You guys start. Hey, hey John, just real quick. Do you have any update on Caleb? You expect he'll be able to go tomorrow? We're still waiting. He uh he can't go tomorrow. Yeah, so there's, it's not there yet. And uh I wish I had a more uh a complete answer other than he, he can't go tomorrow and he's not even able to, to practice or anything yet. So still ways away. Ok. Ok. Ok, John, after the, the last time he placed me static bacon made a statement that the AC C runs through him. Um I don't know what he meant by it, but, you know, it could be construed as a challenge to flip. Um How did he in terms of that? How do you take it? And, and what kind of motivation do you think he's gonna have individually tomorrow? Especially since this could potentially be his last game here. Well, you know, I, I don't, well, one I, I don't try to interpret any of that, you know, II I just focus on coaching our team and getting our team prepared as well as possible. And so for flip, his motivation comes from every single day, just want to be better. And I don't think this is a game where you have to motivate, you know, it's, uh, you know, played, played them, they beat us, they deserve to win. Uh, you're playing for share of an AC C championship. It's the last home game, senior night. Um, so I don't think motivation is an issue. I think it's more about focusing on what you need to control and what you need to do. He, he went one of seven from three quarters in that game. How important is it for him to make some perimeter shots? Yeah, it's always important, you know, that's something that he can do. Like he can space, he can really space our team and when you have your five that can shoot, um with everybody else on the floor, we have a really good shooting team like he had great looks, you know, if he's open, I want him to shoot, shoot those all all the time. But when he's at his best though, is attacking inside out and attacking the basket. And I think the last home game against Virginia was an example of that. And overall he's done that especially here as of late, but his passing his rebounding, I mean, he's just, he's such an important guy for us and uh I know he'll be ready to go on Saturday. Uh John, my question is not on D UN C but instead this is your second season, you're going into the Duke UN CB A. Things are looking pretty well, recruiting is falling. Can you talk about the state of the program in year two of? Well, I feel the state of our program is in an, in an amazing spot and I can say that because we have great people and great players in our program and end of the day, that's what it's all about. You gotta have the right people in a program. And uh and we do, um I was talking to a couple of guys yesterday actually and at one point, no matter what, in the transition, you still need that first group in first class to believe in you. And I was talking to Tyrese about it and he was a part of that and you know, that, that gave us a baseline for what we can do and then you follow it up with, you know, Sean Stewart and TJ Power and Jared mccain and uh Caleb Foster and these guys coming in, uh really proud of all of them. And I think it's led to us having a really good season, you know, when things weren't going well during di different periods, there was no excuses or point the finger, they just have stuck with it. So to me, it's not just about having the right people, which is the biggest thing. Uh but it's how you unpack your bags when you're here and how you want to be a part of something bigger than just yourself and we'll continue to look for guys that embody that. Uh But I feel really lucky, you know, to be surrounded by a team, staff university. Um It all is aligned with the same goals, coach, talk about Stewart in particular, his contribution as of late and his surgeon is really contributing to the team. Yeah, Sean's done a terrific job, Sean is Sean has worked so consistently. Uh He gives us a great pop. He gives us uh great competitiveness when he's on the floor. And I think it, you know, na it's natural as a freshman. You know, you can be worried about making a mistake or you can be uh just getting adjusted to the speed of certain things or the offense, whatever it may be. Uh But when he's at his best, he's just throwing himself into competing and everything else comes with that. I'm really proud of him for his uh mindset for his uh readiness. And thank God he came through in that game because we, we needed him to John, obviously top 10 matchup against a rival, but also like you said, a championship on the line. How much do you mention that with the team? What's the conversation like there? Yeah, you know, we, we've mentioned it but it's not the, the driving force for us because, you know, this season, you know, I think in the beginning of the year as a team, as a program. Uh our players, may we talk too much about what we wanna do, big picture instead of focusing on uh the process and focusing on every day. Are you getting better every day? Are you being present and being the player that you can be the teammate that you can be? And we learn if we do those things, if we prepare the right way, those goals that we want to kind of take care of themselves. And it's the same thing with this. So we've uh hardly talked about anything external. Uh not just for this game, but really the last couple of weeks, it's been all about what we need to do to get better, what we need, need to do in order to win. And uh uh like I said, I don't think this game is about motivation. Like if you need motivation for this game, you know, under the circumstances, then, you know, we have to, you know, figure out, you know, another place for you to be or, you know, this is our guys are made for this, you know, no question John with this being Jeremy senior. And I like to think back to when you were a fruit in high school. When he towards AC L you said you were one of the first people to call him. What is that relationship been like? How did it start from there and then to get to where he's he's been through so much with. Yeah, I'm just, uh, I can't tell you how proud I am of him. He's, uh, you know, II I said this the other day but I'll double down on it. I, I don't know if there's a guy, uh, in our program's history from the timing that he's been here and what he's seen that's as important with the impact that he's made you think about the transition with Coach K and myself. But then you think about, uh, you know, you go first two years, you know, the the spectrum, you know, you miss the tournament and there's the pandemic with nobody in here. But then you go to a final four, the next year, you won an AC C championship as a junior. He's played with a lot of different players, a lot of great players. Uh but seeing him grow and from the first time I ever watched him play, you know, he had, obviously, Jeremy can really score. The first time I ever watched him play was with Coach K when the back gym at Pete Jam and he hardly scored like literally, he hardly scored. He didn't make any shots, uh probably had one of his worst games in his mind. But Coach K and I loved him because we saw his competitiveness. He picked up and defended full court, his team won, he had other really good players around him that he made better. Uh You could tell, you knew, from his reputation, you knew he could shoot, you knew he could sh could score. Um And from that moment, you know, just obviously built a relationship through the recruiting process towards AC L and coach K, our staff, we just said we're not going anywhere like we're, we're here. And, uh you know, he's uh he's been a great person for Duke, you know, just uh the timing of it all and really proud of the four years that he's had. Uh John will take a trip in the way back machine and ask you about your senior day or senior night, whatever, not just the game specifically, but the whole run up to that. How much of a distraction was that? How much of, of a blessing was it? What are you telling your seniors about what to expect and how to handle that? Yeah, it's uh actually we're going out to dinner later today to spend some time with those guys and, you know, I, I doubt we'll really talk about the game much at all. I think it should be about everything else besides that. But, you know, the AC C championship, the senior night, all that stuff is on the side for us. You know, like we're not gonna get caught up in that. We're gonna celebrate it in the moment. You know, those guys deserve to be celebrated, Jeremy Spencer and then Ryan, you know, for two years being here and graduating and what he's meant to us has been incredible. Uh But then it's about what we have to do to focus on winning. Yeah, I didn't think we did that the first time we played these guys, I don't think we did that earlier in the year. We did against Wake. We just need to be better at Wake and there are some things, some lessons that we learned. Uh, but for me it's, you gotta enjoy it and celebrate it, but then you gotta move on quickly and you know, if I had to share any advice with those guys, it's way happier. I remember the result way more than the leading up and, you know, the senior night walking on the floor a lot more. No, I that's, that's, that's uh one, you know, that doesn't happen usually in this game for sure, but looking for a win, that's, that's it, John. I don't know how much of a trend two years can be, but in your two years as a head coach, seems like Duke has played their best basketball in late February and March. What's been the key, what's been a common trend in getting them to peak at the right time? Both years, you know, um I wish I could tell you exactly what I feel. It is. Um I'm happy about that like I do feel no, I am I it's you, you because you can feel it like there's no doubt like I feel we're getting better and better. I think you see it, the statistics will back it up, the analytics will back it up, but it's more about what you see and what you feel. Um And look, I've, I've learned as a player here, I've learned, you know, my professional, my short professional career that I had, you know, the only way to go about this is being really honest and having honest conversations and it's not demeaning, it's not uh anything other than that. And, you know, like our guys, I'll give you an example of Mark, like Mark is as important of a guy that we have and he's had some games, he felt he should play better. I felt he should play better. He's had a bunch of games, he's carried us. But when you have a chance just to sit down with a guy like Mark and just talk about all right, what didn't go well from your mind tells me all right, here's what I didn't think went well from my perspective and then you walk out of there and I think he's better for it. I think I'm better for it. And that's just an example. But if, if you don't have players that are willing to look in the mirror to wanna get better, uh I don't care what you do as a coach, you're not gonna be better. And so I give a lot of the credit to the core group we've had these last two years of just sticking with it, just sticking with it and putting our, putting ourselves in a position where I feel we can be right there with anybody. Hey, coach, um, I'm curious about your defensive plan in terms of RJ and Harrison Ingram. Um, and how having more front court guys, um, on, on your end is gonna change the game in terms of defending them. Well, it, they're, they're a handful. You can't just say you're gonna take away one guy or one person because they've all shown they can uh including Ryan, including Cao, like they all can go off at a given moment. And so it's one of those games, you have to be really solid, all five guys in the court, you have to guard all five players. Uh You know, we've shown we've uh the more simple it is, I think the better we are, the more instinctual we are. I want, it's aggressive, you know, we're gonna play our defense and our defense means you have to have resistance in the first game. I didn't feel we had great resistance guarding them and uh they're explosive. Obviously, they get out in transition, the they really hurt you on second shots. So it's really those details that translate to winning for me. Not just about whether are you all screen coverage or all those things, it's uh we adjust game to game with that, but it's more the mentality that I want us to have, uh to defend a great team. So I wanted to ask you about Tyrese, you said after the Virginia game, you thought he was getting back to the level last February, maybe he'd be better, sort of what you were talking about with Mark and like looking in the mirror, how, how has he been able to get back to that level in spite of the injuries and some of the inconsistencies and maybe the season not going as smoothly as he would go. Yeah, you know, Tyrese, it's been about just, um, really trust in his work. You know, I think it's, it's hard when you have those injuries, you can't work the way that you would like to. And that's really, since the day he got here, that's what separated him and he's gone back to being able to do that the last month or so. And, you know, Tyrese is, uh, he can do so many things on the court also, Brennan, you know, like he can, he can drive, he can play, make, he can, but he can really shoot and sometimes those other things can get in the way of one thing you can do at the highest level. And, you know, the other thing is for him, like he's second half of last year as good of a competitor as we have bottom line and he's thrown himself into competing, defending, uh, shooting open shots and then really being, being aggressive on offense, which doesn't mean to score all the time, which means getting downhill and creating for others. And I think he's found a recipe that works for him and that's it. And when he's open, we want him to shoot it because there may not be a better shooter, period. Um And then his defense has been a separator, like when he's, you know, we've had uh some really good perimeter defenders, but he's as good as we've had and he's been doing that at a high level, John, is there a feeling of gratitude that this rivalry is, you know, regular season finale, you know, two top teams in the AC C, you guys have been to two top teams all season long and it's coming down to an AC C championship. Is it, what is the feeling that this rivalry is just at that peak right now where it's supposed to be? And this is where it should be every year, especially within this conference? Well, I grateful. Yes. You know, you are grateful when you're in a position where you're playing games that matter in March. You know, that's what you wanna do. And I told our team we've earned that, you know, we've earned that opportunity and it's a matter of now, what do you do with the opportunity that you've earned? And, you know, look, you've heard me say this before. I have a ton of respect for Carolina and what they've done and who, what their program is all about. And for us we've just done a good job, especially here as of late, just focusing on what you, what you need to control. And, you know, in this game, you know, it needs to be played at a, you need to be a high level competitor in this game. It has to, that's why these games have been so memorable through the years and I didn't feel we lived up to that in the first game. And that's something for this group that wasn't the only time we've had a meeting or talked about a moment where uh we didn't play the level that we would want or I would want. And these guys have responded. And so for me, that's what it's all about on Saturday is to respond from a competitive level. And uh obviously, you, uh you know, good things will happen if you do that piggybacking on J B's question. Um The AC C is expanding to the west Coast next year, the AC C tournament will have all the teams. So the league is changing, it's gonna be different. Is it kind of fitting that it's Carolina versus Duke for the AC C championship, the last one, you know, as we know it maybe, I mean, it's as long as it's fitting that we're in there, you know, that's, that's the main thing. Uh But, you know, like, obviously they've, uh I've never rooted so hard nonconference for every team in our league. You know, you, uh, it's, it's an interesting time. You, you guys don't need me to tell you that. But, uh, the fact that they've done well and we've done well, it's, it's why the, this game is as significant as, as it is. And, uh, I don't know what to expect them for, but I know the AC C, I want us to keep doing this at a high level to help each other. And I think we can, I think it's close but, uh, something's not translating and I'm not gonna go into a whole, you know, who should be in the tournament and who shouldn't and records and all that. Do, I think we should have more than what it said. Yes. But still we have to do our jobs and, um, so that's really all I have to say about that. Ok, thank you.