So first game on the road and first game is at the end of December.

Yeah, that was always so weird.

I mean, I think it was just a byproduct of having 20 games, right? You had to fit them in somewhere.

But we'd always have like play Boston College on like December 8th or something.

And then there'd be like three weeks before the second ACC game.

So that was always bizarre to me.

I was a big advocate for going back to 18 games.

I mean, it has been silly how good Duke has been in these games.

And then ultimately who decides Duke is where I want to be, Coach Shires, who I want to play for.

Yeah, I mean, I think it's safe to say that Duke is going to have some continuity.

It just remains to be seen how much.

So you look at guys like John Blackwell and Caleb Foster, and they'll have the opportunity to come back.

Sure.

Reppy would probably be a candidate to come back to, I would think.

There's some other guys who are likely gone, like Big Pat and Dame Saar and some other guys that are going to have the opportunity to go pro.

How is a story like this sitting with you, Raul?

Yeah.

You also had the exhibition game against UCF, though I guess that wasn't technically part of the Brotherhood Run, but yet another, you know, former alumni there, um, in Johnny Dawkins.

So it'll be great to get Amaker back in.

Um, you know, Harvard, I don't know how they'll compare to the, to Howard and Niagara last year.

Those games were pretty much blowouts from start to finish, but, you know, then Howard went on to have a nice season afterwards.

So, uh, you know, it'll be, it'll be great to have...

You know, even if the game does end up being one-sided, I think it's just always cool to have, you know, the former alumni back in the building, you know, and kinda see the pregame honoring and all that kind of stuff.

How could people get tapped in and support you guys?

And, uh, uh, also it just feels like, man, this is a, a society thing that we talk about and, and a human, um, evolution, that it feels like the top players in every class year by year are getting larger.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, and I think it's been sort of a trend in basketball overall, uh, the desire to combine size with skill.

So, you know, in the past you had big guys who really couldn't do much besides, you know, rebound or post up or, you know.

But now it's like even in the front court, you see guys like Boom Shake The World who are just, you know, coming off screens and hitting threes.

So that, you know, that, uh, length and size has really been prioritized, not just by Jon Scheyer, but by the NBA as well.

So I think he... you know, he's a student of the NBA, so I think he sees where things are going.

One thing to see you get it done in practice, but what are you like in these game settings against other competition? And now the, uh, Jon Scheyer and his staff are gonna be able to utilize that.

What a unique hire this is that John Shire has made.

Yeah, you know, as far as I know, it's pretty much a new position.

It's kind of like when Duke a few years ago was the first team to hire a general manager and really got ahead of the curve there.

I think it's similar things happening here.

One thing that jumps out to me is not just his analytics background, but the fact that he had a big role in salary cap management for the Trailblazers.

And I think that's going to become something that's much more relevant in the college game than it was before as NIL continues to evolve and develop.

You know, it's not guaranteed that teams are going to have no salary cap in terms of NIL forever, right? There might come a time when you're limited in the amount that you can spend and teams are going to have to make decisions on how do we use our resources.

But very clearly going in that direction and kudos to Duke for being way ahead of the curve.