ESPN college basketball analyst Fran Fraschilla discusses the Gonzaga Bulldogs' 2023-24 schedule and other major storylines across the country with former All-American Dan Dickau.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - Gonzaga Nation rolls on.
00:09 I'm your host, Dan Dickow,
00:11 where we are taking a tour
00:13 across the landscape of college basketball,
00:15 talking to some of the premier analysts
00:18 getting their take on big picture stuff.
00:21 And of course, they're gonna chime in a little bit
00:23 on Gonzaga and what the possible expectations are.
00:27 So today's guest, one of the best,
00:30 does a ton of coverage of the Big 12,
00:32 which Gonzaga flirted with over the summer,
00:35 none other than Fran Ferschilla.
00:37 Coach, thank you for joining.
00:39 - Dan, it's always a pleasure, man.
00:41 I was hoping for that.
00:42 You know how much I love coming to Spokane
00:45 and seeing all my friends and going over to Jack and Dan's.
00:48 And now that they added lettuce and tomato on there.
00:51 And I'm gonna miss Gonzaga and the Big 12,
00:56 at least for now.
00:58 But with Brett, your mark, you never know.
01:00 You never know.
01:01 So anyway, it's great being on with you
01:03 and I always love talking hoop with you.
01:05 - Yeah, this off season was a crazy topsy turvy
01:10 conference realignment kind of,
01:12 it was a sprint, but it was also a marathon
01:15 just 'cause it kept going and going.
01:17 Gonzaga, as mentioned, flirted with the Big 12.
01:20 For the Gonzaga fan that really starts tuning in
01:23 this time of year, because basketball is right around
01:26 the corner and the schedule's just been released.
01:29 How difficult would the Big 12 have been?
01:33 Because I think it would have been a great move,
01:36 but I also think it would have been a much more difficult
01:38 move than your average fan realizes.
01:41 - Well, it would have been difficult.
01:43 Although I'll tell you, there was a year,
01:44 I think it was my man Mike Hart was a senior.
01:49 I know Pangos was there.
01:51 Gary Bell was playing.
01:52 Remember the year that Gonzaga went five and O
01:55 against the Big 12?
01:56 - Yeah.
01:57 - They had a big win at Oklahoma State.
01:59 I think they might've beaten OU.
02:01 The one year OU came out on New Year's Eve
02:03 and the kid broke the backboard.
02:04 But yeah, it would have been more difficult
02:07 from the standpoint of you're not gonna go 18 and O
02:09 in the Big 12, even if you're Gonzaga.
02:12 But I think they would have made the necessary adjustments.
02:15 Obviously, I think in some ways it would have helped
02:17 recruiting.
02:18 We'll never know, at least for now.
02:21 And then there's the argument that the Big 12
02:24 tends to wear a team down.
02:27 On the other hand, what I think hurts the Zags
02:30 sometimes during a season is they play the best opponents.
02:35 No, no, no knock on BYU or St. Mary's.
02:38 More recently, some of the teams that are starting
02:40 to move up in the WCC.
02:42 But you play your best opponents in November and December
02:46 and you don't really see anybody like that
02:48 except for St. Mary's until March.
02:51 So we won't know for now, but I think it's kind of
02:54 a two-edged sword that can go either way with the Zags.
02:57 - You know, it's one of the interesting things though
03:00 about the comment you just made.
03:02 They front load their schedule.
03:04 I thought Gonzaga was really unique in how they put
03:08 the Kentucky game this year in February.
03:12 It's something that because the WCC lost the BYU
03:16 to the Big 12, there's kind of a little bit more flexibility
03:19 in their schedule.
03:20 Gonzaga did that for years with Memphis
03:22 when Calipari was there.
03:23 How important is that in your eyes to prepare them
03:27 for conference tournament and a potential run
03:29 in the NCAA tournament?
03:31 - Well, I think it has a number of,
03:33 there's a number of factors, obviously.
03:35 It certainly gives them a chance to test themselves
03:37 on what usually is a top 10 team.
03:40 And to your point, you might have even been playing
03:43 in the NBA back then, but I remember distinctly
03:46 those Saturday nights in February when Memphis came in
03:50 with Cal and some of the great teams he had.
03:53 And so it gives you that opponent that you're likely
03:56 to see in an elite eight type of game.
03:58 But also it was great exposure.
04:00 You know, as good as much as they own ESPN late night
04:05 on the East Coast and in the Midwest,
04:07 and I'm always up watching Farnham
04:09 and those guys do the games,
04:10 playing a Memphis or this year at Kentucky gives you
04:14 great national exposure, which Gonzaga has capitalized on
04:19 with ESPN, I would say as well as anybody
04:21 over the last two decades.
04:23 I don't think there's been a better relationship.
04:25 It might be, maybe Duke is an exception, Kentucky,
04:30 but who's got a better relationship with ESPN than Gonzaga.
04:34 And so a game like this coming up in February,
04:36 and I think it's an ESPN game, Dan,
04:38 I don't know that for sure.
04:40 - I haven't, I know the schedule has just been released,
04:42 but the exact networks haven't been.
04:45 - But let's face it, the networks love Gonzaga,
04:48 whether it's CBS, ESPN.
04:50 So it's a home run for them.
04:52 And it's something that, as you said,
04:54 Mark has done often in the past.
04:56 - Talk about the biggest storylines for you.
05:00 The off season storylines were NIL,
05:03 they were transfer portal,
05:04 they were the conference realignment,
05:05 which we touched on a little bit,
05:07 but now we can finally get out of that kind of realm
05:10 and we can talk about teams
05:11 and we can talk about early season matchups.
05:14 What are the maybe one or two biggest storylines for you
05:17 that you're really excited to track early in the season?
05:20 - Well, I think we're now used to transfers.
05:22 You know, we're now used to the idea
05:24 that teams can load up quickly.
05:27 Transfers in college are like free agents in the NBA.
05:30 And a perfect example is Kansas,
05:33 who has Hunter Dickinson, who to me,
05:36 well, he was a first team All-American last year.
05:39 And this year, along with Zach Eaddy
05:41 and a couple of others,
05:42 I think is a front runner for national player of the year.
05:44 So what we used to say about Duke and Kentucky
05:48 about 10 years ago,
05:49 when they had all the one and dones
05:51 was the only way to beat those guys
05:54 is to get old and stay old.
05:56 And now you're seeing a team like Kansas and others
05:58 going into the transfer portal.
06:01 And we used to have the scarlet letter,
06:03 you know, you transfer from U-Dub to Gonzaga,
06:05 you're a perfect example.
06:08 Coach Few was ahead of the curve.
06:10 You certainly didn't wear a scarlet letter on your back
06:13 because you transfer,
06:14 you were looking for a different situation and found one.
06:17 And then Mark and Coach Few, I should say,
06:21 really, really dove into the transfer situation
06:24 much the way he did with international players.
06:26 So now the transfer is a part of college basketball,
06:30 period, end of sentence.
06:33 So I think the first thing is who's gone where
06:35 and how do they impact those teams?
06:38 For example, in the league I cover most
06:40 in January and February,
06:42 this league traditionally has killed it with transfers.
06:46 And it wasn't just Kansas, Baylor, Texas, Texas Tech,
06:51 Iowa State for sure, under Freddie Hoiberg 10 years ago.
06:54 So I think that's the first thing
06:56 is there's so many old teams right now.
06:59 I think it's great for college basketball,
07:01 even though I'm not a guy that loves the transfers,
07:04 guys just picking up and leaving
07:05 'cause they're not playing much.
07:06 I think that's a big storyline.
07:09 I think the other storyline as it relates to NIL
07:12 is that guys who didn't have a definite spot in the NBA,
07:16 much like Oscar Shibuye last year, have returned to college.
07:20 So with COVID scholarships, the extra year and the NIL,
07:24 you got a lot of guys who said,
07:26 "You know what?
07:27 I can make seven figures if I'm good enough
07:30 and stay in college."
07:31 I'm sure that's the case with Hunter Dickinson,
07:33 Zach Eaddy and others, veterans.
07:36 - One of the other storylines
07:37 that maybe doesn't pertain to West Coast basketball fans,
07:41 but I think it's gonna be interesting to track,
07:44 is Rick Pitino to St. John's.
07:46 He's an East Coast guy, you're an East Coast guy.
07:48 I can only imagine you guys came up
07:51 in a similar coaching tree around the same time.
07:54 Were you surprised that he had the success at Iona
07:58 and he decided to move to St. John's
08:01 for another opportunity to kind of re-bolster a program?
08:05 - Not at all.
08:07 I don't know coach that well, believe it or not,
08:08 even though I was with Rick Barnes at Providence
08:11 after Coach Pitino left to go to the NBA.
08:13 I know him certainly.
08:15 No, I'm not surprised.
08:17 I think that he's the ultimate competitor.
08:20 He's one of those handful of guys, Dan,
08:22 that you could put him at the University of Alaska Fairbanks
08:26 and in two years, they would be in the Sweet 16, honestly.
08:29 And there's only a handful of guys that could do that.
08:32 Calipari, I think Huggins in his heyday when he was younger
08:37 and a couple other coaches.
08:39 He just has that ability to get the most out of his team.
08:42 So I'm not surprised.
08:43 They really haven't won big in many, many years.
08:48 They fired a young coach back in 1998
08:50 for looking at another coaching job at Arizona State
08:53 and they've really never been the same.
08:56 That was me, by the way, I'm just joking.
08:58 (laughing)
08:59 So I think he's gonna win big there.
09:02 He's a great coach, there's no question.
09:05 And he brings life back to the Big East,
09:07 which they already have a lot of.
09:09 That league is really, really good.
09:10 UConn's the national champs.
09:13 Brings life back to a program that has had great sizzle
09:16 for many years and lost it.
09:18 Madison Square Garden, New York City.
09:21 So there's a lot there if you're a St. John's fan
09:23 and a fan of the Big East.
09:25 You're absolutely ecstatic about Rick Pitino
09:27 being in the league.
09:29 - This is the time of year where guys like yourself and me,
09:33 we're preparing for our work as TV analysts.
09:36 So there's a ton of reading, there's a ton of conversations,
09:39 phone calls, text messages with coaches to help prepare.
09:43 But we get out to practices when we get a chance.
09:46 When you go to a practice, do you watch it
09:50 as kind of a media member getting your notes together
09:53 or do you watch it still in the realm of,
09:55 I'm a basketball guy, I'm a coach,
09:58 I'm trying to learn something?
09:59 Or you try to meld the two of those together?
10:02 - Well, it's funny you say that.
10:04 Since the time I was 14, growing up in Brooklyn, New York,
10:09 opposite end of the country that you did,
10:12 asphalt, metal backboard playgrounds of Brooklyn,
10:15 I wanted to be a basketball coach.
10:18 That's all I ever wanted to do.
10:19 'Cause I knew I wasn't gonna be a great player at my size.
10:22 And so I do something with basketball
10:25 every single day of the year.
10:27 Every single day.
10:29 Not only that, I have the growth mindset
10:33 to learn something about the game every single week.
10:36 There's something about coaching or basketball,
10:38 X and O wise or player development wise,
10:41 that I learn each week of the year.
10:43 Now, part of it is because of my insatiable curiosity.
10:46 I've got two sons coaching, one in college,
10:48 one in the G League.
10:50 A lot of friends still coaching.
10:51 I still think of myself as a coach.
10:54 To answer your question, when I get ready for the season,
10:56 I'm both.
10:57 I'm learning basketball and passing it on,
11:01 sometimes to the viewer at home.
11:03 And I'm also looking for stories.
11:05 You know, my son, James,
11:06 who'll be with the Wizards this year,
11:08 he played at Oklahoma, as you may remember,
11:10 as a walk-on, 'cause he's close with Pangos
11:13 and David Stockton and Kelly and all those guys.
11:16 And 'cause of Ryan Spangler, as you remember.
11:19 He and Ryan were roommates at OU.
11:21 But I remember James telling me about a freshman
11:24 when he was a sophomore, a kid named Buddy Heald.
11:26 And so he would tell me about Buddy
11:28 when Buddy was a freshman.
11:30 And so those stories get woven into my broadcast.
11:34 And whether it's Scott Drew turning his program around
11:37 at Baylor, the best recruiting,
11:39 best rebuilding job in NCAA history,
11:41 whether it's talking about Buddy Heald or Ryan Spangler
11:45 or Javon Carter, at that time,
11:47 the best defensive guard in college basketball
11:49 at West Virginia, I'm a storyteller also.
11:52 So I love explaining the game simply to the viewer
11:56 as a coach, and I love telling stories
11:58 and having people at home go,
12:00 even a guy like you knows so much about the game.
12:02 Holy crap, I didn't know that.
12:03 That's a good story.
12:05 And you do the same thing when you do your broadcast.
12:07 So, and again, it consumes me.
12:09 It's 365.
12:11 Other than my faith in my family, it's all I have.
12:13 - It's one thing when you can see that
12:18 and hear it in a broadcast,
12:20 it's another to hear you describe it in that way
12:23 because I can hear, I can think back to games
12:26 that you've called and I can go, okay,
12:28 that makes sense in how he describes it
12:30 because that's how I remember you trying to tell,
12:33 explain circumstances in the game.
12:35 So with you not having that coaching bug out of you
12:38 'cause you look at the game that way,
12:40 is there one college job right now
12:43 that if it were to open up, you'd be like,
12:45 - Tired. - I'm in.
12:46 - I'm tired, I'm done.
12:47 No, I'm done.
12:48 I live vicariously through Harvard and the Washington Wizards
12:52 and the Cap City Go-Go's this year.
12:54 And so no, but it's a good question.
12:57 I think after, this'll be my 21st year at ESPN.
13:00 It's hard to believe.
13:01 I left coaching at 43, Dan.
13:04 And just to give you some perspective,
13:06 I went to eight post seasons in nine years as a head coach.
13:09 When I left New Mexico and we had that great home and home
13:13 with the Zags, man, we wanted the arena
13:17 when Casey Calvary, the year you were hurt.
13:20 - Yeah, I was hurt.
13:21 Casey broke the backboard.
13:22 That was unbelievable.
13:22 - And we know we were lucky that we beat you guys
13:24 and you were hurt.
13:25 So I never tell anybody you were hurt, but I just,
13:28 (both laughing)
13:29 The next year, you were, no, the next year you were playing.
13:34 - Yeah, the next year I was playing,
13:35 it was at your place, the pit.
13:37 - And you committed a charge at the end of regulation
13:41 and played us in overtime.
13:42 And I bet for you, it had to be one of the great experiences
13:45 just playing in front of 17,000 that night.
13:47 'Cause that was one of the great games of that season
13:51 in college basketball, as you remember.
13:53 - Yeah, no, that was a great game.
13:55 - It was a great game.
13:56 But here's my point.
13:57 Once I left coaching to go to ESPN,
13:59 I thought I was only gonna do it for a couple of years.
14:02 And then I just had so much fun watching my boys grow up
14:04 and being at ESPN that I never went back.
14:07 I still coach, but I do it, I coach two teams now
14:11 and I never lose.
14:12 And my biggest question after a game is,
14:16 is Applebee's open, is Outback open?
14:18 'Cause that's all I care about.
14:20 But to answer your question,
14:21 I'm gonna give it to you this way too.
14:24 Admit this to me, in college or the NBA,
14:26 you probably played with a couple of teammates
14:28 that weren't that smart, slow learners.
14:31 I try to explain the game like I'm coaching
14:34 my slowest learner when I was coaching.
14:37 If my best player is not a quick learner,
14:40 I have to explain something to them
14:42 that they simply understand it.
14:44 And that's how I treat a broadcast
14:45 'cause I know there's a lot of people at home watching
14:47 that like basketball, but they don't know the nuances.
14:49 So I try to explain it in a way they go,
14:51 aha, that makes sense.
14:53 - Back to that game in the pit.
14:56 That was an unbelievable crowd,
14:59 about 17,000 people like you mentioned.
15:02 Coach Richard Patino's got them on the right track again
15:06 now in Albuquerque. - Yes he does.
15:07 - But I don't know if I ever told you this
15:10 in any of our times kind of chatting,
15:11 but one of my biggest mistakes as a player
15:14 was not in that game.
15:15 I know you mentioned the charge.
15:17 The ramp from the floor up to like the level
15:21 where the locker rooms are,
15:22 I hit a shot at the end of the first half
15:25 with like one second left and I just took off running
15:27 and I didn't realize it's about an 80 yard ramp
15:31 at a good incline.
15:32 But you're kind of running and like,
15:34 you can't just stop running
15:35 because then you look like you just quit.
15:38 So I had to keep running all the way up to the tunnel.
15:41 I think I beat everybody in the locker room
15:42 by a good two or three minutes
15:44 before the rest of the team got there.
15:46 But that's a unique side note to that, Jim.
15:49 - You were probably exhausted
15:50 when you got up to top of the ramp
15:51 'cause can you imagine Rick Majerus
15:53 walking up there at halftime?
15:55 You know, he was a big man.
15:57 - Yeah. - Yeah.
15:59 - Great college basketball venue
16:02 and Richard is doing a great job there by the way.
16:04 He really, I'm really happy for him.
16:06 He's a good man.
16:08 Let's talk about one last thing before I let you go
16:11 about that's become a big passion for you.
16:13 You and I've chatted about this
16:14 over the last six, seven months a little bit.
16:17 You talk about still having an eye on coaching
16:20 and you don't get the coach out of you.
16:22 But you've been able to get involved with USA Basketball
16:25 to the point where from my vantage point
16:28 of our conversations, you get just enough of the coaching
16:31 and just enough of the competitiveness
16:33 to kind of appease you.
16:35 Tell us a little bit about what you do
16:37 with USA Basketball on three on three.
16:38 - Well, it's a new Olympic sport.
16:40 Kelsey Plum won a gold medal in Tokyo
16:43 with three other WNBA players.
16:45 Our men did not qualify.
16:47 You know, Robbie Hummel, of course.
16:49 Robbie got hurt and he was playing three X three.
16:52 Canyon Barry plays, Rick's son.
16:54 Now we have Jimmer Ferdet playing for us.
16:56 How cool is that?
16:57 Jimmer has been our mainstay this summer
17:00 and we're trying to qualify for Paris by November 1st.
17:04 We're already in the qualifying tournament next spring.
17:06 We don't qualify points wise,
17:09 top three countries with the most points
17:11 based on events and winning, et cetera, qualify.
17:17 I've always wanted to represent our country.
17:19 I didn't get a chance to do it as a coach.
17:21 I don't know if this is on this Zoom, you can see,
17:23 but I got my USA Basketball shirt on
17:25 and it's a really cool sport.
17:27 It's half court.
17:28 Anybody in Spokane knows all about
17:30 the great summer tournament.
17:31 You know, what was it, hoop it up?
17:33 Or what do you guys call it?
17:34 - Hoop fest, yeah.
17:35 - Hoop fest.
17:36 This is what a shot clock, 12 seconds.
17:38 So it's really fast.
17:40 It's the equivalent of beach volleyball to volleyball.
17:43 And it's a new Olympic sport, half court.
17:46 And so I was asked about a year ago,
17:48 a little more, maybe 15 months to take it over.
17:50 We got mostly G League guys.
17:52 We've got some guys who've tasted the NBA a little bit,
17:55 but many of these guys are still on their way up
17:58 in their careers.
17:59 And we've offered them an opportunity
18:01 to represent the United States in the Olympics
18:04 next year in Paris.
18:07 And so I'm thrilled to be a part of it.
18:09 I mentioned my son, James,
18:10 he has become like the guru of 3x3 for USA Basketball.
18:15 Really probably the most knowledgeable person
18:17 in the country right now.
18:18 And I love it because it does give me
18:21 a little bit of a coaching fix.
18:23 3x3 strategy, Dan, is like figuring out a tongue,
18:26 like, you know, those brain teaser puzzles that you see.
18:31 'Cause there is some X and O stuff with different sets,
18:35 horn sets, et cetera, that really fit into five on five.
18:39 In fact, I told you earlier today,
18:41 I spent three days with the Atlanta Hawks and Quinn Snyder,
18:44 teaching them three on three during their workouts
18:47 before training camp.
18:49 Because Quinn, if you know Quinn, he's fascinating.
18:51 He's a genius.
18:53 And he was really intrigued by the stuff that we do
18:55 in 3x3 'cause it's very similar
18:58 to a lot of three man plays in the NBA.
19:00 So I'm tickled to be a part of it.
19:03 It's a side gig.
19:04 I don't think I've gotten paid for it,
19:06 but if I get a trip to Paris out of it, I'll be thrilled.
19:09 And I got a lot of gear.
19:11 So it's a way to help the country
19:13 from a basketball standpoint.
19:16 And obviously I know a lot about international hoop.
19:19 So I run into a lot of friends around the world
19:21 when we travel and it's a passion of mine as well.
19:24 And hopefully we'll be in Paris.
19:26 - Well, that's awesome.
19:28 If by chance you need an advanced scout or something
19:32 while in Paris that needs to be in Paris,
19:35 be a part of the Olympics,
19:37 I know you got a hundred people in your Rolodex,
19:39 but keep me in mind
19:40 'cause that would be an unbelievable opportunity.
19:42 It sounds like you're really excited for it.
19:43 - I will.
19:44 And I got to tell you, about five years ago,
19:47 I would have called you and said,
19:48 "You need to come out of retirement
19:49 "and do something like this."
19:51 'Cause you'd have loved it.
19:51 You'd have been good at this, but seriously, thank you.
19:54 And it's always great talking hoop with you.
19:56 And I keep forgetting we have that.
19:59 We go back to 1999 and 2000.
20:03 And of course now you know Coach Few and I,
20:06 he's become a very close friend
20:08 and Tommy Lloyd and Leon Rice
20:09 and Kelly's been to the house
20:11 and Pangos has been to the house, David Stockton.
20:14 So it's fun to have that little Zag connection from afar.
20:17 - Absolutely.
20:19 You can be a honorary Zag anytime you're in Spokane.
20:23 So Fran, I appreciate the time.
20:25 And for Gonzaga Nation,
20:27 thanks for taking another look and listen
20:30 as we tour the country,
20:31 talking to some of the best analysts
20:33 as we gear up for this upcoming season.
20:35 (upbeat music)
20:39 (upbeat music)