ASUN Conference

That is history, folks.

They play in the United Conference, which is like a conglomeration of, I think, like the WAC and the Atlantic Sun, I want to say, which is a wild combination.

But first game, first home game ever for the North Alabama Lions, who are a recent Division I team.

They've only been in Division I like maybe five years or so.

Always good to have you around talking with us and Congratulations once again on the tournament run.

A great overtime game against Central Arkansas in the ASUN final in Jacksonville.

Battled Purdue in the NCAA tournament.

How have the past five months gone, five and a half, six months gone since that game in St. Louis, that run in Jacksonville, and retooling with a program that will likely be the ASUN favorite once again?

They've gone fast, which is, I think, a good thing.

I think most importantly, it's been really great for the school and the community, and you can really feel the difference and the energy in the city about our program.

And that's our goal is to be a championship caliber team.

Now, in the

They're a really good team coming out of the United Athletic Conference, which is sort of the new WAC.

It's sort of a rebranding, kind of a merger between Some of the WAC teams and the ASUN, Atlantic Sun Conference.

So it's sort of this new era of the Western Athletic Conference.

But they won the ASUN tournament last year, but they end up losing the four-year starting setter that they had, four-year starting libero.

They have some injuries that they're dealing with.

They're going to end up winning a lot of games.

He, he generally avoided freshman mistakes, which for a lead guard, having a 2.1 assist-to-turnover ratio at the mid-major level is just bananas.

Now, of course there is ASUN stat inflation here, because that conference just doesn't have a lot of defense, physicality, rim protection.

But Watford is the real deal and, and could have absolutely been, like, a up-transfer type with a big, rangy, athletic point guard.

Somebody looking for a great passer, because he can do that.

Yep.

He just gets to the rim and scores, gets to the line, makes his free throws.

Uh, the ludicrous part of that too is that that wasn't even the best offensive rating in league play, 'cause the ASUN just [laughs] has-

Yeah.

Well, that's because he's a college guy.

Miola was named Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament MVP as a sophomore after homering three times in four games and earned Atlantic Sun Conference Defensive Player of the Year accolades across as a junior in 2025.

The cousin of former U.S. National Soccer Team goalie Tony Miola, he went in the fourth round making him Stetson's highest drafted position player since 2003 first rounder Brian Johnson.

He took over as shortstop for an injured Maui Ohuna at single A San Jose and helped with a California League championship.

Because with Golden, for one, there's levels to mid-major jobs.

Like a WCC job is a lot better than like a SOCON job or an ASUN job or something to where if you can do it at that level, maybe it – poor tens more favorably for that to translate when you make it to the sec.

But I look at someone like Mark Byington.

I feel like I'm the, I am the Mark Byington guy on the channel.

So they're like, we'll get to you, Florida State, but we have all these other things going on in our life right now.

Did you read the story last week on behalf of the Atlantic Sun Conference and the United Athletic Conference, the UAC and the ASUN? Unisun Sports announced a groundbreaking long-term media rights agreement with ESPN, marking the first time multiple Division I conferences have joined together to...

Put together their

rights.

I know it gets into the weeds, but it's kind of fun because it someday will affect Florida State and all of us who care about Florida State, it seems to me.

But what this deal did is...

Give linear coverage of the ASUN men's and women's basketball championships.

Linear coverage of the UAC men's and women's basketball championship games.

I didn't know anybody who did and.

Now you can watch every Atlantic Sun game on ESPN Plus or something.

That's pretty cool.

Yep, it's really cool.