Six point thirty seven seven hundred wlw RNL Carrier Sports Talk presented by Kelsey chevroleam Lands Kay Lets.

From my reaction at au Ineosuarez coming in a bit, your reaction to au Ando Suarez coming in a bit, Let's talk perfection right now.

Saturday, the place to be was Molet a record ten six hundred and forty fans on hand as Miami wins again.

They trailed by five with fifteen minutes to go.

They proceeded to go on a jaw dropping thirty eight to nine run to close the game.

They are twenty two and zero.

They are one of two remaining unbeatens in the country.

They're up to number twenty three this week.

And I thought, from perspective on that who better to welcome in than the legendary longtime voice of Miami basketball, member of the Miami Athletic Hall of Fame, the pride of Brookville High School.

That would be Steve Baker.

Steve, how are you?

I am surprised you don't even remember Brooksville High School?

Man, it is great to hear your voice.

Yeah, and you're perfect for this because I want to start here, just paint a picture of Saturday scene and give listeners an idea of just how much fun this ride has.

Been so far.

Oh my god, it has been amazing.

From the time the twenty fifth ranking was sounded, Mallett Hall was filled, We've had two record crowds in a row.

And this team, this team is amazing.

Lance.

I'll tell you man, I go back through almost forty years of broadcast in Miami Sports and maybe the ninety four ninety five team with Devin Davis and Kevin Beard, Jamie Mahafee, Derek cross landon Hackham was a team.

But even then you had multiple first time All Mac player Devin Davis on it, Jamie Mhafee, you had a couple of really guys that you could point to as your heroes.

This team has no heroes.

And that's what was amazing to me is there are eight nine guys, depending upon the day, that can contribute and get you a win.

And you know that's almost unheard of in basketball, especially at the G five level these days.

You always have one guy maybe two that you in point two and say those are our guys.

But this team doesn't have those guys and they play like that.

Steve, you're around obviously Travis Steele all the time.

You do the Hawk Talk Coaches show with him, give fans perspective on what's You've been around a lot of coaches.

What is it about Travis that jumps out to you?

He really cares about this team and building a program.

And I think if you talk to him and say you, hey, I'm I'm interested in building a Gonzaga in the Midwest, and you know, and you take a look at Gonzaga over the years.

Yeah, they've had some great players, but they've been teams.

And I tell you, man, you hang around Travis, You hang around these guys.

They just hang aroun all together all the time.

I can go on the road and down to the hotel in the evening and see all of these guys hanging together, just having a good time.

And to me, that is you know, that's what sports is all about, you know, enjoying what you do, loving what you do, having a passion to what you do, and then showing it on the floor with success.

Steve, you've seen what Travis has started building from day one.

You've seen the trajectory of things.

And this is probably a dumb question because nobody would have anticipated twenty two and zero.

But did you see something like this season brewing going in?

Well, I saw it at the end of last year.

I mean, you lose the MAC championship game, what by one versus Akron?

You have twenty five wins on the season, and have you know?

Then you get shut out by the NIT and those guys took it the heart.

They say, hey, let's run this back, excid for maybe a couple of players.

These guys eighty five percent of the roster from last year team back to this team.

You add some pieces, you go to the portal.

I think we had one portal player in Almar Atlinson.

And then you're freshman, and let's talk about the freshmen that have had kicked into this game.

You know, they step up.

You lose your starting point guard and I would have said, Okay, well it's been a great ride.

But no, those guys step up, and you know, they make it happen.

And that's the difference in what Travis is building.

He's building a belief, he's building a program not only in basketball, but in the university itself.

And you know, you take a look at Miami University and the success they've had in all sports, this year.

That's the foundation that each sport is building here.

And I tell you what it's working right now.

Man, Ron is Miami Royalty a legend.

How cool was it to have him back on the scene Saturday?

Oh man, I can't even begin to tell you.

My first year of even being associated with Miami Broadcast.

I was doing the studio host and scoreboards and running the board and that sort of stuff.

Was eighty four eighty five and Omar couldn't make it back to the game.

Omar Williams, the Great Omar Williams couldn't make it to a game because of a snowstorm.

I did play by play Ron and the company b Beakent State.

I did the NCAA game that year where he just posterized Len Bias and I was hooked.

And tell you what, this Saturday, in front of a sellout craft for him to receive his much, much deserved doctorate degree and then be able to talk to him at halftime of our men's game, it was a full circle moment for me in forty eight years of broadcasting to be able to talk to that man and respect that man and just you know, be a part of what legacy he brought to Miami universe.

I got chills here and you say that, we're talking with the legendary longtime voice of Miami RedHawks basketball.

Now, for those who haven't glanced at the schedule, they got a tough one on the road tomorrow night, don't they.

Oh, this is a big week.

This is absolutely a big week.

Buffalo, we took to overtime at home, got the victory.

You go to Buffalo, and then later on in the week the Max Sunbelt Challenge, you face Marshall on the road.

These are two huge road games for Miami.

I can't understate that.

Now.

You know, Marshall's a non conference game, but it still means so much to this team.

And I like where we are, Lance, I mean, this team is, you know, put together so well that different guys step up.

Atlasson hasn't had a great game at about four or five, but he's ready to break out.

And you know, I like where we are.

I think we're going to survive the week.

If we survive the week, then we move on and just keep things rolling.

I know you've heard all the talking points surrounding this team.

Do you allow yourself to worry about the wiggle room if they weren't to win the Mac tournament.

In terms of grabbing that automatic bit, you.

Know what, I respect all of the folks who you know, look Ken Palm and all the computer rankings and everything else.

I understand it.

You know.

The fact of the matter is calls were placed and trying to get schedules, and nobody responded.

It's not a matter of even going on the road.

I think this team would go on the road.

But the only way that this team could get games against the Power five we're in mtes or something like that.

And in addition to maybe taking the loss, you don't get any cash for those and so you're you're hurting your program.

And I understand that, But those rankings don't take into consideration the fact that we're a team, we don't have a superstar.

They don't take into consideration hearts, tenacity, you know, determination to win, you know.

And I understand that.

But I think even right now at twenty two wins, going undefeated, I think this team deserves at least in that large bit.

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this.

I'm so glad we could hook up tonight and get your perspective I hope I can bug you again later in the season.

Thank you for making time tonight.

Hey, Lance, Absolutely give me a call anytime.

I appreciate it.

I appreciate time on the Big One.

Sounds good.

Thanks Steve.

There you go, Steve Baker, voice of the Miami Redax.

The things he has seen, the games he has called, and the things he's now experiencing on this run unbelievable.

Up next, my thoughts on au Henio Suarez as we continue with our RNL Carrier Sports Talk presented by Kelsey Chevrolet seven hundred WLW