B1G Media Day Fit Check, Worldwide Wolverines, Cece Arico Commits | Nolan & Hobbs Ep 39

[From Crisler Center to courts around the world, they wore the maize and blue. And now they’re bringing you the game inside and out. Hail Media presents Nolan & Hobbs, the Women’s Hoop Home Court podcast, hosted by Maddie Nolan and Jordan Hobbs.

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Nolan & Hobbs podcast with me, Maddie Nolan, and my co-host Jordan Hobbs. What’s up? It’s good to be back. We’ve been a little bit busy. I’ve been traveling a lot with uh my team in Spain and we do bus rides for like eight hours once a week each way. So, didn’t realize that was part of the deal here, but here we are and I’m living through it and we’re going to play a lot of card games as a team together. So, we’re making the most of it. I cannot say I missed that part. Actually, sometimes the bus rides were fun. It was after the game when you would have to drive home and honestly like the last hour of the trip I would start feeling ill.

Like the back of the bus. Well, do you have like an actual bus or do you have like the the vans? We actually we have an actual bus which is great but like this weekend we leave tomorrow to go play Girona which is a pretty good team and it’s like a nine-hour drive. We’re estimated to get there at 9:00 p.m. tomorrow. We’re leaving at 11:30 and then we play Sunday at 7:00 and we’re driving back right after. So, we’re not going to get home until like 6:00 a.m. I am really excited. But it’s it is a real bus. So, thank God because Alyssa has been telling me they drove the other day for like seven or eight hours and they were in a minivan basically like a a sprinter van.

So, it could be worse. That’s what I did all of last year. So, I understand. I think Jordan and I have talked about it before, but they stop in Europe. They love to stop and do rest breaks. And it’s not like a a quick like go bathroom, grab snack, like get back in. It’s like Yes. They like need their smoke breaks. , 1 secondYeah. No, actually it’s like half of the time it’s a smoke break for the coaches. The other half it’s like meander, like grab a little coffee, like super chill. And sometimes it’s kind of fun, but sometimes I’d be like, “Let’s go.” Yes.

Like we stopped the other day and our like manager of the team was like, “All right, 30 minutes. Be back on the bus.” I’ve said 30 minutes. Why are we stopping for that long? Did you ever have you ever had like a little picnic? That was like our pregame meal. So, we’d stop like a couple times and then like an hour or two before we’d stop for like one of the final times and we’d have a little picnic and I actually really loved it. It was so fun. We had like we could make our own sandwich. We had all these fruits. We had nuts. We had these little bars. And I kind of miss some of the little snacks from France, but I do miss that part of it.

Yeah, going to the grocery store is like my favorite thing out here and just seeing all the different snacks that they have, but the picnics are great. They I can vouch for that. What’s your favorite Spanish snack so far? Um, that’s a tough They have this thing called fuet. It’s like f u e t and it’s basically like a really long like salami stick, but it’s like smaller than salami. So, my roommate loves it and she’s been making me try some Spanish food. They love gazpacho, which like people know in the States, but it’s basically like cold tomato soup. I haven’t tried it yet, but she was put some like stale bread, basically croutons, in there, and was eating it one day.

I was like, “This looks so unappealing. I don’t think I could eat this.” You have to try it, Jay. At some point, oh my gosh. Let me tell you one thing quickly before we go into actual basketball. The first week I was here, we went to dinner with the team and I didn’t know everyone yet. So, I was trying to, you know, fit in and like experience the culture. And in this region, they have this food that’s basically a cracker and then tuna salad, but other seafood in it , 1 secondas well. So, it’s like some lobster, whatever, and then an anchovy on top. And I’ve never had an anchovy and it kind of freaked me out, but I was like, “Yeah, let’s do it.

I’ll I’ll try it. I’m not that picky.” And I tried it. I ate the whole thing, but I was like, “No more forcing myself to swallow.” So, that was I told my team uh 3 weeks later that I didn’t really like it and I was trying to kind of not impress them, but just fit in and they laughed really hard. So, that’s so cute. to do it. I like that you have a Spanish roommate. I’m sure it’s kind of fun that she can show you like probably more of the culture than you would get with another American. So, that’s really fun. Yeah, it is. It is a very good time.

But, Maddie, should we kick off the podcast with some Worldwide Wolverines updates? I think we should. And I think I’ll start with you because Jordan was the MVP of her game yesterday, right? Yeah. Yeah. So, first of all, shout out Jay for kicking butt and then coming on the podcast. I guess it’s the afternoon for you. But Jordan had 21 points, what, like five or six rebounds, a couple of assists, and they won. And your team’s been doing really, really well, right, Jay? Yeah, we’ve only had two games so far. We lost the first one and kind of picked ourselves back up this week.

Kind of changed the play style a little and have been trying to push more in transition, which is so fun. And yesterday was our first home game and two of my friends were here. Kaylee was here. Yeah. And they got to see the game which was a blast. That’s why you were MVP cuz your friends showed up. Exactly. Whenever I have guests, I I want to play better. So I’m like, “Please, every game, can someone come visit?” No, but it’s so fun playing. And we played Girona this week, who had a EuroLeague qualifying game, so they’re really good. Iyana Martín, if you basketball nerds know, is like in the top five for the World Cup overall team.

So, she is really, really talented and we’re playing them on Sunday. So, that should be a really good game and hopefully we win. And then we start EuroCup next week and we play Leila Filia on Wednesday. Oh my gosh, we can’t I can’t wait for the updates after that game. That’ll be so fun. Givea a big hug for everyone. I will. Anyway, next Worldwide Wolverines. We got two players in Puerto Rico, Emily Kiser and Leigha Brown. This is Leah’s third season in Puerto Rico. Is that right? Oh my gosh. 20 24 25 26. Yeah. So, she’s loving it out there. But first, Emily averaging 11.9 points per game and over seven rebounds per game, three offensive, which is very impressive.

And her team is 6 and three. They play so many games a week, like three to four games, like one day in between and then playing. So, they’ve already gotten a lot of games under their belt, but she’s having a great season thus far. And then Leah averaging 13.7 points per game and over six rebounds per game and her team is three and six. While three and six might not sound great, like I said, they play so many games that it can change like that. So I wouldn’t be surprised if they move up in the rankings a little with Leah on their team. So excited to see off without Leah as well.

So I’m sure that was obviously a completely different shift from last year. Obviously them winning the championship, Leah the MVP of that and Jordan, you have a good point. Like they play so many games and that league is so strong and has so many power five college players, ex-WNBA players. Obviously, we know Emily and Leah are really high level that it honestly kind of just depends on how good your imports are doing that night half the time if they’re shots. cuz I remember when I played in there, you could have someone go off for like 40 points and and that’s kind of the game at that point, right?

Um so that that league is super fun to watch and be a part of honestly cuz it it’s just whoever’s ready to go for the most part. , 1 secondYeah. And then our last Worldwide Wolverine is Alyssa Crockett. They’ve only played one game so far. She had eight points, but they played Schio, which I don’t know if I had talked about Schio last year when I was in Italy. I might have on this podcast. You did. Um, yeah, they have like three WNBA players. They’re waiting for two more to come in, and they have multiple players who are on the Italian national team. So, they’re very good.

And Alyssa’s team lost by quite a bit, but that’s okay. My team also lost by like 40 50 to them last year. So, it’s a right of passage in Italy. Honestly, Matt to Schio, and then you just keep going. You keep you can go up only up from there really. Yeah, exactly. Alyssa’s team plays this weekend though and they also have like a nine-hour bus ride on a mini bus tomorrow morning. So, good luck to Alyssa this weekend. And good luck to Jordan next week on the mini bus. Do you at least get to fly? Do you when you play Leila’s team, do you get to fly? Yeah, when we go to like Croatia and Greece and stuff.

Yeah. Thank goodness. Yeah.

So, now we’re going to American Wolverine. No, we’re just going to go literally the WNBA. Obviously, if you guys have been following, they are in the playoffs. They’re in the semi-finals right now. And Naz and the Atlanta Dream are killing it. They swept the Mystics and now they have a 20- lead on the Liberty. The first game it was a pretty solid game, but Atlanta won by 10. The second game, Allisha Gray, who’s probably their top two, three players for sure, was out with a finger injury and the game went into overtime. It was actually such an amazing shot.

Um, Liberty set a pin down and they came off and hit a three to tie it. And then Nas, per usual, was just making big time plays throughout all of the fourth quarter in overtime and played 44 minutes. Had 12 points, eight rebounds, and five assists and was just doing Nas , 1 secondthing. She had a slip to the basket to score. during crunch time. She had another post on shot fake and then shuffle passed it to Angel Reese um which put them up by one at one point I’m pretty sure and they play again tonight at the Liberty. So the first two games were in Atlanta.

Now they’re at Liberty at the Barclays Center. Should be a really fun game. It’s interesting Jay cuz the other series is the Valkyries and the Aces and the Valkyries were the home team in the first two games as well and they are also up 2. So, what are your thoughts heading into these like I guess it’d be away games, their away games for the higher seeds. Do you think it’s going to go 2 at home or do you think one of these these higher seeds can maybe sneak one in at one of these away arenas? Yeah, I think it is going to be super hard to play away, especially like the Liberty environment is unreal.

The Barclays Center goes crazy for the Liberty. So, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Liberty pull one off, but I think I could see both teams winning the series in four games. The Aces, I mean, A’ja’s going to be feeling good. She just got her fifth MVP, which is insane. So, she’s going to have a lot of confidence, but Gabby Williams has been balling. She had 25 in the first game and 20 in game two. And the Valkyrie defense is just so solid and they’re so connected. like they’re all moving together at the same time and covering for each other. I think it’s going to be tough for the Dream and the Valkyries to sweep completely, especially at the away arena, I do think the Aces and Liberty will steal back at least one win.

But back to Naz, one thing that I love about seeing her stat and watching her in these playoffs, the first game against the Liberty, they won by like 10, 92, 82. She had zero points, but she played 37 minutes, second most minutes, and her plus minus was plus 14. Like if he came out of the game for three minutes, and they went down I don’t know what the math down four, I guess. So, it’s just so crazy to see like how impactful. And it goes to show you for if any kids are watching or anyone who plays basketball or any sport, you can make so much more impact even if you’re not on the stat sheet and getting all the points or getting all the assists and rebounds and Nas does do that a lot of games as well.

But she makes impacts on defense and getting deflections, things that don’t show up on the stat sheet. So just really cool to see that. But anyways, I do think the Aces and Liberty will steal back the game. I do too, Jay. That was a really good point about Naz. I’m looking at it here. She only took two shots in that first game and she had four rebounds, four assists, and like you said, played second most minutes on the team. And so, I love I love that you pointed that out that it doesn’t always have to be scoring isn’t always what gets you or keeps you on the court, right?

There’s a multitude of things that can get you on there. So, it was a great point.

Michigan women’s basketball news this week was Big Ten media day. And so, we want to do the first little fit checks of the season. Um, and it was there was a really funny segment where they were talking about Coach KBA’s style and obviously Jordan and I had covered that last year and they said Coach KBA picks out all of her own outfits, but Mila helps her with the shoes and Jordan did such a good job last year of highlighting the sneaker choice and coach’s extensive collection that has some really, really cool pieces. Not wearing sneakers today, but we do have some really good outfits for you guys that we’re going to talk about.

So, first we have the group shot, which is so fun. Obviously, Syla, Olivia, coach in the middle, little arms crossed. I also love this set that they did with the detailing of the Michigan flags, and then obviously all the other Big Ten teams were there, so they’d switch out the flags. But I just thought this was such a cool um like photo shoot to do. So, here’s the group photo. Obviously, you see it’s business casual. Big Ten media day is a pretty big deal. Oh my gosh, Jordan, you got to go, didn’t you? Yeah, I did. It was like one of my favorite moments of college.

I thought it was so cool to go. But yeah, you’re getting interviewed like on the Big Ten network. That’s one of the main things. And then you’re doing random questions and like all these fun interviews as well. And then sometimes you’ll sit down and do like longer storied interviews. If they have particular stories they want to talk about and if your team is better and you have bigger names that are going to that event, Big Ten Media Day, then you’re you have a lot more interviews. So I we were not booked out. Let’s just say that. Um, but I’m sure Olivia and Syla were having a very busy day.

I’m sure they had a lot of interviews and and had a lot of one-on-one things and stories that needed to be shared. So, it’s really a fun day and it feels like the season is just fast approaching when Big Ten Media Day is here. True. Okay, so group photo first, then we have Liv here with the serious look like serving with the pose. Love it. I know, Jake. Cuz they you did photo shoots. Do they have people that help you or you think Liv just like came up with this on her own? No, they have people that help you. And I actually saw a Tik Tok of the photographer doing it with Juju Watkins from USC and and he was like helping her pose.

So I think they definitely are helping. Yeah. So I mean Liv with the the matching suit, the blazer, the pants. I like the little he got a little heel going on. So she’s probably like 6’3 the other day. I love when tall women wear heels because we should be strutting that height. I love it. And the suit is just working for Liv. I love this color and pattern on the suit along with the heels. It just it’s working. And I haven’t really seen Liv in an outfit that looks like this since I’ I’ve known her. Like there’s there’s really been no need to like dress up like this to school and class.

So, um it’s it’s a 10 out of 10 for me. She did well. They used to go like shopping. I remember at the mall before Big Ten media day and like you got to pick out your outfit and it was always o fun. So I’m just like imagining them at the mall together. And now we have KBA kind of a similar fit going on. I really like the open-toed. My heels are not that tall. I’m a kitten heel girly, but I’ve been loving the open-toed kitten heels. So I like the shoe vibe for Coach. I love everything about this. Again, we don’t see Coach Arico a lot in like business casual.

We see her in like her cardigans and sweaters and they go a little bit more casual for game days. But the high-waisted pants with the semi-cropped blazer is just working. This is one of my favorite fits I’ve ever seen KBA put on, and I’m just going to stand on that. I love it. Nice, Jay. I also really like her little gold bracelet she’s got going on here. Like the little details that they went into. I thought that was really cute. Last but not least, we have Syla. I’ll like zoom in a little so we can see. But Syla kind of like mixed it. She’s obviously super business casual, but then kind of has a little edgier mix, I would say, with this tight like snakes skin shirt, which I think is very on brand for what I’ve seen from her in the past.

I don’t know her that well, but from what I’ve seen in her style, I think that really fits her well, and I think that was really cool that she incorporated that into what she’s wearing. Yes, I agree completely. I think she pulls this off very, very well. I love Syla’s style on her. If I tried to pull this off, I think I would look silly personally. She rocks it 100%. So, love this fit from Syla and the slick back pony. Yes, goes really well with the shirt. It does. It just suits her. And I love, again, I’m loving the heels by everyone. I think it’s so cute.

Yeah. Overall, Big Ten Media Day fits eight. Um, I’ve seen a couple of clips from media day. I was working so I couldn’t tune in all the way, but a lot of the broadcasters had obviously really great things to say about Michigan. And a lot of times they will ask the broadcasters questions as well. And a lot of them were asked um about Big Ten champions who could make it to the final four. And obviously Michigan’s been in those conversations a lot. Jay, they also named Juju Watkins preseason Big Ten player of the year. Obviously coming off that ACL injury last year.

What are your thoughts on that? didn’t play last season at all, but just stepping into a Big Ten player of the year automatically. Yeah, that’s not that crazy, but also at the same time kind of crazy cuz coming off an ACL is a huge injury and some players don’t really return to what they were just because there’s like a a mental block there and you’re kind of scared to do the movements that you were doing before. From some videos I’ve seen of her working out, she looks like she’s back to normal and what she was preacl. Yeah. So, if that’s the case, I think she will be uh player of the year.

I think USC is going to be an interesting team to come together because they have a lot of scorers. So, I’m curious to see how they manage all of their scorers and how Juju fits into last year’s team that’s basically coming back. But I I think if I was a broadcaster, I would also say that she would be a preseason player of the year. Yeah. I think it just shows how good she is and how respect she’s garnered over these last couple years. I think we’ve talked about Juju being Juju. She’s one of Nike’s like top players that them and obviously USC and all the other resources are going to do all that they can to get her back to where she was before.

So I’m really excited for them to be back. USC, Michigan, Iowa, obviously UCLA will be really fun to watch. I’m really excited to see Rutgers this season. Rutgers and Northwestern with their new coaching changes. So, be a really, really fun Big Ten season.

Yeah, definitely. And our last news that we have is really exciting. Cece Arico, who is Coach Arico’s daughter, has committed to Michigan, which is awesome to say the least. Yes, she’s a 5’11 shooting guard, ranked 33rd nationally and second overall in Michigan. She had offers from South Carolina, SMU. She didn’t post a lot of her offers, so those are all we really know. But really cool that she’s going to be playing for her mom, Maddie. Did you expect that or like what are your thoughts on playing for your mom? Part of me expected it, part of me didn’t, but the Rico family is very, very close.

Emma Arico’s at Michigan. Trevor’s working on the men’s side. Those are KBA’s other kids. Um, and so part of me is like that would make sense for Cece. Obviously, she grew up around the program. And just for her to be able to stay home and get to play, and Michigan being the powerhouse that it is now, it’s kind of like a why not. Cece and her mom are very close. So, I think that relationship will be really fun. Obviously having a parent as a coach, my parents coached me up until 8th grade and then they decided that they were going to stop can be really hard at points, but we’ve seen it a lot, not only collegially, but I’m pretty sure it’s happened professionally a few times as well.

The most recent Michigan one I can think of is the Howards and Jett did really well under Juwan. And so I’m hoping that Cece and Coach Arico have that same experience. And really excited to have Cece officially be on the Michigan women’s basketball team. I feel like she’s kind of just been our little sister for so long and been a part of the program. So, we’re really excited to see her in the Maize and Blue coming up.

So, exciting event coming up at the Crisler Center next Thursday, 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. It is $30, but it’s called the Elevate Her event. It’s for any women’s sports fans, but it’s going to be all the Michigan women’s sporting teams will be there. It’s an opportunity to interact with everyone, meet other sport fans, and just kind of get excited about some of the seasons already ongoing. Michigan women’s soccer is having a tremendous season. They upset Michigan State, who is number one. Um, they’re ranked 21st in the country right now. The gymnastics team is always really fun to watch.

I mean, honestly, when you go to Michigan, all the sporting teams, especially the women’s sport teams, have been historically, especially last 10 years or so, tremendous. They’ve always been in the top 25 usually making the tournaments. So, make sure you guys go out and support Crisler Center next Thursday 5:30. Tickets are $30. Doug, our producer, and his daughter will be there. So, make sure if you guys see him, you say hello. But just a really good opportunity to not only support women in sports, but Michigan women in sports. Yes. Very exciting that they are hosting a conference for this and to support women’s sports.

So, shout out Michigan for giving women a good platform to use.

Okay, before we go, we want to shout out some of our sponsors. We want to start with our girl Sherry Winrub with A2 Homegirl with eXp Realty. If you are in Ann Arbor or have a kid in Ann Arbor and want to invest in some property, hit Sherry up. Very good opportunity and just a great person to work with as well. So, shout out to Sherry Winrub. Shout out Uh, OLIPOP. Obviously, I can’t remember if I told you guys this last time, but I tried a new flavor. Black cherry vanilla. Did I tell you that? I don’t know. I was so excited. I love it. It’s my new favorite flavor of theirs.

Um, I know. Big. Like, I’ve been a OLIPOP stand for years now. So, for me to find a new flavor that’s kind of big. As always, they’re a new kind of soda and they’re actually serving OLIPOP cocktails and mocktails. Kind of fun at Knight’s. And then of course, Knight’s Steakhouse. It’s been in Ann Arbor since 1952. Jordan and I have both had the opportunity to eat there and just a great atmosphere, but obviously great food as well. And last, some merch. If you are interested in getting some Hail Media merch with Valiant Apparel, make sure to look online. If you want to rep some Hail Media and support all the podcasts under the Hail Media umbrella, make sure to get your merch.

Thank you guys for tuning in. Um, obviously when the season starts, we’ll have lots and lots and lots and updates for you guys. But before that, let us know in the comments if there’s anything else that you want us to do. We’re working on a couple interviews. Obviously, Jordan and I, like we said, we’ve both been busy. I’ve just started my job in New York. Jordan’s been traveling, but we’re really working hard to try and cover Michigan’s women’s basketball for you guys, as well as working on expanding to women’s basketball, college women’s basketball especially, as a whole.

So, if there’s anything specific you guys would like to hear us talk about, please let us know. That is all for this podcast. Thank you guys for tuning in. Hopefully, we see you next week. And as always, go blue. Go blue. If you like this kind of content, please like, share, follow, and subscribe. And as always, go blue!]