Eye On College Basketball

The basketball world woke up to surprising news Monday morning: John Beilein was walking on Michigan to take a job with the shaky Cleveland Cavaliers organization. This episodes goes heavy on that, including why Beilein doing this should -- or maybe shouldn't -- be that surprising, in addition to evaluating Michigan's program in the greater hierarchy of college basketball (20:00) and trying to establish which candidates actually make sense at the early stage of UM's search. From there, GP and Norlander get to Kentucky taking back its standing with the No. 1-rated recruiting class (40:00), followed close behind by -- well, well! -- Memphis (49:00) and the apparent monster Penny Hardaway has assembled for 2019-20.  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our final podcast dedicated to the second college basketball federal trial opens on what the government set out to do, and failed. Then Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander take a tour of the schools that were hurt the most in all of this, and what might come next. Plus, Christian Dawkins, who again was found guilty by a federal jury, provided some helpful-yet-damning quotes once more in relation to Arizona coach Sean Miller after the trial ended Wednesday. Ultimately, the legacy and effects of this case will rest on the shoulders of the NCAA, which has a monumental challenge awaiting its enforcement division, effective immediately.  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

College basketball has maybe never been as newsy and buzzy on the first day of May as it is this. That's because the second of three scheduled federal trials is providing a lot of allegations, evidence and more against prominent names and schools. But nothing's hit as hard as the stuff attached to Arizona. Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander open this episode by discussing what the trial is really getting at and what the government is trying to prove, then move on to Sean Miller and the pivotal calls played in court Wednesday (8:30) that have his former assistant, Book Richardson, alleging Miller was paying Deandre Ayton and Rawle Alkins. Norlander and GP close out the pod by hitting on Texas Tech ponying up huge money to pay Chris Beard (41:15) and get into some of the leftover stuff reported this week about UCLA's search.  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sean Miller's name is in headlines again thanks to the second college basketball corruption trial, which on Wednesday turned its attention the Arizona program due to video wiretaps that were played in court. Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander spend the first 40 minutes of this episode catching you up on the case, the implications for Miller, why Dawkins is to be believed and what else has happened this week in lower Manhattan. The final 15 minutes of the podcast are dedicated to North Carolina landing a commitment from elite 2019 guard Cole Anthony, Duke again securing the No. 1 class in college basketball and a new top 10 from Parrish for 2019-20. The Blue Devils aren't No. 1, but they're close.  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Minutes before the season premiere of the final season of Game of Thrones started Sunday night, LSU announced Will Wade had been reinstated to his post. So Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander start there, then lay out how this could still go wrong -- or, in a long shot, right -- for LSU and Wade. From there, the guys talk the shocking transfer decisions from Sam and Joey Hauser (23:00), who are leaving Marquette and thus tanking the Golden Eagles' 2019-20 stock. The guys get some trivia time in, look back on their preseason player rankings, then talk about Cincinnati hiring John Brannen (41:00) over Nick Van Exel and Darren Savino. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Norlander was right: Virginia won the national title. It did so in a great game, probably one of the 10 best in NCAA Tournament title game history. Texas Tech had it! Until it didn't. So it went for every team UVA played in the NCAAs. Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander give a lot of time to the title game, to Tony Bennett, to the Cavaliers' biggest plays from the NCAA Tournament, to all you want to hear about in the wake of the end of the 2019 season. From there, some news away from the tourney, including UCLA hiring Mick Cronin (42:00), Chris Mullin stepping down at St. John's (53:00), and a flurry of early NBA drafts decisions (58:00) -- but two huge ones that involve players coming back to college.  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For the first time in 40 years, a national championship game will feature two schools that have never before made it this far. But first, GP and Norlander pick apart and set the scene for Virginia's inexplicable escape over Auburn in the Final Four. That was one of the wilder endings imaginable on the biggest stage in college hoops. From there, they get into Texas Tech's 61-51 win over Michigan State (23:00) and Izzo's 3-7 record in the Final Four. They close, naturally, with their thoughts and predictions (36:00) on what Monday night's title game will bring -- and they disagree on who wins and who covers.    To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Who will play for the national championship on Monday night? It should be a pretty interesting Saturday on the way to finding out. Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander open this episode -- in the same room, recording face to face; a podcast rarity! -- by discussing why Minneapolis is such a solid Final Four city. First impression, funny stories, all of it. Then, it's on to discussing Virginia vs. Auburn (18:00) and Michigan State vs. Texas Tech (29:45).  To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Don't worry, we've got some Final Four chatter for you on this pod, but the episode starts with the biggest college hoops news of the past 24 hours: Kentucky and John Calipari have agreed to a lifetime deal for the coach, meaning he'll be there for essentially as long as he wants as coach -- and then will be an advisor/emeritus whenever he decides to retire. This is all in the wake of UCLA pursuing/botching its courting of Cal to Westwood. Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander open with thoughts on that, thoughts on what UCLA was doing -- or not -- and recap Cal's first decade with UK. From there, they talk Tom Izzo and Michigan State (23:00) and whether a second title is needed to validate his Hall of Fame career. The guys then run the gamut on Final Four storylines (30:00), including which is the best, and close with Norlander giving honor to the great Rick Byrd (36:00), who retired this week after winning more than 800 games.   To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Here's a Final Four almost no one had: Virginia, Michigan State, Auburn and Texas Tech. Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander open with their initial thoughts on the national semifinalists, then gush and give their reactions to arguably the best Elite Eight in history. They start with where Norlander was at -- Louisville -- with Virginia's comeback/OT win over Purdue (10:00), then move on to Auburn beating Kentucky (28:00), Texas Tech beating Gonzaga (37:15) and Michigan State beating Duke (45:00) and ending the college careers of Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett, Cam Reddish and, almost certainly, Tre Jones. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices