Jay Bilas On Cbb Teams To Watch This Season Playing For Coach K And Duke All Time Starting 5

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So you're not going to let me do a 94 feet with you?

Oh, I would love to. Absolutely.

All right, let's do it.

Oh, we're doing it right now?

Yeah.

What's up, you guys? I'm Rachel Demita and welcome to the Courtside Club.

Today we have former Duke Blue Devil and ESPN's college basketball analyst,

Jay Billis, joining us today.

Jay, welcome to the Courtside Club.

Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be on. This is an honor.

I know that you are such a busy eye traveling all over. Where are you at right now?

I'm actually at home for a day. This has been the busiest sort of November,

December I've ever had. By next Tuesday, after I get back from LA,

I will have traveled 30,000 miles in 30 days. So that's sort of a, that's a longer,

that's more travel than I'm used to.

Oh, geez.

Well, I appreciate you taking the time and jumping on Courtside Club.

Your SkyMiles and all of your accounts on all the airlines have to be platinum status, I'm sure.

Yeah, but it sucks because, you know, you get all these miles and then,

you know, you can take trips, but I don't want to go anywhere after you finish the season.

Right. Well, I was excited to have you on because we really haven't gotten into college hoops much

on Courtside Club yet. And I know that you are our college hoops expert and you,

I've been for many, many years. So first off, you've been to a ton of games this season. You've

been locked in. What teams stand out for you that we should be keeping our eye on?

Boy, the best teams I've seen, Purdue is really good and they have something that nobody else

has. They've got a 7-4 center named Zach Eadie, who's just dominant and has been,

you know, spectacular all year long. I think UConn has a great team.

Uh, they've got two centers, uh, that, that play, um, you know, Domasinogo is, uh, is really good.

And, um, you know, they've got a, uh, Jordan Hawkins is an NBA caliber shooter. Uh, so they're,

they're really good. And I think Houston stands out as one of the best teams because of the way

they defend. Um, they're physical, uh, they rebound really well on both ends of the floor

and they're, they're tough. I mean, they, they sort of lead the nation in playing hard.

And there are a number of other teams that I think are really capable,

but those three started the year with a great vibe and have a chance to be really good before

it's all over. You played college basketball, but you played under Coach K in his early days.

So first of all, what was that like? Well, first of all, thank you. That was a very nice way of

calling me old. Yeah, I played 30 some years ago for Coach K. And actually, he recruited me,

started recruiting me 40 years ago, or 40 years ago. So it's been a long time.

But playing for Coach K was awesome. Everything about our relationship has been that. And that's

really one of the cool things about playing for him early is the guys who played for him more

recently that are in the NBA now or played for him in the last 10 years, they played for a better

coach than we did. He's a better coach at the end than he was at the beginning. And that's what

you'd expect. Hopefully, we'd all get better as we get older and get more experience and all that.

But the guys that I played for, they were all great. They were all great. They were all great.

You know, we've all had him as our mentor and coach and friend for 40 plus years. And, you know,

these guys aren't going to be able to duplicate that. So that was a really lucky happening

in timing. Playing for him, being recruited by him before he was well known was a really cool thing

because when he first started recruiting me, I'd honestly never heard of him. He had no track

record. So you weren't committing to a reputation. You were committing to,

to him personally without the fanfare that went along with it. And so I think all of us are really

proud of the decision we made. At the time, when I committed to Duke, there were a lot of people

that were saying, what are you doing? Like, who is this guy? Like, why wouldn't you go play for

Lute Olsen or Jim Boeheim or go to Kansas or all this stuff and play for Ted Owens, who had

unbelievable track records at the time. But, you know, you just kind of knew that he was going to

that it was the right thing. And in hindsight, it seems like a no brainer. But at the time,

there were a lot of people that were doubting, you know, doubting the decision.

Something that I've heard you say in other interviews is you talk about how

college players and you just said you did it yourself, go to a school for the coaches,

but you're not always guaranteed to have those coaches there when you get there. And I'm somebody

in my family, I'm the only person who's ever played a division one sport. We were very

naive to what recruiting was. And that was something that actually happened to me at Old

Dominion. I got very close with the assistant coaches. And then when I got to campus,

they were gone. So the reason I was going to this school, I overlooked some of the other things. And

I was like, oh, they have a great program. And I love these coaches. And I've built this

relationship. And when I got there, they weren't there. And you've been really outspoken about we

should be able to give these kids the leniency. And with COVID, there was,

they didn't have to sit out a year. But now it's going back to, right, if you transfer as a

division one athlete, you have to sit out. Could you elaborate more on that? And what are your

thoughts on maybe making that college experience a little bit better for kids who get into that

situation? Yeah, that's a good question. I mean, it's really a question of policy. So when I was

in college back in the dark ages, I was a member of an NCAA committee. I was an athlete representative

on the thread of Missouri State basketball and Georgia politics team. And I was mayor

of Missouri State, chantily. And we were a little differentgeme in all that. I was approved by someone

on the effort bulletin board and I said, you know, what's the risk factor of any kind of

progressive move? And he thought the answer is the risk?. But in fact, it's no longer there.

And we're still going to be here. And we had gone to a contest once. So that's a big deal.

I got that ganzen grant and that's all the time that we could possibly spend.

Another quick question, and then we quickly move through to the Q&A parts, cuz the Q&A halfpacks

the other day was at 3 o'clock. Thank you very much.

and became, you know, the best coach Arizona ever had.

They were, you know, final four contenders every year and all that.

But had I gone to Iowa, I would have been stuck at Iowa and he'd be at Arizona.

And if I wanted to go with him out to Arizona, if he would have taken me out there,

I would have had to sit out a year.

And so what? I'd have to play my last year of college at age 23?

Like, why? That makes no sense.

And at least it made no sense to me.

But the policy that the NCAA has, you know, is athletes are students who just happen to be athletes

and they're students to be treated like any other student.

But yet they're the only people in the college space or anywhere else

that is not allowed to earn or accept their value in the marketplace.

So you're not allowed any money where every other student is allowed to make money

and go to school and get a scholarship and do whatever they want.

But athletes can't.

And similarly, Rachel, like whether it was your experience at Old Dominion

or mine, whatever, you know, you have a certain level or reputation

you get being recruited as a high school player.

But that's not necessarily your limit.

And so if you're seen a certain way and you're recruited on a certain level

and you perform above that level when you're in college,

why shouldn't you be allowed to jump up to another level and play on a different stage?

You know, the coaches get to do it.

Like, you know, if they're in a mid-major school and they start killing it

and, you know, they get taken out of that.

They take that job to a higher level and nobody seems to have a problem with it.

I don't see why it should be a big problem for a player.

So there are just as many, if you want to call it this,

just as many down transfers from high-major schools to low-major schools

as there are up transfers.

So it's a little more difficult now for coaches to keep their rosters together.

I get it.

It's what they consider a problem.

But I don't consider freedom of choice for the revenue drivers in the sport.

That we're talking about here.

I don't consider that to be a problem.

I consider it to be a good thing.

And you've seen now in college, right?

We have at IL that you alluded to a little bit.

But then you also have all these options for men's basketball players to not go to college, right?

So we have G League.

We have Ignite.

We have you can go overseas now.

You can just sit out a year.

So from your perspective,

watching college basketball,

as long as you can,

what has been the biggest difference now that some of these new kind of policies have been implemented?

Well, the NIL is really just a first step toward athletes having full economic rights

and being able to bargain with their schools for contracts and revenue sharing and things like that.

We're going to get there eventually.

It's inevitable.

In my view,

all of this was inevitable.

But, you know,

athletes now have some options and what it's really doing,

Rachel, in my view,

is it's keeping,

athletes in school longer,

which for people like me and I would assume you who believe in education,

that's a good thing.

So if athletes are in school longer,

they're getting more education,

which we say this is all about,

you know,

this is what this is all about.

So, you know,

we've seen a number of great players stick around for another year because of NIL,

or at least being a major factor.

And that's a good thing.

Now that that the NBA is headed toward eliminating the one and done rule and athletes going straight into the NBA out of high school,

it's going to diminish college basketball.

Nobody can tell me or convince me,

at least they haven't yet,

that, you know,

not having Kevin Durant or Kevin Love or Derrick Rose or Zion Williamson makes college basketball better.

It doesn't.

Of course it doesn't.

You take that kind of talent out of the game,

it's not going to enhance the product.

But it'll still be really good.

It'll still be compelling and fun and all that stuff.

But, you know,

you do worry a little bit about,

you know,

NBA people being back in high school gyms for practices and for games and scouting.

And, you know,

what's that going to do?

You know,

college is going to be a lesser option now for for young people,

where I think it should be a primary option because of the socialization and education that you receive in college.

But, you know,

I do think college is a is a great thing for any young person.

Can I play devil's advocate for a second?

Yeah.

What if it makes college basketball,

better and in a sense where now we have NIL and now we have this I couldn't even call it a middle tier because they're still fantastic athletes,

but maybe people like me,

for example,

who might not even have dreams of going to college,

but now it's this second division of of basketball where you have guys who are there for four years who might never play pro.

Maybe they do,

but it almost,

it almost strengthens the fan base and the people who are fans of college basketball because they are sticking with certain players for longer.

Do you know what I'm saying?

I do.

And that's a great point.

It's just that,

you know,

I think there are a number of fans out there,

if not a lot,

that say one thing,

yet do another.

So they say that,

you know,

they miss the old days where players stuck around for four years and they got to know them and got to fall in love with the team.

And, you know,

I don't want to say that they fall in love with the team or recruiting class,

but the truth is what really moves the needle is a player like Zion Williamson.

So people say they like,

you know,

what you're describing,

but yet Zion Williamson is in the game and the ratings are through the roof.

I mean,

we couldn't get enough Zion when he was at Duke,

could not get enough.

And the same with Kevin Durant and all these others,

you know,

people are drawn to superstars and whether they're there for a year or longer.

And look,

you're too young to remember this,

but I'm not.

So when I was a kid,

when the game of the week was on on Saturday,

that was literal.

There was only one game on a week nationally.

That was true in the NFL and the NBA,

and it was true in college.

So when people say,

hey,

you know,

I miss the days when you could watch Larry Bird at Indiana State.

You didn't watch Larry Bird at Indiana State.

Like his games weren't on television.

They might have been on television.

Locally in the state of Indiana.

But the truth is,

most fans only saw Larry Bird when he played in the NCAA tournament in 1979.

And and they didn't see all these teams like the game.

You can see any game you want anytime you want now.

And there's more fandom.

There's more knowledge about players nationally than there's ever been.

So,

you know,

look,

the NBA is more popular than college.

It's certainly more popular with young people.

And and I think college needs to be.

Cognizant of that.

If we want to grow the game,

being more inclusive is better than being less.

And there's still there's still a mindset among college administrators

that if you don't want to stay four years and be Bill Bradley or Shane Battier,

then we don't want you at all.

And I think that's a that's not something that I agree with.

You know,

that's sort of a hoity toity snooty attitude,

in my opinion.

And it's an elitist one that somehow college isn't for everyone.

And if you're not,

you know,

if you're not going,

going to college in order to learn how to split the atom,

it's not worthwhile for you.

I think that's a negative view of things that I don't share.

Yeah,

I agree with you on that point as well.

And a lot of people even ask me if college helped me in my career,

and it did significantly.

And,

you know,

a lot of people say you don't need college to do this and that,

or if you're following entertainment.

But I agree with you on that.

College was really beneficial for me.

One more subject on,

on this kind of topic before we move on.

You talked about guys playing at college for more than one year.

And it seems like right now the NBA doesn't really want guys the longer that they're in college.

You know,

they're looking at these young guys with fresh legs one year,

maybe two years.

What do you think about that?

And what have you,

how have you seen that kind of trickle into the NBA?

It's not that the NBA doesn't want players that stick around long,

it's that they want talent.

So,

you know,

the younger players that have immense talent have been leaving early to capitalize on that talent.

So it seems like they want these younger players.

They want the most talented players.

And,

you know,

if,

if Kevin Durant decided to stay at Texas for four years,

he still would have been taken at the top of the draft.

It's just players leave earlier now because of the money available to them.

And,

and,

you know,

part of that's changed.

Like they're leaving earlier too,

too,

because of what I said before about trying to get to their second contract.

Like it used to be,

you made boffo money out of the gate.

You know,

you could sign a 60,

$70 million contract out of college back in the day,

you know,

15,

20 years ago,

whatever it was.

Now there's a rookie salary cap.

So you got to get through that three year period and an option.

And then you get to your,

your second contract where,

where the real money exists.

So getting there earlier is part of the strategy for players.

Got it.

And with that,

I would like to take a halftime break.

If you're down.

Yeah.

Okay.

So I know that you are familiar with court side club.

I thought of a really fun game for you.

Thank you.

I appreciate that.

Jay.

I have a fun game for you for today's halftime show.

I know that you're a Jeezy fan and you've been tweeting lyrics of his is,

is it daily daily every morning for years now,

before we even get into it,

how did you get into the game?

How did that start?

I'm a,

I'm a music fan.

Like most people,

um,

I don't know,

10,

12 years ago,

we were on the road for college game day and we were at Michigan state.

And Draymond green was warming up and he had a big set of headphones on it.

We asked him what he was listening to.

And he said,

young Jeezy.

And one of my colleagues asked me,

is that,

uh,

and this is back when there were iPods.

I think he said,

he said,

my colleague said,

is that on your iPod?

And I said,

actually it is,

you know,

I had TM one-on-one on my,

on my playlist.

And he said,

um,

and so people didn't believe it.

And,

uh,

and somehow on Twitter,

I was going back and forth with folks and I started putting out,

like,

I would respond with a lyric or something.

I think I had to,

I actually had to go into my law office and I had to cut the conversation short.

So I put,

I got to go to work on there.

And it just,

I don't know what happened,

but it just kind of caught on.

I started doing it.

And,

uh,

and now it's become an expectation,

a daily expectation for me.

That's your signature sign off.

No,

I love it.

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

I,

my roof gone. Think I forgot to put my roof on. Said F it, buy another car. Hopped out the limb.

Said F it, bought another car. That could be any Jeezy song. I got no idea. I'm going to give you

one more from this song because I picked kind of a harder one because I wasn't sure, you know,

how deep you were into it. Okay. You think you ballin' because you got a block. He think he

ballin'. Oh, that's ballin'. Yeah, that's ballin'. Yeah. There we go. See, you knew it.

I knew that. If you go with the chorus, I can get it. Okay. Okay, so ballin'. That was our first

one. This one is a fun one. Enemy of the state, they callin' me Will Smith. Thing on my side,

you can call that Jada. Them boys talkin' down, yeah, we call them haters. I'm ballin' right now,

so we'll get back to that later. I have tweeted this one.

You going to give me the chorus on that? Trap all day, play all night.

I got no clue. It's go getta. Go getta. Yeah, go getta.

All right, last one. I know you know this one. In the city where we gone do broke,

we like figures, get that bag, then we going to work like J. Billis.

The Function Remix? That's the Function Remix.

It's got to have my name in it. Of course. That was the coolest. That was,

that might have been the coolest thing ever. Did you know that he was going to mention you?

No, no. The only, like, I've had some really cool interactions with, with Jeezy. One of the cool

things is, is every once in a while, it has, it's been a while since this has happened, but he would

call or text and say, hey, I'm dropping a, I'm dropping an album. Would you put it out?

And, and asked me to put it out first. I'm like, how cool is that? You know, that, that was really,

really cool. I've, I've met him on several occasions and, and he couldn't be a better dude.

And, you know, we, we come from vastly different backgrounds, but the, the fact that,

that, you know, I appreciate his art form and, and he, he is, you know, been kind enough to,

to be nice to me. That's a really, that's a really cool thing.

You're like the Jeezy insider dropping all the exclusive stories.

Yeah. I don't know about that, but, but for a guy, for a guy who's, you know, 58 years old,

to have that kind of fun, it's, it's pretty neat for me.

Okay. Last thing on Jeezy, top five Jeezy songs.

Anything from TM 101, I would say, um, I would put at the top of the top of that list. That's my,

that's my favorite album of his. Um, I would say the Recession album is up there too. Um,

but, um, My Hood is my favorite song. Um, it's probably the least hard edged of, of his hits.

Uh, but that's, that's sort of my favorite.

I love that. Okay. Time for the second.

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Okay. We got off track a little bit on coach K, but I did want to ask because you have

not only played under him, but also coached with him for a few years. What is the craziest thing

that coach K did? Whether it be,

in practice that a story that we haven't maybe heard yet he did a lot of crazy stuff um you know

he was he he would there were times he would come into the locker room and have um have something

set up for us um before a game we played my freshman year we were playing louisville and

back then louisville they were their nickname was the doctors of dunk and they went to the final

four that year and played in that iconic game with with by sound uh slamma jamma in the in the

final four and you know we had had some ups and downs during the course of the early season

and uh all of a sudden you know we're we're waiting for his pre-game speech and the lights went out

and we're like what else is going to go wrong like now we have no power and uh i mean we

immediately went to the negative to you know we we took a trip to negative town and all of a sudden

we see this flickering light coming down the hallway and and he's got a candle in front of

his face so all you could see was his

face in this pitch darkness and all he said was i came not to praise louisville but to bury them

and blew the candle out and all the guys started jumping up and you know screaming and then we ran

out on the court and we had a great first half and then they kicked our ass in the second half

so we lost the game and i don't that was the last time we saw the floating head candle thing

um you know if you don't win he doesn't do that kind of stuff again but he does stuff like that

but he came into the locker room one time dressed as uh as rocky with uh boxing gloves on and a robe

and uh i think he did a thing as uh uh from gladiator for the team one time where he came

in dressed as russell crowe and uh maximus decimus meridius i guess um so he does that he's not very

often uh but he does he would do some some stuff like that from time to time i love that because

we only see him in a suit you know and yeah just kind of locked in but i can't even imagine him

with like i can't even imagine him in a suit i can't even imagine him in a suit i can't even imagine

yeah those are kind of tricky um like for coach k because he like people don't most people don't

know this like he's insanely funny he's got a great sense of humor um you don't see it as much

during the the course of the regular season because he is a he's pretty intense um but but

he's really funny and uh and very quick-witted on comebacks and and stuff like that but i i think

sometimes when you do some of the uh some of that stuff it can it can take you off a little

bit um and it you know it depends on your team and how they're gonna how they're gonna process it

you know you don't want to do anything that's gonna you know gonna guys are gonna be making

fun of you later on but um but he he's he could be really funny sometimes unintentionally like

sometimes he'll make a mistake uh when he's talking to you and that's that's the thing that

that we would seize on like he has this uh you know he's from chicago and he he he uses the word

yo a lot like so he'll say hey yo do this yo yo

like he's constantly saying that to get people's attention or start a sentence or whatever

and i think i can't remember it was my freshman year uh we played a team that had a guy on the

team named yo his name his name was spelled y-o-h-e and so we caught on the scouting report

and then when we went out to do our scout when we were going through drill work uh you know every

time we'd get a hand up on the shooter somebody would go yo they were just we were saying yo

every five seconds pointing at the guy yo yo watch out for yo and uh and coach

caught on after a while and said hey i hear you guys saying yo like that's real funny we'll see

how funny it is when yo is kicking your tomorrow you know stuff like that yeah so you had to be you

had to be a little careful uh throwing it back at him to be a fly on the wall during that era would

have been really fun do you consider him the greatest college basketball coach ever i do just

because of so i grew up in la and john wooden was at his heyday when i was growing up so and he

and so wooden won 10 national championships nobody's ever going to approach that again

coach k won five uh and it should have been more um i guess you could argue it could have been less

but i think it should have been more but um and he had he knocked on the door a lot but nobody has

done nobody did it at that level for 40 years like and he did it all on television so he's going to

be the toughest act to follow in in basketball history and i don't think anybody's going to reach

that number uh you know

jim boeheim may coach until he's 80 and do it but nobody starting now is gonna is gonna approach

that there's too much money in the game it's too difficult now i don't think you'll see the kind of

longevity that that coach k had um i don't think you'll see that again and who are your starting

five players to ever come out of duke to ever come out of duke um i would put grant hill and

christian laitner at the top of the list those are the two best players duke's ever had in my view

jj reddick's the all-time leading scorer and the best shooter uh so i would put reddick up there

for me um like some of the the one and done guys had they stuck around longer uh would be no

brainers there um but since they didn't you'd probably go with the guys that that were there

longer um you'd probably have to have a point guard there uh so to me it would be between

bobby hurley and tommy amaker and uh and i'll put hurley in there um and

what else would you need on that team um like maybe a small forward um i would probably go with

uh either shane battier or danny ferry uh in that last spot um go with battier because

danny ferry couldn't guard a chair so i'd go with battier so we have shane battier jj reddick

bobby hurley grant hill and christian later and christian is that six or five did i get five or

five yeah yeah it's fine i like it i do a show called the nba rising stars report with the nba

where we follow rookies and kind of sophomores in the league just the up-and-coming nba players

and we always look at the rookie ladder so are there any rookies right now that have really

stood out to you we have ben caro we have math or and kind of at the top of the list but

but any that that you're really interested in this season i'm sorry that chet holmgren's not

playing

because i was really looking forward to seeing what he was going to do um but ben caro's been

the been the best uh arguably um with his size and skill level um i think he has uh has performed at

a really high level so it's it's hard to hard to get beyond that as the best but you know i i really

believe that ben mathren was a steal in the draft uh where he got drafted i didn't anticipate he

would be this good this early and uh and you know he he he has this mindset of being the best player

like he really believes he is and uh and i think that serves him really well um so yeah those two

have stood out i'm still waiting for jabari smith i think jabari smith is going to be great

um and he's played really well at times but but ben caro's been more consistent at the highest

level than jabari smith coming out i've seen that a lot of the the rookies have had more confidence

i feel like in the the past few years when i've really been paying attention to the nba and i don't

know if it has something to do with it but i'm still waiting for jabari smith to come out i'm still

waiting for jabari smith to come out i'm still waiting for jabari smith to come out i'm still waiting for

to do with these younger guys being on a bigger stage earlier even when it comes to like social

media and how the media has covered players in high school now more than we ever have and they're

kind of getting that visibility and getting that platform but I've just just seen so much confidence

and and guys are stepping on the court with LeBron with KD with these you know these superstar players

and they are up for that challenge you know they respect the guys but they're not scared anymore

yeah that's true but they're better prepared at a younger age than players were in the past so

they play more basketball at a higher level younger than players ever did before and

they prepare themselves like you know every it seems like everybody has a personal trainer when

they're in high school now so the players today are better than they've ever been now it doesn't

mean that Michael Jordan wouldn't be the best player in the world but it doesn't mean that

he's going to be the best player now or Oscar Robertson or Jerry West I'm not saying that

but the average player now is but is infinitely better than the average player was 20 30 years

ago 40 years ago whatever I don't know why in basketball we seem to we seem to harken back to

the old days that the players were somehow better tougher more skilled years ago it's just not true

they're they're far better now and the game is better you know big guy now has to do so much

more than a big guy used to have to do years ago I mean you have to be able to do so much more

to be able to shoot the ball from the perimeter guys have to guard ball screens and still get back

in the post and protect the rim and all that so there are more opportunities for big guys to pick

up fouls now than ever before and the game is faster more wide open it's it's just an infinitely

better game and more challenging than ever and more sophisticated and that goes for college too

the college players now are better than they've ever been they just don't stick around as long

so the only shot that that teams from my era would have today is we were older so you could say we'd

have a chance but athletically skill wise these guys are better than they've ever been yeah players

have to play 94 feet both ends of the court 94 feet is something that you know very well and a

series that a lot of your fans have tuned into what is your favorite episode of 94 feet that

you've ever done well I like it with uh I tend to enjoy the coaches as much as anything because

um

they're

you ask him a question like you'll say to Bill Self at Kansas all right what was your first car

and immediately his eyes light up and he says you know yellow dodge dark you know and talk about the

interior and all that stuff um some of the the younger players aren't as um you know they're in

it right now so maybe the nostalgic stuff about you know your favorite food or this or that

the coaches seem to to be more into it because they get to talk about something different

um the

My favorite one is still the first one I ever did.

We were challenged by ESPN, by our bosses at ESPN, to come up with things that were different.

And so a producer that I work with quite a bit named Scott Gustafson, we got together and said, all right, what can we do?

And we started talking about some different things.

And I had seen something on the NFL network.

At the time, it was called 40-yard dash.

It was during the combine, I believe.

And I saw it one time, and I've never seen it since.

I've looked for it.

I've never seen it since.

So it was a similar thing, but just 40-yard dash.

And I said, why don't we do something like that?

And Gus came up with the idea.

We'll call it 94 feet, and we could do it quickly.

And then it gets into the broadcast, and it doesn't take up too much time, that kind of thing.

And we did it with Jay Wright of Villanova.

And it was probably 10 years ago, something like that.

They were playing at Virginia, and I know Jay really well.

And so I asked him if he'd do it, and he immediately said yes.

So we didn't have a lot of, you know, we'd never done it before,

so it wasn't like I could prepare him or he knew what was coming.

So I explained the concept to him, and I asked him the first question.

I think I asked him, what was your favorite TV show as a kid?

And Jay's response was, oh, that's a good question, my favorite TV show.

And he starts, what was my favorite TV show?

He goes, oh, that's a good one.

And we'd gotten to the opposite free throw line by the time he answered the question.

And I'm like, you effed the thing up on the first time.

And so we had outtakes from it, and it was one of the only times we'd ever done it twice.

Usually we knock that thing out in one take, and we might walk again,

so they'd get B-roll from different angles of us.

But we usually only do it once.

And I still tease Jay, it was still the only time, or one of the only times that it got screwed up.

And it was, you know, Mr. Hall of Famer screwed the effing thing up.

Who is one person that you would love to have on 94 Feet?

Just about anybody.

I think you'd be great.

I've loved it.

I mean, the one that stood out and got the most attention was when I did 94 Feet with Red Panda on the unicycle.

That was really cool.

I love Red Panda.

She's an icon in halftime performances.

Yeah.

Just awesome.

And so we did that at Virginia Tech one time, and that got more, you know, sort of more eyeballs than anything I've ever done with that.

But it's really fun.

It's really fun.

It's really fun.

It's really fun.

It's a really fun deal.

I've done it with Tom Izzo.

Like, I've done it with Tom Izzo on the court.

I've done it in Maui on the beach.

And I've done it with him on the football stadium in the snow wearing snowshoes.

We did it a few years ago that way.

So that's kind of fun to do those things.

But there's nobody I wouldn't like to have just because it's a really fun deal.

And, you know, it gives people a little bit of a different view of the players.

And some of them are really quick.

And, you know, I've done it with Tom Izzo on the court.

And really enjoy it.

And others are nervous.

So, you know, it gives you a mixed bag.

Yeah.

Jay, do you have a TikTok?

Because I feel like this would be a fantastic series on TikTok.

You could get all of the ones that you've already done, cut them vertically, and then any that you do moving forward.

Just make that your TikTok page, and I guarantee you would have a million followers, like, overnight.

I should do that.

Just with 94 feet.

Yeah, I do TikTok.

That's a good idea.

I'll get on that because I'm looking to put that stuff out.

I put it out sometimes on Instagram.

But, yeah, TikTok would be good.

I'm still kind of feeling my way around TikTok.

I look at it all the time.

Those things are incredible time drains.

You know, you're sitting in an airport where I used to read.

So I used to actually read books in airports.

And now I'm just looking at Instagram and TikTok and all this stuff.

And, you know, following.

I follow these.

Cooking sites and our accounts and I don't cook that much and I don't know why I watch cooking shows, but but I like them and because I like food and but like what a time waste that is I don't I cook a little bit but not very much and yet I watch all this cooking stuff it's like me watching fixer upper my wife watches me watch fixer upper and she's like you don't ever do anything with your hands like why would you watch this I go I like it.

I don't know why I watch.

I don't know why I watch it.

I like it.

So today we are reaching the end of the game.

I have some buzzer beaters for you.

You're down.

I'm down.

All right.

What is the best game that you've ever been courtside for?

There have been a bunch of them.

I did that six overtime game with Syracuse and Yukon several years ago and Madison Square Garden.

The best one was probably the Elite Eight game in 2005 between Illinois and Arizona that went to overtime.

Illinois went on to the national championship game in 05.

But that game was was iconic.

I don't think I'll ever forget that one.

Who was one person dead or alive that you would love to sit courtside with Sean McDonough dead.

I've been asked that question a lot and I answered it one time and Sean McDonough called me and said what not me and I told him.

Yeah, I'd like to I'd like to be with you dead one person courtside Muhammad Ali.

I would like to sit with Muhammad Ali.

Courtside.

Courtside.

It's a good one.

Michael Buffer had that same answer when we had him on the show.

Let's get ready to rumble.

Yeah, but ours has a special relationship with him too.

Okay, last question.

What is one event in history that you would have loved to have been courtside for it?

It could be a sporting event or other.

I would have loved to have seen Sandy Koufax pitch in person.

I met him a couple times.

I was a huge fan.

Growing up.

He retired when I was just a little kid.

So I did.

I had no, you know, no memory of him playing but you know, he was a legend not only, you know, nationally as a as a baseball pitcher and retired early.

I mean he was you he'd only pitched.

I mean he had an arm arm issue and wanted to have a real life.

So retired after being the most dominant pitcher and and I hit golf balls next to him one time at a charity.

Golf tournament and I was such a fanboy, you know, if it were today, I would have been, you know, taken selfies with him in the background and all that stuff.

It was is pre, you know, pre-cell phone selfie stuff, but I would have loved to have watched him pitch.

I was such a huge huge fan of his even though I didn't didn't really see him play.

Love that.

Well, Jay, thank you so much for joining us on courtside club.

Let everybody know where they can find you on social and especially your tik-tok and anything.

Else that you have going on that we should be on the lookout for I think it's all at at Jay Billis.

So it's at Jay Billis on Twitter at Jay Billis on Instagram.

And I think it's at Jay Billis on on tik-tok.

I don't even know how that works.

But yeah, I think I think it's all those things you can tell I'm not out, you know shooting my my social media to everybody.

So you're not gonna let me do a 94 feet with you.

I don't get to do a 94 feet with you.

Oh, I would love to absolutely.

All right, let's do it.

I'm down.

What's your favorite favorite thing to eat that?

You're not supposed to eat.

Oh, we're doing it right now.

Sure.

Yeah, French French fries favorite food.

Bet.

Oh, well, who makes the best french fries?

Oh, that's a really you got you got you got one french fries.

Honestly, are you going to McDonald's?

You going to?

Oh, no, not fast food.

Normally.

Honestly, like hotel room service.

French fries are some of the best.

Ooh, the crusty ones.

Yeah, they're like thick too.

Yeah.

What was your favorite toy as a kid?

Favorite toy, probably my razor scooter.

I don't know if that's a toy.

That's a toy.

Yeah, I said mine would have been a big wheel, but that's a toy.

That's a toy.

What is your dream vacation?

Oh, you know, I would love to go to Africa and go on Safari and just see all the big cats and their natural habitat.

When I was a kid, I actually had a jar where he's put all my extra change and money and it was my jar to Africa because I just wanted to see the big cats.

I don't know.

Where that money went, but I'll just have to use my salary now to go pet peeve.

Oh shoes in the house.

People can't wear shoes at your house.

No, absolutely not.

I don't like dirty.

I don't like dirty floors.

I like to be able to walk around and not get dirt on my feet in my own home.

So shoes are at the door.

So you're cool with people walking around barefoot in your house.

It mostly it sucks.

You know socks are fine.

But you know, I don't.

I don't require socks.

I don't require socks.

Now.

Yeah, I don't want I don't want somebody smelly feet walking around my house.

So you'd rather have like the the dog poop that they stepped on on their shoe going through your house.

Usually the people I invite over I think are nimble enough to avoid stepping in.

But maybe your friends are different than mine.

Maybe all right pet peeve on an airplane.

Oh, but now that you say it people that take off their shoes on the airplane.

And their feet smell.

Is that why you asked that as a follow-up question?

Yeah, that is kind of top of the list for me that and the I actually enjoy talking to people on airplanes.

But but I think airplane an airplane for me is a is just transportation.

I'm trying to get from one place to the other and it's not always pleasant.

So sometimes I'm not I'm slow to talk to the person next to me.

Unless they're, you know, they really started up and once I get going, I'm really glad that we got to know each other and had the conversation because people are really interesting.

But I'm not I'm not as open to that as I should be and I need to get need to get better at that.

But the other thing that bothers me personally and this is because 94 feet is becoming less about you and more about me now.

No, I like what I like.

I always get an aisle seat people put me in the aisle because they think because I'm bigger I want that.

But when somebody has to go to the bathroom eight times during a flight, I it seems like I get next to the smallest bladder passenger on every flight.

I'm on so that's why I'm more of a window seat guy now because I don't get up during flights.

So when somebody has to get up a thousand times.

Yeah.

No, I would be a great person to sit next to because I sleep the whole time and I never get up and I'm always in the window seat.

It's like I get a snore.

No, I mean not that I know of no one's ever told me I get on a plane.

I'm immediately asleep.

It's like my body knows.

This is your nap time.

So all right last question for 94 feet.

What would you say is your ultimate career goal?

Like what do you want to retire from when it's all over?

I would love my own daily show.

Honestly something that mixes sports with entertainment.

That's what I've always done sports will always be.

In my soul, but I like mixing it with everything else that's going on.

And I just want to give people something fun to watch and escape that, you know from their daily life.

They come to my show.

They have a good time.

I tell other people's stories.

I have great guests on and they can tune in every single day.

Well aside from me now, you've checked this off your bucket list.

I can't imagine how coveted this was ultimate bucket list guest for your your daily show.

That you're going to retire from someday after you accept your 17th Emmy.

You're right.

Jay checked off the list.

We got that.

Can you imagine the dream come true?

This has been.

Oh, absolutely.

I could retire today, but I'll still I'll keep going.

Okay, so this might sound really weird, but I would love to speak to Jane Goodall again.

We alluded to animals in the past.

It's a little bit of a stretch from the sports world, but that's just always someone that.

I've looked up to and been enamored by I think what she's done just like for the environment

and for animals and whatever is really cool.

So I'd love to sit down with her one other person in sports would be Allen Iverson.

He was my favorite player growing up.

I met him once and I don't I don't fangirl very often, but I had a little bit of a moment.

So in sports AI, otherwise Jane.

Well, that's great.

Well, thank you for being on 94 feet.

I think we went we went 188.

But sorry to keep you that long.

That's fine.

Sorry.

I didn't answer quick enough.

It was awesome.

Oh, thank you.

Thank you for coming on courtside club.

Now I can retire.

Yeah, it's been a great great career.

You had a great career.

Well, we'll have a party for you.

It's it's been it's been a great run.

I'll take it.