First Round Darlings

🎙️ Episode 11 — First Round Darlings

March Madness delivers, as the High Point Panthers take down the Wisconsin Badgers and become the story of the first round. Marcus and Carter break down all the early tournament action, discuss the departure of Hubert Davis, and make their picks for the Sweet 16.

Upsets, storylines, and the madness in full swing. 🏀

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Buckets and Birdies Podcast. Buckets and Birdies is a weekly glimpse into the worlds of basketball and golf.

SPEAKER_01 0:08

We'll also balance national sports trends with ACC Insights and provide a lens of notable happenings of sports in our home state of North Carolina.

SPEAKER_00 0:16

Two friends and industry professionals getting together to bring you 23 minutes of fun each week with shared experiences around buckets and birdies. He's Carter Bills, sports agent and seasoned consultant in the golf space.

SPEAKER_01 0:27

Joining me on the mic is national champion, Tario Great, Marcus Ginyard. Welcome to Buckets and Birdies.

SPEAKER_00 0:35

Welcome to another episode of the Buckets and Birdies Podcast.

SPEAKER_01 0:38

It's Tuesday, March 24th, and when you're here in this one, it will be Thursday at high noon, Marcus.

SPEAKER_00 0:44

Yes, that's right, Carter, because usually we're dropping them Fridays at high noon. But since we're still in the middle of March Madness, we thought it'd be better suited to drop this on Thursday before the games get started.

SPEAKER_01 0:55

So thanks everyone for listening again wherever you are. Again, we're coming to you this week, Thursday, March 26th. And Marcus, we'll start as we do every week with our quote of the day.

SPEAKER_00 1:03

Carter, the quote of the day today is nothing can happen if not first a dream. Jimmy V, right? Jimmy V, correct. Um, nobody more perfect to quote during this time of year than Jimmy V. Obviously, their magical run um in the early 80s, but you know, right now you've got 16 teams that that still have a dream. And I'm certain that they all started with this dream, and you know, there's still only a chance for one of them to live it out.

SPEAKER_01 1:29

All right, Marcus, and the quote of the day takes us nicely into off the top. And as we sit here on Tuesday evening, March 24th, there is some breaking news as the University of North Carolina has just reported that it's parting ways with head coach Hubert Davis from the men's basketball program. Obviously, big news. What does that mean to you, Marcus? What does that mean to the University of North Carolina and where does the men's basketball program go from here?

SPEAKER_00 1:52

I mean, it's a it's a tough decision, Carter. Um, I can't imagine um, you know, all the discussions that that went into this. I know that Coach Davis um, you know, wanted to remain the head coach. I know that there's a lot of folks out there that that wanted to um you know give him another chance and and and allow him another year to see if we can put it all together. There's a lot of things that that that didn't quite go right, um, haven't quite had the success that um I'm sure Hubert and and everybody else wanted, but um just a beloved uh member of the Carolina family and just tough news. You know, these are the the tough decisions that have to be made at at the university level in athletics, whether college or professional, and um it's unfortunate. Um I think everybody agrees Hubert's a great guy. And um again, just kind of the business of sport. It's a sad day for sure. Um but but hopefully there's you know on the flip side of that some some opportunity for for something new to be created um and for Carolina basketball to find its way um you know back at the top where everybody wants it to be. So, you know, my hope is is that you know this in a weird way is a good thing, um, but it's a tough thing. There's no doubt about that, Carter. Um certainly have uh a lot of love for for Coach Davis myself. And so um just just want the best for Carolina basketball, and and I just truly hope that that this will help us get there.

SPEAKER_01 3:07

The standard for Carolina basketball is excellence, and you know that better than anybody, Marcus, as a national champion. And like you said, it it is a bit of a sad day, but maybe there's some optimism on what's next as Carolina basketball hopefully steps towards that excellence. And I think there's no debate, as you alluded to, no one's debating how much they love Hubert Davis as a person. Hubert Davis is an excellent human being, and um, so it's a sad day from that respect, but but hopefully uh a bright day as we look to see what's next.

SPEAKER_00 3:35

Exactly. Exactly. And so I have to imagine, Carter, for you um off the top, you're you're still thinking about your high point Panthers, and of course, not uh the outcome that they would have wanted, but but still had a great showing here in the NCAA tournament.

SPEAKER_01 3:47

Absolutely. Go high point. I can't tell you, Marcus, how much I've heard go high point over the last few days on my cell phone. You and I were even texting about it over the weekend, as you know, these Cinderella stories sometimes seem to have one round that goes their way, and then you face a fourth seed in Arkansas and Coach Caliper, and it comes back to reality, but not so much. What a back and forth game. I haven't had that much fun watching a basketball game in a long time as I did watching the Hype Point Panthers go up against the Arkansas Razorbacks. And we had them nervous. I mean, Darius Aycuff is probably the best guard, if not the best player in the country. Um, he's the most impressive point guard I've seen all year this year, Marcus. He goes for 36 to hold us off. Uh, really proud of high point. We had our players seem to put it all out there. Our point guard, Rob Martin, actually went for 30 and was matching him basket for basket for a while. Just a lot of fun to be a high point Panther. And I tell you, I remember when high point was really starting to come on the national map with President Quebain, as you know. And all the school really wanted without football was to make the NCAA tournament. And they did that last year, and wow, what a magical moment. And they did that this year, but a totally different story as you win a game, you endear yourself to a nation, and you really become the darling of the first round of the NCAA tournament and probably that first weekend, Marcus.

SPEAKER_00 5:11

Oh, totally. I mean, I I loved watching every second of that game. Um, had me, you know, at the edge of my seat. As you mentioned, we were texting. I mean, I was thinking about jumping on the plane and and flying out for the for the next round to catch high point, and and I've never done that in my life before. So I'm excited to just be talking about high point in a new way with some fresh energy. And um, I'll tell you what, Carter, they're no longer going to be a Cinderella. Uh I expect to be talking about the High Point Panthers, you know, as a team that that gets to the NCAA tournament year after year. Um, they've certainly got a bright future, and I'm just excited for another North Carolina team to be finding some success.

SPEAKER_01 5:46

I tell you what, Marcus, first year head coach Flynn Klayman wins over 30 wins in his first year. The first time that's happened for a first-year head coach in Division I men's college basketball. We know how hard it is to win games out there. Good for him, good for the High Point Panthers, and I'm excited for what's to come in the future for him. Shout out to HPU. All right, Marcus, with all the college basketball talk, that takes us nicely into our bucket section, and we continue to look at the brackets of March Madness. First, taking a zoom in into what happened with the schools from the ACC. Unfortunately, the first two rounds of the NCW tournament were not the most kind to the ACC. The Duke Blue Devils are the only team left standing. There was a lot of good ball games from Clemson to Louisville to Virginia that just came up against some tough opponents with some tough results for the conference. And before we look at the Tar Hills, Marcus, did you catch any of those other games? What did you see so far?

SPEAKER_00 6:39

You know, Carter, I'll be dead honest with you. I I do not. Um and I didn't even watch the second Duke game. Um, but it's a sad, gosh, such a sad day today to be talking about Duke being the only ACC school um left in the tournament. Really had high hopes for Miami, um, had high hopes for Virginia. Um and, you know, obviously Miami running up against a tough Purdue team. Um, was not able to catch the Louisville game. Um but again, just uh a tough showing for the ACC after getting uh so many schools in and you know, kind of thinking like this was going to be another kind of year for the ACC to step up and kind of show their presence um on the national scale. And and um uh disappointing showing, no doubt. But um, you know, proud to have had that many teams in, but but certainly wish that we could have had some some better results out there. Um you know, there's a lot of folks out there that are big time ACC fans that say, hey, let's let's cheer for whoever's left in the ACC. Um that's not gonna be me, my friend. I I'm not gonna be cheering for Duke. Um let's go Michigan State, let's let's figure this thing out. Let's not overlook St. John's, you know. So, I mean, hopefully St. John's can take care of business. Um I think it would be great to have an ACC school in it, but um quite frankly, I just can't stomach it being Duke.

SPEAKER_01 7:55

Totally understood. And a lot of good games early. You know, to your point, Marcus, results rule. So it would be nice to have a lot more teams from the conference marching on. But Clemson comes up against a very tough Iowa team who wins again and they march on to the Sweet 16. Louisville wins a tough first game, and then they go against Michigan State, one of the better teams, and fall to them in the tournament. Um, on the other end, you and I both liked Virginia advancing. They played well, but Tennessee seemed to play out of their mind and they advance in the South opposed to the Cavaliers from UVA. And then the North Carolina Tar Hills up 19 points, Marcus. I was at a client event in Miami. You know me, I don't really miss games. I had to be at the event. I'm sort of looking away. We're up 19 points. The event spills into dinner, and I'm thinking, we're good. I'm checking as dinner's concluding. We're going to overtime, and I knew that momentum shift was not a good sign. What did you see as we gave up a 19-point lead? Unfortunately, it was too much of our Achilles heel to give up big leads. This one we paid for, and unfortunately, it ended up being our last game of the season.

SPEAKER_00 9:00

Yeah, Carter, I mean, I I I was in Bone Security's arena in Greenville, um, watched it like I watched so many games this year, and and you know, you you said it. I mean, this is something that we've seen from this team. Uh, we've seen them give up big leads um in the second half. Um, and and more times than not, we found a way to to still win. But um, you know, the series of events that I saw in Greenville were were very similar to a lot of other games. You know, you think about um you know, the game against Clemson um at home. I mean, I mean, listen, we could we could we could go on and on. There's a handful of examples out there, but um, you know, at the end of the day, uh sadly it wasn't shocking what what I saw. It was something that um, you know, when we saw it live, obviously really hard to stomach to to see it. Um but ultimately not something that was a big surprise to us. Um, you know, unfortunately, something that we have seen from this team. So tough night, tough night for the Tar Heels in Greenville, um, you know, which which doesn't get any better as we you know get through the weekend and now today with with the news. But um yeah, just just a tough showing, tough showing for the ACC over the weekend.

SPEAKER_01 10:12

It was an almost an incredibly tough showing as Duke barely squeaked by their first round game. Sienna up 12, I believe, at one point in the first half, maybe even 11 or 12 at halftime, Marcus. I was with some Duke guys at the event I was with. They were pretty nervous checking their phones throughout last Thursday afternoon. They fortunately for them come come back and squeak by that first round game and then really powered through the second round, beating the ninth seed TCU and looking like the number one overall seed in that second round game. It's like they got it back together, Marcus. Sometimes a little adversity might be good. What does that look like from your lens?

SPEAKER_00 10:48

Yeah, I mean, I think that when you're trying to win these six games in the NCAA tournament, you are going to come against some some stark um you know competition. Um and a lot of times that happens in that second round game. You know, certainly as you get into the the the Sweet 16 and on, you're gonna you're gonna feel that resistance. But but a lot of times that second round game is tough. Duke saw a little bit of that um, you know, that that struggle in the first game, but um uh it's it's a lot tougher to get through that first weekend than than most people think. You know, that this is when all of the quote unquote madness is happening, right? And so um it it's a challenge to get through that first weekend. So, you know, you you gotta give them their credit to to have gotten through it. But I'm telling you, you you think that they had some nervous fans um over the weekend in that first game. I think they might have some nervous fans um coming up against St. John's. Um certainly not a team that I'd want to see right now, um, playing with a lot of confidence. They've got a uh very talented team with um a legendary coach. Um and I think that they're on a mission to prove some people wrong this year. So we'll see how that goes. But um again, man, that this is why we you know we say it's Christmas in March.

SPEAKER_01 11:52

Um you guys didn't have too much trouble in the tournament in 2009. I believe you won every game by double digits, if memory serves. We did. We did. Um Hey, all this talk about adversity is cute, but you know, you you guys kind of laid it to people. We we took our lumps though, man. We took our lumps on the way there.

SPEAKER_00 12:09

It wasn't all pretty.

SPEAKER_01 12:11

All right, Marcus. So to your point, as we look into the brackets, everyone likes to recalibrate, reset, and take a peek into where they landed, what they have left. What did you have left, Marcus? If memory serves, you did pretty well. A lot of your teams that you picked to advance are still in play. And how does that look? Do you have any change of heart, new decisions as you move forward over the next couple weeks?

SPEAKER_00 12:33

No, um, I love my Michigan State Yukon pick. Um, I'm gonna continue on with Yukon moving forward there. Um Nebraska was a surprise, but ultimately I think Houston is gonna come out of the South. Um very, very happy with my Iowa State pick, and I do believe that that they will move forward um over Michigan out of the Midwest. Um and then the West, uh, you know, I think I'm gonna stick with with you know Arizona, Purdue um battling out in the regional final, and and I'm gonna continue with my two seeds um and have Purdue coming out of there. So um nothing really major changing for me right now. I I think Houston um still feels like the favorite for me um to go home as a national champion. So all four of your seeds for the final four are still alive? Yes.

SPEAKER_01 13:19

So alive, and you're looking good, yeah. I am still alive as well. I did pretty well over the first couple of rounds. My biggest hole, Marcus, was I had Kentucky and UVA playing in the in the next round matchup. Neither of them have advanced, so that was pretty poor on my end on that part. That's where you had Iowa State. I think you like the the Who's as well, but you had Iowa State and you picked him to march all the way to Indianapolis. So should Iowa State keep advancing? That ends up being a great, great pick from your end. And then, Marcus, I do have Houston coming out of the south. I think they're still looking in good shape. And in fact, with Florida getting knocked out, they might have the path of least resistance remaining. I do think going back to our last conversation, Duke does have the toughest region. When you look at St. John's next to your point, a difficult matchup, and then I wouldn't want to play Michigan State or Yukon. I watched both of their games over the weekend. They look like they could be the best two teams left in the tournament right now. The Yukon Huskies and the Michigan State Spartans look out for that matchup. It's going to be the one of the tournament, I think, so far.

SPEAKER_00 14:20

No, I'm going to have my popcorn ready for that game, Carter. I'm square in front of the TV for that one.

SPEAKER_01 14:26

I did have my High Point Panthers going to the Sweet 16. That didn't quite work out. Arkansas had some other plans. I think the Arizona Wildcats would have been too much for a high point anyway. Uh, but it was fun to see them get to where they they landed. I think Arkansas and Arizona becomes a great matchup. Uh, and I ultimately think Purdue takes care of business and Texas's run is over. We're not calling Texas a Cinderella, by the way, right?

SPEAKER_00 14:49

Definitely not.

SPEAKER_01 14:50

No, they're an 11th seed, but Texas has got enough money to uh buy their way a new Cinderella slipper should they need to.

unknown 14:57

There you go.

SPEAKER_00 15:02

All right, Carter, as we transition from Buckets to Birdies uh with our Nets and Jackets game, uh, where we put you, Carter, on the spot to tell us the NCAA champion and master champion on any given year. And this year, Carter, your year is 1994.

SPEAKER_01 15:18

1994 is Arkansas for the NCAA tournament, and 1994 is Jose Maria Olatabo for the Masters.

SPEAKER_00 15:30

I mean, this is absolutely unbelievable how you get this, man. I I had no idea who that was. I had never heard his name before. Of course, he goes on to win a second Masters, or maybe that was his second, but uh two-time Masters winner. I had never even heard his name, but um 94 and 99 for Jose. Yeah, that's that's it.

SPEAKER_01 15:50

Go ahead and tell us, tell us the story now. 99 or what? What do you do? 99 would have been UConn if we're gonna do that year, too. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 15:57

Well, now we know not to not to have that one as a as a year moving forward.

SPEAKER_01 16:00

They beat Duke, so that was a good year.

SPEAKER_00 16:02

You know, oh fair, fair, very good. All right, Carter, so tell us what's going on in the world of golf.

SPEAKER_01 16:06

All right, Marcus, I've got a few things to hit you with today from around the world on the PGA tour. We talked so much basketball last week. We didn't quite get too much into golf, and uh a couple of exciting things happened. First of all, we got on the other side of the players' championship, which is really the fifth biggest event on the calendar if we look at it, in addition to the four majors. And Cameron Young from Wake Forest, who's been on tour for a while now, um, finally broke through and won at Wyndham, right, in Greensboro last year, wins the players' championship and gets a big one. A nice notch on his belt, hits a 370-yard drive in the process down 18, what he called the shot of his life, Marcus, as he came home to hoist the trophy in Pontavidra Beach. Really good guy. Couldn't be happier for Cam Young. He is no longer a sleeper pick as he often is for many. He ascended to four in the world, and he has firmly positioned himself as somebody people are going to be talking about as we head into major championship season and the masters tournament.

SPEAKER_00 17:04

Man, that would have been the uh shot of my life, too, Carter. 370-yard drive, no doubt about it. Uh, we all know that he played really well in the Ryder Cup this fall, but um love that he's no longer a sleeper, no longer a Cinderella. Um so let's keep our eyes on Cam Young moving forward.

SPEAKER_01 17:18

That's it. You said he was one of the lone bright spots for Team USA. So I love his momentum and uh I love what he has to offer, and I'm excited to watch him in the coming weeks as big-time golf unfolds. This past week, Marcus Sunday concluded the Valspar Championship in the Bay Area in Florida. They play the Copperhead course at Innisbrook. Matt Fitzpatrick, who hasn't been in the winner's circle in a while, he ends up hoisting the trophy. Another great player. Nice to see him get in the winner circle again. Proud of Matt.

SPEAKER_00 17:46

Yeah, Carter, it has been a minute since Matt's won.

SPEAKER_01 17:49

Yeah, I think 2023, Marcus, he and Jordan Spieth go into a playoff at the RBC Heritage. Two great players. It's hard to believe that's been three years ago now. That's coming off him winning the 2022 US Open at the country club at Brookline. So hard to believe that's been four years ago now. Matt, a very accomplished player, had sort of positioned himself well in the top 10, um, has found his way outside that, but now is positioning himself as a threat again, again as major season comes around. All right, Carter, anything going on this week? This week is the Houston Open, Marcus. And the biggest story so far before play has started is that Scotty Scheffler withdrew. He has gone home to be with his family. Baby Scheffler number two is expected to be on the way. So happy for Scotty and Meredith. They're a great family. Um, they have one son, Bennett, right, who was born last year just after the Masters. They've got another child on the way this year who is going to be born just before the Masters. So he's he's flirting in danger zone of not being able to play the Masters because we know Scotty's gonna prioritize family first, but he's somehow parting the C's here, Marcus, nicely to get a child in just after and just before the Masters, it looks like. So best of luck to the Shefflers.

SPEAKER_00 19:02

Yeah, congrats, Scotty. But but man, I don't know, timing, man. Nine months, man. Like maybe we want to just move it back a little bit, right? So you can play in the Masters. Come on, man. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 19:12

Absolutely. And then looking forward to next week's the Valero Texas Open. Marcus, it's the last chance, really, for players who have not yet qualified for the Masters this year to win a tournament and advance their way in. Two big weeks. You could this week move up into the top 50 in the world, and that world golf ranking will lock. If you're top 50 in the world after this week, you would be in the Masters tournament, and then next week it's winner go home. If you're not in the Masters, you win the Valero. And they've really been able to lean into that narrative and make that a fun part of their event. Such a great event in San Antonio. You win that event and you're in the Masters as well. So high stakes here over the next couple of weeks.

SPEAKER_00 19:52

Hey man, a perfect mirror of March Madness. Win or go home. We love it. All right, Carter, that brings us nicely to our Beyond the Box Score feature.

SPEAKER_01 20:06

Everything Marcus and I talk about is Beyond the Box Score, but specifically each week, we take a look into one story from the Beyond the Box Score feature in the North State Journal's sports section. The North State Journal is North Carolina's only statewide newspaper. For more on the North State Journal, check out NSJonline.com. And today, Marcus, we go to Ennalie Yefimova, the freshman from North Carolina State University who just won the NCAA title and women's 100-yard breaststroke at last week's swimming and diving competition for the NCAA Championships. Marcus Yefimova turned in a time of 56.3 seconds, giving her a seven-tenth of a second win. She was a couple headlinks ahead in the race, if you watched her, really winning by miles from a runner standpoint in the pool there, Marcus. The time also set pool records. She's the fourth female swimmer to win an individual national championship and the second Wolfpack champion in that event overall, the first since Sophie Hansen in 2021.

SPEAKER_00 21:06

Man, congrats to Inley. I think that's absolutely incredible to won win a national championship. Um, but to do it as a freshman, um, and I think it's really special too to win national championships and individual um events like this. Um believe it or not, uh I can swim pretty well. Um I'm not really good at the breaststroke, but but to have a time like this, to win a national championship, if I'm not mistaken, this is one of the top five uh times ever recorded in this event. Um you know, being a national champion is is the the the tip of the iceberg. You're at the top of the top. Um you're the best in your class, you're you're you're the best in your sport. Um to do that as a freshman I just think is absolutely incredible. So so shout out to her. Um I I know she's probably on cloud nine right now. Uh I hate that the Wolfpack got another championship, but um but but I just love when when athletes get get to the top like that. So uh big congrats to her. Her and um yeah, big congrats to her.

SPEAKER_01 22:02

And we've got to shout out national champions when they're in North Carolina. So, like you said, big congrats to her. I'd be remiss, Marcus, not to say one of my best friends growing up, a groomsman at my wedding, Brian Crowder, was on the NC State swimming and diving team. He is one of the first to let me know when NC State does something well. So I know he's proud of her. He's very involved as an alumni uh in that program. He swam in college with Cullen Jones, who you may remember was the U.S. gold medalist from NC State on the medley relay with Michael Phelps. As a young Michael Phelps was getting his career going and stacking medals too, Cullen Jones from NC State. And that swimming and diving program was a part of that medley relay as well.

SPEAKER_00 22:41

All right, that's all for today. Thanks for tuning in to the Buckets and Berries Podcast.

SPEAKER_01 22:46

That's 23 minutes of our thoughts for you. From Marcus Guinyard, I'm Carter Bills.

SPEAKER_00 22:50

We'll catch you next time.