Championship Pedigree

Carolina's coaching staff just got a whole lot more legendary. Marcus and Carter welcome Buckets & Birdies back from the post-Augusta break with a deep dive into the storied career of national champion Deon Thompson and his addition to Michael Malone's coaching staff at UNC. With the addition of Brandon Robinson, the staff now boasts championship representation from 1993, 2005, 2009, and 2017 — that's not a coaching staff, that's a dynasty. They also break down the latest PGA Tour winners since Augusta and what's been happening on the course.

Championship bloodlines run deep in Chapel Hill. 🏀⛳

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 Guineard. Welcome to Buckets and Birdies.

SPEAKER_00 0:35

Welcome to another episode of the Buckets and Birdies Podcast.

SPEAKER_01 0:39

It's Tuesday, May 19th, and when you're here in this one, it'll be Friday, May 22nd, Memorial Day weekend, Marcus.

SPEAKER_00 0:46

Yes, indeed. We are back from a long break, but as always, our new episodes will drop on Friday at high noon.

SPEAKER_01 0:53

Thanks to everyone for tuning into this one and catching up with us for 23 minutes of Buckets and Birdies.

SPEAKER_00 0:58

We appreciate you.

SPEAKER_01 0:59

And as positive people who like positive thoughts, we'll start as we do always, Marcus, with our quote of the day. And the quote today is if people are doubting how far you can go, go so far they can't hear you anymore.

SPEAKER_00 1:12

I love that. You know, right now we got you know golf kicking up in the high gear. You got the NBA finals. Uh, when you think about, you know, our buckets portion of this thing. And so there's a lot of folks out there that are trying to distance themselves and um, you know, make their way into championship legacy.

SPEAKER_01 1:27

I love that. And I love talking about how far you can go, pushing yourself to the limit, pushing the people around you to the limit. And speaking of far, it has been far too long since we have gotten together, my friend. It's good to be back with you.

SPEAKER_00 1:39

Yes, sir. Great to see you, man. And I appreciate you uh making it up here to Chapel Hill to celebrate my birthday a couple weeks ago. Um, great to get around a golf in together. Um obviously we love doing that just as much as we love shooting hoops, but uh, but great to see you. So I appreciate it, man. So fun, man.

SPEAKER_01 1:54

Shout out to Chapel Hill Country Club. What a great time!

SPEAKER_00 1:57

Awesome. Wish I would have played a little better golf, but I had great company, we had great weather. Um, so you can't be mad about that. No doubt, no doubt.

SPEAKER_01 2:05

And with it being a minute, a lot's been happening in the basketball world. We'll get into golf. A lot's been happening in the golf world. But first, Marcus, off the top, what's on your mind today?

SPEAKER_00 2:14

Man, I just want to give a huge shout out to my brother, my teammate, Deion Thompson, who has just recently retired from the game of professional basketball. Uh, let me make sure I get this right. 16 years that Deion Thompson played professional basketball. Sixteen years. He played in 14 different countries. Played for 22 different teams. 22 different teams, 14 countries, 16 years, and won eight championships during his time in Europe. So I just want to give a huge shout out. Congratulations, Deion Thompson, for an incredible career, a legendary career. I mean, this guy played all over the world, every corner of the world that you can think about. This guy played basketball there. Um, fully embraced the experience there, him and his wife, um, and really just set a great example for what it's like to travel the world, experience the world, um, and and just kind of take on new frontiers. So I just want to give a huge shout out to Deion Thompson. Congratulations, my friend.

SPEAKER_01 3:11

Man, that's awesome. I I saw something, Marcus, around the 16 years and the 14 different teams. I did not know eight championships. I mean, is he batting 500 on championships and professional career?

SPEAKER_00 3:23

You know, that includes some of the cup championships, but but at the end of the day, man, it's hardware. Um I I remember vividly when he he won the championship in in Jerusalem. Um I know he's got several others out there that you know that that we just mentioned, but just an amazing career to be able to get that much hardware um, you know, during during your time out there in Europe. So just again, man, huge shout out to to Dion Thompson.

SPEAKER_01 3:48

No doubt. Shout out to Dion. And man, he started his career in North Carolina with hardware before he ever became a professional as a part of a special team in 09 that you were a part of, and you know this better than any, Marcus, but a lot of people will remember speedy Ty Lawson bringing the ball up or Tyler Hansburg holding the ball down in the paint, maybe Danny Green or Wayne Ellington making threes from seemingly everywhere, Marcus Ginyard holding down the defensive end in many cases. Deion Thompson was an integral part of that team because you couldn't double off Tyler. If you double Tyler, before I even knew Marcus Guineard, before I knew Deion Thompson, I knew that if you gave the rock to Deion in the 10 to 15 foot range, that bucket was automatic. He buried those, and he buried a lot of teams because people buried Tyler and he made him pay.

SPEAKER_00 4:34

Great little mid-range jumper and loved that turnaround over his right shoulder out of the post. And obviously, just a great defender and a great rebounder as well. But more than anything, just a great person, uh great teammate, uh, great guy to be around. But uh he he was definitely a very, very important piece uh to the puzzle that year. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 4:52

And not only do we celebrate a retirement from Dion, it sounds like Marcus, we're celebrating a homecoming for Dion as well.

SPEAKER_00 4:59

We are indeed, man. Bringing him back home to Chapel Hill, which I think is just a great transition for him as he steps away from professional basketball, but stays within uh the sport of basketball, and no better place than to come home to Chapel Hill and and uh join the coaching staff as a graduate assistant. He's already been in school for a year now as he entered Keenan Flagler business school last fall. And so he'll finish his second year at Keenan Flagler, get a business degree at Carolina while you know joining the coaching staff and helping this new generation of young Tar Heels um achieve their potential. So ri really exciting um on both fronts, right? You celebrate uh his retirement and then celebrate bringing him back where he's uh gonna be a great uh you know addition to this coaching staff, and he'll be just as important, you know, as a coach as he was um on the court as a player.

SPEAKER_01 5:45

That's awesome, man. Exciting times for Dion, exciting times for Carolina basketball. And that takes us, Marcus, nicely right into buckets. And let's think about it. The last time we were together sitting down Sunday morning at Augusta, Mike Malone had just been hired, and we were talking about the new head coach of North Carolina basketball. We talk about Dion Thompson joining the staff. Let's take a look at how the staff is rounded out. We also have Chuck Martin, an early hire from Coach Malone onto the staff. Chuck, of course, Marcus was one of the integral parts of Coach John Caliperi's staff for many years, really heralded as a key recruiter. So an awesome skill set to bring, especially in this landscape of college basketball. Coach Malone and Coach Martin go back to 99 and 2000. Marcus, they were on the coaching staff at Manhattan together. So they go back.

SPEAKER_00 6:31

Always good to keep those relationships and friendships strong over the years. And I think that's a perfect example right there. I'm I'm sure that they stayed in touch and continue to have a good relationship. And so excited to see how those two continue to work together.

SPEAKER_01 6:44

Absolutely. And then staying on from the staff, Marcus, is Coach Sean May.

SPEAKER_00 6:48

You got Big May all day, uh, which I think was a you know a great retention, you know, for our men's basketball team. I see he's you know bringing some continuity. Everybody knows Coach May. I think he's done a great job over the last several years and will continue to be very important as we start to develop, continue to develop our big men.

SPEAKER_01 7:05

Absolutely. Recently added was Coach Brian Tabaldi, a very heralded assistant coach with experience with the Chicago Bulls, the Cleveland Cavaliers, stops in college, included Michigan State and DePaul. Great college basketball programs, a great relationship with Coach Malone, and brings experience as well.

SPEAKER_00 7:22

Absolutely. And you know, on that same note as uh, you know, coaches with NBA experience, you know, you you retain Pat Sullivan, who also has a lot of extensive experience in the NBA. And then on top of that, you got Brandon Robinson who comes back to Chapel Hill, another homecoming story, who also has had some experience in the NBA over the last couple of years, uh whether that be in the G League or in the NBA out in Sacramento. Um so good to see him coming back as well.

SPEAKER_01 7:46

Absolutely. I met B Robb with you a couple years ago. I think he was a grad assistant after finishing playing on the staff at that time, went away to your point, got some experience in the NBA, and great to have him back in Chapel Hill as well, Marcus.

SPEAKER_00 7:57

And you know what I think is the most interesting thing about this is you got Mike Malone who comes back, who is not technically a Carolina guy, but you got guys like Pat Sullivan, Sean Mae, Brandon Robinson, and Deion Thompson still on staff, which I think makes a lot of the Tar Hill faithful a lot more comfortable keeping that family together. There's some other folks behind the scenes as well that that folks may or may not know of that that also stayed, which I think is great. But uh the most interesting thing to me is you've got a 2005 national champion. Excuse me. You have a 1993 national champion, you have a 2005 national champion, you have a 2009 national champion, and a 2017 national champion. And then you got Coach Malone who's won an NBA championship in 2023. So uh there should be no doubt in anybody's mind that that we're bringing the championship pedigree back to Chappahoo.

SPEAKER_01 8:45

Man, that is an awesome point, Marcus. Thinking about that, North Carolina's last four national championships all represented on Coach Malone's staff. That's pretty special. There is championship DNA in that locker room, is what you're getting at, and you're spot on. All right, so Marcus, all this NBA talk with the assistant coaches on Coach Malone's experience has me thinking about the NBA. You mentioned a little bit off the top, we are right smack in the middle of NBA playoffs now. It's conference finals. So fun times in NBA basketball going on.

SPEAKER_00 9:14

Carter, I don't follow the NBA that much. I'm gonna be completely honest with you. At this point today, I have seen one period of NBA playoff basketball. A week ago, I did not even know that James Harden played for the Cleveland Cavaliers. And now you can call me crazy. But I'm at my boy's house, we're watching Cleveland in Detroit play game seven. I see James Harden warming up, and I'm like, wait a minute, what? James Harden plays for the Cavs? So I've been out of it. You call me crazy if you want to. Um I love college basketball. Uh the NBA basketball does not get me excited until this time of year, to be fair, until this time of year. And just been ripping and running all over the place. Um, so I have not had a chance to really pay attention, but I'm excited to pay attention moving forward. We've got four teams that, let's say 20 years ago, you probably wouldn't think would be making up the last four teams here in the conference finals. And so I'm excited to see what happens from here on out. Uh I know we got some big time players on all four of these teams that are ready to make a splash, ready to make some noise. So I'm excited about catching tonight, if I'm not mistaken, game one of the Eastern Conference Finals, where you've got the Knicks, again, a team that has been good over the last several years, but not someone you'd think about potentially breaking in uh you know to play in the finals. Uh, but they certainly have the talent, and let's see what happens tonight.

SPEAKER_01 10:39

No, great point. The Knicks back in the Eastern Conference Finals, I think, is good for basketball, Marcus. Madison Square Garden hosting an Eastern Conference Championship takes you back to the fields of where ultimately their hopes and dreams were destroyed by Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls many a times. But it is nice to see the Knicks back. I think it's New York basketball special. You know, it's a team you worked out for. I mean, when the Knicks are good, basketball's good. And I'm excited to see the Cleveland Cavaliers. A little bit of a new look, to your point. People aren't used to seeing James Harden maybe with the Cavs, maybe a little more aware than you are by this point that he's with that team. But interested to see the Cavs, right, come in and try to see what they can do with the New York Knicks. The Knicks fired Coach Thibodeau last year after having a solid run. So now it's sort of championship robust for them. They brought in Coach Mike Brown, another great coach who's done a nice job with this group. You hear Carl Anthony Towns in his postgames, and he sounds determined to what we would say cut down nets, right? I think hoist the trophy at this point in the NBA. But with Jalen Brunson and Carl Anthony Towns, two heralded players when they were in college, right? At Villanova and Kentucky, respectively, they are NBA stars. They are leading a team, and I think the Knicks are here to make some noise and march on to the NBA Finals, excited to see it, as you mentioned, as it starts tonight.

SPEAKER_00 11:59

No, I'm I'm right there with you, Carter. Um I think that they've got all the pieces uh to make a decent run here to get to the finals and then potentially to the next step after that. And I'm just really excited. What, you know, uh although I don't follow it that closely, I will say I am excited for Coach Brown to get an opportunity to coach the Knicks. Um I know he's kind of had a uh a bit of a rough go around the league, but but from what I know, which is not that much, but from the people that I talk to who have been in the NBA a long time, everybody speaks really highly of him. So so I'm excited that he's got this opportunity. He's on this stage, uh, you know, and with a group of guys um that has the potential to win. But don't forget you got, you know, um Mr. Donovan Mitchell on the other side, who hasn't quite had the opportunities to get to this spot, who who wants to take the next step in terms of his legacy, and he's a fantastic player. Um if he's healthy and and and he's feeling it, he could be, you know, bringing Cleveland to a place where they haven't been that often as well. So let's not uh count them out too early either.

SPEAKER_01 12:57

Donovan's special. I I love watching him play. You make a good point earlier that the NBA with 82 games can sometimes be tougher to watch all season. Donovan's one of those players that seems to go hard every night. Um, kind of a la Russell Westbrook in his prime. I loved Rachin Russ because he goes hard every night. I love watching Donovan for the same reasons. And now that we're in the playoffs, Marcus, you got the best players in the world going hard every night. And you were alluding to this as well. It does make this special. If you don't watch the regular season, tune in now. You're gonna see some really good basketball. Mobley in the middle for Cleveland, I'm excited to see what he does too. Uh he's got some pride and is not afraid to erase some shots as guys come down the middle. So I think it's gonna be a battle, and I'm excited to see it get kicked off.

SPEAKER_00 13:41

It's certainly gonna be a battle, Carter. And on the other side, it's gonna be another battle. We've already seen game one on the on the western side of things, and you know, much like having the Knicks in playoff basketball and in the on this big stage is good for basketball, I think having the Spurs on this stage is good for basketball, NBA basketball for that matter. And so I'm excited to see them back uh at this point, um, fighting for a chance to go back to the finals. It's been a while since they've been here. And uh, you know, you talk about talent, you know, you've got Wimby amongst others, uh, but all eyes are on Wimby after that huge game that he had in game one in the Western Conference Finals. I'm excited to see how he continues to mature um and show his level of excellence on the court as well.

SPEAKER_01 14:22

Absolutely. As exciting as the Eastern Conference Finals are, the Western Conference Finals might be even more spicy, Marcus. You had the MVP race really come down to Shea Gildris, Alexander, SGA of the Oklahoma City Thunder, and Wimby of the San Antonio Spurs. MVP goes to SGA. Wimby looks like he's got something to say about that and something to prove. Did you tune in at all to the MVP race? I know we didn't watch a lot of NBA games building up to now, but what are your thoughts about those guys? Arguably the two best players in the NBA individually going head to head on two great teams right now.

SPEAKER_00 14:57

You know, I think you just said it right there. You know, they're they're two great teams as well, which I love. And so you've got great players surrounded by more great players, but but they make each other better. They make their teammates better, excuse me. And so um I I just love watching players like that where it's not super ball dominant. You know, obviously they they take and make shots when it's necessary in the clutch, but but they really do a great job of including their teammates and making their teammates better and ultimately getting their team um to the next level. You know, their teams were winning teams. And so for me, that's the thing that I love to watch about both of these players. Um again, just excited for these guys to go head to head. All right, Carter, as we transition from buckets to birdies, we're going to revisit our favorite game of Nets and Jackets. However, this time it's gonna be a little bit different. Before we had the NCAA tournament, we were also leading into the Masters. So I had you pick an NCAA champion and a master champion. Now that we are here with the NBA playoffs in full swing, and then we've got the US Open in our sights. I am gonna give you a year and you're gonna tell me the NBA champion and the U.S. Open Champion. You ready?

SPEAKER_01 16:09

Okay. Would you remember?

SPEAKER_00 16:12

Your year is 2000.

SPEAKER_01 16:15

All right, 2000 U.S. Open Champion. Is that Tiger Woods? Tiger Woods. All right, and 2000 NBA champion would be the first for Shaq and Kobe. Los Angeles Lakers.

SPEAKER_00 16:28

There you go. Congrats, my friend. Didn't know if you're gonna be able to put that one off, man, but that's that's pretty good. That's pretty good.

SPEAKER_01 16:34

I thought for sure you were gonna stump me on this one.

SPEAKER_00 16:36

Yeah, that's what we got next week. Don't worry. All right, Carter, so let us know what's going on in the world of golf right now.

SPEAKER_01 16:44

Last we sat down, it was Sunday morning in Augusta, and Roy McElroy wins his second back-to-back in Augusta. Unbelievable win. Congratulations to Rory. Since then, Marcus, since you and I've sat down, somehow there's been six more champions. Let's take a look at those, run down. Tell me what you know, tell me what you think about these guys, all right?

SPEAKER_00 17:04

Ready.

SPEAKER_01 17:04

So, Postmasters, we go into a signature event, the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head. Matt Fitzpatrick wins, the Englishman. The next week, they go down to New Orleans to team event. Matt Fitzpatrick teams up with his brother Alex Fitzpatrick. Alex did not have PGA tour status yet. Alex and Matt win the team event. Forget what it means to the pocketbook. He now gets full PGA tour exempt status, Marcus. Alex Fitzpatrick joins his brother in all of the signature events in the majors and is marching on his way to playing in the playoffs this year for the FedEx Cup. Unbelievable turn of events for Alex Fitzpatrick, who was right there playing side by side his brother Matt. What a special moment for those two.

SPEAKER_00 17:49

That's pretty awesome to be able to compete on that stage with one of your family members.

SPEAKER_01 17:54

Shout out to Alex there. And what a special run for Matt. That's his third win of the season, Marcus. And three in like four or five weeks. Unbelievable run for him, propels him up to third in the world. Matt Fitzpatrick on a heater, now a favorite, and a lot of the majors. And Alex is not going to surprise anyone. He showed up this past week at the PGA Championship. But before we get there, we went to a new signature event in South Florida, the Cadillac Championship. Cameron Young wins. Third win for him now as well in the PGA tour, sitting firmly in the top five in the world. The next week comes to Charlotte in our home state of North Carolina. The Norwegian Christopher Wrighton wins. Unbelievable leaderboard. No one really knew who Christopher was. He rises to the top. He now, Marcus, secures his card, secures his spot in signature events and in major championships, and is one to watch as we march on through the middle and the rest of this PGA tour season now.

SPEAKER_00 18:50

Always typically get down there to Charlotte, so I hate that I missed it, but looking forward to the next one.

SPEAKER_01 18:55

And then Marcus, while the truest championship takes place in Charlotte, an opposite field event occurs in Myrtle Beach. The 72 guys that aren't in that field are teeing it up there, trying to battle for their status and jockeying for position on the PJ Tour. When all said and done, Brent Schnedeker comes out with the win, first time in a number of years, one of the all-time most beloved guys on the PJ Tour, unlocks some new things for him and build some confidence in this next phase in his career. Happy for Brent.

SPEAKER_00 19:25

Always great to see. You know, when you don't win for, you know, as you mentioned, a number of years, but you're still able to get yourself back to the top. I love watching stories like that.

SPEAKER_01 19:33

No doubt. The captain for the President's Cup for Team America. So maybe some good vibes there. Team America certainly needs it after the loss in the Ryder Cup. Maybe we can redeem ourselves this calendar year, Marcus, at the President's Cup. We'll see what happens.

SPEAKER_00 19:46

At Medina in Chicago. Looking forward to that one.

SPEAKER_01 19:49

That's right. That's right. We're going to uh have to be up there for a couple of things, I think, Marcus. So maybe we'll get to cross pass and talk a little buckets and birdies at Medina.

SPEAKER_00 19:57

Would love it.

SPEAKER_01 19:58

And then that takes us to this week, the second major championship of four in the calendar at Eronymick, just outside of Philadelphia. Was up there a little bit. Unbelievably beautiful, unbelievably well done by the PGA of America, unbelievably windy conditions, and complex Donald Ross Greens coming out on the other side of it, the least unscathed was Aaron Rye. I don't know how much you know about Aaron Rye, Marcus, but he's an unbelievable story. He hoists the Watemaker trophy this past Sunday. Special win for him. Great story in golf.

SPEAKER_00 20:29

Yeah, man. Huge win for Aaron. I'll be honest, did not know his name before now, but I will definitely be watching moving forward. Congrats.

SPEAKER_01 20:37

So as we go back, Marcus, here's a trivia game for you on the Birdie side. Of those last six champions since we last connected, three of them have won the same event. Aaron Rye, Brent Snedeker, Cameron Young. Do you know what event that is?

SPEAKER_00 20:55

I mean, I'm just going to take a wild guess, man. I'm just thinking about one of the first events that you and I went to together was the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro. So that's going to be my guess, the Wyndham Championship.

SPEAKER_01 21:06

You nailed it. All three have won the Wyndham Championship. So some good vibes there for Marcus Ginyard. Some good vibes there for those players in the heart of the calendar in the spring. And yeah, as you said it, congratulations to Aaron. Not a lot of people knew his story. Some are hearing it now. I think the world is really hearing it now, Marcus, but grew up very humble means. When he was a young kid, I think eight years old, he was given two gloves. So he still wears two gloves because that's how he practiced growing up on each hand. At some point as he got better in golf, his parents splurged Marcus and got him a nice set of titleess irons. Title still leans into this story. He still plays titleess irons. Because they were so nice, he didn't want to mess them up. He put head covers on them. He still plays with those head covers on these irons today. So for anyone who gives Aaron Rye a hard time on the two gloves or on the head covers, I'd say know your story. It's a don't judge a book by its cover moment. Unbelievable. Humble guy, simple guy. I think he's what's right with golf. He's what's right with sport. He's a great example to the youngsters out there. And man, I couldn't be happier for a nicer guy getting a major championship win. And we talk about unlocking things for people. This unlocks a world of exemptions for him and a world of confidence for him as well. You step on the T the next time you tee it up, Marcus, and you're a major champion. That hits a little bit different.

SPEAKER_00 22:25

I'm sure he's going to be taking that confidence with him as he moves forward. We'll be watching.

SPEAKER_01 22:29

And Marcus, that gets us caught up on golf. Mostly it's just good to be back with you again. I know it's been a couple weeks away, so pleasure to sit down with you, pleasure to catch up with you, and just good to be with you, man.

SPEAKER_00 22:41

Likewise, my friend.

SPEAKER_01 22:43

All right, guys, that's all for today.

SPEAKER_00 22:45

Thanks for tuning in to the Buckets and Birdies Podcast.

SPEAKER_01 22:48

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

SPEAKER_00 22:53

We'll catch you next time.