Juniata Men's Basketball Show
The Juniata Men’s Basketball Show gives you an all-access pass. Hosted by lifelong friends Tom Frank, Drew “Biz” Besket, and Head Coach Greg Curley—a 23-year veteran with 300+ wins—the show pulls back the curtain on Juniata Men’s Basketball like never before. From locker-room leadership and player development to recruiting, alumni stories, and the day-to-day challenges of running a Division III program, nothing is off-limits. You’ll hear directly from players, parents, alumni, and a coach who’s seen it all—wins, losses, and the lessons that come with both. It’s honest, insightful, and a whole lot of fun. Whether you’re part of #EaglesNation or just love the game, this is college basketball beyond the box score. Follow @JuniataBasketballShow on Instagram, subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen, and join the conversation. Produced by Merrick Studios in conjunction with 16803 Media.
Juniata Men's Basketball Show
Alumni Weekend Live from The Nest
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We’re live from The Nest (yes… it’s officially called that now 👀) for Alumni Weekend at Juniata—starting with our Wilkes pregame show, a parade of alumni guests, and the long-awaited recap of the 2026 Ed Mansberger Alumni Game.
Team Blue and Team Gold went to war in a defensive slugfest that somehow still felt like a track meet emotionally. We break down the chirping, the “fraternizing” scandal in the Catholic student section, and the moment the score finally becomes official.
Plus, alumni guests stop by with life updates (new jobs, new towns, weddings, babies, firefighting, nursing, coaching, PA school), predictions for the stretch run, and a whole lot of love for what this program has become.
Notes:
- We had a couple audio hiccups in the postgame segment, so we patched in reflections to wrap the weekend.
- The in-game audio from the alumni game is (allegedly) missing. We’re not naming names… but we’re also not not naming names.
Send us your question for Coach Curley
The Juniata Men's Basketball Show is hosted by Tom Frank, Drew "Biz" Besket and Coach Greg Curley. The Show is produced and distributed by Merrick Studios in conjunction with 16803 Media. Follow the show on Instagram and Catch all our episodes at https://www.coachshowplaybook.com/juniata-mens-basketball-show/
Cold Open: Live From The Nest
SPEAKER_03This is America Studios Podcast. This week on the Junior Adam Men's Basketball Show. Alright, Bez, we're here at what is now called officially the Nest.
SPEAKER_02We'll have to get a picture of that. It's right over there. Um and why is it called the Nest? I think it's called the Nest because of us. I guarantee it.
SPEAKER_03Hey football fans, you could win a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the 2026 Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement events in person in Canton. How do you kick this off? Grab Snapdragon Apples at your local store. Then go to SnapdragonApple.com for official rules and enter. No purchase necessary. Ends February 28th, 2026. Open to U.S. residents 18 and older, void where prohibited. Welcome, Junietta Nation, to this week's episode of the Junietta Men's Basketball Podcast. I'm your co-host Tom Frank, and what you're about to hear is our Junietta Wilkes pregame show live from the Nest this past Saturday, alumni weekend. If you're waiting to hear the results of the highly anticipated 2026 Ed Mansburger Alumni Game, you're just gonna have to listen to the full episode. We can't give it away just yet. Two items of note. I think Biz might have tampered with the in-game audio we recorded. Unfortunately, we do not have that to share. I can just say this it was pure gold that will never be heard. And number two, we did have some slight audio issues with our post-game conversation, but not to fear. We dropped in some reflections on the entire day with myself, my partner in crime, Drew Basket, aka Biz, and your Junior Adam Man's basketball coach, Greg Curly. Away we go.
SPEAKER_02Hi, you ready? I'm ready. I'm Tom Frank. I'm Biz. And there is no head coach, Greg Curly. There is no head coach, Greg Curly. And this is your junior Adam Men's basketball show. You can hear the beat. We're doing it live right here. We normally have your head coach, Greg Curly, but he is. You think he's in the locker room right now?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, he's probably uh running some game plans, you know, putting the chalk board together. Because if you can hear chalk, it's probably dry race now, right?
SPEAKER_02It probably is dry race. I think he should go get a chalk. I think that's a lot of work. I don't know. A lot of dust. Yeah. But if you can't hear, we are um just under 60 minutes until game time. We're overlooking what we're gonna talk about in a minute.
SPEAKER_05Yes.
SPEAKER_02The floor. Yes. We have uh Wilkes warming up, we got our our our hometown Eagles warming up. You know what? I'm noticing Wilkes is um
We Named This Gym, And Now We Want a Banner
SPEAKER_02hitting a lot of bricks over there. That's a good sign, I think. I think that is a good sign. But let's start right here, Biz. All right. The gym. We walked into the gym, we're gonna go through the whole morning. This is fabulous. The whole morning we'll go through. We had the alumni game, we are at post-alumni game, we are at post the uh alumni luncheon. Everything's been fantastic, always well done by by Coach Hager, who's in charge.
SPEAKER_13Bravo, bravo, sir.
SPEAKER_02But what I'm looking at right now, and we're gonna show this up on our screen, yes, is the new banners that are throughout the gym.
SPEAKER_05Yes.
SPEAKER_02And what they say on them is the nest. The nest. Where where have we heard that before? They have officially called it the nest. It's on a banner. It's on a banner, and I think that you and I need to take 100% full credit for this place officially now being called the Nest, because we've been calling it the Nest for the past four years.
SPEAKER_05Yes. I mean, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind, right there, that we named we we named the gym.
SPEAKER_02We named the gym. The gym the nest.
SPEAKER_05Now the next thing we need, if they're listening, yeah, we need a banner of our show in the gym.
SPEAKER_02Okay, let me ask you this question. Yes. Would we rather have a banner or? I notice along the walls, they have pictures of great moments from the nest. They have the picture of the whiteout from the playoff game. They have some of the you know the playoff appearances, they have different big photos.
SPEAKER_05Right.
SPEAKER_02Do we want a banner or do we want a photo of the podcast and and declaring it as the official podcast of Juniata basketball up on the wall forever in the history of this building? Without a doubt, the picture. I I totally agree with you. Yeah. We need to get that done. And I think that I want it, I think we want it here, right at the entrance. Oh, yeah. And we just shift everything down. Alright. And and I I don't know. We have another wall. We do have another wall down here we could use. Yeah, I mean, we could take up that whole wall.
SPEAKER_04I'd say we get twice the size.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, maybe it is that wall because that's something you're looking at right when you walk in.
SPEAKER_04Right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Okay. The decision's been made. Maybe you know what?
SPEAKER_04Maybe they can uh you know how they do like the gym and then the court? Maybe they can name it the uh junior atom men's basketball show court.
SPEAKER_02That's not a bad idea. John Wood, you know, things of that nature. The Junior Adam Men's basketball show court at the Nest. At the Nest. That's up that's pretty good. Double double win. It is, it's a double win right there. Yeah. Um, so what's on tap today? We're gonna have we're gonna have a a parade. Parade of alumni. Of alumni coming in here. We will spend some time talking about what happened earlier in the morning. Or we could not, but whatever. We're not gonna get into it yet. All right, but we will talk about you know what happened this morning. We're gonna talk, we had a great luncheon at the uh Hall of Fame room.
SPEAKER_05We were in the Hall of Fame.
SPEAKER_02Hall of Fame room. Uh you think we'll ever get in there. I mean, that's not an outside possibility either. Because here's what I'll say about that is though everybody on that wall served in essence four years here at Juniad. Right. We are on our fourth year. Yeah. So we should be eligible at the end of, I would think, at the end of this year. I would hope so. Yeah. Is there like a time frame after you've left the uh I mean we have to like stop the podcast and I guess we have to stop before we get in. Or can you be a a journalist who gets in? You know what? I believe that uh they should make an exception. Yeah, maybe. Yeah, maybe. But yeah, I okay, so that's the second thing on our list is an actual plaque in the Hall of Fame. First, though, we gotta get up on the uh on the wall.
SPEAKER_04I have a feeling that can happen.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I think that's gonna I think that's gonna happen right now. So we're expecting a big crowd tonight.
SPEAKER_10Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Uh two o'clock game. Uh women will play at four o'clock. Women played their alumni game as well.
SPEAKER_05Right after us?
SPEAKER_02Right after us. Uh we had a big crowd for the alumni game.
SPEAKER_05We did.
SPEAKER_02Like, like surprisingly, it was a a big crowd.
SPEAKER_05The uh the Mansberger family was there. Yes, they were. Because it is the we we're we're actually doing a disservice. It's the Ed Mansberger alumni game.
SPEAKER_02Yes, you work 100%.
SPEAKER_04We apologize.
Freezing in Huntingdon and the Drive Up From DC
SPEAKER_04But yes. Yeah, I think.
SPEAKER_02Tom's got the shirt on. I got the shirt on that we all got. I'll come this way to show it. Great shirt. And I'm wearing white because that's what we called for today. A white out. Well, I'll put a white shirt on over top for the game. Well, it is cold, so layering up would be key. It is absolutely freezing cold here in Huntington, Pennsylvania. I mean, I'm talking ridiculous.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, and you know what I you know what I love to do when it's like the coldest days of the year?
SPEAKER_02What's that?
SPEAKER_05Have to fill up my gas stack.
SPEAKER_02I did too.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_02I got irritated because, and um, I know that uh I know that uh a few of the parents can appreciate this. Those who come up from DC, okay, yeah, right? Actually, the guy who just walked into the gym on the far side, he Malcolm's dad can appreciate this because we talked about this. There's uh like two different ways you can come from D City. And one way appears to be the shorter way, and every single time I get sucked into taking it, and it puts you through some state park, and you're on one lane, and there's no guardrails, there's snow everywhere, there's ice everywhere, and at one point I definitely thought I was going off. Yeah, but I came that way, it's a little bit shorter in the time, but it's a little bit more uh scary. See, I need to be moving, man. I I don't like those little one-laners. Yeah, I didn't. I did I did pass a couple different times, legally and illegally. Oh. But not a surprise knowing you're driving history. So my goal was to beat you here. And you did. And I did, because what that allowed me to do was have a little conversation with all of the uh the players of alumni game, both blue and gold, yeah, to set to set some things straight. Okay. Which, you know, we I think I know what you're talking about here. I I I think we we need to get into that just a little bit here. Yeah. I'm gonna pull something up here. I sent my team a little motivational message. And I'd like to share that message if I could.
SPEAKER_04Ah, I mean, please do.
SPEAKER_02Let me let me pull it up here. I want to read it word word for word.
SPEAKER_05Wow, that's uh that's a lot.
SPEAKER_02So let's
Two Points With Four Minutes Left at Catholic
SPEAKER_02get to something that happened on Wednesday night.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_02This past Wednesday night, uh, our team, the Eagles, fell just short uh in what was a great game of Catholics. It was a great game of Catholic. They fell just short. With I think with about four minutes left in the game, they were within two. They were within two. Within two with four minutes in the game. It was a great game, a great crowd. Um a ton of parents came out for that game. Actually, I wanted to say that uh the Catholic announcer kept saying Junietta really brought a good thing. Yeah, you were noticed. I didn't I didn't know that, but so I gotta tell a quick story about that. So I am uh I go to the Catholic game every year, it's not far from where I live. Yeah, and um I I tend to meet a handful of guys that I went to college with. None of them have any ties to Juniatta except for the fact that we do this show, they all listen, and they actually love the Eagles.
SPEAKER_10Right.
SPEAKER_02They're big fans of the Eagles, they love Curly, they love listening to the show. So they like to come out every year, and so we decided we were gonna meet up at a uh a restaurant right near Catholic. All right. So one of the guys set it all up, and I'm the first one there. I get I get there, I park, parking was rough, there's still snow everywhere in DC.
SPEAKER_10Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And I walk into the restaurant, and there's a woman just like waving at me, screaming my name. And I'm I I froze for a minute because I was like, wait a minute here. I I I thought I was meeting my college buddies here. Yeah. And then I walk in and I'm looking at her, and then I start looking behind her, and everybody's in Juniat again. Alright. I have no idea what's going on. You you found by accident the pregame party, apparently. I found the pregame party, but to their credit, the pregame party actually sent us a message on our Instagram, which we totally missed, and invited us out to the pregame.
SPEAKER_05Well, that was very nice.
SPEAKER_02Malcolm's uh parents held a had a held a big tail uh happy hour. Yeah. It was fantastic. Yeah, there were a ton of Juniata people there, a ton of non-Juniata too people that just knew them that came out for the game anyway. Okay, cool. And we're all rooting for the Eagles. Nice. But I walk in, I see all them, I'm excited, we're all talking, and then my buddy Thrine, shout out to Thrian Harperin, who you know him, who also listens to the show. He had actually set this up because he actually is in a group with Malcolm's dad, and they found out that his Thrine was like, wait a minute, where's your son play? And he said, Juniad, and he's like, You've got to be kidding me. I know the head coach, I know the guys who do the podcast. So they set up this little happy hour, yeah, and we all came out. It was an awesome time, all went to the game together. Hey, we we got a bunch of stuff going on. We have a guest coming in. We have our first guest of the day. We were just telling, we were telling, I'm I'm about to get into the Catholic story. All right. Wait, wait, wait, wait, hold on. Gotta put you on first. All right, go ahead and talk. All right, go for it, yeah. Yeah, we got it, we got it. All right.
unknownAll right.
SPEAKER_02So we need to hear the Catholic story. All right, so before we get into the first of all, introduce your name. You gotta use it. Uh Brent Furco, class of 08. Brent Furco. Oh eight. 08, 4 years old. Hey, you're getting old now. He is keeping the he's keeping the dream alive. He's keeping the dream alive. Okay, so what I was gonna get into is there was um a situation at Catholic that became w wide, widely known amongst uh even the players were a little old. All of the players.
The Catholic Student Section Incident, Read Aloud
SPEAKER_02Let me set the context of it. There was a situation where I was seen in a picture with the Catholic student section. You arranged. Now, on paper, that looked like that not a good thing. Not a good look. But I'd like to explain the situation. So I I had written something to Team Blue that I'm gonna share with you guys because you guys didn't get to see this. So I I wrote a text message to address this situation. Team Blue, gather around. There are some absolutely reckless rumors circulating that I was seen fraternizing, yes, fraternizing, with the Catholic student section at last night's game in DC. Disgusting. Frankly, ESPN will be hearing from my lawyer. So let me clarify for the record. Yes, I walked over to the student section, but only to inform them politely, respectfully, and loudly that I regularly roast their entire existence on our podcast. I hold a deep and personal disdain for Catholic University, and unlike my co-host, also known as the Team Gold's coach, also known as Suddenly Invisible, I have the stones to say it to them directly to their faces.
SPEAKER_05Hold on a second. Amen. Let me finish reading.
SPEAKER_02I then forced them into the photo so that now I have a visual roster of the individuals I routinely belittle. This was not friendship, this was surveillance. Now that we've cleared up the international incident, let's get to the only thing that matters. Saturday. I asked for this roster back with a few new additions because last year was nonsense. Absolute friction. There is no universe where our team of heat-checking snipers and rebounding wolves should not dominate team gold. This time we lock in, we communicate, we play fast, smart, and mildly disrespectful. We go drop 80 like it's a personal mission from the basketball gods. We don't ask, we take. Blue wins, the record is corrected. Team Gold has nightmares for a month. That was my motivational speech. Wow. That was great. To Team Blue. To address this situation. Alright. Your rebuttal, sir.
SPEAKER_05Well, first of all, it's hard for me to be in person when it's like right in your backyard, and for me, it's like a five-hour trip, so I think that's a bunch of crap.
SPEAKER_04Second of all, I mean, I will give you the fact that we do belittle them, and you did tell me. I did tell you in advance I was gonna go get a picture with them. Well, not in advance. You sent the photo to me. Alright. I was unbeknownst. But in any case, I mean, you know, it is what it is.
SPEAKER_05You took the heat and uh and I used it.
SPEAKER_02You used it. I used it for motivation. And I did as well. The players did not like the look of this.
SPEAKER_04No, they did not like that.
Hockey Lines, Red Flags and a Whole Lot of Bricks
SPEAKER_04And I said that you initiated that because you respected what they do. I do. And it didn't work all the way. But that's alright.
SPEAKER_02Alright, enough of this. It's over, it's cleared. Now we haven't we haven't even talked about the game yet. Okay, good. Alright, we're not there yet. We're not there yet. How are you doing? I'm doing great. I feel great after the game. Thank you. I appreciate that. I I took some, I I came out when I needed to. I understand my when the fuel tank goes down, get some younger guys in there. So we had a lot of guys. It seemed like there was a lot more guys this year. I feel like last year I played just solely because there may have been only like nine guys on the thing, and I go to, you know, I'll play. And now when you see like 18 guys, 19 guys come back, which is great. I had 10 guys on my roster. Right. We did a full hockey switch. Exactly. We switched lines. Well we were missing, we were missing the duckmeister today. You were missing Duck. I was missing Nico. Yes. I would have had 11, I guess. That would have been a harder, that would have been a little bit more difficult.
SPEAKER_13Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_13Although it seemed like the hockey line switches were needed today.
SPEAKER_02I think we didn't wait for timeouts either. We just sure there's not a lot of rules.
SPEAKER_10Yeah.
SPEAKER_02No. Now, I will let the audience know we did not, we did not throw a red flag. No. We thought about it. Yeah. We really think about it. We didn't want to ruin the integrity of the game.
SPEAKER_13Well, I was telling Coach Hager last night, you know, I'm kind of old school, you know, class of 08. And I hear that talk about the red flag, and I think about, you know, I earned the right to play in this game. You know, dealing with Curly for four years, right? I didn't like granted you guys had to live with them for forever. But it's a little bit different. So I was going to, you know, so you got in a red flag situation and I was on the court. Were you gonna foul me? I wasn't gonna foul, I was gonna play hard on you to welcome you into the alumni fraternity, right?
SPEAKER_05My directive was that uh, you know, if you missed it and got and tried to shoot to just plant you somewhere.
SPEAKER_02Oh, it would have been it would have been, you know, hey. My my thought was though, if I if I would have gotten in the game, that's exactly why I was gonna play. I was gonna jack one up from three. I wanted a three-pointer bag. Yeah. Well, if you would have gotten the game. And you would have got I would have boxed you out hard. You would have been my original game plan, uh, and this was Hager's idea. I think it was his idea to you for me, but I was gonna use it against you. I was gonna throw the red flag in the first minute. And I would have thrown Biz off for the rest of the game because he would have been a nervous wreck to go out there and try to shoot. I tell you what, the way these guys were shooting today, though, I mean, that may have been Yeah, it was uh the shooting percentage on each side.
SPEAKER_04Uh I'm not sure if we got to 24.
SPEAKER_02And now this score, yeah, and we both looked like Susquehanna out there throwing up. I don't understand how we got. Am I wrong in thinking that like two years ago we were at we were in the 80s. Oh, yeah. Or 70. We we ended at 70. Yeah, or no, we ended at 80 on the dodge. Yes. We were combined. Did we combine hit 80? I don't know. Yeah, it was right around rough. There was a lot of layups.
SPEAKER_054239, so.
SPEAKER_02We won't say who won yet, but 4239. Yeah, so we're yeah, we just barely hit. Yeah, we did. Yeah. Hmm. Teaser. Yeah. What else is going on in life? Uh, me and my wife are expecting a baby girl. Hey, congrats. Congratulations. Yeah, joining.
SPEAKER_13Number one or what?
SPEAKER_02Number one.
SPEAKER_13Oh, right.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I'm slow on everything. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05I was gonna say you're you're following the coach Coach Curly VP method, right? So yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um, so with uh me, my wife and Tori are both, you know, pregnant at the same time. So we're up here, kind of hoping tonight that they both maybe take, you know, go home a little bit early and kind of let me know. I thought you were gonna say more than like they're gonna both go into labor tonight. Yeah, we're far like that. Yeah, let's not do that. Yeah I mean Dr. Biz is here.
SPEAKER_04No matter how exciting the game is. Yeah, I did stay at a holiday and expressing.
SPEAKER_02You did.
SPEAKER_04Oh, well, that's fantastic. You know, boy, girl, what do you got?
SPEAKER_13Girl. All right. Yeah, I yeah. I think uh God's playing a little joke on me now. He said no more, no more male furcos that we need.
SPEAKER_10You know, we need that's great.
SPEAKER_02They're a trip, man. They are a trip. Yeah. All right, so what do you think about this year's team? Right? It's it's been uh the beginning of the year. We were we were we were we're a little nervous. Is it gonna be like last year? But as of recent, they kind of have they've hit kind of hit their this this year's team reminds me a lot of my year when we were sophomores or juniors.
SPEAKER_13All right. And then you have that class. We had Hager, Jazziota, Aaron Chamberlain. I see that in kind of like Ty Cossack, right? He makes them go and then he has a great supporting cast that's younger, and they're just young, but they're ready to, you know, they looked at the way they turned it around against Drew, right? That's unbelievable. I think they can play with every anyone. I mean, it's just a matter of getting in those situations.
SPEAKER_02You know, they're probably in these situations for the first time overtime games, stuff where they have to step up. Um, but that's not to say, hey, we can just say, hey, we're young, but it's like take that, yeah, execute when you have the chance. And with it, the landmark being six playoff spots now instead of four. I mean, everyone's in it. I think there is, you know, everyone's at five or six wins in conference. So it's uh this team, Wilkes right now, just gave up 86 points or so to Susquehanna, and we held them to 42. So it's Wilts or that team is a crazy team. Yeah, right? They beat Catholic, then they give up all those points to Susquehanna. I don't know who this team is. Like it's they go with they're gonna go with Lesco, right? So it's it's I think he was hurt early on in the year. Hager said he's starting to kind of get into rhythm a little bit. So, you know, our just defense needs to be there right out of the gates. Uh, I think Wilkes got here maybe four hours before the game, so they've been sitting around. Hopefully they, you know, we we're ready to go. We if we get out and play well right off the bat, I think it's it's gonna look good for us. I think we could I think we're at a point now in the season where we're gonna hang with anybody. Oh, yeah. And then it's just a matter of can can we finish him. Right, and that's where the youth could be a disadvantage, but again, it's gonna bode well in the future. They're good they're getting into these situations and they're in the hunt of it. So yeah, it can only help them. But yeah, it's sneaking out some of these wins uh is gonna be huge. This is a big one, particularly because it's a home game Saturday. It's alumni. Yeah. I mean, I think I think I mean you should tell us, but I would I would assume when the alumni are in the crowd, there's a little extra juice there.
SPEAKER_13A ton of extra juice.
SPEAKER_02I remember last year we were playing we we missed a little layup at the buzzer just to win it, and then that's a game that we probably shouldn't have been in last year. And you can tell it's like a Seven point difference with alumni there. And you know, when I always played, it's like we're ready to go. You don't want to be moping around, like, you know, not moping, but like last black zadaisical around. Right. Uh, they're gonna come out ready to go, and I think that's exactly what we need. This falling this falling on this day alumni game home, especially with a lot of away games coming up. Yes, um, it's a perfect storm here for a for a victory. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, that schedule is front-loaded to home games, man. They need this one bad.
Fixing Ty's Free Throws and the South Korean Bank Shot
SPEAKER_04They need the edge. They need an edge.
SPEAKER_05Like it seems like they'll get an edge and then they get rid of the they need the like I want to see just a total paint domination on both sides of the floor.
SPEAKER_02And that that's kind of been their story, though, is they they can score inside. They they they're having a little trouble shooting from the outside right now. Yeah, that's kind of been our our Achilles heel lately, is shooting. And Junietta's, you know, been a good shooting team in history. Um watching this, I watched the Scranton game on Flow Sports. Hager was nice enough to give me his login. I refuse to get Flow Sports. Oh man, I need to talk to Hager. Uh as they gotta get the offense rolling a little bit at first, and then tie Kozak go. We we that Scranton game, Ty was going kind of off that first pass, and everyone's still set on defense if they can run their offense for about 10-15 seconds, then to get aggressive. I think that's gonna open up some shooting lanes, some driving lanes. I agree. Um, and make things a lot easier. And then, you know, once you get there, you gotta hit your foul shots. I'm hoping for some foul shots today along with Biz that we we make. I got free throw shooting's been not so easy.
SPEAKER_04I sent you a text after watching the game. I can fix Ty's foul shooting.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. You can. I can.
unknownAlright.
SPEAKER_02It's way too quick. Well, the other? Yeah. Okay, here's my other issue. I want to know from a why does Ty. I've never understood this. The line, right? The free throw line. Ty noticed this, is always like a foot back. Why? Why does he do this? I don't know. Some some people do that. I was taught to get on the line, put it in the middle. Yeah, you can take as much of the room as you can. I sent Coach Hager a little reel that I saw uh saw the South Korean national team, all bank shots. And they're one of the best shooting shots. Oh, really? They bank it. Overhands, bank it shots. Overhead and bank shots, and they're shooting an ungodly amount. So again, I I probably would never do it myself, but yeah. Huh. I don't know. Might be something to think about for some of these guys. Yeah, I like it. I like it. Um, we have some team that just rolled in here. It's Juniata. It must be the football team. You think it's a football team? Why is a football team? Could be track, could be indoor track. I think they were doing something today. Yeah, I think it's indoor track, it's not football.
SPEAKER_05I don't know.
SPEAKER_13A guy's got a number on his shoulder. Well, you could have a number, no? Not having a track number. I don't have a track number? I don't think so. Yeah, you do. You have a track number. Yeah, they always have those things that are 387. It's like they're like number numbers. I don't know. We we might have to get you.
SPEAKER_02Did the same bolt have a number? Yeah. What? I don't know what it was. Right. It was just a lightning striker. Yeah, I think it was just a lightning stuff. He was just a lightning bolt. Yeah. He was a symbol. Yeah, maybe I don't know. I don't know. Maybe it's recruiting. Yeah, we're supposed to have some recruits here today. I was just at Forbes Road with Hager last night watching a recruit. Yeah. 6'7 shooter. Just towering above everyone.
SPEAKER_13I think every that I think the two tallest people in Forbes Road got married and had a kid because it was like, you know, Sir Duncan the Tall in there. You know, it was just, you know. So it's it's pretty good.
SPEAKER_02I think that's what we need, man. We need like an edge inside. Or Peter doesn't get the ball inside, and then it's like, I think we need a six go dabby shooter. Who can just light it up from the outside? It's coming. It's coming. You know where those guys are? Division one.
SPEAKER_13Maybe. Take like a 6-3 or 6-4 shooter, and then you're in good shape.
SPEAKER_02Alright, fair enough. Fair enough. Alright, well, this is gonna be fun. It is gonna be fun. Yeah. This guy, like I said, the atmosphere is gonna be great. We're gonna be there. I think I think they come out fast, strong. They execute quickly. I hate so I wouldn't be surprised if if uh I'm gonna call that Wilkes is gonna take the first timeout within five minutes. I think we're we're gonna be up 12-2.
unknownWoo!
SPEAKER_0212-2 timeout. 12-2. Yeah, I think we're gonna I think we're gonna jump on him. I think I would love to see it because it seems like we always kind of get down. Yeah. Yeah. We're gonna jump on him. I was telling Hager last night, you know, I like to go out and lift, you know. Sometimes I park my car in the driveway after work, go in, putsy around, have a snack, sit down, get back. The car's cold. It's much better when I come home, get changed, get back in that car. There's that little residual heat still left in there. Yeah. It's a much better lift. So I told Hager, keep the car warm. You know what I mean? Keep executing from point to point, shoot around, practice to game, keep that car warm. Academically, you come back from practice, you have an assignment to do, don't play a video game. Do your work. It takes a lot more. That's what I would say. Son of a you should have, you let your car get cold. That's my wisdom. Yeah. You let the car get cold. This is good, man. This is good. I used to be a coach. I coached at Susquehanna for a year. I coached at Wells College. Yeah, but you coaches. I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life after. I think it was Conference, so you know. Susquehanna? I coached at Susquehanna for one year.
SPEAKER_04Wait, Susquehanna wouldn't have been in they wouldn't have been in the league if they were.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, they were in the league. They were in your league. They were in the league, yeah. I coached here against Yeah. I don't like that. Had to happen. You have to do what you guys got. You know, Curly could have hired me. Yeah. Curly could have hired me here. So that was the problem. I don't know. Well, that seems to be a deeper issue all of a sudden.
SPEAKER_10Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Alright, we'll let that one go down. We won't get into those issues. We'll get that one in. Yes, yes. But we're 30 minutes before game time. Nice. We're starting to see a little bit of a crowd percolate in. I'm hoping for a full house. I'll tell you what, the cheerleaders better be here. I saw I came for a game early on and they had a big drum. They did? They did. I sent a picture to the uh podcast thing. I said there's a there's a drum here. So it exists. The drum exists, it better be here today. Well, where is this drum? I don't know, but it should be here. If you spot it while we're still doing this, you gotta somehow get that whoever the drum guy is over here, and we're gonna hit the drum against this thing. Actually, just take him just take it. We'll take it over. Just steal it. Whatever, whatever. Yeah, or steal it.
SPEAKER_13Borrow.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Um, if you see the president, bring him over. You know the president? Yeah, I know. Alright. Yeah. Bring the president over. We'd never talk to the president. And who else do we want to talk to today? I mean, whoever stops by. Whoever stops by. So you gotta rally some people around here. Rally the people. I sure will, yeah. I wanted to break the ice and I'll get guys coming in, yeah.
SPEAKER_13The ice is broken and now we're ready to go.
SPEAKER_02Thank you, sir. No problem. All right, thank you. Always a pleasure, man. Alright. Oh eight. Woo!
SPEAKER_13I know, man. Oh eight.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, we are starting to get some we're getting a bit of a crowd in here. It's gonna be a packed house. I like it. Get your tickets now if you haven't had a ticket. Do they even sell tickets? Uh I don't believe so. It's free amount? Yeah. I think they should I think they should uh at least when we're here. Yeah, I I don't I don't feel right about doing this for free. Yeah. We always do. Yeah, who do we got over here? We got some track players. Yeah, they're footballers. No, they're not football, they're freaking track. So, how do you feel about my pregame speech?
SPEAKER_05It was good. That was good. You guys don't have that internal motivation that Curly talks about, and you know, whatever.
SPEAKER_02Although I mean I thought Curly would have been very proud of that speech. I did have Curly on my He may. I had him on my text thread. Oh, good. Yeah, because I felt like he was more team blue than he was teams old. I can see that. Ah, that's a good time. Coach Coach Black was down there, he was sitting on my sideline too.
SPEAKER_05I had a little Kirch Black on my end too.
SPEAKER_02Oh, did you? I think you just had him. I think he ended the game.
SPEAKER_05He was giving me giving me uh tips on how to work the refs, which I needed badly.
SPEAKER_02I didn't need those. No, because you got your back clackets. I worked the refs the whole game. There was at least three calls that were 100% because of me.
SPEAKER_05I mean, I'd say there were about eight calls. Or, well, I'm sorry, how about no calls?
SPEAKER_02I thought it was a very, very well refereed game. I'm sure you did. I thought that. It all went in your favor. I thought the refs did a fantastic job. I would like to point out, though, that one of those refs was the high school basketball coach for Rigby. Oh, really? Yeah. And that's why you were getting a lot of calls. Did you notice every time Rigby went to the hole? Boom. Yeah, never. All the time. He was the only one who got one. No, he didn't drop any free throws. I think he was the only one who dropped free throws. No. Chase, I had two free throws the entire game. There's no no no no no no. You had a ton down there. No, four. I'm sorry. Rigby had two and Chase had three. I don't there were to be honest, there weren't there weren't a lot of free throws. No. There should have been because my guys got crushed. I should have been up by one at half. But I think Mason missed the uh he had a great great three-pointer to tie it up at half and uh went to the line. And one was complete garbage. Oh, I mean he went into the third row. I forget who hit him. I think it was three three guys. He didn't get touched. Three guys hit him. He went down, hit the three, tied it up at half, 21-21, went to the line, and missed the free kill. So we went in, so we went in at half a piece of team, man. We went in at halftime, 21 to 21. And we'll be right back.
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Football, Freshmen and a Turnaround Season
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SPEAKER_02Are you currently on the football team? Yes, sir. Sit down. We do the Junior Adam Men's Basketball Show. We do the Junior Adam Men's Basketball Show. Have you ever listened to the podcast? You're missing out, sir. Yeah. A weird weekly podcast all about the basketball team. You don't have one for the football teams?
SPEAKER_08Uh speaking on the football team? What'd you say? Podcast?
SPEAKER_02No podcast for the football team?
SPEAKER_08I don't know. I haven't I've never seen it.
SPEAKER_02Alright, so tell us about the football team.
SPEAKER_08Uh the football team. I mean, I'm a freshman in like first year, so how'd you guys do last year? Last year we did decent. We did better than what they put up in the past years. Alright. It was the same record, but we let up more points, we got more yards, more touchdowns. Alright. But it's more improvement.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, what now tell us your name and your position.
SPEAKER_08My name is Mikhail Woodland. Uh my position, I play corner.
SPEAKER_02You play corner? All right. Yes, sir. Alright, where are you from?
SPEAKER_08I'm from Washington, D.C. Hey.
SPEAKER_02That's where I come from.
SPEAKER_08Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Another DC guy, man. I came up this morning actually.
SPEAKER_08For real? Yeah. That's crazy. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02We can't DC. What now what high school did you go to?
SPEAKER_08I went to Ron Brown, College Preparatory High School. Okay, alright. Northeast.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, Northeast, yeah. Alright, so how are we gonna do next year? Give us your little prediction for next year.
SPEAKER_08Uh my prediction for next year is gonna be a turnaround season.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_08We're gonna turn we're gonna turn this school around.
SPEAKER_02Alright, I think you need to. I want to see the football program doing well.
SPEAKER_08Yes, sir.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Everybody's gotta catch up to that volleyball program. Yeah, the girls' volleyball program today.
SPEAKER_08Volleyball got it.
SPEAKER_02Now, do you get out for a lot of the basketball games?
SPEAKER_08Not really.
SPEAKER_02Alright, but you're coming for today's game. It's a big one night game. Big one.
SPEAKER_08What do you think? We gotta win today. I feel like it's gonna be a good game. The basketball team is starting to switch the round too. Yes, sir. At first they were bad.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's a tough time. Yeah. Alright, sir. Thank you for joining us on the Junietta Men's basketball podcast. Let's go, Junietta Men's football podcast. We're gonna be looking for you come football season. Yes, sir. Alright, let's do it. Glad to be on the podcast. DC strong, baby. Yes, sir. Alright.
SPEAKER_04You do.
SPEAKER_02Alright.
SPEAKER_04Alright, so we got the football guys on now. You just want to like go ahead and do the alumni game result. I think people are already gonna know.
SPEAKER_02No, I I think we should wait a little longer. Um we're gonna wait till our team captain gets here. Alright. Our team captain. If he doesn't come back, I don't know. I think, I mean, it is 25 minutes to game time.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, man. We're gonna have national anthem soon.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I'll be singing the national anthem again. This will be my second game singing the national anthem. I did it at the palestra.
SPEAKER_04I can't wait to hear this.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it was good at the palestra. We'll we'll do it again here in this game. We don't have the captain yet. But no, I'm gonna wait till both these guys get their headphones on. Alright,
The Result: Blue 42, Gold 39
SPEAKER_02so guys, we have not given the results of the game yet. But I think maybe this is the moment where we do. Now, yeah, let's do it. All the audience knows is it was a 21-21 at half. We did the first half and L.
SPEAKER_10Okay.
SPEAKER_02And then we kind of turned it on. So, so Cam, I gotta let you give us the play-by-play of the second half of the alumni game. Yeah, I think um, look, at the end of the day, I know the second group, um we we came into the second, we started the second half and knew we had to you know turn start turning things, start turning the engines, start turning the gears, and and got out to a little bit of a lead in the second half. I think guy hit a couple shots, brought some energy, um kind of led the rest of the way, I think. I think it was you know one two-point game at you know, tied at some point, but it was yeah. It was uh once Blue took the lead, it was over.
SPEAKER_04I don't know about that, but it was over. That's veteran experience, Bez.
SPEAKER_02It is, it's a veteran team, a team that gelled over what might have caused a major fraction in the team, but it it brought us together. And we used it to motivation.
SPEAKER_13You're lucky. Yeah, you're lucky.
SPEAKER_02What do you what's your take on the game?
SPEAKER_09Uh you know, on paper, we talked about this before the game. On paper, blue team looked really good. We had some Junietta legends on our team. Legends.
SPEAKER_04Legends, yeah. Hall of Famer, even.
SPEAKER_09We had a good core of guys who played on the best team in Juniata history, you know, with Seth and Damon leading the charge, and of course, Adam Hayes uh car team is massive value. And uh, thankfully for us, a lot of us had played together before. So we just played Juniata basketball, you know. You guys, I know you wanted a high-scoring adventure, but unfortunately for you, fortunate for us, all we know is Juniata basketball, you know, defensive rebounding. So it was a low-scoring game. Uh but came out on top.
SPEAKER_02And the final, the final score, we should give it blue 42, gold 39. Yeah, congratulations. 2-1, baby, 2-1. Do you know how big of a difference it is to be 2-1 versus 1-2? Absolutely. I mean, that is massive. It's a game. If I'm Tom right now, I'm I mean it's time to party. It's a game. That's a huge win. That's a huge win. Alright. It shows last year was a fluke.
SPEAKER_10I don't think it does.
SPEAKER_02And we have to say, Gam, MVP of the game. Alright, wow. I'm honored. It was an MVP.
SPEAKER_04You you hustled, you played well, and you're gonna go to the penthouse.
SPEAKER_02Yes. And I, you know, I didn't get to see you necessarily play in your prime. Right. I probably did, but I don't remember it as much. Right. But the the the short little fadeaways, yep, I am coming to know is your patented shot. That's that's my go-to. Hey, mid-range, you know, you shoot 30, 40 percent, you know. I mean, three-point, you know, mid-range, you get in there, you better better selection of shots in the mid-range. Forgotten game. I I really try to model Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant's to the world, and that's kind of where it came from. Exactly. I could see that. Yeah, that was campcatch. And then this guy down here, you were this close to Dunkin' one.
SPEAKER_09Right on top of Colvin Order.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so close.
SPEAKER_13I was gonna throw it off too. Like, that's so good.
SPEAKER_05It meant so close. It was a rib grade.
SPEAKER_09I felt that was a little bit of offensive goaltending, but uh is a rib grazer, so I don't want to get too excited about it, but yeah. Next year it's gonna be on Colt probably.
SPEAKER_02Oh, ooh. All right, all right. Alright, you guys both gotta give us a little update on where where where are we at with life? Life uh getting married in June. Congratulations. Married in June, Katie uh Kaiser. All right, future wife to me. Um she actually was a cross-country runner up in Loch Haven. Okay. Um and we're we're from like the same town, so it just took a while for us to find each other. All right. Um, coaching middle school basketball at my Alma mater, Waynesboro. Oh, you're you're a coach now. I'm a coach. All right. Second year, uh, this team, we're 0-13. Um improvement to be made. Yeah, all right. You gotta start somewhere. Right. Um last year I had a really good team. This year, you know, it's not the coaching. I want to get make that clear. It's not the coaching at all. I've learned from Coach Curly the best. It's not the coach. It's never the coach. We need to we just need to develop some guys. Yeah. Um yeah.
SPEAKER_13That's pretty much it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Alright. Also, I have a podcast too. Oh, yeah, yeah. Last time we talked, you were getting it started, right? I have a few episodes out. Alright. 997 Nation. Would love to have what do you mean at some point. Anytime. Hey yeah. All right, what's the premise of the podcast? Okay. The premise of the podcast, pretty much, I don't know if you guys are familiar with like Marshall Sports at all. Marston sports? Marshall sports, like they forget. Yeah, that it's kind of like the podcast they have is part of my take, but it's similar. Just NFL, NBA, just talking sports, all right. Life. Um is it you who's all who's on the screen? It's just me. It's just me right now. Um, which it's hard to talk to make an episode by yourself, but um, you guys have inspired me. I want to put that out there. I love it. So give it a listen. Give it, you know, whatever. I'm not gonna promote myself here. I'm about to team, but it is out there. You can call into our show anytime. Maybe we do hey, maybe we do a crossover. I like that episode, you know, like like an old like comic kind of thing. Yes.
SPEAKER_10Yeah, let's do it. All right, I like it. A crossover. Crossover.
SPEAKER_02Good, how are you? Alright, now we gotta go down here. So uh I I'm watching the lifting videos constantly now.
SPEAKER_09Very good. Where are we at? Where are we at? I don't think I I don't think I introduced myself when we got on today. Oh, you did? No, you didn't. Uh this is Beth, the voice, the voice of Beth, voice, voice of Beth, uh, the guy with the handlebar mustache. Voice of Greece. But nowadays, uh, this is the first time I touched a basketball in in years.
SPEAKER_02You you couldn't, now.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, so uh I'm a full-time firefighter for the City of Altoona Fire Department. Uh fantastic. So since last year, I I started working as a firefighter. Uh, got married. Uh, my wife, Waverly, she was an attendant today. This is the first time she ever got to see me play basketball, so she was excited, she was happy. A little extra motivation, alright. So I'm a firefighter, she's a co-op in the city of Altoona. Wow. And anytime I'm not at work nowadays, I spend it as in the gym, as you guys see. Uh everything I do is posted online, and that's uh that's kind of become my passion post-basketball. You know, while I was playing in college, I was a very small, scrawny, tall, lanky guy.
SPEAKER_02This guy was small?
SPEAKER_09Yeah. Oh.
SPEAKER_02I can't even imagine. And he and I'm not being fifth is freshman year, was yeah. He's scared, man. He's scared. I can't even. Now he's a freaking animal, man.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. Well, hey, whatever you're doing, it works. Yeah.
SPEAKER_09Yeah, thank you. I'm uh a hundred pounds heavier than when I came in freshman year. So I dealt with a lot of injuries as we talked about on podcast a couple months ago, but uh since I developed this passion for the gym, uh everything's been uh as healthy as can be and good. I'm able to play, able to do my job efficiently, and it's my new passion. So yeah, powerlifting is uh is what I do.
SPEAKER_02Huh. And then did I ever tell you I've spent a lot of time in El Tuna. Really? Yeah, no. The entire my dad and mom were both born in El Tuna. Very cool. I didn't know that. I have I have eight aunts and uncles who all have come through El
Alumni Verdict: This Team Is On The Verge
SPEAKER_02Tuna who spent tons of. I mean, I was in El Tuna a lot. That's awesome. Yeah. So I uh you know, I have a little spot for El Tuna there. That's cool.
SPEAKER_10Very cool. Yeah, it's awesome.
SPEAKER_02All right, so let me let me hear it from you guys. Prediction for this game today. Yep. And for the season. You've been watching the season. What's your take on this team? They're on the verge. Yes. I I've I've started to really tune in once these last couple of wins. I can't remember the first league win, like out of this stretch, but and I even had a polluester game, was it not?
SPEAKER_05I think it was.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you're exactly right. And I'm really, really impressed. I I think this team is, like you said, they're on the verge. They're like something's even the the Catholic game, I just kept watching. They bring it within two, bring it within one. We kept fighting though. Like it was there's a lot, there's a lot with this team, and I think today's win, if we could get a win, I mean that's a that's a very, very good win. I love everybody on the team. They're still young. I don't think they have any seniors. No, they do not. So you gotta you gotta look across the board and I mean Ty is.
SPEAKER_04He's a freaking He's emerging.
SPEAKER_02He's emerging. He is one of the I mean, he's got to be a top player in a landmark conference. And which is it's awesome. Yeah, awesome to see. Tonight, I think the spread was at four and a half. Um I'm taking money line. Ginny Annon went outright. All right. Let's just go get the win and start a let's just start pounding it.
SPEAKER_04Hey, the the playoffs are there, boys. They're right there. They're in range. Yeah. Alright, Biff, what do you got?
SPEAKER_09Yeah, I I agree with Cam. I think uh this second half of the season here, you've started to see us kind of come into our own. Uh from the games I I watch, I can because I live in Altitude and I'm close, I'm able to come down and watch games in person. Oh, great. And uh it's tough without uh without senior leadership this year. Uh, you know, last year was a terrific year for learning going through those uh those hard streaks. Uh and I'm glad to see the teams come out on the other side of that now. It's starting to look like Juniata basketball, which is what I like to see. You have a lot of tough kids on the floor, yeah, and they're starting to play all together. It's it's five guys a threat, which is what you need when you have Juniata guys. Uh they just play tough, they play hard, they wear teams out with a defensive focus, and they seem to be a very connected team and play together. So that's what I hope to see today. Uh, you know, Wilkes is a pretty good team. This is going to be a good test for us. We get this win. Uh, you know, anything can happen once you get into the playoffs. So we just got to do the right thing to make it there and give ourselves a chance. And that's right. As we've seen in recent games, we can play with anyone. I mean, we beat Telsque Hannah by it was 20 points. We were in the game the whole time with Catholics, other than a couple runs. So uh things are really coming together in the second half of the season, so I'm excited to see what they can do today and uh get in the playoffs and make a little run.
SPEAKER_10Yep.
SPEAKER_09I I got a bold prediction today.
SPEAKER_02Oh, alright. Alright, I've been watching this guy. He's been in and out of the lineup uh early. Yeah. Really like his game. All right. I'm looking for him to have a big day today. Alright. Um, I'm gonna say 15 points at least. You know what? If he gets 15 points, we win the game. Interesting thing about early, right? Is they've been hurting a little bit on shooting three. Yep. He's the guy that can spark that 100%. 100%. He came into that Catholic game, hit a couple hours like I like his game. Yeah, game two. Vith, I gotta ask you a question. Did you come to a couple of these games? Yep. This sign that we see in front of us, the nest, this is relatively new, is it not?
SPEAKER_09Yeah, yeah, a lot of this stuff is new.
SPEAKER_02Now, did you guys call it the nest, or would anybody call it the nest? Because I feel like we called it the nest from day one. No, I think I think that's a product of you guys. Yeah, that's I don't think it wasn't called the nest back when you played.
SPEAKER_09I think we just said like Memorial Gymnasium. You know, it really wasn't taglined.
SPEAKER_02There we go. That's a that is a product of you guys, man.
SPEAKER_09I would like to see another product of you guys emerge.
SPEAKER_02Yes, with that.
SPEAKER_09A massive drum.
SPEAKER_02Oh, I want to see. Yeah. There's a rumor. There's a rumor that there's gonna be a drum here. Really? Yeah. So if you guys see it, everybody's gonna be pissed. Yeah, he is gonna be pissed. Yeah, sorry.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, he is very anti-drum.
SPEAKER_02I heard him that on the pod. He's like, oh, guys, I can't do this. He's gonna be mad. Would the drum fire you up? Oh, I'd be I'd be ready to go. Yeah. All right. All right, thank you guys for all you do. Yeah, yeah, man. We're gonna hook up a bit. Yeah, we'll pot it up. We're gonna pot it up. We're gonna do a uh a crossover.
SPEAKER_05And bit, thank you for your service and your wife as well, man. We got it. I'm happy to do that. That's very noble and uh yeah, it's impressive. Thank you. Thank you guys. I think my hand just broke, so you can't. Finally, a team gold rep. I mean, there was nobody on the bench
Team Gold's Rebuttal: That 12-2 Free Throw Line
SPEAKER_05louder than Dino screaming at the refs, man.
SPEAKER_04It was a it was an ugly one by the uh stripes today, huh, Dino?
SPEAKER_02So, guys, we just we just gave the score out. Yeah. So it's official team blue with the big victory. All right, we'll start on your end. Yeah. Dino, get break it down.
SPEAKER_12Well, first of all, you know, let everybody know who uh uh give us your name and your and your graduation year. Uh Dino Brown at 2024. Uh I mean, my biggest thing was what was the final score? We lost 42-39. And the free throw difference differential is 12 to 2. So uh easily.
SPEAKER_13I don't even remember our shooting free throw.
SPEAKER_12I kept track. Yeah. Um so 12 to 2. I mean, right there, that alone was the difference in the game.
SPEAKER_02Wait a minute, Evan. There wasn't a foul called on them the whole first half, right? 12 to 2 difference? Uh there was a little bit of a difference, I think. But you know, we were just the aggressor. You know, and that's usually the point says, like whoever whoever's the aggressor is is probably gonna end up with the line. You guys, the team goal just settled for a lot of just outside shooting. Yeah, with a lack of shooters on the team, too.
SPEAKER_05You know, that was the biggest difference, right there. You know what? If you're open, shoot it. That was my uh that was my directive. If you're open, shoot it. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Well, yeah, we didn't score the 80 that we wanted. No. But we came away with a basic.
SPEAKER_05We scored 80 combined. We scored 80.
SPEAKER_02That's what I meant. That's what I actually meant.
SPEAKER_05Well, Junette is all about defense, right, fellas?
SPEAKER_02That's what it was. All right, Evan, you gotta introduce yourself, your year, and tell us your thoughts about the alumni game. Yeah, uh, Evan Eisenhard, class of 2024. Um, I I thought it was a pretty good game. It was a great game. Was a ton of back and forth, just nobody really pulled ahead until the end. They started team gold started off pretty hot early. I mean, you see Griff make two threes early. That's I mean, you I kind of knew at that point it was we were gonna win. Because you can't be carried by that guy. Oh. Hey, you tell him that. I'm not gonna tell him. Yeah, no, I don't think he'll like that. Yeah, yeah. I'll let good.
SPEAKER_05Thank you for that for next year.
SPEAKER_02Appreciate the donation right there. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05All right, give him a. We can book it, Dino. We're gonna book the victory next year.
SPEAKER_02All right, Evan, you gotta give us a lowdown. What's what's new with you these days?
SPEAKER_05What's in the life, man?
SPEAKER_02Uh, nothing much. Just just working. Uh working for uh Lamar Advertising for Jay Gittinger over there. It's uh Gabe's dad uh hooked me up with a nice little job right out of school. Alright. It's been good. It's been good. Play a lot of golf. Just gearing up for that. That's the spirit, baby. Yeah. Yeah. Um but yeah, nothing nothing too crazy. Do a little bit of officiating. Um, doing officiating. Yeah, yeah. So that's uh a little bit of a surprise to me and everybody who's listening. Well, it turns out, you know, I was it feels like I was right most of the time. Alright. So I mean you have any parents yelling at you or anybody coming at you? No, evidently I've found if you make the right call, people don't yell at you. So I mean, that makes total sense. Yeah, I mean, there's always a little bit of that, but usually it's a lack of knowledge for the rule, is kind of where it goes. Alright. That's fair. Yeah. And how about you, downtown Dino Brown?
SPEAKER_12I just moved to State College in September.
SPEAKER_02Let's take care of it.
SPEAKER_12How about today? Let's go. I'm working at uh I'm a nurse at Mountain India Hospital right there next to Beaver Stadium. So I like it. It's been good. Now is that uh is that gonna be like a permanent dish home, or are you on a rotation, or what uh what's uh I'm working full time right now, okay. So I'll be there for at least two years. Okay, and then I'll probably end up going back to school.
SPEAKER_02But uh we gotta ask, where are you living in State Collins? We both know State Calends, right?
SPEAKER_12I live up uh Tofftrees right next to the golf course.
SPEAKER_02Uh you're right up the town. That's uh me and Coach Curly worked at Softtrees for about ten years.
SPEAKER_05And here's a little story it's because Coach Curly obviously was a basketball guy and you know playing college hoops, he never had time for golf, so guess who got to be Coach Curly on the golf course? Yours truly.
SPEAKER_10We were free golf all summer long every night, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Alright, what do you guys think here? You've been watching the team? Yeah, yeah, I've been following pretty closely when I can catch games. Um I I just think we're young. Yeah. Um I think the shooting will probably get a little bit better as these guys get a little bit older. Uh Ty's playing unbelievable right now, just kind of from what I've noticed. Um, but Wilkes is, you know, they're they're usually a tough team, but uh I was never a big fan of their of their team uh to begin with. I know that we lost them in the playoffs our senior year, so it was uh game, but it's always it's nice to see some of these guys again just still here hanging around. So hopefully uh I think that we'll probably win going away today. That's what my guess would be. I mean, I think the team's just a lot better. Senior day. Uh and just I think with the energy in the building, it's probably gonna be a little bit too much to overcome. Do you think that the alumni being here is that it's just added juice, right? Yeah, it's it certainly brings an element to it. Um and it's weird because a lot of us didn't really play with most of these guys. Right. So, but I I've got to know them a little bit over the past year or so when I've been up to watch. But but yeah, it definitely brings some added juice. I remember it was always a big deal for us, and it was always a good time. Yeah, especially those later years when you gotta win the game. It's kind of a big deal. Right on the cusp of the playoffs, guys. It's there. Dino, can we get into the playoffs?
SPEAKER_12Yeah, I mean, I think we have everything it takes, but uh I think today, I agree with Evan. I think we win going away. The energy is gonna be unbelievable. And uh looks like we got a big crowd.
SPEAKER_10Big crowd coming in here.
SPEAKER_12I think it makes a huge difference. I think it's at least a five-point difference. I like it. Let's be in behind the bench today. It's five points.
SPEAKER_02Five points right there. Alright, I like it. I like it. Alright, fellas, let's get out there, let's get loud. Yeah, yeah. And then you gotta go, you gotta tag some other of your teammates.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, get some of your uh your peers in.
SPEAKER_13Alright, sit on down.
The Final Possession Nobody Understood
SPEAKER_05Alright.
SPEAKER_10Alright, we got I'm surrounded by Team Gold at this point.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you're surrounded by Team. And you know what? I love it. You're surrounded, yeah. I love it. Don't get used to it. I love it. Alright. Alright, guys, what's the breakdown? First of all, introduce your both of yourselves. Tell us you're the year you graduated.
SPEAKER_11I'm Tim. I'm Tim Smith, and I'm sitting next to Chase over here. We both graduated in uh 24.
SPEAKER_07Yep, yep. Chase used it. Yep, like Tim said, graduated in 2024.
SPEAKER_02So this this was your this was your second alumni game. Second alumni game. His second, I was injured last year. Yeah, he was injured. We had him on injured reserve. He was in the he was waiting in the wings. That's right. So your second game back last year, total fluke. You are now now you gotta kind of you're back to where you should be. Right. You can say that. How did you feel, Chase, after after today's game?
SPEAKER_04What were the what was the ups and the downs? Dude, poor Chase has more bruises than anybody, man. No foul. Did you ever get a blood no fat in a day?
SPEAKER_07I got one running.
SPEAKER_02I think it took a bear hug from John to get a john was playing tremendous defense on you. I had a two-man rotation coming in on you.
SPEAKER_05Dude, he would have been he would have ended up in prison if this was just on the street, man.
SPEAKER_07Come on. Andrew Bistel might be one of the biggest men I've ever seen in my life. And I gotta bang bodies with them down low. That's power. I would not want to do what you guys did. That's a big dude. No.
SPEAKER_04That guy is, yeah, he's he's all he's all steel, man. He is. Well, Tim, what'd you think?
SPEAKER_11First game, first time beating the game. I I felt better than I thought I was gonna feel because I haven't touched the basketball in a while. Oh, really? This was your first game back? Oh, yeah, for sure. But I I thought we did good, but you know, the shots weren't falling. I think we didn't get a few calls that could have gone our way. You know.
SPEAKER_02You know, we had so many open shots. If they fell, this wouldn't even have been funny. I you know, I you gotta both admit, all of you, there was a lot of shots that didn't fall. There were a lot of shots that didn't fall.
SPEAKER_11A lot of jams, yeah. But we gave ourselves chances. I mean, we had the last shot there to get it, it just didn't go our way.
SPEAKER_02Can we talk about that for a minute?
SPEAKER_11Yeah, that was a little bizarre.
SPEAKER_02I mean, I thought the game was over. I was so in shock I couldn't even call a timeout. I'm not sure exactly what happened.
SPEAKER_07They gave it right to us. I mean, I thought of you as soon as I saw that pass, that lap stole. I was like, oh, he's gonna be uh I almost passed out.
SPEAKER_02I know. I mean, for the people who didn't get to see this game, it was over. The three-point victory. We would have had to fall. We were gonna have to foul. I don't know what. We went for the foul and he just threw it. Yeah, he just threw it up, and you guys caught it right underneath the basket, kicked it out, opened three, driff at it, and just couldn't bury it. And when it tied it up.
SPEAKER_07Pull the trigger, man. Sometimes it goes, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it doesn't. It was a good look, too. He had a hot start as well. So I mean, he was probably one of the guys who wanted the ball to land in his hands. So I wouldn't have played that game any differently. No, it was good. We had a good time.
SPEAKER_02Alright, you guys got to give us an update. We'll start with you, Tim. Where are you? What's going on in life right now?
SPEAKER_11Uh I'm working as a nurse at Ruby Memorial in West Virginia.
SPEAKER_10Oh, you're in West Virginia, yeah. Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_11I'm working on a menstrual trauma unit. I'm really liking it, learning a lot on the job. I've been there for yeah. So we get like car accidents, things like that. It's really interesting. But I'm learning a lot and I love it.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, it's crazy. Man, I would throw up everyone.
SPEAKER_04I wouldn't be able to do that. No chance. That's a good thing. Gosh, what are you?
SPEAKER_07Chaster. I'm in uh my second year of PA school, so doing rotations now, clinical rotations.
SPEAKER_06Where are you at?
SPEAKER_07I just finished my fourth rotation in Holidaysburg, actually. So I've been I've been in town for five weeks, staying at my grandma's house up the street.
SPEAKER_02Well, I I got a rumor that you were in the gym last night. Shoot.
SPEAKER_07I was. I well, not last night, yesterday morning, maybe. Oh, yes. Because I I work at nights, I worked at nights, but yeah, I've been in the gym. It's been nice to have the facilities near and dear. So yeah, so I have four more rotations left, and then I graduated in August to become a physician assistant.
SPEAKER_04So now do you know any any idea where you're gonna be at or no?
SPEAKER_07I don't know. I'm still uh I just want to get you know my feet wet and every kind of specialty, you know. I I had one rotation that I really enjoyed. Shout out Ben Kaplan if you're listening. Ben Kaplan. Trauma, it was trauma rotation, trauma surgery. So same thing Tim's doing pretty much. See the worst of the worst. You almost feel like you're in a TV show, you know, you get this rush of adrenaline, but wow, it's cool to it's cool to see these people like right on the spot, you know?
SPEAKER_04No, that's totally fine. Hey man, bravo to you both. Yeah, good for Josh, darn it, yeah.
SPEAKER_07Appreciate it.
SPEAKER_02Alright, as we get under two minutes before this game, we're playing Wilkes tonight. What do you guys think of this team and what are our chances today?
SPEAKER_11Oh, Chase, you got anything to say? I mean, Wilkes is a good team.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, Wilkes is a good team. They've still got some of the guys that we used to play back in the day. And Lucas Lesco.
SPEAKER_02I know the other kid, I don't remember his name, but I feel like Lesco's been there for like eight years.
SPEAKER_07I feel like there's a lot of guys in the league that have been here for eight years.
SPEAKER_02What are these guys?
SPEAKER_05Danzig's or something? I know. All about.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, I think I think the guys just need to put together a full game, you know. The three things Coach Curly Harps on heart, hardest working team basketball, playing for the guy next to you. You put those things together, you do the things that you need to do. You guys do your job, you stay disciplined, you do the right things, you're gonna have a good outcome. So whoever you play, whether you play, I don't know.
SPEAKER_11I'm ready to play next. Hey, this is a guy that was bought in. Yeah.
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_11Yeah, that's it. That's all you gotta do. Buy in.
SPEAKER_07I'd preach this to these guys. All you gotta do is buy in. Do your job. It kind of seems like they're buying in. I know, and I've seen more and more of that this year than I than I saw last year, so it's it's good to see.
SPEAKER_05God willing, everybody's back, man. This is gonna be a hell of a team next year.
SPEAKER_07Oh, I know, for sure. For sure, for sure.
SPEAKER_05Tim, what do you got? Expert analysis. He's got nothing.
SPEAKER_11I got nothing. I mean, that was the textbook right there. These guys play for each other, they know what they need to do to win a game, and I mean they just gotta come out here and execute. And that's it. I've heard every game here going on moving forward is gonna be important. And we gotta just make some momentum here.
SPEAKER_02Yes, sir. Alright, guys, with that, we're about to we're about to tip this off. We have the national anthem. We're gonna cut off. I'm gonna say it real quick. I'm Tom Frank. I'm Biz.
SPEAKER_11I'm Chase Houston. And I'm Tim Smith. And here's the National Anthem.
Postgame: A Pillow Fight Instead of a Rock Fight
SPEAKER_03Alright, fellas, as I opened the episode up with, we did have some uh slight issues with our post-game recap. So we're back right now to reflect a bit about this past Saturday alumni weekend. Biz, I'll start with you. Are you and your fellow gold teammates still having nightmares of blue domination?
SPEAKER_05Well, it wasn't domination. We're having more nightmares of the uh strike domination. As your six man uh, you know, very very handily help you win that game. And that's the hell we're gonna die on. So you're gonna you're gonna you're gonna stick with that as your line.
SPEAKER_03It's the event to a man. Alright, alright. Well, Team Gold, Team Gold, it is what it is. Team Blue. Champions, well done, well deserved. Cam as our MVP. Played an exceptional game.
SPEAKER_05He did. It was a miserable, miserable shooting game by both sides, unfortunately, but hey, you know what? I couldn't be prouder to have Team Gold as my team. Yeah. Go to battle every time. Win or lose.
SPEAKER_02Carly, did you get a chance to review the tape?
SPEAKER_06I I I have not. Deep down on the list. I have not had a chance to see it back.
SPEAKER_03But if there is the whole thing was recorded. You want to do this recording off? Yeah, it's it might be it'll be entertaining. You might you might pick up some uh coaching tips from from me and Biz.
SPEAKER_06That's what I was gonna go in there and dig into it at some point.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Um any any post-game or post-weekend thoughts that you want to share, Coach Curly?
SPEAKER_06I mean, uh big picture of just having the guys back and around and you know the post-game stuff and getting to see all the guys that played here and see their relationships and see parents and um parents of alums and we had a lot of parents coming back. A lot of friends of alums. Um, you know, uh we saw a lot of uh like our fan base and the people that like to watch games that were there to connect with alums, uh the Mansburger family. My favorite thing. It was super touching they presented us with uh some pictures of Ed uh from the first uh annual Ed Mansburg alumni game to put up in our office, and that was pretty good how much it was how much it meant to the family. Um so that's what I'll take away, and that you feel scared uh imagin and how many people he impacted and again it's what it's all the the the uh you know the the connecting point is being a basketball and the program being a part of it, and that's pretty neat to be a part of and it's bigger than all of us, and uh so just that perspective was great. Uh we need to zoom down uh to the game and how the weekend went with that stuff. Uh I didn't think in the game uh we had the best uh best night. Um I didn't I I thought we got out of character, I thought we scored early and tried to get into a telefight instead of a rock fight. We thought we could outscore somebody. We wanted to try to win that way, uh which I would say with this game was probably the first time that we've done that. Um we found out the answer, which is uh no one can really do that. You have to play both ends, and um probably our poorest defensive performance of the year without question. And uh uh again, it's one of the best offensive things to play. I mean, you gotta give Wilkes a ton of credit. Um they came in playing well. Uh their you know, the three seniors they have uh in the two conference finals, and um they're on their playoff path. Uh I thought their maturity and experience showed up, and ours did not, and so I was not very happy with our effort on the defensive end or focus on the defensive end. So we have to get a lot better and get a lot more focused and um see what we can do down the stretch, but it doesn't get any easier this week with two road games and one being in eat town, and then uh obviously beat scrap on Saturday. Uh they're uh basically in the playoffs right now, top four feed. Um they've got experienced guys, a bunch of veteran guys, a bunch of seniors, um, and the guys with really score too, so it doesn't get any easier for us.
SPEAKER_03Well, win or lose, the game was followed by an always fun post-the-game event at Muddy Run Tavern. Right? Muddy Run. Uh players, coaches, alumni, parents. Uh yeah, uh it took me a minute. Um but uh gotta give a big shout out to uh to Coach Hager setting it all up, running an outstanding day across the board. Top notch every time.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_03Very fun night. He does a good job.
SPEAKER_05You you do seem to have some fun yourself there, Mr. Frank. Give it hand it out to uh our manager.
SPEAKER_03I know, I'm sorry. You you left me with Clark, and uh you know, that got dangerous. So I'm I'm gonna get you back for that one.
SPEAKER_06Well, again, thanks for the podcast and for you guys coming out here. Uh you guys added a ton to the weekend, obviously making a pretty big deal, and uh, I know all the alums uh uh family members, everybody involved really appreciate it. So we appreciate it as a program. Um it's pretty cool to make it special and uh to give an eye you know a platform for those guys to come back and be a part of it. So appreciate what you guys have done and the trip you guys made and the effort you you took. The important thing is Biz got back and uh is moved on in his golf playoffs. So it was a good thing.
SPEAKER_05Fire to 15 under, baby. Let's go. We got uh we're gonna be in second place in the playoffs.
SPEAKER_03If you would have stayed for like if you would have stayed for even another 30 minutes, you would have not been 1500.
SPEAKER_05Probably not. I might have been yeah. I might have been under, but it wouldn't, yeah, maybe under the under the porcelain throne, perhaps. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Well, hey, it was success, man. Curly, I gotta hand it to you. All the pe all the guys, I mean, you build a program, I said it to you. You build a program, not just the team and everybody that comes back, man, quality individuals, all of them.
SPEAKER_03And you're right, it's players, it's alumni, it's it's parents, it's members of the community. It's it's awesome. I put a wrap to the 2026 Ed Mansberger alumni game and weekend. We got four games to go, fellas. Two this week, both on the road at Elizabethtown on Wednesday, seven o'clock tip off, and then we head to Goucher on Saturday at two o'clock. We gotta end strong.
SPEAKER_05Make or break, let's go.
SPEAKER_02I'd like to win four out. Yeah.
SPEAKER_06We we I mean, we just have to go play well. We have to uh bring energy and focus at both ends of the floor. Um you know, we're gonna have to play it really hard, obviously. Two more road games. Um so we've gotta experience for that, so we should be able to handle it. It's just part of the part for the course right now, and hopefully we can come out and then uh play our best basketball down the stretcher.
SPEAKER_03I think we can get a four edge. Play with an edge. I think we can get four in a row here. But let's take one game at a time. One at a time.
SPEAKER_06Play well.
SPEAKER_05As the old coach of Penn State used to say one and oh. Or the new coach of Virginia Tech, whatever you want to call it.
SPEAKER_03Of the Virginia Tech.
SPEAKER_05Oh, you're the Virginia Tech now.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that's right.
SPEAKER_05Now we are.
SPEAKER_03Um Alright, fellas, a great weekend. Bit of a rough ride home on Saturday, but I did make it. Um, and Biz, you've got to make sure that you listen to the beginning of this podcast. I I may or may not have made some allegations about you and some audio tampering, but that's not here or there. All right. Um send us your thoughts and follow the show on Instagram at Junietta Basketball Show. Subscribe to the Juniad Basketball Show on Apple Spotify where you can listen to the podcast. And until next time, I'm Tom Frank.
SPEAKER_06I'm Biz. I'm the head coach Greg Curly.
SPEAKER_03Go Eagles. I'll I'll just I'm gonna add a little tease about what we're about to talk to, and then I'm gonna I I had to deal with a bat in my house just now. A bat.
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