Previewing Ridgeline football; Kase Wynott commits to USU bball; Gavin Barthiel - Aug. 8, 2023

it's the full court press with Eric Franson and Jason Walker welcome back to the uh you know to the to the show that we're doing right now following the local teams breaking down the biggest games with in-depth analysis and team interviews there's going to be much higher expectation sense of awareness of what we bring to the table join the show by calling into 435 752 1069 or text 435 339 0321 it's the full court press touchdown they did [Music] it hey what's going on everybody Eric France and Jason Walker here on the full court press always love to hear from you great interaction in the first hour love to keep it rolling in the second hour 435 339 0321 if you want to chime in uh the latest in conference realignment rumors uh you just heard the top of the hour there ACC schools are considering Cal Stanford and potentially even SMU uh there were some there was a report on CBS sports.com from Dennis Dodd that San Diego State was trying to lead an effort of creating a new conference which would combine select schools from the Mountain West select schools from the the American Athletic and the four remaining Pack 12 schools but that seems to have died a quick death and San Diego State uh director of Athletics is uh strongly denying these claims but there there's no question there's still some uncertainty and unsettled uh landscape for College athletics when you have four remaining schools of a previous uh Power five conference something will need to happen with them and so does that affect Utah State a lot of people have Flo the idea that it should be simple this the the big excuse me the Mountain West and the Pack 12 remaining schools should just merge well it's not quite that simple um what happens is it Pack 12 leadership at that time is Gloria narez is she out I hope it's not the Pack 12 leadership we saw what they did no it's not been very effective it's like getting fired at your job and then getting like promoted do all the Mountain West schools move in this deal or do they leave some out um the other big question here too is what happens to all the money that's supposed to be flowing to the Pack 12 notably from the NCAA tournament those NCAA units which we talked a lot about this last spring with San Diego State's run uh the Pack 12 has a lot of upcoming units to be paid out from the NCAA tournament bull bids big New Year six bll payouts bll tie-ins bll tie-ins all this money that's supposed to be going to the the big 12 or should be the Pack 12 where does it go is it going to just reside with these four schools and does that make it somewhat attractive for them to keep their structure together and just bring others on board with them abandon the Mountain West and join the Pack 12 or does it go the other way around and what happens to the LA bowl like who's going to be the cuz it was Mountain West versus Pack 12 yeah you going to just maybe switch it to the Big 12 well can they pull that off reconfigure their alignments and their tie-ins yeah that's thing that there's a lot of little you know there's a lot of eyes that got to be doed and a bunch of te's got to be crossed you know some of them are little things like I said you know who's the LA Bowl going to tie in with now that's probably one of the least of their concerns but I fure Rose Bowl yeah yeah the rose Bow's the rose bow is no longer affiliated with the Pack 12 they should have associate with the big 12 because you could have a big 10 versus Big 12 this would be the new tie in here you could have a an old conference uh schools who were used to be Affiliated in the same conference face each other in the Rose Bowl yeah and you wouldn't have to have that graphic they show every year showing that the team in the Rose Bowl has has to drive 20 minutes and the team in the Big 10 has to like fly six days you know always show that graphic every time especially when USC was in it I me you could potentially have Oregon versus Utah in the in the Rose Bowl yeah that that'd be something so I it's there's a lot of questions a lot of mess the bottom line here but we're always trying to look at this how does that affect a school like Utah State because if there is some Breakaway that tries to happen to retain an automatic qualifier status with the Pack 12 would Utah State be among the schools that would be a part of that and if you're only talking four or five schools out of the Mountain West I don't think USU makes that cut if you're talking the majority of the Mountain West making that move then they will but uh they're they're in the middle of the pack they're not in the bottom tier but they're certainly not in the top tier yeah they're in that you know a little just on the outside looking in or and if there's that kind of a breakway this is maybe where you know new a new president you know earn their paycheck by maybe just sliding in at the last second using whatever connections and and uh you know everything they've got to try and you know throw their weight around get Utah State you know a good situation yeah because the new president was in the Pack 12 territory of Arizona and Arizona State the new ad is certainly in Big 10 territory as a Deputy Commissioner and spent time at Ohio State so they should have enough connections hopefully yeah they could AR strings they could argue their value that way say hey do you want a a school that's got ties to you know all these different you know power five some you know former power five conferences uh so maybe that I don't know how much value that has sometimes these teams can be Petty but yeah if Utah state gets left behind it's a disaster on the level of you know when the skyline fell apart and that set back Utah State decades could do that again if you know there's a you know a break away from the Mountain West and Utah State's not in it and again the Utah state is this close to finally coming out on top in some form or fashion in conference realignment and it feels like that is now the most likely option like now at worst maybe San Diego State tries to jump ship with you know going to like the AAC or the ACC or something like that you know San Diego State always trying to go somewhere else that seems like worst case scenario but at this point it does feel like maybe Oregon State and Washington State join the Mountain West maybe they don't but at the very least you're probably staying where you are in the Mountain West which isn't the wor you know the Mountain West as it stands isn't the worst place to be no it's it's the best Utah State's ever done in terms of conference affiliation and that that exit fee which was agreed upon two years ago is keeping this conference together yeah yeah if that otherwise the headlines would be about the death of the Mountain West and it's 25 year history this would be its last year and blah blah blah yeah cuz then yeah the packo really would have just picked off the Mountain West they would have had to work about all those exit fees and everything so thank you so was Craig Thompson who pulled that off all the all the school presidents agreed had to agree on it that's true sure San Diego State's Furious of that now yes so yeah it it's it's still ongoing um SMU seems to be kicked around is a constant discussion point from Pack 12 expansion now ACC expansion is considering them um gosh why does the Mountain West look at adding them at this point they should like they really should the Mountain West should be aggressive here because I said before they kind of lucked into this you know they almost got eaten by the Big East they almost got eaten by the pack 12 you know were it not for as you mentioned the the exit fee they would have you know died but don't just settle for all right we'll take whoever's left you know sty can can't St stal and Canford Stanford and Cal maybe they join us maybe they don't if they go to the ACC we'll just take Oregon State and Washington State no be aggressive take Oregon state Washington State they may not like it but they got nowhere else to go take SMU try and bring Memphis and say hey look the a is dying like when we just brought in two power five schools yeah the Mountain West profile is going to be elevated yeah above the AAC we were stable through all of this your conference was picked apart you had to go from a lower conference to fill in your ranks We're still here we're stable through all of this we've just added and raised our profile why don't you come join the party yeah and and I think you could really sell that to a Memphis in an in an SMU and I know two lane kind of gets thrown around too then if you add them well go up North and say hey Gonzaga guess what we're pretty good conference come join us in basketball and some when whatever Sports kaga plays I don't know what else they got we're we're an odd number yeah in basketball let's get back to an even number cuz Hawaii does not participate in the other sports they're football only member so why don't you come in as a basketball only member yeah so like this is the thing the Mountain West really should do is don't just have Oregon State and Washington state fall into your lap don't do that because like sure that works okay it it's not the worst thing in the world to happen for Oregon State and Washington State to fall into your lap you you got lucky there sometimes better be lucky than good but go be aggressive you know go out there and you know that's why the Big 10 is better now it's why the SEC is better now they didn't sit back and say ah we're the SEC or ah we're the Big 10 they went out and struck while the iron was hot SEC adds two of the best college sports programs in the country they weren't satisfied with just having Alabama and LSU and all these other great programs they went out got the other you know great programs right they continue to raise their profile yeah and the Big 10 went and added two of the most you know long-standing prestigious colleges in America UCLA and USC you know as far as the second largest media Market in the country yeah it's like they they did they didn't sit back and say ah we got Ohio State and Michigan one of the biggest rivalries in college sports you know two iconic programs you know sitting in like the home of American football you know up in Ohio they went out and and and got better so sure the Mountain West got lucky you can call him lucky but don't just sit on being lucky go out there you know opportunity is knocking it is trying to Pound Down the Mountain West door it's like you dodge the biggest bullet ever now there's an opportunity take advantage of it the the challenge is I think it's clear that the Mountain West would love to have Oregon State in Washington state and and Gonzaga maybe even SMU these other schools but the question really is about can Oregon State can Washington State can they afford to make that move because so much money comes to them just by mere Association of their conference affiliation and that's going to be gone away but I don't know what other choices they're going to really have I I think as a wise man once said get busy living or get busy dying yeah yeah they don't have a choice anymore start looking over your budget and find out where you can make those cuts cuz like I said yeah you're not going to be spending $80 million a year anymore well and I don't know the terms of the Mountain West media deal I know it still has a few more years on it but I would have to think that there's an opportunity to renegotiate something here yeah when you add that kind of Firepower or more opportunity into your into your portfolio um with CBS and fox yeah well at the very least you know I can't remember when it expires it expiring like 25 26 something like that I think so cuz if you add a team like you said there's like almost two years notice you got to give so may couldn't join as soon as maybe an organ state or Washington could but get all that coming in have the have the teams trickling in you know maybe Gonzaga coming in and if worse comes to worse you just renegotiate is the contract's coming to a close and say all right by the time the contract ends by the time we get a new one in we've got a new 16 teish conference with a bunch of new teams a bunch of you know teams that add to the conference they add TV markets they add you know better programs in both football and basketball and I mean Gonzaga is worth a better TV deal in and of itself right and you can still sell it's a it's just a more Regional aspect you're not if you join some of these other conferences okay regional thing that that's clearly been thrown out the window but it it it shouldn't be and I think you can still make that argument with Washington State and and Oregon State yeah if it's just them you know if you're at an AAC then you're talking about going all the way into Central almost Eastern times Memphis in the central time zone still like I think so I think so I don't know where the central I've never known where the central eastern time zone ends I always have to guess um so you would be going a few time zones over granded to go all the way to Hawaii so that's like 3,000 miles but you know it' still be a mostly Regional Conference kind of like the you know the Big 12 still mostly Regional SEC still mostly Regional aec Big 10 maybe not so much depending on what the AAC does with you know Stanford and Cal or stal and Canford as I say but I find it interesting that there's some discussion that Stanford and Cal may be more interested in the AAC than the Mountain West well they should be like I know travel would suck but you're getting a better TV deal than the ACC no AAC oh AAC oh heavens no okay never I reverse everything I said look the AAC you know it was up until the Big 12 ate them up they were the better of the G5 conferences now they're not that's just the reality even if they add Stanford and Cal I don't think they would you know in assuming Oregon State and Washington they came to the Mountain West of course then maybe in that situation the entire Pack 12 moves to the AAC but they shouldn't prefer the AAC Over the Mountain West really the best move if you're the top programs in the AAC and you're the Pack 12 in the Mountain West the best move isn't to try and consolidate in the AAC that just gets more complicated there's more money you have to start worrying about as far as exit fees and whatnot you know it's better to consolidate in the Mountain West because the Mountain West is better than the AAC and it'd be less complicated to just go to the Mountain West maybe there's other factors that I'm just not aware of but if there's going to be movement involving the AAC and trying to form one last borderline power five conference it needs to be everyone moving to the Mountain West not trying to take from the Mountain West yeah I I agreed and if there's some way and I don't know how this structurally works I'm sure there's going to be a lot of lawyers involved but if there's some way that when those schools join the Mountain West if there's a way well what happens with that money that's supposed to go to the Pack 12 if the Pack 12 no longer exists where does that money go is it just put into a big pot and then spread evenly across everybody what happens with the bull money that's supposed to be paid out just put it in the middle of the board and whoever lands on free parking gets it I just rolled doubles I don't know seems a little weird so it's uh it's still spinning and look what can Utah state do just still trying to be out there and be relevant whatever they've been doing recently because they managed to get lucky yeah they got lucky with this where they they may have dodged you know the bullet of being reset back to 1960 well actually I'd kind of like if it was back to 19606 those are some pretty good years it's 1965 is that was a the late 60s '70s late 60s I guess when the wheels started falling off cuz the dynasties lasted a little longer into Independence and even into the 70s and then it kind of went downhill because they stopped getting bll tie-ins and John rollston goes you know elsewhere yeah there was a there was a blip in the 90s that didn't last yeah but it was a long long era and not very good so we don't want to go back to that but yeah Utah State as you're I think you're going to say just keep doing what you're doing in football and basketball because they've been doing pretty good maybe need a little more consistency in football but I mean probably St like the last five 10 five or so years they said they were fourth in win percentage Yeah so that's not bad no no not bad at all but um yeah there's a lot on the line here so this will continue to unfold and this is definitely not done um yeah we still got another month of having our daily conference realignment segments I needed to get will to like record a little news like intro type thing today your daily realignment news uh it just keeps going brought to you by the ncaa's incompetence there you go I like that uh all right coming up next on other side of this timeout we we're going to hear from one of our high school football coaches we've had a lot of fun catching up with the different coaches from region 11 previewing their upcoming season intro introducing us to their new players and returning players who are anticipated to have a large impact again for their teams next on our list will be Travis Cox head coach of the Ridgeline riverhawks he'll be joining us next here on the full court press Cash Valley Ear Nose and Throat the the allergy clinic and Hearing Aid Center are conveniently located at two locations North Logan inside the new Three Peaks Medical Plaza and Providence on Gateway Drive doors benan blauer and Robinette along with the entire staff have over 75 years of combined medical experience guaranteeing your family the very best patient care Cash Valley Ear Nose and Throat serves all of northern Utah and Southern Idaho and accepts most insurance products including select Med go to cash Valle ent.com for appointments and details Cash Valley Ear Nose and Throat North Logan and Providence stoes equipment your cash Valley John Deere dealer has the equipment you need to get the job done handle heavier Duty chores around the farm property or job site with John Deere compact utility tractors and compact construction equipment they have an option for all your jobs with premium features in the right size tractor for your operation find out which tractor is right for you stoes equipment is located on 415 West 8 North in Preston Idaho visit the store or check them out online at sto equipment.com this is two pros and a cup of J go the NFL and CBS announced that the Super Bowl this upcoming season will be shown on Nickelodeon if your kids are refusing to want to watch the Super Bowl don't worry they're going to have to watch it now yeah throw it onod where you going just like what are we doing here two Pros Lavar aring Ted Brady quid and a cup of JW Jonas Knox weekday mornings from 4:00 to 7:00 on Sports Talk Radio 1069 FM 1390 a.m. the fan the Eggies the Jazz the high schools the full court press on Sports Talk Radio 1069 FM 1390 a.m. the fan Gavin Barthel is another one of the transfers that's [Music] a hi welcome back to the full court press and as we have all week we've had a chance to talk to uh the football coaches of region 11 teams previewing the season which begins this Friday and on today we have Ridgeline football head coach Travis Cox H coach how you doing I'm doing great how are you guys doing we're doing good coach thanks for your time today yeah glad the beond so I guess you know looking at this upcoming season I guess kind of in looking at last season a little bit you guys were you know one game you know pretty much decided uh you know whether or not you guys were region uh region Champions or not you know that that loss to Sky View overall the rest of the season went pretty well but you kind of came short of that one goal I guess is that like a big focus of this season is you know getting you know I guess getting that region title this time um you know honestly we don't really because the seasons are different now because it's uh the RPI and all that changed a little bit we we really only have one goal and that's to win the State title and region championships are nice but our whole goal is to win the last game and that's kind of our focus and you know we you know oftentimes in order to win a State title you gotta play well in region and and that goes along with it but we really don't really ever talk too much about region titles so yeah that's not really a goal of ours coach last year you you had to go young uh part of it was a lot of guys who had been with the program major contributors graduated some had injuries uh and you kind of had to go young for some positions but that's you're able to weather that and figure things out on the Fly and still be a very competitive football team last year but now you've got a lot of experience coming to the season the the the I guess the the learning curves the the bumps along the way last year how are they paying dividends so far that you see out of your team getting ready for this season um yeah you know it's odd last year was uh it wasn't really all injury based it was you know those kids were good and and they ultimately it was hard for us to keep them off the field and so um they kind of won their jobs and you know we did in up with some injuries but a lot of I I mean for example Easton Amon our guard he started game one Cooper Clark who was outside backer for us he started I think game three just because he was a good player and Hunter Nan started game one a tight end for us they all kind of earned their jobs Nate Nate Nate was on the boardline from the very get-go um and Jackson we tried Jackson obviously at quarterback and that just wasn't really the right fit so he actually started playing quarterback before Jackson got hurt and so we were just really fortunate to have some really good young players and you know obviously when you come into a a season with you know your quarterback back and some lineman back and you know all those young guys that played last year obviously it helps you with experience um and so we feel really comfortable with what we have and you know football's a funny game though you always have to work hard it doesn't matter how much experience you have you just always got to work because everyone always is kind of working in the offseason and so we've tried not to just rely on that they got experience I think the biggest thing for us is we know where their strengths are we don't have to learn about them as players and we can kind of just go with what we know and and it's easier to build a kind of a game plan or like a you know philosophy around our guys so that's been easier this year for sure so you know obviously one position you already brought him up uh Nate uh Nate Dolly um you know starting as a freshman much of the year I guess what have you seen out of him this off season where obviously he's got a lot of room to grow just kind of by by definition being a Freshman he's got a lot of time to improve yeah I mean he obviously the game slow down a lot more and he's is just much more comfortable with uh you know our offense and and you know what defenses are trying to do but he's he's always been a really smart kid and I don't I don't think you play kid that young if he's doesn't have a good head on his shoulders and he's extremely competitive kid and so he has all that down so now I think it's just a matter of the game slown down for him and it feel like it has and you know he's much more comfortable with things and um very poised and and he's just a really good quarterback then I guess he's also got you know a couple of weapons you mentioned you're bringing back tight end I think you're bringing back uh um couple of wide receivers so he's you know obviously you know Jackson Olsson not around but uh you know he bringing back some you know a lot of the production from last year and I imagine that should help him out as well yeah exactly I mean I think we were we were without Jackson for so much last year I feel like we have our whole entire offense back as far as the skill goes except for our running back but JT's played a lot of running back you last year too so it feels like our whole offense is intact and so um yeah it's been you know we've been able to get going much quicker last year we spent the whole summer working with a running quarterback and you know we changed our offense after week one and so this year having been able to go through the um summer knowing kind of exactly who we have at quarterback it really kind of feel like our summer has been a lot more productive well I was actually going to want to ask to build on that just having a returning quarterback and returning lineman guys in front of them and and uh outstanding weapons to throw to how does that change your approach and your staff's approach to getting the team ready for this upcoming year is it provide you more opportunities for different concepts or we're just going to do the same Concepts just more efficiently and at a higher clip um you know good question you you know we you always try to um I mean I've always been of the believer you know no team is ever the same and and especially in high school because you can't recruit to what you like you kind of have to take what you have and then kind of Bas your kind of you know offensive defense around those guys and so this year um we obviously based on the guys we had back a lot of the concepts are the same um but we do have we have a really I mean hunter played tight end last year for us but he's actually moved more to receiver because we have a really good tight end that is a lot different skill set so he's a extremely good blocker and so we've been able to um kind of adjust our a lot of our offense based off of you know basically one kid that was even wasn't even here last year and so yeah we've changed it a little bit um but overall it's I would say it's very similar but yet we we can we can do a little bit more with formations and um being a little bit more multiple without taking guys out so that's really kind of helped us so I mean and I guess just along those same lines you uh last year the scoring output was definitely different than the year prior and there was reasons which we've already detailed as to why that may be do you feel like this is a team Poise to get back to where you were maybe a few years ago in the type of offensive output that you we've come to kind of expect out of Ridgeline lately 100% I mean it would be a failure if we don't score more points last year last year was really tough on us and um we don't expect that to be the case this year now it's not a guarantee just because we got guys back doesn't mean you're going to SC score points but we definitely um definitely didn't um score points like you know we want and so yeah our our whole goal is score a lot more points this year that was that was tough and I think it was a struggle and you know we felt it inside inside the locker and it was it was a tough go so yeah we we expect to start score more points for sure so I guess looking at the defense I know you had some games where you struggled scoring points last year but your defense certainly helped out I mean there were a couple games here there you give up 30 40 points but a lot of times you're shutting teams out holding them to 10 or so points do you expect that kind of production again this year yes I mean I think you know if you look at our team right now I think our strength is up front on the our D Line's really good we're deep we can rotate guys um and I think you know defensively and offensively you always kind of win the game up front and so low our D line I like I like what we can do there and I think it's really GNA help kind of solidify us as a as a good defense because it all starts with those guys up front so yeah we expect you know to lean on the defense early just to get going the offense typically it feels like it takes a little bit of time to get going so yeah we're leaning that defense pretty quick or pretty hard right now you were talking to Travis Cox he's the head coach for the Ridgeline riverhawks football team getting ready to start their season coming up uh let me ask you about your schedule and uh putting your your schedule together the type of teams that you'll be playing uh home in the road just the non- region opponents that you get to have some control over who you schedule how do you feel about the schedule that got put together for you this year uh I love it I actually put together our schedule it's sometimes you don't have it a lot of option so you just got to take what's there um but we we really try to schedule um more difficult teams you know just just to try to see where we are at early like if you play good teams you kind of can see where your weaknesses are so we really try to schedule difficult if we can we obviously want to win games as well so um we try to you know we're not going to go play the corn Canyons or those types of schools but we love to try to play really good top-notch 5 day six day schools and and really kind of see where we're at and then you know there to the end and we have a game against Orin that we're really excited about uh you know it's I think it's our kids really I mean a lot of the time I mean kids want to go to the next level and I feel like sometimes we get a little bit lost up here in Cash Valley if people forget about you know the good football that gets played up here so we do try to get out of the valley and play some of the better in the 5A schools I don't know if it helps or not but uh it's something that we try to sell to the kids and try to get them excited about so that that is one of our goals and philosophies do you think that eventually you know I mean before in you know before this year like if you wanted to schedule a 4A non- region team yeah to go to St George do you feel like the addition of more 4A teams may help I you may continue to schedule you know five and 6A teams but does it make it a lot easier for you to find 4 a teams and maybe consider playing them more often now that there's actually more 48 teams good question this year was I mean I didn't really feel like it was any easier this year um but I think once the kind of sometimes schedules are set you know in advance so I I just really needed to pick up what was it three or four games this year so I don't I didn't really feel it imp this year I I would wish it was easier but um I think playing 4 a schools good 4A schools is always a good idea just because you know you can kind of see where you're at within the level that you're playing but obviously our goal is to win the last game and so you know if you can kind of see where you're at it's a little bit easier so I don't know it's that's a tough question I don't even know how to answer that quite do you think it like do you think it'll get easier like said you know this year's schedule may have already been set you know so maybe a lot of teams were in that but maybe as the years goes on I suppose maybe it'll get a little easier yeah I hope so yeah I I would think so but um yeah I don't know coach you had an opportunity to play in an agie uniform on Merlin Olson field now you get to coach on the sidelines in that same stadium uh coming up later on this month what's that experience going to be like for you oh I'm excited more more or less just for our kids I mean it's always fun to play in the big Stadium um that st's a lot different when I played that was a long time ago so it it's looks a lot different a little a little bit bigger than than I had so um but no I'm more just excited for our kids and along with that just talk finishing up my questions about scheduling I mean you've normally Friday night 7 o'clock that's high school football uh but you've got that game in Maverick Stadium in an earlier kick time you've got a Thursday night matchup against Mountain Crest uh how does that kind of affect things or is it really matter to you guys well I mean early on I I declined the Utah State State game probably last three years um just because you know I love playing at home and I think the kids like playing at home um but as we've kind of you know played at a little bit bigger stadiums and you know as you get later on in the year obviously the last two games are a bigger stadium so I think it does help in that sense to play you know in a college place and just kind of get used to that atmosphere before you get up there and then after having talked to the kids they they really want to get up there and play and so we just decided hey this year we'll just get up there and play and the times doesn't matter I don't really care about the time so whenever they want us to play we'll play and we'll be good to go and then the Thursday night TV games is we love those games our program loves them kids like them student body likes them and so we're we love to play the TV games just talking about you know Utah State and playing at Utah State or playing on Utah State's field obviously r l you send Jackson Olson to Utah State I don't know if he'll play much as a true freshman and a with a lot of wide receivers and competition there but what what's it like you know sending you know a kid obviously you know there's D1 guys that that play here in region 11 all the time but you know to have one go to Utah State and represent the local team like what's that like that's great you know I think you know a couple years ago we were we were pretty disappointed a lot of the guys were disappointed that you state didn't look at any of our kids and you know kind of gave us a little bit of a sour taste to be honest with you um and I I I maybe I didn't do a good job of promoting those kids more than I probably should have but uh it was really nice for them to get get Jackson up there um and I because I think he can absolutely play up there and I think we've had some other kids that could play up there as well so I'm excited to see what he does he's got a bunch of talent I know he's going to do well out there well coach we are excited for the start of the high school football season uh you guys get it going on the road uh this Friday uh Dave Simmons Nick Zinger on the call and on 104.5 The Ranch are home for Ridgeline High School football and uh excited to see what happens uh for your team this year and uh see what happens with region 11 all right yeah thanks guys elements has delicious lunch specials soup salad and bread for just $10 is tasty and quick element's lunch menu is full of scrumptious items Wood Fired pizzas are an excellent choice that include barbecued chicken and the bees knees the fresh battered halet fish and chips with seasoned fries is always a hit and don't forget the fan favorite Chipotle Fried Chicken Sandwich Thursdays enjoy elements housemade smoke brisket casual or professional open Monday through Thursday 11:30 to 8:00 p.m. and Friday and Saturday 11:30 to 9: visit the elements restaurant.com for reservations do you have a backup generator or have you explored the options of adding one to your home gener backup generators will keep your home or business safe and cool during the summer months if the power goes out do you already have a system Golden Spike electric can service it for you if you don't have one Golden Spike electric can find the right model for your needs find them online at gators.com or call 435-2574 16 Golden Spike electric and gener power you can count on girls us guys are always trying to score some brownie points but we need all all the help we can get so dropping some subtle hints is helpful such as your favorite food is Italian you love the color green and you want the ring from jerrick's Fine Jewelry the place with the bright green cars on 9:30 North Main Street okay so it might not be so subtle but that's okay remember we need the help make it special make it jerk's now remember just tell them it's the place with the bright green cars the United States deputy sheriff's Association is a national nonprofit and the largest non-governmental provider of services to law enforcement the US DSA assists City County state and federal agencies with free safety equipment donations and officer survival training along with cash donations to families of law enforcement officers who perish in the line of duty College scholarships for the children of law enforcement a citizen awareness program and more for more information on the US DSA and how you can help visit usde deputy. org following the local teams it's the full court press with Eric Franson and Jason Walker now it's important to keep your car in tiptop shape so get your oil changed at Valene Instant Oil Change they across from Angie on Main Street in Logan easy to get in and out of it's quick clean and easy and they're open 7 days a week 695 North Main in Logan that's Valene Instant Oil Change so uh yeah fun interview there with Coach Cox with the Ridgeline riverhawks always exciting to uh have an opportunity to to have these players um and these teams compete uh in a in a setting like that at Utah State University which I thought it was interesting hearing him talk about how he resisted the opportunity to play there in the past but has felt like it's it's time to finally accept that offer and go play there uh it's one a lot of those players will never get a chance to play on a field like that uh but two it kind of helps prepare them for what they will see later that season in uh in the playoffs if if things go well for them yeah there always can be some reasons as to why you wouldn't want to play a neutral sight game kind of at a at a high school football level there are some downsides to it but you know the upsides you know players tend to love it fans usually at least like it you know they're going to have to drive a little bit further but it's a fun environment to go play fun environment to obviously watch you know last year I got called Logan game when they went and played at Utah State so that was a lot of fun so it is nice that we have something like that where you there's a university in town where and they have an event where on a regular basis you know they're rotating through you know most of the regional 11 teams giving them a chance to to play in that stadium and you know have a lot of fun doing so yeah yeah and uh we'll probably have a chance to to uh get into more detail about that event here a little bit later on as it's always fun to have the event organizers join us here in the full court press to talk about it but one thing that we need to uh also mention is the something breaking this afternoon has nothing to do with conference affiliation or conference realignment or consolid whatever want to call it nonconference realignment news there is gasp and it relates to the Utah State uh the Utah State men's basketball program actually before you talk about that and reveal who it was there's been kind of something fun going around social media today uh Ryan Leaf appeared on The Dan Patrick Show this morning yeah and he talked about college football and his thoughts and I yeah well he thinks it's just moving to a separation and it's just more accelerated now but uh he was wearing a Utah State basketball shirt which was very cool I have no clue where he would have gotten that from like what on Earth did he get a Utah State basketball shirt like who gave it to him well apparently folks were uh pinging him and and hitting him up on Twitter saying hey nice shirt and then he replied saying yeah me and Coach sprinkle go back oh really we know each other I didn't actually see that and he's always happy to represent and Coach sprinkle then retweeted that himself so kind of fun to see some Utah State basketball Love Today where does Ryan Leaf originate from well he knows coach sprinkle from Montana because did Leaf go to Stanford or he was somewhere on the west coast wasn't he he played college Washington State yeah Washington State it was so maybe around I don't know where he went to high school but has kind of weird they would know each other I know and I mean probably similar ages I think cuz coach sprink was going through uh college ball I think in the 90s Ryan Leaf you know college ball in the in the 90s they must go away back they must know each other yeah they they well clearly they do Ryan Leaf admitted as much but some Utah State basketball news a player announcing on social media today that he's committing to Utah State and he's not that far up the road yeah it's uh case why not he's uh from uh Le High School in Idaho I have no clue how to say that I'm sure that was a that was a valiant attempt it's fairly it's a six-letter word there's not too many ways to go wrong but there there's probably a couple but uh so one a high school I'd never heard of it most people probably hadn't heard of it until maybe they've uh looked up case why not he was somebody who got an offer from the aies either a few weeks or you know some ways back he's been collecting offers you know 6 foot6 Wing uh and you know playing at the 1A level and being a division one recruit he is absolutely racking up stats uh last year as a junior he averaged 35 points 14 rebounds seven assists and something like three or four blocks and steals per game you know the kind of thing that a 6 foot6 division one Prospect would do in playing against 1A competition um his team actually only only lost one game the entire year and it was actually the championship game so oh that was a bit rough they lost by two points in the title game uh but yeah the thing about why not is that he's not like this hyper athletic but he's you know decently athletic you know fairly effort fairly effortlessly able to get up to the rim uh he's got some handle but he's also heck of a shooter uh he shot six three-pointers per game made 50% of them so and and he shot I think almost 70% from the field overall last year at like almost 20 attempts per game so high volume shooting super high efficiency he's got size he's got decent speed decent athleticism he's beginning to get some attention from you know D1 schools I think UC Santa Barbara Weber State and some others were you know trying to get offers you know Idaho offered him you know he's in their backyard of course they were gonna sure they were offering him but uh yeah Utah St Landing a pretty good recruit and I mean talk about guy coming out of the middle of nowhere but guys coming out of the middle of nowhere in the you know North you know you know Montana Idaho Wyoming area some pretty good Ka guys for Utah State coming out of those regions I don't know if Case W not's GNA end up like Wayne Estus or JC Carroll but you know I think Utah State fans know not to Discount a guy because he comes out of the middle of nowhere right yeah agies have had some great success with uh with that in the past so don't discount somebody's ability just because of the smallness of the school or the rural nature of of uh his hometown yeah you watch him on high I haven't really been able to dig into any film yet I haven't gone on a deep search for Le High School film if it even exists but you know you see his highlights you you can see in the athleticism the ball handle the the skills that would allow him because that's the key is if you're 6 fo6 kid you you know you can dominate a lot of 1A levels but you so you have to have the skills you know JC Carroll gets overlooked out of Wyoming because oh he's just beating up on you know kids in the middle of Wyoming but he had the skill to be an elite division one player you can see a little bit of that with with case why not you can see a little bit of that in the numbers yeah so kind of exciting uh with the new addition to Utah State men's basketball program um let's we you may have heard a little preview of this because I hit the wrong button but we wanted to hear from more of the Utah State football players and I did catch up with Gavin Barthel did you last week and you may have heard me introduce him a minute ago let's hear more of that shall we and the new linebacker to Utah state who's coming to USU from Washington State so he kind of weighs in on that uh debacle that's going out in the Pack 12 in the school he just left too Gavin barel is another one of the transfers that's a part of a pretty good list of transfers at Utah State between junior college guys division one guys but you came from Washington State and arrived in the spring uh let's and let's start there just arriving on campus choosing to come to Utah State period actually let's begin there what made you choose Utah State as your next destination um coming from Washington State um obviously it's a small town um a lot of nice people so coming on a visit here it felt like like it was familiar you know what I mean so coming here it was like I had already been here the same like if you go to Washington State the stadium is almost the same you go to Washington State the people's the same um and I just felt the love in the room really um from coach a down to the staff everybody felt like you know they put in a lot of love into the into the sport unlike other places you know what I mean so that was a big part of it um and another big part was trying to get closer to home I'm from Florida um so coming from that Orlando flight to Salt Lake City and then having to fly to um um Washington it's one less flight less so it's only a 4our flight now so yeah so I feel like I'm closer to home so killed two birds with one stone with that so it makes a difference yeah it helps it helps so when did you when did you arrive on campus in in because I know you participated in Spring but when when did you arrive here in Logan uh January 3rd January 3rd M okay so you got the whole winter snow after snow after Snow 2 well um so there there were obviously some changes at the linebacker position guys that we thought we were going to have back but are not here anymore that provides an opportunity for you to step in to a role how do you feel like spring went for you and kind of acclimating to the USU kind of defensive structure but also just how you you could play a role in the defense for USU um I think it went pretty well um I feel like I could have displayed a little bit more ability um at my position um it's I was at will at Washington State moved to Mike here um so that was a little different being in the Box the whole a lot um but yeah I mean I think I fit in to the defense pretty well with my with the things I can do the things I specialize in um I feel like the defense is made for the linebackers to make tackles and um I feel like the opportunity here is definitely everything's open every position is open at this point so um this far I just want to come out and compete really so yeah what's your offseason been like getting ready for the fall um really just conditioning trying to get in shape U weightlifting trying to get bigger um eating right um sleeping right um shoot uh you know just trying to get my mindset ready for the season cuz this is really going to be the first time I'm really playing in a college football like season as a line record so um I want to make sure I'm ready for that you know what I mean so yeah yeah cuz uh before at Washington State you had some reps but they were more special teams opportunities on the field so I what's that difference between making that next step um from being somebody who gets some reps here and there to potentially a star or you know an impact player for a team um I just feel like it comes first from being locked in like before the season even starts um just with everything with with your weights with the way you eat um the way you take care of your body recovery is very important um I learned that by how many reps I got in this um spring so um I feel like that would be the most the biggest challenge is just being prepared for the next week after having to play a full game or something like that so yeah last question this a little more off the wall but I mean you spent time at Washington state they're in the Pack 12 there's a lot of questions about what's happening with the Pack 12 do you keep in touch with anyone back there are they are they freaking out about what's going on right now no I don't think people are too much freaking out um I think the Pack 12 is either going to become the pack 10 or something of the sort like that I know it's what three teams leaving so that puts them to pack nine so I mean they'll have to add somebody I think they're really looking into pulling teams from the mount West and maybe forging the Pack 12 with the pack 10 that way um I mean I think either that or they're just I think maybe the pack might just disperse into like the Big 10 Big 12 evenly or something like that I'm not sure but um I feel like either way it' be pretty cool to see I know you don't really get to see stuff like that often I know so I think that'd be pretty cool yeah well Gavin barel welcome to Utah stay excited to see you in an agie uniform oh I was going to ask you just uh your jersey number did you have a chance to select your number and do you have does it have any special history for you with that number um no I didn't get to select my number um I just wanted to come in and compete um a number is a big part of like I I love having a number that I want to play in but I just wanted to come in and compete um I wanted to earn my number so next year I'll probably try to get the number that I want and then so yeah okay well best of luck thank you so much and good luck this fall yes sir thank you that's Gavin Barthel linebacker from Washington State and um yeah he's already been on our list of top 25 Aggies and I was impressed with what I saw out of him in the spring and hope that he can do more of that here in the fall yeah I think he's he's going to work be competing against a couple of guys we mentioned Max Alford another guy with the top 25 there's you know MJ deisi he's like you know the guy at linebacker but few other the guys looking to contribute there you know young talented players that have bright features ahead of them here in Logan and we we'll see which one of them stand out the most this upcoming season we got a little bit off uh the clock with trying to get a few other things in might want to make sure we get some of these audio from the players in but it meant that we um probably have to abandon the stat that blew our minds just go to the player of the week that's fine if you're okay with that that was kind of boring anyway so player of the week is brought to you by McDonald's they are hiring lots of career opportunities at McDonald's they have multiple locations throughout northern Utah go check it out at McDonald's but for me my player of the week uh giving a shout out to Pablo Reyes with the Red Sox uh he had three more than three hits more than three runs multiple extra base hits a stolen base he hit a walk-off Grand Slam no other player in Major League Baseball history has ever done that uh he had himself a heck of a game just a few days ago so I was impressive when you can say no one in Major League Baseball has done that because everything in baseball has been done like at least once has a very long history like somebody throwing a no hitter after vomiting in the middle of the third inning and then eating a steak in the seventh inning and pitched I'm sure they record all that so mik player of the week uh ra salt link forward Danny musovski had two goals scored in the 69th and and 71st minute uh Ral Sal Lake were down by one goal entering the 69th minute and then two minutes later Ral Al like we're up 2 to one thanks to a pair of goals from musovski so that's impressive RSL ended up winning 3-1 in that game in the leagues cup moving on to I think the round of 16 in that competition I think they actually play tonight but I think they're back to MLS play uh this Wednesday going to play lafc and I think it's tonight maybe sometime this week I have to check the schedule they play sometime they they they play eventually and they're playing really well and I'm so excited I'm so happy they're playing really well it's made me giddy to be an RSL fan again uh once again big thanks to head coach Travis Cox for joining us here on the program uh Ridgeline high they play at bonnaville this weekend on Friday nights Dave Simmons Nick Zinger will be on the call 104.5 The Ranch also video streaming on cashal daily.com if you want to go back and listen to any of the past interviews that we've done go find them on our podcast feed or on 1069 thee. pass interviews in our segments about the top 25 agies as we've counted down all that there as well