Just your biggest takeaways from an article that is a must-read for Michigan fans.

Yeah.

I think the biggest thing, the biggest news peg to me was that Mike is very much this week and this past, you know, last week and this week trying to get that interim tag removed and be, to be the permanent head coach at Michigan and, um, how he's, you know, how they are considering that he's really pushed that.

And, um, you know, he believes he's the best man for the job going forward.

And, um, I guess I went into that conversation.

Obviously, he wants that.

He hopes that.

Is there an element that you're most curious about of Dusty May as an NBA coach?

So many of these dealers, getting together, talking with one another, and coming up with strategies with the lender partners and the technology partners that were at the show to try to combat some of these concerns that persist in this space compared to the the franchise dealer space and so uh as we kind of move out of the show and wrap up our coverage on the show it's going to be a few more stories related to sort of these topics and really the challenges facing the space and what lenders can do and what fellow dealers can do to support the network but that is what came out of the the niada show and uh the different trends that are happening in independent and by here's pay your space now i'll turn it over to cj for a recap on capital and funding trends

Thank you, Johnny.

Texas-based non-prime indirect lender Aura Finance closed its first auto loan securitization this month, another step in a broader build-out of its lending portfolio.

Overcapital, the firm that owns Aura, co-sponsored the transaction with one of its managed funds.

Goldman Sachs arranged the structure of the deal, which included a range of bonds rated AA through BB.

The private transaction followed ARRA's acquisition of Crescent Bank's Auto Finance Division back in 2025.

ARRA Chief Executive Ken Wardle previously told Auto Finance News that the acquisition gave ARRA access to tech, IP, employees, and portfolio servicing rights it needed to just grow.

Yeah.

And Wemby is going to be, like, the player in the league for the next decade, right? Like, he is going to be the team that everyone's trying to figure out, how do we stop him? H- how do we match up with him? And, and the one guy in this draft that, that you could at least be like, okay, maybe match up a little bit or at least give him problems is, is Adai.

Like, his, his len- he has Wemby-like length.

He has the thing that, like, is so incredible with Wemby and that, that makes him, like, almost a one of one, but there's only maybe a couple guys on the planet that can do these kinds of things at the, the altitude where he's doing them, is, like, the tips and the, the being able to tip it to yourself and having the awareness of, like, catching the ball close to the basket with, like, you wouldn't even know where the basket is 'cause you're backwards or something, and then putting it in.

That's the kind of stuff that Adama Mara was doing this year at Michigan, and his confidence just grew and grew and grew as the season went along.

Obviously, awesome rim protector.

Um, [lips smack] you know, got to be better defending in space.

CJ, who was, who was your fifth guy? Who's that final guy for you?

What's your perspective on his rise throughout seeing him come up through the high school ranks and then to become All American and top 10, potentially top five draft pick here?

Yeah, it's, it's really cool.

I mean, I, I, I thought he was gonna be a really good player.

There's some college coaches that, like, through the years I told him about.

Um, but he, um...

I think the thing that really stood out to me and why I have hope for him in the NBA is the, the level change from high school to college to the Big Ten didn't bother him at all.

I mean, how he played at Shawnee Mission Northwest is exactly how he played at Illinois.

Yep.

Okay

...

I...

Mikkel Brown is also not on my list.

Uh, I'm with John there.

Um, one thing about Brown, you know, I think it's probably gonna be a surprise to so- some people that he's not top five on both ours.

Like, he's sophomore age.

But I'd just love to know, like, your, both your thoughts on just how he differentiates himself.

Give me a couple reasons that, that made you say Illinois may be the team that we're, we're looking at to be the number one next year.

Well, I think retention matters a lot, and there aren't a lot of programs that are able to retain really good players from the, the year before.

Um, I look at it as Illinois and Florida, um, are the best two from a retention standpoint.

Um, Florida's co- basically returns very similar team to the, to they had last year that was a number one seed.

Illinois obviously returns very similar team as they had this past year.

They got to a Final Four in that same region.

If you look at KenPom, which, um, I do a lot and, and value the, those numbers, um, they were neck and neck.

What were your thoughts on him and what he brings to the Illini?