that.

SPEAKER_02

God, dog. God, dog. I ain't mad. Hey, I ain't messed up the top of the fellow. I ain't mad.

SPEAKER_03

You know they were taller than me and they can be stronger than me. They don't got the same IQ as me, so I keep going, and I know they can't be, like, I know they can't play at the same speed as me. I got my own pace. They don't, they can't run with my pace. So whatever I do in the court, they gotta follow after me.

SPEAKER_02

Coach, I told you. I'm trying not to cuss, but I I love it. You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_00

So I told you.

SPEAKER_02

So uh, so were you nervous or or like excited before tip-ball? Because when y'all walked in with the shades, because I've been knowing Coach Peanut probably 25 years since I've been in Florida. So I already knew y'all was coming in with the shades. Were you nervous or excited about the game? I was excited. You weren't nervous? Not one bit.

SPEAKER_03

You in the seventh grade, man. You're supposed to be nervous. What am I nervous for if I know they're not better than you? Ooh, Lord. I love it.

SPEAKER_02

Listen, man. Listen, listen, man. Listen. This is so I am trying to be focused with this thing, but like you are throwing me away, y'all. Cause I didn't like this is the first time I've ever spoken to you. So I didn't realize how confident you were in your in your ability. I can tell on the court, but just talking to you, man, it like kind of lets me know that, dude, you feel like there's nobody out there that can stop you, huh?

SPEAKER_00

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_02

So is our cool going back to back? Y'all gonna win again?

SPEAKER_03

Yes, we're going back to back.

SPEAKER_01

Damn, he said. Go ahead, Coke. Okay, so Kings, let me let me just uh say this, man. You know, I've been knowing you since you was legit, man. We used to come to the uh Code Howard them camps and stuff like that. So I'm really proud of you, man. I'm really excited to see uh y'all win the championship because you know sometimes in my own little circles, I was telling everybody like how good you are, you know what I mean? And to see you go out there and play how you was playing with what everybody else was saying, it really, it really uh validated you and validated what I was saying to those coaches that was asking me. So I'm just proud of you, man. I need you to keep grinding, I need you to keep working. But let me break this playline to everybody to why I always say that King was number one. It was in the championship game. Y'all was in y'all press. They threw the ball in, they moved it, y'all pressing on the other side. They pushing the ball up the sideline, and you sprint all the way back, all the way back, and got a deflection and knocked the ball out of bounds. And when I was seeing you run as fast as you was running from that end to that end, after the game, I told Ray, high school kids don't even run and get back. And I when I seen it, I was like, oh yeah, King on a whole different level, because most of the high school kids don't run that fast to get back to their responsibility. And it was your responsibility to get back and get that pass. So I just wanted to tell you, man, that keep playing how you play and keep grinding. And remember what I told you when you were younger, man, like we're trying to get to the league, we're trying to get to the NBA out here, and it is attainable. Don't let nobody tell you you can't get there because you can. It's an NBA draft every year, so you always can get there and just keep grinding on that. But that's the play that that makes you better than everybody else. The hustle, the intensity, and the aggression. And it's it's just it's it's not close. It's not close, it's not close. So I want to just give you a props.

SPEAKER_02

Listen, man, listen, I ain't gonna keep massaging your back and telling you how off you is, but dude, I love the confidence, man. But like, out of all parts of your game, what part of your game do you think you have improved the most? Like I said, I've never seen you play, but like once I started following your page, I kind of went back and kind of looked at some of the postings that you had and some of the rankings that you had. Um so if you think about it over the years, what part of your game do you think improved the most?

SPEAKER_03

My defense and my ability to slow down as I'm going faster. Ooh.

SPEAKER_02

And you know what, King, it's funny that you said that, man, because when God, AJ Ted, I tell him all the time, I say, every middle school kid plays so fast. And then when you get in high school, you're gonna have to have some pace. So, listen, that is for for a young man to be in the seventh grade, and then if it's for you to be able to acknowledge that, let's me know that like your leaps and bounds past a lot of these other guys that are coming into high school next year, because a lot of them play at one pace, and it doesn't work in high school because you're gonna be playing against bigger, faster, stronger guys in high school, so you're gonna have to play with pace. So I love that. So, when you're working on your game, what do you work on the most outside of practice?

SPEAKER_03

Definitely getting stronger. I know I gotta get stronger because like when I get to high school, it's gonna be case stronger, faster, and way better than you. So I know I gotta compete to get to where they at and over talk them.

SPEAKER_01

Whoa. This is crap.

SPEAKER_02

This is a good conversation. I told you. I told you. I can't be mad at them. So then what is your favorite thing to do on the court? Um, would you consider yourself a shooter, or would you just consider yourself just a regular scorer? Because I seen you do it. You don't ever miss a free throw. I don't think I seen you miss a free throw all the games I've been to. And you shoot it well from the three. So what do you think you do best? Driving or shooting?

SPEAKER_03

Passing. Yep. Yep. Passing is very like, people don't see it as much, but most of my passing, I can see through it.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, he's step ahead, Coach. That's why he was diamond. I told you to pass. Yeah, you call me. Well, my brother, my brothers, my brothers come to the game, right? They come to the game. And they don't know. They just getting back from Atlanta. They don't even know who he is, right? Yeah, you know I know. So I'm just sitting there because sometimes when I say, when people ask me about, you know, who the best and this and that, you know, sometimes you can just so I'm just watching. I'm just watching. So it's like, it's like I'll say probably like three minutes to go in the first half, and King just out, he's just putting on the show, right? So my brothers look back and say, bro, who is that? I say that's King. Yeah, he's good, man. I say that's King. He was like, bro, what grade he in? Eighth? I say, no, he in seven. He was like, he in seven. I was like, yeah, man. He was like, bro. I was like, yeah, I know. He said you know him. I said, yeah, I know him, bro. He was like, bro, that's the best jit right there. I said, yeah, bro. You know, he just he just keeps grinding. And I said, bro, he he he he he liked that because he got a different mindset than you know a lot of kids have. You know, I don't think he he has a humble mindset, but he also has a dog mindset, a killer mindset. So I think that's what uh really separates you from a lot of the other kids. But that's my brother and my brothers have seen him, bro. They couldn't believe it. They couldn't believe it. Him and Caden, they was like, bro, that's I ain't been around here. I've been in Atlanta, but bro, like that backcourt right there, I don't think it's been one that came around here in middle school like that in a long time. So then I started thinking. I started thinking. You know me, I put my thinking cap on myself. Coach, it's what I do. Oh Lord. Coach. Now look, now they come back again next year. Him and Caden, now they come back again next year. If they chip next, coach, they're gonna chip next year. You know that, right? And when they do that, when they do that, they gonna be the best middle school backcourt they ever play in the country.

SPEAKER_02

I don't think nobody chipped twice since I've been here.

SPEAKER_01

Coach, name a backcourt.

SPEAKER_02

I don't care, I don't know. I don't think I know nobody that chipped twice.

SPEAKER_01

So you know we're gonna do a you know, we you know we're gonna put it out though on the podcast, name the best backcourt middle school basketball history in the counter. We'll just we'll just see what they say. But I think after next year he's gonna be King and Caden. I just think it's gonna be that.

SPEAKER_02

So, my question to you, my next question to you, King, is who do you model your game after? Like, like when you're playing, who do you try to model your game after? Or is anybody Bryant?

SPEAKER_01

You ain't even old enough to know Kobe, man. I didn't know Kobe was to do, I didn't know you liked it. Kobe like that. I didn't know that. That's it. I mean, he probably just threw another game, Colt. He was doing another game. Why do you say Kobe? His footwork was that.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I was okay.

SPEAKER_02

I love that. Because like Kobe don't do a lot of smiling on the court. When I watched you on Tuesday, you didn't do no smiling. All I saw was you clapping, and uh, and I saw you kind of ball your fist up and clinch a little bit. I said, Yeah, he's in it. So that's the mentality that you gotta have.

SPEAKER_01

Hey, King, you backed it up for me. I was out here talking, King. Oh my god. Yeah, I'm told I was talking, Coke.

SPEAKER_02

Coach, what's not talking? Yeah. And then the cool thing about it, King, is that you the first middle school young man that we put on the podcast. And I want to say we've only had one other player in the area on, and it was little, and it was Chris from Atlantic. So we don't put a lot of kids on here, on here, man, because um, kind of like what what comes with this is people get you know upset, you know, there's a little, you know, envy, and you know, people get mad because how you put him on and not uh put me on. So the reason why we wanted to put you on, man, because y'all put on the show. Like I was only there for halftime, because once y'all got up, like 15, 16, I said, there's no way they're gonna come back. So I just went on ahead and got myself up out of there. But um, it was really, really fun to watch how hard y'all play. Now, mom, I know you can hear me. So since I can see your face, I'm gonna go ahead on and ask you a question too. Is he intense in everything that he does like that? Is he always like that? Like in anything that he does like, he looks super competitive. Everything. I love that. I love that. And the only reason why I'm chiming you in, because you here, I said I gotta ask mom, because I know I have a daughter that played uh you know, Division I volleyball, and uh and when she was in the seventh grade, she didn't have nowhere near the intensity that he has. And so, and like he got it early, so it's gonna be it's gonna be fun to watch the next, golly, he eighth grade, next five years of him playing middle school and high school basketball.

SPEAKER_01

So yeah. King, King, let me ask you about the summertime, man. I know you're finna get on that circuit. So you do you gonna do the uh EYBL uh team, right? Yes, sir. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Who you playing with, boss?

SPEAKER_03

Night Riders Elite. If not, if not, I'm gonna go back to Adidas Circuit because I feel like it's more competitive and opposed OBT elite.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, okay. So, so you know, when you when you I seen like the mixtapes and all that stuff like that. What what is the difference between you because you know me and you and your mom talk about this stuff a lot. What is the difference between playing on the uh shoe circuit opposed to just staying local and playing? What is the difference? And is it worth the sacrifice so you know the money to travel and all of that stuff like that? What is the difference and is it worth it when it comes to helping your game?

SPEAKER_03

Local is like you're really just you're not really doing nothing with yourself. Like you're just playing against kids that you know over and over and over again. But when you travel to like a shoe circuit, the intensity gets way more higher than what you think it is. You have coaches and scouts watching you. So whatever you try to do on the court, you want to make it perfect. And also the defense going into a shoe circuit is way more better than what you think it is for local. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02

Yep. How many games y'all lost this year? Two? Yeah, two. Y'all lost to OBMS and Henson, right? Yes, sir. Okay, my next one. I only thought they lost one. I don't know. That's why they had a playing game. So on those uh two losses, what did you do differently? Because like I said, y'all had a lot of success all year. What did you do differently after those losses? Because I I think I was at both of the teams, too.

SPEAKER_03

Definitely adjusted to what I had to do. And I knew if I didn't win this game against Henson, the tiebreaker, my season was gonna be over. So I had to put in the work, ethic, and the work to go past them, knowing that none of the people on that team can mess with us really. I want to shout out Latrell Collins for really putting that to him, because we told him, because he didn't have a ring yet, so we told him that we went to game a ring before he left high school, to left to go to high school, and we put our mind to that. And that's what he got before he left middle school.

SPEAKER_01

King, that's power, King. I don't think people understand how real that was. You just said that.

SPEAKER_02

So you got it for your eighth grade buddies.

SPEAKER_01

For his homebrew.

SPEAKER_02

I love that. No, that's amazing because Coach Peanut, and I don't want to put his business out there, but he sent me the ring on Monday that he that he was gonna get. I'm like, dude, you're super confident. Yeah, because we're about to win this thing. Like he literally sent me a text with the picture of the ring on Monday, and I say, dude, you real confident. He said, 'Cause we're gonna win. So he was confident in y'all from day one. You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_01

Man, shout out to Nutt, man. Nut Nutt last year, Nutt let me down, man. Nut caught me after the game, man. You know, I let it ring and ring and ring. Then he came back. I picked up, I said, Nutt, you chipped, man. He said, Yeah, man, he didn't get me, he picked me last year, man. So he had to come and climb it last year, but nah, man, Nutt got it. Nut probably gonna win it again next year. Just just, I just don't see how that, you know. I just don't really see how it's not gonna, how y'all not gonna repeat. But man, that was up, King man. You know, it's always fun watching you play, man, watching you grow. You see what I'm saying? So you just gotta keep grinding, man, and keep putting putting the work in for we can get for we can get to it. You know what I mean? We gotta get there. We gotta get everything you talked about.

SPEAKER_02

Now, now King, I have a couple other couple questions for you that I kind of want to know, just to kind of think of your thought process, right? So, what do you think um separates good players from great players?

SPEAKER_03

What's the difference in that? Definitely IQ. You can't be a great player without knowing what you're gonna do on the court. For be a great player, you can't be like, you can't go outside and say you're not gonna do everything right. As soon as you get in the gym, you gotta do it from the start. You gotta know how what you're gonna do from when you first start and what you're gonna end off with. So that's where I really keep my mind to from separating from great to greatness.

SPEAKER_02

Alright. Now, this one right here might be a little tough for you, man. Like, so how do you balance playing basketball and going to school? Because when you're on that circuit, I know you be doing a lot of traveling. How do you balance that? Because I know your because just by hearing your mom and I've seen her at games, I can kind of tell she don't even play the radio like that. So, um, how do you balance going to school and playing sports?

SPEAKER_03

I really take school first. If I got a game or a tournament or if I'm missing a assignment before I go out, I'll do the assignment the whole day trying to get my grade up. So I won't go out and play a basketball game without having my grades up. I don't like having my grades down because that's something I don't look forward to. Knowing that if I want to get to a big college, my grades have to be right. Yeah, yeah, coach. Who motivates you the most?

SPEAKER_02

What's your motivation?

SPEAKER_03

Your mom? My mom, my coaches, my friends, everybody that put their love into what I can do. Mm-hmm. I play for my grandma. My grandma.

SPEAKER_02

If you don't mind me asking why.

SPEAKER_03

She told me before she died she wanted me to see. Like she wanted me to see. So I really keep that to me every day.

SPEAKER_02

Have your grandma before she passed, has she ever had an opportunity to watch you play?

SPEAKER_03

Every day.

SPEAKER_02

Every day?

SPEAKER_01

I love that. I love that. The grind is real. I like that too, King. That's real, boy.

SPEAKER_02

So now I'm gonna go down. I have a couple of rapid-fire questions I want to ask you. First thing comes to your mind, I just need you to kind of tell me what you think and who it is. What's your favorite NBA player?

SPEAKER_03

What's my what?

SPEAKER_02

Who's your favorite NBA player?

SPEAKER_03

Definitely Kyrie Irving. Kyrie Irving. I just love watching him play. Like, that's really what I get my pace from. You can see he's really like a an NBA mentor. He tells you what you can do on the court and how you can do it. Okay. What's your favorite shoe to play in? Kobe 6. Kobe 6.

SPEAKER_02

That's what I got on the I can't fit no more. I mean, what size you wear?

SPEAKER_03

I wear a size 10.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, you're almost there. Alright. Um, what is your favorite song that you listened to before the game?

SPEAKER_03

Uh G Herbo. I think is no limit. G Herbo.

SPEAKER_02

And I gave him a good song too today, coach. Like when I posted his uh that we was interviewing him, I gave him a good song. He posted on one of his other posts. I said, Yo, you like that song? He said, Yeah. It was 101. T Grizzly, baby. 101. Who was the toughest defender you faced this year?

SPEAKER_03

Oh, that's a good question. Nobody. Nobody can guard you.

unknown

Oh shit.

SPEAKER_02

I'm sorry. Let me stop cussing on this boy. My bad. My bad. He said, nobody. Nobody, Cody. What's your favorite move?

SPEAKER_03

Definitely a misdirection drab cross. It gets them every time. And definitely when I slow down after the drab cross, they freeze up, and I can just accelerate to my fastest pace and then play off for two feet to make a layup.

SPEAKER_02

Playoff two. God dog. I've been arguing that for the last five years, coaching high school, man. Playoff two. Who is the best shooter on the team? Mattrell Collins. I told you, coach. Who's the loudest teammate?

SPEAKER_03

Me. Nah, Jeremiah Richardson.

SPEAKER_02

Funniest teammate. Cadence. If you had to choose one word to uh say about your team, what word would that be?

SPEAKER_03

Straight dogs. That's facts, too, coach.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Now they play hard, coach. Now, I know the answer to this, and then I just want to hear what you're gonna say. Who wins a one-on-one between you and your coach?

SPEAKER_03

Me.

SPEAKER_02

It's probably one of my best friends as far as you telling me you can beat him in ones.

SPEAKER_03

Yes, easily. Any day, any hour, any minute, any second.

SPEAKER_02

You don't the Lord have mercy. Kids telling people that they beat the coach. So, on a one-on-one. So, have y'all ever played?

SPEAKER_03

No, he's scared to play me. He never wanted to play me yet.

SPEAKER_02

I'm gonna say him this. I just want you to know, Kate.

SPEAKER_01

He's gonna play it for the middle school. He's gonna play him though.

SPEAKER_02

He gotta play him. Like he said that with absolute confidence. Me. He can't beat me. So, man, listen, man. Just a couple more, man. I know we talked about you say you want to be on for about 25 minutes. We right at about 26. But I want to talk a little bit about your up is about your future goals. Like, so what is your plan for like if you had your dream college? Yes, dream college. Because I ain't gonna talk about high school because I'm a high school coach. So I'm not gonna say nothing about high school because these these dudes run crazy king. So I ain't gonna say nothing about high school. What high school you want to go to? Because they be right here, come into my house and be trying to fight me. So I don't want to say nothing. So, what is your dream college that you will want to attend and why?

SPEAKER_03

Definitely dupe. Duke. I'll be real dupe. I love it.

SPEAKER_02

Man, you might be my all-time favorite player, because that's my favorite. Me and Andy talk about it all the time. That's my favorite college too. So and my daughter lives over there too. So when I go to North Carolina, we visit that all the time. How come Duke? Because of Kyrie?

SPEAKER_03

Nah, the coach. The coaches look like if you see what they post on Instagram, it's really about the brotherhood. And I know the school is very good on academics, so I can keep my grades up and also have a team that's damn behind me when I play.

SPEAKER_02

My man got on the Duke sure. He said Duke. I love that. I love that.

SPEAKER_01

Hey, kid, you keep grinding, bro. You're going to Duke, man.

SPEAKER_02

Tell me. So you got one more year of middle school, of middle school basketball next year. What advice would you give to kids coming up after you?

SPEAKER_03

Definitely keep hooping, bro. Always stay in the gym. Get stronger. Doesn't mean like if nobody's watching you, doesn't mean no one can see you. Basically, stay in the gym and put in the work. And your your talent will really show when it comes to the time. And when it has the time for you. Oh.

SPEAKER_02

How often you work on your game, King? How often how are you in the gym? Can you work on your game?

SPEAKER_03

Every day. I just came from the gym today.

SPEAKER_01

Every day?

SPEAKER_03

Every day, bro.

SPEAKER_01

Mama said every day, bro. Every day, bro. Every day? That's not that's no cap.

SPEAKER_00

Every day.

SPEAKER_02

Mom, back up. Back up, back up. You guys are not from Florida?

SPEAKER_03

Nah.

SPEAKER_02

I should have known. That's why. That's why. See, I'm from up north too. See, that's why he a dog, and that's why he got game. Because we not from Florida. He's from up north. I should have known. Because they're gonna get you. They're gonna get you for saying that. They're gonna get you for you. I don't care because the mentality up there is different. We were raised different up there. See, I'm from New Jersey, so um, yeah, I'm from Newark, New Jersey. So they're from the inner city, not this, not these suburbs down here. Coach, they're gonna get you. Coach. I don't care nothing about it.

SPEAKER_01

Everybody watching my podcast, you can't be getting on here saying that stuff, man.

SPEAKER_02

They from up north, so that that done gave me a whole different that done gave me a whole different outlook. I should have asked that question from the start. So, how long have you guys been in Florida? See, see, he was he was born in a different city with different water. The water up north is different. That's why we yes, I love that. See, now mentality is not here. I understand. It makes sense now, Bob. It makes sense.

SPEAKER_01

Hey, can you let me down this year, man? They was on my head for a little minute about some stuff I was saying, but you know I would write, man.

SPEAKER_02

I would write the whole time. You said it. Because because the first time I watched him play was against was against Henson. And I told you when I was there who the who the uh best player on the court was that day. I said, I at the time I didn't even know who he was. I said, do we dude? That little guy from OVAC Campbell, man, he was out there getting to it. You know what I'm saying? So, hey man, it was a pleasure to watch you play. I have two more questions for you, man. Um, and I'm gonna get you off of here, man. So, what goals do you have for next season?

SPEAKER_03

Definitely the winner chip again. The winner chip? You want to go undefeated? Most definitely. If I can go undefeated, we're still gonna go to the chip anyways and win the game.

SPEAKER_01

That's the goal.

SPEAKER_03

That's the goal.

SPEAKER_02

And my last one, AJ, you got anything before I get to my last question, man?

SPEAKER_01

Uh-uh.

SPEAKER_02

Do you have any shout outs for teammates, coaches, families, or supporters? Because now you have a new fan in me. Um, you know, if there's anything I can do to help you uh outside of where I coach at and stuff like that, you know, because like I'm one of the one of the only coaches here that have those connections for those shoe teams that land on stuff like that. So if you ever need some help when you get a little older, you want to go and play over there somewhere, just let me know, man, and I'll and I'll put you on over there. So, but do you have any do you have any uh shout outs for teammates, coaches, families, or anybody?

SPEAKER_03

Definitely my mom, Coach RJ, Coach AJ, Coach Barney, all my teammates on Campbell, OBG, Night Riders, basically everybody I've been playing with since I was been little.

SPEAKER_02

You give a shout out to Coach AJ?

SPEAKER_03

Yes, Coach AJ.

SPEAKER_01

Man, just yeah, this AJ, man, they already know what it is. Coach, coach, listen to me. It's king, man.

SPEAKER_02

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01

Man, I told y'all.

SPEAKER_02

His head already big. And I already have a hard enough time trying to trying to hustle him, man.

SPEAKER_01

Coach wait, Coach, wait. No, we're gonna keep it a book. Coach, listen. When you don't call my phone, the people don't like the answer I give them. So when they call me and I say it, just take it to the page. That's what it is. They called me. People ain't know, they asked my opinion because people like to hear what I gotta say. And I told him. And I told them it's not close. That's just real. That's just my opinion, though. But I think he backed it up as a fact. He made it an opinion of fact.

SPEAKER_02

How many, how many points you scored in the championship? King, like 20 plus? Was it more than 20? 27. 27, though.

SPEAKER_03

27. King I thought you were gonna fall out, man. No, I slowed down. I slowed down. After my coach told me I had four fouls, and I knew it was about 20. I let him go by me, so I want to get a couple more fouls on there. But some of the fouls wasn't mine, and they put it on me to take me out the game. Nah, he did. And I had six rebounds. And I shot I shot 75 from the three-point line. And 80 from the free go, the uh free throw. Yeah. Yeah, Cody.

SPEAKER_02

I love that, man. Listen, man, I ain't gonna keep up too much of your time. Make sure, man, that you celebrate your mom tomorrow on Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day, mom. Happy Mother's Day. Listen, man, like you have a gym, and so I was so excited to talk to him just like I told you when I reached out to you. I said, AJ, talk to him. I'm gonna talk to his mom to make sure it's okay for us to talk to him. You know what I'm saying? Because he's still in the seventh grade. Yeah, I wanted to make sure that it was good to talk to him, man. Because I've I've seen y'all in the gym. Um, Coach Peanut, like I said, is a really close friend of mine. So he has told me a lot of great things about you, man. So um I'm gonna be following it, man. I'm gonna be following it. And I'm like, I've been known to show up to those AAU tournaments and I'll pull up. You know what I'm saying? Because I want to see. Because like playing around here is fun and it's all great, but man, it ain't nothing like playing outside this area because that's where you get to see some real dudes at. So, man, it was a pleasure to watch you all season. I look forward to watching you in the eighth grade, man, and hopefully you guys can repeat. But, you know, because I coach at Seabrees, man, I have to be rooting for OBMS. And you need to be rooting for OBMS too, AJ. Oh you can root for King, but you can't root for Ken. You gotta root for our kids, man.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, even though we lost to OBMS, I still dropped 30.

SPEAKER_02

So now hold on, they almost beat y'all twice, too.

SPEAKER_03

They came back. We came back because of me and my teammates and what we did in the walker room to seven on y'all because I was there.

SPEAKER_02

They was up what? 22 to 7 at the half at half time.

SPEAKER_03

They came back, and they let us come back because we put the pressure on them and they gave up.

SPEAKER_01

That's my listen, listen, listen. That game, y'all don't understand that game has been talked about all year. Yeah. Just put I'll just leave it like that. That game has been talked about all year amongst the coaches because a lot happened in that game. So just know that game changed the whole course of direction of both team seasons.

SPEAKER_02

No, like because I watched it, I was like, it was 22-7. And then Kumalini, when you pissed with that. Nah, because I text, because I left. Right. Well, they was already winning when I left, but I can't, Peter texted me after the game, I said, What you say to him in the locker room? He said, Coach, you don't even want to know. I said, I already know what it is, man. So whatever he said to him, they came back, and then I believe OBMS only scored five or maybe six in the second half, and then they scored damn near 30. So that was a heck of a comeback.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

That was a heck of thank you again for you know chopping it up with us. Mom, thank you for letting them get on. Um, I'm gonna uh post this on our YouTube page. I'm gonna put some excerpts on here, especially the one where he said that he will beat Peanut one-on-one, and and and I'm about to call Peanut as soon as I get off this call too. I said, You know that boy said he can beat you. You a broke, you can't let that little boy get you, man. You can't we ain't never gonna lose no players. I'm gonna say the listen, I told my eyes off like I tell you. Keep grinding, boy. Keep doing it, keep grinding, king. Cause I tell the kids all the time, before I let y'all beat me, I'm gonna fall out and it's gonna be six to seven. I quit. You ain't gonna never beat me to tell nobody you beat me. So, but no, it was great talking to you guys, man. Um, like I said, I'm gonna post this on our YouTube. So so uh people that want to watch it, they can watch it there. It'll be on Apple Podcast tonight as well. So I'll let everybody know when everything is live. But like I said, happy Mother's Day, Mom King, man. Keep grinding, man. If there's anything we can do to help you, let us know. Um, I'm gonna make sure that I get one of our hoops and headset shirts over to you because you you are one of the one of two young fellas that we ever had on the podcast. So I'm gonna make sure I get you one of those over there. So I appreciate you taking the time to talk with us, man.

SPEAKER_01

All right, keep grinding, King. Thank you. Bye.