Julia Copas: Welcome to Friday Knight Lights. We’re your hosts Julia Copas,
V Overstreet: And V Overstreet. Here with the scoop on your McCallum Knights.
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V Overstreet :Welcome back to Friday Knight Lights. In this episode we’re going to take a deeper dive into boys basketball and bring in our first guest, varsity basketball star Jack Wood. In our first segment, however, we’re going to explore the lore behind the namesake of the McCallum gym. Have you ever heard someone refer to the McCallum gym as DCG, and wondered what the DC stands for? Well…
JC: The big gym was officially named Don Caldwell Gymnasium on Nov. 17, 2017, after the McCallum coaching legend. Don Caldwell worked at McCallum from 1973 to 2016, and was the head coach of the boys basketball team from 1977 to 2014. Caldwell led the Knights to the state semifinals in 1992, and was known for using the court as his classroom and using basketball to teach his students about life. He was also known for being extremely humble and kind while also keeping a competitive spirit. Current McCallum basketball coaches Daniel Fountas and Carlin Shaw both worked under Caldwell, and in 2019, after Caldwell passed away, Fuentes was quoted in a MacShieldOnline article stating, “Coach didn’t hide who he was, and I think that that’s what kids loved about him. There was an honesty when you talked to him. He was the same person off the court. He wasn’t a different guy.”
VO: It’s safe to say that there couldn’t be a better namesake for such a historic gym.
JC: We’re now going to move into our next segment, The Rundown, where we will break down recent notable sports events.
VO: Starting off with boys soccer. We are coming into this episode with a current record of one tie, one loss, and one win. Friday, we lost to Manor, 4-2. Manor’s ranked eighth in 6A. I don’t think it’s that bad of a loss, and I think the boys had the opportunity to bounce back. Their last game, Monday, they tied Akins 3-3. Honestly, Akins is a pretty good team. I’m feeling pretty confident about the rest of the season. But we just need to see how they bounce back from those games.
JC: Moving on to girls soccer. The girls are at a 5-0 start to their season, which is outstanding. From Jan. 1 to 3, they played in the College Station tournament and beat Fort Bend Kempner, 8-0, Temple 6-0 and Copperas Cove 5-0. Then from January 8th to 10th there are playing in the UT Longhorn Classic and so far they’ve beat Manor New Tech 8-0, Cornerstone Christian 6-0 and will play Katy Saint John today, as of this recording. Coming up, they will be participating in the Georgetown Lady Governors Cup and they will play Barbers Hill, who knocked them out in the regional semifinals last year. They’re going to face them Friday at 8 p.m. at Birkelbach Stadium, and I’m really excited for that match up. They’re facing this team again, who they saw last year, who knocked them out of playoffs, and I will be really curious to see how that plays out.
VO: I mean, I, I agree, I think there’s going to be a lot of revenge or sentiment about that. I mean, that ended, you know, a lot of senior seasons. And I think that they’re going to be looking to get a good get back and keep an eye out for the Mac Knight Sports Media broadcast. We will be live during the whole event. Keep an eye out for the link on the MacJournalism Instagram account.
And moving on to girls basketball, they’re currently 8-14 at the time of recording, and they opened up district play with a very dominant 63-26 win over Navarro on Dec. 19. Lost to LASA 48-39. I think that is you know, they’re a good team. They’re one of those teams that we said that they needed to look out for. So I don’t think that that’s going to be a huge issue. Another loss to Crockett 64-28, a little bit worse of loss there. But honestly, I mean, I think if they just keep doing what they’re doing, they’re going to be fine. Crockett’s a very good team. I mean, they’re, I think last time we checked, their record was better than LASA’s when we were recording. And another loss to Anderson in a heartbreaker, 34-14. You know that game, it’s a little heated given the whole Shoal Creek Showdown rivalry, but last night was a huge win over Cedar Creek, 51-19. Absolute domination. And I mean I’m hoping they carry that momentum into the next couple games.
JC: Yeah, definitely. I think the girls basketball team has a lot of potential here.
Moving into boys basketball on December 19th, they beat Buda Johnson, a 6A team 67-47 and also beat another 6A team, Manor, 41-39. Both of those wins are great considering those are 6A teams. They opened up district with a 65-34 win against Crockett on January 2nd, and then lost to Anderson, 48-46, in a heartbreaker on Tuesday. That game was electric. The environment was crazy. The student sections were going nuts. That game is always so much fun, and it was really sad that they lost by just two points. But being able to hold on like that and you know they have the potential to beat Anderson when they face them again, gives me a lot of hope. And then on Friday they beat Cedar Creek 75-44. It was an excellent offensive game. I personally think the defense could have been a little bit better. The turnovers and fouls are kind of killing us right now. I think they let Cedar Creek get way too many points from free throws. I mean, shout out to Nomar Ruvalcaba on Cedar Creek. He drew a ton of fouls. I think if they can limit that happening a little bit more, that they can really be excellent.
VO: And what stuck out to me from that game a lot was the ability to adjust. I mean, as Julia said, Nomar Ruvalcaba was really just amazing at driving into the paint and drawing those fouls. But also, if you didn’t guard him at all, he would just hit the floater for an easy two. But later in the game, you started to see them playing to his weaknesses. You saw double teams specifically on him, but you also saw a heavier paint defense than you saw in the first half. They were letting him shoot, and that wasn’t a part of his game that he was exactly comfortable with. And so you really, you start to get this like, understanding of the team’s ability to recognize and adjust and play to opposing players strengths and weaknesses that I think is going to become really beneficial for us in the future.
JC: Yeah, for sure. I mean, also shout out to Ethan Plummer. He passed the 1,000 point career mark against Cedar Creek. That was an amazing milestone and I’m so glad he got that at home.
VO: You know, just a really important and influential player on the team. A lot of guys look up to him, and we are just incredibly grateful to have such a talented player on the Knights.
JC: Yeah, for sure. And we’re now going to bring in our guest for this episode, star McCallum basketball player Jack Wood.
Okay, Jack, obviously the team looks a lot different this year than it did compared to last year. Obviously you guys lost ten guys to graduation and there are eight new players on this team. So what is the difference been like in like, team chemistry and play style and just overall?
Jack Wood: Yeah. So like what coach Shaw said in the beginning season is like we didn’t lose like talent. Like we are still very talented but we lost a lot of experience. Like Ethan is like really the only one that’s played, and Darby has too, but Ethan has like played a lot more like meaningful minutes. And Ethan started a bunch of years, like everyone else, like a lot of guys, it’s like their first time ever playing varsity minutes was this year. And just like last year, I feel like the difference was it was like we had dudes who, like, we’re returners and they were like. And losing a lot of experience is hard. But I think we’re, getting better now because of the games we’ve played so far.
VO: What have you seen? Like what are the main issues you guys have been working on in practice? Just kind of reflecting on those early losses and the hard start of the season, obviously with a really tough non-district schedule. But how have you guys adapted to that?
Jack Wood: I think we’ve, had to like, find like individually like our roles on the team and like how to blend together. And I think we really struggled on like turnovers the beginning of the year. We missed like the last year’s team. Like we were really reliant on a lot of stuff from last year, a lot of players, and we don’t have that. It’s like people had to step up and we had to adjust to that, but I think we’re getting there now.
VO: Any players that you’ve seen some specific improvement from? You know, Darby has definitely stepped up and played a big role. But I mean, I think there’s a lot of other guys too. I just want to know who you’ve been seeing improvement from, who’s putting in that extra work. You know, behind the curtains.
JW: In the junior class, Joe Alvarez has like, done a really good job stepping up. Like, obviously he’s a starter. He’s been really good this year. He was on varsity last year, but he stepped up. And, Ben Cook has been a really good shooter for us, a really good role player. And like those are two juniors. And then Ethan, last year his role was like so much different because McCoy was like the main guy, like the main scorer. This year, Ethan has like a lot of that load. Like everyone’s had to step up. I would say those three and yeah.
JC: How have Coach Fuentes and all the coaches sort of shifted their focus since the beginning of the season? Like how have you guys adapted? You know obviously before the season starts you can do as much preparation and planning as you want. But then once you actually get into the games and into the flow, you sort of see how things play out. So how have you guys adapted and overcome issues or problems that have come up?
JW: Yeah. So I think like our focus at the beginning of the year was like being a super good defensive team. And like that works against teams that aren’t too good. And like, sure our defense is good. But I think now we’re focused on like having an offense that can like compete against good teams. Against Anderson, like that was the type of game where we need really good defense and unfortunately we couldn’t win that one. But yeah, I think we’ve kind of transitioned to more of like a team that’s focused on having a good offense as well as defense.
VO: And looking ahead at the schedule. I mean, you got some pretty heavy hitters coming up, but I think you guys are pretty well prepared. Is there anyone that you think that you guys have like circled on the calendar or just think of as a big game and a big challenge for you guys?
JW: Definitely just Anderson again. I mean like no disrespect to the other teams, but like we lost to them. We want to get that back.
VO: How have you stepped into your role and like what have you been focusing on personally in practice to kind of improve your game?
JW: I’ve been trying to become like a really good defender for our team and playmaker. But, I think I learned a lot from Felix Kahlor last year. And so I’ve kind of just try to be like that. Like, not exactly, but like, he’s, he’s someone like, I feel like if I could play like that, then that would really help us win games. So yeah.
JC: This is more like a personal, fun question, but like, what is your favorite part about high school basketball? Like playing with these guys that you like, go to school with and have known for a long time.
JW: Like waking up in the morning at 7:45, like and playing basketball, you get really close with these guys. Like, I’m with them so much like my best friends are on the team. So like my favorite part is just like hanging out with them, like during practice, like having fun. Like our practices are super fun. And, you know, when we did the tournament, like, when we went to go to go get dinner or stuff like that, it’s like the best part of this whole season.
JC: And overall like, what do you feel like is sort of the goal for this season? Like obviously of course, potentially winning a district championship, going to playoffs, stuff like that. But that’s like, you know, everybody’s goals. So what do you feel like is sort of y’all’s like main focus I guess.
JW: I feel like the main goal we’ve been talking about like this whole season, the coaches have been talking about defending our district championship and getting the three-peat for the seniors. Like, that’s like the main thing just talking about district championship.
JC: Okay, we’re now going to transition into our next segment called Draft Something Ridiculous, where we’re each gonna pick our top three College Football Playoff games from this season so far. Now, V and Jack were both at the Rose Bowl, rooting for opposing teams. So I want to hear from both of you what your experience was like. And also y’all ran into each other. So V we’ll start with you.
VO: There’s not much more I can say other than that I think that’s a traumatic event in my life that I will look back on for many years. The first quarter gave me so much hope and then everything after that felt like they were beating a dead horse and I was the dead horse. There’s no other words to describe what I saw on that field other than belt, and I genuinely don’t think I’ve ever witnessed a game so horrifically terrible in my entire life.
JW: So I think that was one of the best days of my life. And so like just the whole experience, like, you know, waking up on Christmas and like under the tree, I see, like tickets to the Rose Bowl, like it’s just like, amazing, you know, Indiana football. Like, I grew up like a genuine Indiana football fan. Like, you can ask my parents, like, I’m, I was like the few. And like to see this is just so amazing. And like, I would watch when we, like in 2020 when we were like ranked eighth. I was like the happiest kid in the world. Like it was so amazing. Like just seeing, like all like the Indiana fans there. It was like, it was just, wow. It was such a good experience. And then to win the game, I was so happy.
VO: And I, I harbor no hate towards Indiana fans. I mean, you guys are so nice. After the game, none of you could stop smiling, which I don’t know was a little disheartening, but I yeah, overall I had a very great, I had a great time going to the game. Other than the game itself. It was a great trip.
JW: Yeah. I can, you know, me and V met up after the game and I can, yeah, he was very nice after game. He was good sport. I don’t know if I could have handled it that well, to be honest. I think I’d be pretty sad.
VO: All right. So, Jack, do you want to give us your top three playoff games? And I have a feeling that all of them are going to include Indiana. But I might be wrong.
JW: Yeah. So. Okay. And number one, since I like I went to the game like I have to pick the Rose Bowl because this whole experience, like going to the game, it just has to be number one. Second, I would say Indiana versus Oregon game. I unfortunately couldn’t watch all of it because I had a basketball game. So I guess I won’t pick that even though it probably would be second. But the Ole Miss versus Georgia game, I think it’s like, if you’re like an unbiased fan, it’s like the best game of the playoffs. I think that would be my next selection. I think, a really surprising game was, Miami beating Ohio State. And just like the resurgence of Miami being a real contender, it’s been surprising to me. Yeah, those are three good games
JC: Okay. Starting with my number three, I’m going to have to go with Alabama versus Oklahoma in the first round. The Alabama comeback from being down 17 points was awesome. And I mean the Crimson Tide got their lick back after losing to Oklahoma twice in the regular season. The Zabian Brown pick six was electric. Connor Talty redeemed himself for a minute. And I also just loved that Alabama beat OU in Norman. And I’m just going to say that it’s 3:01 p.m. and OU sucks. So that’s all I got to say about that. And then my number two is Miami versus Ole Miss at the Fiesta Bowl. It was really a great game of football. I will say I was rooting for Ole Miss. And I thought that the last play definitely should have been called for pass interference, but overall it had the electricity and the back and forth that you want to see in a championship bid determining game. And then for my number one, I’m going to go with Ole Miss versus Georgia at the Sugar Bowl. The game winning field goal was awesome. The safety in the last second for extra points. I mean, I love safeties. They’re like my favorite way to score in football. So I literally jumped up and cheered when that happened. And then, you know, the whole debacle with the stage being rolled out onto the field and then having to be rolled back and then being rolled out again, I mean, shout out to the stadium crew at the Sugar Bowl. Y’all deserve a bonus for whatever the hell that was. And I mean, Trinidad Chambliss did amazing in that game. And it was just overall, exactly what you want to see in a College Football Playoff game.
VO: I couldn’t agree more. Starting off with my number three, I am going to have to go Miami-Ohio State. I thought watching that game live was an amazing feat to behold. After Miami’s huge underdog story, the controversy with them getting into the playoffs over Notre Dame, it was really just nice to see them like bloom. And now they’re I mean, a national title contender. And I apologize to all of you Notre Dame fans out there, but it is becoming increasingly evident that the committee is making the right choices in these playoff games. But watching that Miami defense, the Reuben Bain just absolutely terrorizing the Ohio State offensive line was really just something to behold. And it was a great game. Number two, I’m going to have to go Ole Miss-Georgia. I do love an underdog story. And one I especially love is one that backfires on Lane Kiffin. I, you can ask my friends, family, I’ve been a vocal critic of Kiffin’s decision to leave his team, and still try and coach that game. I think that it really does not reflect the values I would like to see in a coach. And I think that, you know, he just wanted the success and the money. He wanted to have his cake and eat it too. But he couldn’t. And watching Ole Miss just stick it to the Dawgs in an absolute nail biter of a game with that Trinidad Chambliss’ last drive, absolutely executing everything flawlessly and terrorizing that Georgia defense. It was beautiful. But at my number one spot, and I feel like everyone could see this coming, Alabama-Oklahoma. the second largest comeback in College Football Playoff history, the first also being an Oklahoma loss. Now that game for me was an emotional roller coaster. I think I had a heart attack about three different times, but starting off 17-0, I had never felt lower other than when I had just gotten out of surgery and had to go witness the Alabama-Georgia SEC championship. There were few times in my life where I had had so little hope.
JW: And, third quarter, third quarter Rose Bowl maybe?
VO: Yeah. I actually don’t know. I don’t remember Alabama playing in the Rose Bowl this year, so no idea what Jack’s talking about, but the Alabama-OU watching, just watching that come back and watching the team fight and claw their way back was just so beautiful. And the Zabian Brown pick six gave me flashbacks to the third Saturday in October, where he had that amazing pick on Joey Aguilar. Just ran it back 101 yards. It was really just something to behold. One part that I did love, especially why that game means so much to me, is I got to watch it with a lot of my friends, a lot of Texas fans, and it was one of the few times in my life where I’ve seen all of them root for Alabama because of how much they hate OU. We had a no Dr. Pepper rule because Boswell was the guest picker. He is the chief on the College GameDay Dr. Pepper commercials. So there was a rule in my house that we had no Dr. Pepper. And I would like to think that helped us, because one of my friends walked in drinking a Diet Dr. Pepper, and they immediately scored after halftime, bringing it 27-24. We made him pour it out and then they didn’t score another point after that. Watching the fight from that team and just that whole game and experience as a whole was really special to me and was just really awesome to watch.
JC: Okay, I think that sums it up for all of us. As a reminder to listeners out there, the national championship game will be the Indiana Hoosiers versus the Miami Hurricanes on Monday, Jan. 19. And I think we know who in the room is rooting for who. I am going to have to go with Jack and pick Indiana as my national championship winner.
VO: I’m going to agree with her. I’m going to go for the Indiana Hoosiers. I mean, few programs have this much success in this much class. I mean, love Cignetti, love Mendoza, love their whole team. It’s just a bunch of class acts and a well-coached team all around, and they reflect what I love about football, which is that it’s not about the money, it’s not about the five stars. It’s about the teamwork, the grit and the coaching.
JW: Yeah, I think Indiana’s success is just like, just really embodies, like the new college football, like the five and four stars coming out of high school, we have like less than ten compared to like the, compared to the other teams and just the transfer portal being a huge factor and then again like Indiana is reloading. Like, while they’re winning these games by like 40 points in the College Football Playoffs, they’re reloading with transfer portal dudes to replace Mendoza. And Cignetti’s really like, changed the culture in Indiana. And I just don’t see a way they don’t win the game.
JC: So okay, now we’re going to move into our next segment, which is a new one, called Pick A Side, where we will bring up a scenario and each of us will pick what side we are on. Okay. Our first question is can the McCallum Knights win their district in boys basketball? V, we’ll start with you.
VO:I’ll be honest, I was a early season, a little bit of a skeptic. My first episode, I kind of reflected that. But seeing this team punch back against all these heavy hitters, seeing them keep it that close with Anderson in that hostile of an environment, with all that outside noise and all of that, you know, talk. I really think that this team is a lot more resilient than I thought. I think it’s a lot more resilient than anyone thought. And I think they have the opportunity to three peat, and I think they’re going to do it.
JC: I’m going to have to agree with V here. I, again, was also a little bit skeptical at the start of the season, but seeing the dominant wins over the past few games, I mean, Friday against Cedar Creek, they totally dominated offensively, even though there were mistakes. Like, I don’t know, this team is sort of feeling like the Philadelphia Eagles to me in the same way that they can make mistakes and still win. I do think that they have a serious shot at threepeating in the district championship, and I feel confident that they can do it.
JW: I mean, of course I think we can, and I think we just take it like one game at a time and we have to beat Anderson if we want to do that. I think we can.
JC: So our next question is can the girls soccer team go further in playoffs than they did last year?
VO: Now, this is one of the few teams this year that I think has, I mean, a common theme this whole year has been how are these teams reacting to losing all of these players? I mean, the girls soccer team, compared to last year, lost very few starters and gained a lot of depth from lower classes. I think that they have the opportunity to go farther, you have your key players, you know Ava Dallesandro, Maya Tackett, Ellie Wiseman, Maya Garwood, all of these players have been playing their absolute best. I think Ellie Wiseman is already at eight goals, not including preseason games. I think when we include preseason games, it gets closer to 20. That force, that offensive force, combined with how good their backline is, it is a force to be reckoned with and I think they go farther than they did last year.
JC: I’m going to have to agree again on this one. They’ve got everything. Like V said, they only lost two players last year, so the starting lineup on this team is mostly the same and they have added extra depth, which has been great to see. When you know our key players need to come out, we have good backup options and I think that they have the potential to go really far and match up against some of these intense, amazing other teams in 5A girls soccer.
JW: From viewing this team like they have something, like a chance to do something really special for McCallum, they are like insanely talented and I bet they’re having so much fun winning these games. I just hope that they don’t get a bad draw in playoffs because like last year, you know, we, in the second round, the boys basketball team played the team that made the state championship game. If you get a bad draw sometimes it’s just like unfortunate. But this team is super good and I think they can go as far as they want to. So I’m hoping for the best for them.
JC: Okay. And for our final question, the age old debate of the new number 12 versus the old number 12, who would win in 1-v-1 Jay Arnette or Seamus Dillon?
VO: Now, this is a tricky question for sure. I mean, people have been having this debate in basketball for as long as I can remember. You know, the whole Jordan played plumbers. And you know, Wilt was putting up crazy numbers against dudes who would go home to a 9 to 5. You really just wonder if the new school players are so much more advanced than the old school players. And I honestly don’t think the answer is yes. I mean, I think that in Jay Arnette’s time there was no three point line, and so this dude, I bet, had insane range and could shoot from all over the court. And he was still averaging more than 20 across his entire senior year. Seamus is a good player. All props to him, but Jay Arnette is taking this bag. I’m going to say 21-15.
JC: And I’m going to have to agree. I’m not really loving that we’re unretiring this legendary jersey number. Sorry to Seamus, but I don’t think a benchwarmer is going to beat a guy who’s in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Jay Arnette was a star player, hooping in Converse, and Seamus, I’m sorry, I’m just not really seeing the same level of play here. So I think Arnette is winning maybe 33-2, perhaps? Something like that. I don’t know.
JW: You know, Seamus Dillon is a great player. Yeah. I don’t actually know why we’re unretiring number 12. That’s kind of confusing. But, Okay so Jay Arnette, I think graduated in like the 50s and I haven’t seen any film on Jay Arnette, but I have seen film from the 50s basketball, and if you were not Wilt Chamberlain or an NBA Hall of Famer, I think that because of the evolution of basketball, most varsity players would be able to win a game.
JW: I think if Jay Arnette like, grew up in this era with his like athleticism and skills, like he’d probably be a really good player, but like, he just, the rules are not in his favor. Like Seamus would hit him like a eurostep and he would think he’s a travel, and it’s like if it’s modern refs, like the game’s played today, it’s like, I got to give it to Seamus, you know. Is that like really disrespectful to Jay Arnette? I just don’t, I think it’s more of a like a thing to like the evolution of basketball. So yeah.
VO: I mean I think that’s a great point. Seamus would probably hit him with a fade away and he would accuse him of witchcraft. So I don’t know. I think that’s real, that’s a really good point.
JC: I’m sorry guys, but I’m just going to have to completely disagree here. Like I said, Jay Arnette is in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and won an Olympic gold medal and played for the University of Texas. When Seamus Dillon does that, then we can talk.
Well, thank you, Jack, for being our first guest on season two of Friday Knight Lights. We hope the rest of the season goes well for you. And yeah, thanks for hopping on the pod.
JW: Thank you so much. I had a great time. Thanks for letting me join the podcast.
VO: It’s been a pleasure having you here. And we’re going to be rooting for you and just the whole team in general. You know, we’re going to be there covering y’all the best we can.
JW: Thank you. Go Knights.
JC: That’s all for this episode. And thank you for listening. This podcast is produced as part of multimedia content for The Shield, McCallum High School’s student newspaper. The Shield is advised by Evan Solis. Friday Knight Lights is produced by Julia Copas and V Overstreet. The music used in this episode was created by Julia Copas. To listen to more MacJournalism podcasts, click the link in the description or visit macshieldonline.com.