Hour 1: Live from Michigan with UM Hoops HC Mike Boynton Jr, Trey McKenney & Elliot Cadeau

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0:45Find select shelving and tote storage up to 15 % off at the Home Depot to organize every room in your home, from your garage to your attic. Visit homedepot.com. How doers get more done. This is The Rich Eisen Show. Hey, everybody. Can't get enough of The Rich Eisen Show? You're in luck. You can find us everywhere. Watch us weekdays on Disney Plus from noon to 3 Eastern. Miss the show? We've got a podcast so you can listen anytime. But here's the best part. Our YouTube channel. Subscribe at youtube.com slash richeisenshow and you'll never miss a moment. Now, on with the show. Live from Plymouth, Michigan.

1:32Can the Wolverines survive and advance? This is the Rich Eisen Show. Michigan, the men's basketball national champions. The Rich Eisen Show. In this hour, Michigan basketball head coach Mike Boynton Jr., Michigan basketball's Trey McKinney and Elliott Cadeau. Plus, latest news and more. And now, it's Rich Eisen.

2:00Rich Eisen:Well, hey, everybody. Welcome to this edition of the Rich Eisen Show. I am sitting here live in the state of Michigan at the site of the fourth annual Champion Circle Golf Classic in support of all Michigan athletics and many of the Michigan athletes here on this campus. and the featured guest of the fourth annual champion circle golf classic is none other than kyle weddingham the football head coach who will be joining us on this program in our number two ahead of his wide receiver andrew marsh ahead of two of his running backs jordan marshall and savi on hyder who was the number one recruit at the position this past offseason and we've also got Bryce Underwood, his quarterback, John Henry Daly, his edge rusher that he brought from Utah.

2:54Rich Eisen:They're all going to be sitting down here on this show talking about not just the upcoming season of Michigan football, but the state of college athletics as a whole. There's also you on this program as well. 844-204-RICH is the number to dial. My guys are back in the studio. Chris Brockman and TJ Jefferson, along with Mike Deltufo, are all sitting in their positions guys i'm here i'm here you're there i'm in michigan you're in los angeles california uh and um it you know it's gonna be it's gonna be an easy one for you today you're gonna smoke them if you got them uh uh because i'm gonna be conducting a lot of interviews here but it's good to see you guys how are you great to see you man uh enjoy the day man and what a what an afternoon of shows and guests that we have here i love it yeah i'm hoping to get in a few holes potentially i'm dressed in my uh my running man golf gear right now that i see your sixers i see your sixes jersey i want to talk about that in a second but first first things first tj is you know um as you know the uh the the philadelphia 76ers got lebron james and their mix and i had my fun with you guys last uh last uh week on friday when i uh zoomed in um waiting for some shopping to be done.

4:08Rich Eisen:You get that P-coat? I did not get a P-coat. I did get a belt, though. I'll show it to you when I get back. No, none of that. But at any rate, as you know, I was pointing out, though, that great that you have LeBron. I have the championship as being a Knick fan. You do, you do. And as you know, as you know, I was talking about how this might be the greatest run I've ever had as a basketball fan on planet Earth. because as the Knicks were winning it all, Susie had just coached Taylor to a championship in the Goldie League, the youth basketball league that Taylor plays in and that Susie coaches in.

4:49Rich Eisen:And that came after Michigan won it all on the college basketball world for the first time since I was on this campus in 1989 as a junior. and um look what i've got here to my left everybody oh yeah this baby oh yeah that's a net wow that's a championship trophy i've got it right here on the show you can see the mic flag with our show logo is perfectly positioned to be in the frame that wasn't my chance either and later on in this hour i know again the champion circle golf event is uh featuring kyle whittingham the new head coach of Michigan football. But the champion circle supports more than 150 Michigan student athletes across 29 varsity sports through things like athlete marketing, group licensing, merchandise, collectibles, premium experiences, corporate partnerships, internships, and career development.

5:45Rich Eisen:Of course, there is the matter of name, image, and likeness cash as well. But the champion circle through, you know, athlete marketing and licensing businesses and college athletics helps raise money. So the first hour of this show is going to feature our first guest in 15 minutes time. The new head coach of Michigan basketball, Mike Boynton, is going to stop by. I've never met him. I can't wait to literally hug him. And then Elliot Cadeau and Trey McKinney are both showing up together to finish up our number one of this program. And as you know, Elliot Cadeau was the most outstanding player of the Final Four and Trey McKinney's three.

6:27Rich Eisen:is what finally put a nail in UConn's coffin in the national championship game. So I've got that going for me. Which is nice. Which is nice, to use the caddyshack phrase. So now that I've gotten that out, and I've gotten the flex of having the national championship men's basketball trophy with the net that was cut down in Indianapolis sitting right here, now that I've got that out of the way, let's talk about LeBron. LeBron James. LeBron Green. So let me start with this, Chris. 23. Look at that jersey with the crown and the... Oh, my goodness. I got to change my shirt. He brought his crown with him?

7:05Rich Eisen:Look at that. Look at that. The King James' jersey. How is that lame? What's lame about it? Why is that lame? What's lame about it? There's nothing lame about it. He's got a crown? Oh, cool. Well, his name is King James. It's not his name. His name is Brock. He's King James. He's on Twitter X, and to many people, he's King James. Cool. I don't blame him for bringing the crown, even though, you know, for people, people my age, Del Tufo, it looks like maybe he can't believe it's not butter going there in Philadelphia right there. That's true. But I don't blame the Sixers for flexing like this, man.

7:42Rich Eisen:Yeah. Here's a few things that I did not mention when I was on the show Friday that I want to mention now. Well, I did say that to you on Friday. You did say that. I'm just joking. Okay. And I did also take a look at it from a Knicks fan perspective that it's going to be Knicks and Sixers now instead of Knicks and Five. And how it's going to be an interesting development to see LeBron and Madison Square Garden multiple times and going to TD Garden. And then Boston goes there and the Knicks go there. And it's just going to be great old school Northeastern basketball. but um writ large what does this mean for the entire nba in terms of winning it all for the philadelphia 76ers and you know how do they put it together how quickly do they put it together how quickly does nick nurse get everyone buying into what he's selling obviously joel m beads health is a massive massive part of all this and that is a major question mark we won't know the answer to right just don't know but the philadelphia 76ers absolutely are now in the running to win the east they're absolutely in the running to win the whole damn thing if they can put it all together and get enough um health out of everybody and see what happens in the long run so that's where I want to turn to you Chris and say where are the Sixers in their odds right now?

9:14Rich Eisen:We were talking about this on Friday when it happened the Sixers have the fourth best title odds Oklahoma City and San Antonio are each plus 260 the Knicks are 9-1 the Sixers are 10-1 and then a little bit of a gap and then the Celtics are 14-1 and the Raptors are 20-1 that's your top six well that's if Kawhi is able to play for the team yeah that's if Kawhi I think and then Denver 22 to one Detroit and Minnesota 25 to one wow the Lakers aren't even there wow oh the Lakers are way down 45 to one they have they have about the same odds as the Pacers oh yeah wow and that's the other I would have loved to have had a GoPro on Rob Palenka's face or anybody else in that organization's face when they saw the amount of money LeBron signed for the Philadelphia 76ers.

10:17Rich Eisen:Now, they were probably having their eyes peeled keenly to see how it would all work at this late stage of the game with salary caps and things of that nature and aprons. But don't you think if he had gone back to the Lakers or stayed put with the Lakers, he would have made multiples of what he's currently allowing the Sixers to pay him. Don't you think he would also, right, never give a hometown discount to the Lakers over the last several years either? Yeah, I agree. And I don't know if it's just circumstances here that he just knew that if he wasn't going back to the Lakers, this is what the finances were going to be.

10:55Rich Eisen:And obviously finances don't really mean anything when you've got enough cash to have a place in New York City. That's another thing I'm eager to see if this is in fact true, if he's going to commute a la Kobe back in the day towards the end parts of his career. If he's going to commute, because again, Orange County to Los Angeles is almost as far in terms of not as the crow flies of New York to Philadelphia, but in terms of using ground transportation, which Kobe did not do. I'm just keen to see how all this works out. Sorry, TJ. I'm sorry, Rich. I was going to say, I think a better comp would actually be J.J.

11:32Rich Eisen:Redick in LeBron because J.J., when he played for the Sixers, he lived in Brooklyn. And so he would make the commute from Brooklyn to... I guess. I'm sure he's going to have to have a spot in Philadelphia. But the bottom line is him going to Philadelphia was a bit of a surprise. I always thought it was going to be Miami. And if not, Miami thought it would be Golden State because it would be geographically better and located to where his current base of operations is from in Los Angeles. But he, I don't know, I'll ask this of you, Chris, is the key to this whole thing. The fact that LeBron wound up in Philadelphia at the end of the day, thanks to the Boston Celtics tapping on him.

12:16Yeah, I think it's so funny.

12:18Rich Eisen:And flipping him to Philadelphia. You've seen a couple of tweets about it. It's like the Celtics basically traded Jalen Brown and LeBron James for Paul George and two number ones. Like, cool. It seems like anywhere that Jalen Brown ended up going, LeBron probably would have went there because that would have been the best basketball spot to try to win a championship. You know, if if Golden State was in on Jalen Brown, LeBron probably ends up in Golden State. It's just funny that Giannis wasn't enough to lure LeBron, but a guy like Jalen Brown and the situation that they've got going on in Philly with Maxie and Edgecombe and obviously Embiid if he can be healthy.

12:54Rich Eisen:There you go. Now you're naming all the names. Because, again, the question is if you look at Miami and there's Giannis and there's Wiggins and there's the rest of the team that they had put together. Not enough shooting. Does that stack up? Yeah, not enough shooting. Does that stack up with what the Sixers can bring to bear with slashers and scorers? I don't know. Like Maxie and Edgecombe and Brown with a monster in the middle that, when healthy, is as dominant a center as we've seen in this league in a long time. But there's the when healthy guy. That's the problem. And just wait, man. Chris, you're going to just love watching the Philadelphia 76ers play when a guy who is an all-time great, an all-time great scorer, and the number of records that LeBron has that may never be broken are too many to mention.

13:47Rich Eisen:But one thing that's not in the books is the guy who's never committed a foul in his career now is going to play with a guy who's always on the floor because he's always been fouled and is complaining to the referees all the time with his 7 '90 frame on the ground, like he's one of those balloons outside of a car dealership. Sometimes Shea Gildress Alexander is like, I'm embarrassed by that sort of behavior. What do you think? How tough is it going to be to watch the Philadelphia 76ers? It's going to be tough. For you this year. More so than normal. By the way, this is the sort of mixing up I would have had if I was physically there on Friday instead of Seth Rollins.

14:22Rich Eisen:A couple of Jalen Brown points, which is really interesting. Remember when Jalen Brown was spotted during Summer League saying that Bronny can't play in the league? That's funny because now Bronny's probably going to be a teammate at some point, right? No, he's not. You've got to figure Philly's going to go get Bronny James. Nope. Also, Jalen Brown had such a problem being a 1B in Boston, and now he's the third or fourth option? That's interesting. Categorically false. Can't wait for Philly's first three-game losing streak and LeBron passive-aggressively throws shade at his teammates on Twitter.

14:55What's going to happen when Jalen Brown goes live on Twitch and start slagging on Nick Nurse. I can't wait for all of it. All those things he said ain't going to happen. Who plays monster? What's more likely on a Monday, Rich? Look, he wants to get into his feelings about this. If we start right now, taking point right now, who plays more games in their Philadelphia career, LeBron James or Joel Embiid? What does that even mean? Neither of them can stay healthy. Oh, LeBron was really hurt? LeBron has missed some time in his last couple of seasons. LeBron has been as healthy of a player as sports have ever seen.

15:34LeBron has missed time. It's more being slander.

15:38Rich Eisen:Just saying. All right. By the way, that one, I can hear you with that. LeBron James. You were up 3-1 and you couldn't be this without him. With the guy that you acquired. If the LeBron James from last year towards the end of last year. All right. Okay. The guy who is part of a Lakers team that dominated, what, in March? Because everybody played the appropriate amount of minutes or the appropriate amount of time together, and they were all healthy. If that guy shows up and works in with a healthy Maxi, Edgecombe, Brown, and Embiid, and if that guy shows up in the playoffs where he needs to win a game at some point, like he did for the Lakers in the first round, I know you don't hang banners for first round series, but he was a man by himself playing out of his skull.

16:25Rich Eisen:If that guy shows up in Philadelphia, this is a major problem for the rest of the league. It is. But the bottom line is the two of you guys going against each other all year long. It's going to be great. It's going to be great. And the best part about it is football's right around the corner too. This is nothing new though. He and I have been doing this tango since you put me in this seat. Now the thing is he's always had an upper hand. I'm not going to lie about that. Like the Celtics have always been able to get over on the Sixers. he's always said the Sixers should trade Embiid just because he didn't want to have to deal with them anymore.

16:55So, yeah, we've been doing this for a while, but now I feel like we finally have the better team. So it's going to be even more fun this year.

17:04Rich Eisen:This is going to be great. Celtics go further than the Sixers. See, this is the sort of stuff I would have stirred up. I can't wait. This is going to be awesome. We're going to end up putting something on this. All of it. Just wait till Boston trades for Steph Curry. Steph Curry wants to put LeBron James, and we all know that, right? So Steph is going to be a six or two at some point. I'm just going to throw that out. Oh, wait till the Celtics trade for Steph Curry's just been said. I hope that gets aggregated and winds up on Steph Curry's Instagram stories. He and I had this argument this morning for about 10 minutes.

17:33The best place for Steph to win a title is not in Golden State. It's in Boston.

17:36Rich Eisen:Steph Curry loves LeBron James. I've got a national championship now head coach of Michigan basketball. It was getting set to join us in a moment. I am live right now from the state of Michigan at the fourth annual Champion Circle Golf Classic featuring Kyle Whittingham, who's going to join us at the top of our number two to talk about what's going on with him here at this school. As you know, Ward Manuel, the longtime athletic director here, who was one of Bo Schembechler's players when I was here, is stepping down as athletic director at the end of this coming season. What does Kyle Whittingham think about now change already for him here after he has been the change, if you will, in the football program for the past few months, and he has yet to even coach a game.

18:20Rich Eisen:Bryce Underwood, the quarterback of Michigan from last year, getting set for year two. What will he have to say when he joins us in hour number three? Please stay tuned for all of that. For the moment, though, get into the Hyundai Getaway Sales event and get away with a deal so right, it almost feels wrong. Right now, you can get great deals on our most popular models, including our adventure-ready SUVs, like the Hyundai Santa Fe or Santa Fe Hybrid, and the Tucson or Tucson Hybrid. Plus, there's our bold and stylish Elantra loaded with the latest tech or go all electric with the Ioniq 5 or Ioniq 9.

18:52Rich Eisen:Get down right now to your local Hyundai dealer and get away with a deal you'll love during the Hyundai Getaway Sales Event. Visit HyundaiUSA.com for details. Mike Boynton is the head coach of Michigan basketball and Mike Boynton Jr. is joining us next.

19:11Rich Eisen:The Rich Eisen Show Podcast.

19:37Rich Eisen:pro, you can hire with confidence and build the team you need. Join the 2.7 million small businesses using LinkedIn to hire. Get started by posting your job for free at linkedin.com slash eisen. Terms and conditions apply. Need parts fast? O 'Reilly Auto Parts has fast. Need them now? We've got now. No matter what you need, we have thousands of professional parts people doing their part to make sure you have it. We're O 'Reilly Fast. Just one part that makes O 'Reilly stand apart. The professional parts people. O, O, O, O 'Reilly. Auto Parts.

20:22Rich Eisen:While the world watches the stars at the FIFA World Cup this summer, Hyundai has its eyes on the next generation of talent. Future stars who are already turning heads at age 14. Because Next doesn't wait for an invitation, and neither do we. Hyundai has always moved the future within reach. We did it when we made advanced safety standard on every vehicle and engineered EVs with ultra-fast charging capability. Because the future isn't some far-off concept, it's already here. Next starts now. Hyundai, an official partner of FIFA. the rich eisen show is back on disney plus the espn app and espn radio as well hire right the first time with linkedin hiring pro people get started by posting a free job at linkedin.com slash eisen my first guest here at this champion circle golf event is the new head coach of michigan basketball mike boynton jr is here on the program um you're a new yorker so you might understand this reference.

21:21Rich Eisen:I think your tenure as interim coach lasted almost as long as Bill Belichick's reign as New York Jets head coach. I'm a Giants fan. I hate to admit that, but my dad is a Jets fan. We both have shared each other's misery the last decade or so. It's been that way. So walk me through, how did you meet Dusty May for the first time? Wow. We got to go back about A little more than 10 years. Dusty and I, he's a little bit older than I am, but we kind of came up in the business around the same time, similar paths, worked for many different people. And he landed in Ruston, Louisiana, Louisiana Tech, as an assistant coach around the same time that I landed in Nacogdoches, Texas.

22:03I can actually say the word now. I couldn't before I moved there. As an assistant for Brad Underwood at Stephen F. Austin. And our teams were both really successful, low to mid-major type programs. that always had a hard time scheduling opponents, always tried to recruit a little bit above our puncher's weight, if you will. And so we found ourselves in a lot of the same places a lot of times. We actually shared an official visit with one kid one time. There was no way to fly from Ruston to Nacogdoches. And so I think we met at like a casino to exchange the kid. He was finishing his visit at Louisiana Tech and coming to Stephen F.

22:39Austin. So there was just these moments that we would interact with one another. And then we had a couple people that we had both worked together with, but just obviously had never worked together between the two of us. And so we always, I think, admired each other from afar and watched each other's past. And I think once this opportunity arose two years ago, we both thought it would be a great opportunity for us to work together and do ultimately what we did was have a ton of success.

23:07Rich Eisen:And you were basically, what, your main role was the defensive side of things? Yeah, Michigan, yeah. And, you know, defense was number 12 in the country after being, I think, in the hundreds the year before we got here. Yes. And then this year we were the number one defense in the country, which is obviously a nice feather in the cap of the team. I got to tell you, and I told this to Dusty, you know, when he was the coach, that watching the team this year, you could play any style you wanted. Sometimes it was based on what others might have been dictating. Sure. But this team did the dictating most of the time.

23:49Rich Eisen:Most of the time. If you needed transition, you got that. If you needed half court, you got that. If you needed the rebounding to start the transition, you got that. If you wanted to play fast, you wanted to play slow. You wanted to do whatever the heck you wanted. The roster was there. The teamwork was there. And the thing that is amazing, you mentioned, you know, in our TV only segment is that this trophy that's sitting here between us right now, that the revisionist history is that you guys didn't lose a game or do anything. To me, the most amazing accomplishment, not just obviously the wins and losses, this trophy exists, was the ability to play like you played together forever.

24:23Rich Eisen:Absolutely. And the team was kind of thrown together through a portal and through also recruiting, obviously with Trey. Just as one and Elliott being another one who came from from North Carolina and Yaxel and Morez and, you know, a Di Mara. How the hell did you guys do that? Well, I give a lot of the credit to those new guys being able to adjust to Michigan and us having the flexibility we had to the three guys who weren't mentioned yet. And those are guys who are on the Michigan team the year before. Correct. Will Cheddar, Amari Burnett, and Roddy Gale. Right. because all three as seniors could have wanted more for themselves in their senior year.

25:07More minutes, more money, more shots, more opportunity to maybe get to the NBA. And they were all committed to sacrificing a little bit of those things so that we could win. They knew that Yaks would get a lot of the media attention. I mean, he asked for it most of the time. And that we had this 7 '4 guy who people were always going to be really intrigued by. and Elliot as the point guard would generate a lot of attention. But those guys never batted an eye about those things because they really wanted to win. They wanted to win for Michigan. And I think that's the thing that ultimately shone through the season.