So that leads me to ask you this, which I think I know based on what you've said, I know how you'll answer, but from what you saw this summer at camp, from what you've seen in these two preseason exhibition games, is this simply a team that's still trying to figure out how to play? Cause it's, mid-October and they're just getting all their pieces together and didn't have Isaiah Dennis last week, for example? Or is this a team with significant roster limitations that isn't at any point worthy of a top 25 ranking? Which side would you lean on that?

The fact that you just said the absence of Isaiah Dennis was a big deal to me is scary because that, you know, we're talking, you know, six, eight weeks ago, we weren't talking about that.

And then Isaiah plays great in the exhibition game and they absolutely missed him.

I mean, he was a big part that was not there.

To me, it's time – and this is what we're doing with our team today, or yesterday, as this is being taped.

We're going individual meetings, sitting down and saying, this is where you are.

This is what I think.

So problem of effort, technique, and personnel.

Okay.

Um, you know, something like that.

10 and seven would be a little bit lower than what I would want him to be.

But I think he's gonna average double figures.

I think he's gonna be in that, uh, you know, seven to nine range rebound-wise, 'cause he's, he's such a good defender and he's gonna be around the rim, and he's gonna be needed to grab rebounds, uh, with this group.

So, um, something like that I could see being very solid.

Would not be surprised at all if it was 15 and, and nine, and nine, something like that.

I'd, I'd love to s- to hear from you what you took away from watching Micah Malone in his unofficial college head coaching debut.

How have you seen them be able to benefit each other in hopefully a similar way to Neo and Sammo?

Yeah, we've seen McClure back six years ago.

Point guard came from New Zealand and he he almost left as soon as he got.

It was during COVID.

It was just an awkward time anyway.

He was ready to go home.

Well, we talked him into staying next year.

Any takeaways, um, for you from that experience?

How important is it in your mind to see Coach Malone both showing this is my program, But I trust the guys I brought in to be around me.

Yeah, to me, that shows the maturity he has as a coach.

Of course, he's been around coaches his whole life, so he gets it.

But you hire the best people you can.

You hire guys that you trust, and then you let them do their job.

I have no problem admitting I have a defensive coordinator.

I have an offensive coordinator.

Coach, would you share it with us?

And so I, I think, I wonder this, I would imagine a lot of our audience does too, Coach, is how quickly does a staff truly start to be able to separate [laughs], to use a Bible term, the wheat from the chaff? Like, to, to be able to sort out that top five and then top, like, seven to eight guys that are gonna be part of the rota- How, how quickly does that process happen?

The truth is, it, it never really ends.

You're always constantly doing it.

But the tr- the, what you're looking for, I think the answer you're looking for is that it does start immediately.

Um, Frank Fuqua, who's a great longtime coach, uh, he has a chapter in the book, uh, just about Frank, and he's one of the reasons I wrote the book, 'cause I just didn't want people, uh, to forget him.

But he, he worked camp for Coach Williams and, and Coach Smith for 44 years.

Um, but he, he, he came to me one day and says, "Do you do stations?" I'm like, "Yeah, we do stations in camp all the time.

[laughs]

How do you, Bill Robinson, know when you've earned the right to really get after a player?

Yeah, it, it is about relationships and it's about spending time, and it's not time on the court, it's time off the court.

Um, it's almost like there's two totally different, uh, measurements of time, uh, that you get to spend with somebody.

I'll give you an example.

We had a player, new player last year transferred in, and he got trapped in one of the first practices, just...

he just turned it over.

He, he just got frazzled and just threw it away.

Mm.

How does this make your job all the more infinitely impossible?

Yeah, the older I got as a coach, the more I realized that there's no way we can make a plan ahead of time.

So we would try to anticipate.

We've had that conversation last week.

Where are the issues going to arise? Because it never works out the way you think.

We've had players go ineligible during the season, or we've had guys with injuries.

Last year, we lost our top leader with a sixth concussion before the season ever started.

So how do you manage that? Like psychiatrist pastor sort of side of this?

So you're gonna have-

Here's, here's the, here- here's the great thing about it.

It's tough because there's so much talent, and I've had teams where you're sitting there saying, "Well, let's sit down and go through our, our top eight," and we get to six and say, "I'm not sure we can get past six." Um, there's, there's definitely, um, a lot of- ...

talent and a lot of guard play that I think...

Let, let me, let's start.

Terrence Brown Jr. is gonna play.

He's gonna play a lot.

[laughs] He is beef.

Oh, gotcha

... can you get me back? As a kid growing up in Jersey, we've talked about how we don't have a whole lot of teams that we root for college-wise.

But one of my biggest fans, I, I was a big fan of the USC Trojans growing up because they were one of the few schools that actually recruited me throughout the years, and I got all these nice mails from, through the years from USC.

So I love it.

I love the fact that they're gonna play somebody from the other side of the country.

Uh, we've talked about as coaches for years that we, you have different styles.

And now that you f- the fact that you have some California or far west teams in the conference, it's good to play some teams that maybe have styles that fit that.

So ultimately, you think this is a good addition that makes sense with the roster.

As we talk about all of this crazy, unsettled everything going on right now with trying to figure out eligibility for these f- fifth-year players from the class of '22, who was in that federal Colorado suit, who was in these individual statewide suits, who entered the portal, who signed the NI- to all of that stuff, how on earth, Coach Rob, can you run a basketball program when players be- can become eligible again in August?

It, it's gonna take a lot of communication, and I think that's the biggest thing, with your staff, with your players, with your administration.

It, it just is gonna open up a whole new conversation about how to move forward.

H- you know, what happens if you have a kid that you really, really want? Okay, but planning financial aid-wise or whatever, NIL-wise for those who have it, how do you plan for that n- guy...

What if you have guys who don't necessarily want to come back for that fifth year? How do you communicate th- those conversations ahead of time? Do you do that before the season starts, before that final season? Do you wait till after the season or mid-season? All those type of things kinda have to factor into what you're communicating with these, with your players, with your staff, and with your administration.

It's just gonna open up a whole new, uh, dialogue that's never been there before.

Um, I, I can, again, picture that you're gonna have situations where you're dying to have this kid back for a fifth year.

How would you preserve trust inside the locker room when roster roles can change that late? Like, would you actually talk to the players and bring them in on those conversations and decisions? Ultimately, I know you and the staff would still have to make the call, but would you consult them and say like, "How would this affect dyn-" like, affect team dynamics or things like that? Or, or would, would it just be, "Hey, we as a staff are gonna make this decision, and we'll bring the team in when they need to know."

Um, w If I had the same question, but it was on November 2nd, the first game of the season, what would your answer be, fellas?

I think it could be Jaron Stevenson, to be honest with you.

At the five? At the five, just because of his...

Maximo.

Very, very good possibility it could be Maximo.

I just think...

I do.

The last kind of freshman-laden championship was that 2015 championship.

Coach, as you reflect back on 2026 Carolina Basketball School and Montross Camp, is there a singular moment or maybe a couple moments that just stand out to you as your favorites?

I've got two or three stories because I'm a storyteller, as you know.

Two or three stories that really meant a lot for me this year.

The first one was just getting a chance to meet Coach Malone and his staff to be able to get him a book.

Coach Tobaldi talked for four.

I think he and Jason talked for 40 minutes one night, just the two of them.

You know, and that just doesn't happen with new staff like that.

Had you already said what you wanted to say about that with with those connections or was there something else?

in recent years you know we always compare it to the job that that cormac ryan and harrison ingram did and carolina has struggled a little bit in the two years since to find full-on that level of leadership as you see the guys starting to interact who is seeming to rise to that occasion if anyone the answer could be no one so far

Yeah, the first week it was Deion Thompson.

Deion ran, organized, told it.

I mean, he was the one who really got everything going.

He's the one who ended the, I mean, he ran everything the other night.

But I did see and hear a little bit.

It's going to be Terrence Brown Jr., in my opinion.

Bill,

So, um, and there are two different sessions of Carolina camp and, uh, and Montross camp in between, would you kind of set up that schedule for us?

Yeah, it starts Monday.

We meet at 3 o'clock.

All the coaches come together, and that's like a family reunion.

You haven't seen these guys in a year, and you get to see your boys, and it's just a lot of fun.

Almost my whole staff is going.

One of my staff guys, Chase Love, is getting married while we're at Carolina camp, but it shows you how much we care about him.

So for those who kind of missed that era of our podcasting together, would you just share like a, like a. anecdote or a story that you think would be really interesting for people to hear?

[laughs] It's toasty.

But all, all those type of things right now, th- that you can go to those guys, even the guys that didn't necessarily play, but they can tell you what the atmosphere is gonna be like.

What, what's the reception gonna be like? What's town like? A- all those things can help from a mental perspective.

Um, I love being able to, anytime we go on the road-Picture in my mind what the walk from the locker room to the gym is gonna be.

Where are we gonna eat pre-game? You know, what's, what's the hotel gonna be like? And, and the travel and the time between the hotel and how to get...

All those things are important just to be able to reduce stress of the players, re- reduce the stress of the staff so everybody has a much, much better c- feeling and more comfortable of what's going on.

And the more relaxed that you can be, the better you're gonna perform.

Next time you go, and I'm not saying if, I'm saying when, what, like, what would you be taking and doing differently having done it a couple years before?

Bill Robinson, the greatest dancer in the world.

Ladies and gentlemen, I'll have to tell the truth.

I feel very happy today because, you know, Joe McCarthy and I worked on his farm, so you know the difference.

So my question to you bef- i- is how much do you expect him to be a bench utilizer?

I think it really depends on that high-level, top-tier group and how they play early.

Because if, if that starting five that we talked about, if they play really well and they mesh together, you're not gonna see the bench play a whole lot.

Me personally, I think he's going to open it up early and allow the guys to play.

He's used to playing 82 games, where you had to ha- bench guys and you had to worry about, you know, all the different factors of, of having such a long, long season.

This is a sprint compared to what he's been doing in the past.

We talk about our season being a marathon 'cause it's six months, but compared to playing 82 games, this is gonna go really quick for him.

I-

And then just, [laughs] story time, the floor is yours, take it away.

[laughs] Yeah.

We- we have a, an organization called Access Security, and we, uh, have partnered with them, and w- we basically vol- not volunteer, we work for them, uh, at big events.

So we- we do a couple days at- at Bristol for the- the NASCAR races there.

And it's just, it's security.

It's very easy.

You have a wristband, you can come in.

Ooh.

By December, UNC's toughness will be noticeably different and will be waving bye-bye to the UNC is perennially soft label that the Tar Heels have.

No, I definitely buy that one.

And, and if you don't defend, and you don't get on the floor, and you don't do all the dirty things for Coach Malone, you just won't play, and the guys will figure that out real quickly.

Um, I'm a Jersey guy.

I'm a, I'm a South Jersey guy.

Coach Malone's a North Jersey guy, and the difference is, you know, the closer you get to New York City, the tougher you gotta be.

And, and he's a tough guy and he grew up, um, you know, you had to fight for every little thing you got.

Is that not like, of, of the returners it's none, it's not Jarin, it's not Is- like, personality wise.

[laughs]

And we had a game that day, we couldn't be there.

I mean, that's how the type of relationship we had.

Uh, went to the state tournament.

They had a buzzer beater first round to stay in the tournament.

Then he, he played great the last two games, won the MVP of the state tournament, won the tournament, and got a D2 offer on the spot.

With, without, I mean, just with one visit and, and they never saw him play except for the state tournament.

It's my job to sit at home and watch.

I just want to talk about Milan Momchilovic and what you see when you look at his game, what stands out to you maybe as some pros about the rising senior position.

First thing I want to talk about is dreamers versus realists.

Because as a coach, you need both on your staff.

When I had a small staff, just me and Rob Brendel, when it came down to recruiting, I was a realist.

And I would sit there and say, we don't need to talk to somebody like Milan because we just don't have a chance to get it.

And Rob would be like, if we want to be better, we need to talk to everybody.

And we lost a kid late that we thought was going to be our starting point guard.

As you look at that, are there players like that or others you can think of who you might compare Momchilovic's game to?

Um, a- would you take somebody that is more in that Armando Bacot, Kennedy Meeks, whatever it is type player to complement and, and give you w- a, a better foundation along with Kaita?

Yeah, the first thing I think about Kaita is that he's not gonna be 215 for long.

Uh, not in that system, not with the strength program, not with the f- the f- obviously nutrition and the way they'll feed him, and he won't be eating three meals a day.

They'll, they'll put him on five meals a day.

They'll have him in there with Jonas.

He will get stronger and bigger v- very quickly.

Um, but I think Bryce does brings that experience, and he does bring the ability to, um, to be a basketball player.

... that helps both of them as shooters this year?

Well, how did you investigate the link between lupus and Epstein-Barber's?

So for a long time, people have speculated that EBV might be a cause of lupus.

But the data were not fully compelling, meaning there were little glimmers of data, but there wasn't a really strong mechanistic basis for how EBV could cause lupus.

And so one of the major challenges has been inability to identify the EBV-positive B cells that are present only at about 1 in 10,000 B cells.

So my lab developed a sequencing method to pinpoint those cells to study them, and we thereby discovered that they are driving the autoimmune response in lupus.

So just generally, what can findings like yours tell us about these viruses that can hide in our bodies for such a long period of time, but then become activated to cause something more serious?

Yeah, I mean, I think herpes viruses, which lie latent in the body.

So herpes virus include the chickenpox virus, varicella zoster.