Defend the Block 405 - Olivia Olson, Kyle Church Transcript
10/6/2026 4:00:00 AM | MGoBlue Podcasts
Brian Boesch • 00:00
Fired up to share two great conversations with you this week. Olivia Olson blossoming into one of the best players in college basketball. She stops by from the women's program. Then assistant coach and general manager Kyle Church on the men's side discusses his decision to remain in Ann Arbor, then talks about the team's off season workouts and the creation of the non conference schedule, something that he captains. Before we get to those conversations, just a heads up. As we now are into the month of October, we're approaching the end of our off season coverage pivoting to our in season post game episode setup. We're planning to continue Tuesday episodes through this month along with the episodes after Michigan men's basketball's three exhibitions. They'll probably be a little bit shorter, but still feature reaction from the locker room from the national champ now as a broadcaster and as a player, Terry Mills, and some of my thoughts too.
Brian Boesch • 00:50
Then once we get into November, it is on with the post game episodes. Planning some similar YouTube streams with the exact format still to be determined, but a great chance to break down Michigan wins here for Michigan assistants. Excited to bring those to you once November rolls around. Per usual, this is the place to be for wire-to-wire, year-long coverage of the Wolverines. And the off season was so quick we didn't even get to all the conversations I wanted to Ricky Liburd. He was supposed to be on, but we recorded something just a few days before Dusty May left. A lot that we discussed wasn't quite as relevant. Elliot Cadeau and Trey McKenney. They'll be all over the media circuit. We'll have plenty of them once we get into the in game or in season post game episodes. And we still have a few more long form conversations to have here this month.
Brian Boesch • 01:37
I guess those are national championship problems. Good ones to have. So let's get into our October slate. Liv Olson first, then Kyle Church. Great episode for you right here on Defend the Block.
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Jeff Laurence • 01:51
We're talking Michigan basketball. Welcome to Defend the Block where we'll take you inside the basketball programs with interviews, analysis and so much more. Now here's your host, Brian Boesch.
Brian Boesch • 02:04
Always a joy to have. Liv Olson from the Michigan Women's Basketball program here on Defend the Block. And Liv, let's just start with how your offseason is going and what it's like to be as close to the season as you and this team are.
Olivia Olson • 02:17
Yeah, the off season was great. It was a great couple months to recover and just keep working hard on things that we needed to get better at. But we did a lot of team bonding this summer, and we're just super excited for the actual games to start.
Brian Boesch • 02:31
What was the best team bonding exercise event of. Of the off season?
Olivia Olson • 02:36
We went to Macy's cabin in Muskegon, so that was really fun. We always have a fun time on the boat there. It was over the Fourth of July, so it was a. It was a fun time. We like to fish, too.
Brian Boesch • 02:47
Okay.
Olivia Olson • 02:48
So our whole team goes fishing. We caught a lot of big fish there, but we go kind of every weekend here, too.
Brian Boesch • 02:53
Who's the best fisher on the team?
Olivia Olson • 02:56
I wouldn't say there's the best, but the most consistent are Sila Tay and I.
Brian Boesch • 03:02
Okay. All right. Does that. You think that carries over on the basketball floor? If you're consistent as a fisher, you could.
Olivia Olson • 03:07
I don't know.
Brian Boesch • 03:08
That's. That's maybe.
Olivia Olson • 03:09
Maybe a little, but I think we just like to do fishing, so that's why we.
Brian Boesch • 03:14
More experience, more reps. Okay, I get it. You might be the hardest working player on the hardest working team in America. Where has that come from? How have you developed that? Because I. I see you over here all the time, and. And that's, I think, the first thing that. That Coach Arico and many members of the staff say about you. And, and you're a great player on the court. They rave about your work ethic off the court.
Olivia Olson • 03:36
Yeah, I just. I want to be great and so. And I want our team to be great. So just doing all I can to accomplish that. And I think it's just from, like, my family of always working hard and pushing to be the best.
Brian Boesch • 03:51
How have you evolved in handling off seasons, like your off season, maybe going into junior year of high school? How much more work, how different are you on handling things now, going in your junior year in college?
Olivia Olson • 04:03
I've had to learn to, like, take a break. I've. I've dealt with some injuries in the off season the past couple years, so just learning through film and other things when I was at home, but like, when I got back here, I was able to do all my training and conditioning and stuff, but kind of learning that my body, as I get older, it. It needs also. It needs breaks.
Brian Boesch • 04:24
Sure. Along those lines, how much have you learned about your game? About the game, with watching film, with being able to apply things that you see as you're not actually on the floor a lot.
Olivia Olson • 04:38
It's. It's kind of slowing down once you look at it on film and you're able to just see things that you can improve on really translates like the reps on the film, it kind of is the same as what you're practicing reps on the court of, like, okay, I just saw myself not hit the roller in that three times, but now when I get on the court, I know when to hit it. So stuff like that.
Brian Boesch • 05:01
Take me through the motivation for you and for the team, because this is, I think, the best this program has ever been. You guys got to the Elite Eight, but you're on the doorstep of what could be a breakthrough in being on the biggest stage. How much does last season motivate you in this group?
Olivia Olson • 05:17
It motivates us a lot. That Texas loss. It really. We're reminded by it every day. We're reminded. Coach reminds us every day like we remind each other, and it didn't feel good. And so we wanted to use that as motivation to propel us in this off season to get better at things that we didn't do well in that game. So we've watched film a lot on that game, and we just want to push through that and make it to the Final Four. That's. That's our goal. And so we're pushing each other every day to be able to accomplish that.
Brian Boesch • 05:45
Where have you grown the most since that Elite Eight game?
Olivia Olson • 05:48
I think just overall, honestly, like, every little part of my game, I think I've gotten a little bit better at. I wouldn't say there's one specific area, but I'm continuing to try and improve on using my voice and being a vocal leader as well as leader by example.
Brian Boesch • 06:02
You mentioned some of the small injuries you've had to deal with over off seasons. Of course, Silo's gone here and there with international competition. Another bit of adversity you guys are having to deal with right now is the injury to Mila Holloway. How has that adapted and adjusted practice? And who do you think has kind of emerged in a spot where obviously there's a lot of responsibility currently not being filled by Mila, who does so much for this team.
Olivia Olson • 06:26
Yeah, I think it's really hard for us and anyone to step up into Mila's spot. Like, we miss her every day in practice and her leadership and how good she is on the court. But I think Dallas has done a really good job of stepping in and playing point guard. And then I think just throughout the summer, like when Syla's gone or when I wasn't practicing, kind of everyone like Kendall, Tay, Court, everyone's kind of just stepping in and being forced to be in uncomfortable situations that they wouldn't be necessarily in if we were playing all summer. So it gives them an option to show what they're capable of. And I think they've all done. The whole team's done a great job at gaining confidence, and we're going to need. We have so much depth this year, and so we're going to need all of it.
Brian Boesch • 07:11
Syla, where have you seen her take the biggest drives from last year to now?
Olivia Olson • 07:16
I would say she always continues to improve vocal as a vocal leader. She just. She's great at that. She's a great example for everybody. And I would say she can just make insane shots. We've seen that throughout her whole career. But in practice, she's consistently like, it doesn't even feel like her feet hit the ground and the shot's already up. Like, it's crazy. She'll come off a stagger or a flare, and it literally. The ball touches her hand for one second and, like, probably zero point three seconds and then goes in like, it's. It's crazy. And I think that that is gonna really show out this year. And just her hard work and improvement, which it's really hard to improve from what she's already done, but she's a great player, so we're looking forward to it.
Brian Boesch • 07:58
We've seen the shots in games. Is there a practice shot that kind of lives in regard in the program? Like, has she hit some sort of like, half quarter in a drill? Like, is there one silo shot that you remember vividly from practice over the last few years?
Olivia Olson • 08:13
I don't think so, because it happens all the time. Like, we're always put in situations where it's like one minute left in the game, we're down two, and we have to try and get it. So it's kind of like, I mean, we know if we need a three pointer, like, we're going to her at the end of the game. Like, it's just. It happens all the time.
Brian Boesch • 08:30
You mentioned vocal leadership. Where have you grown in that regard? I remember talking about that last year, and obviously that's going to continue. Some big leadership voids from those who departed last year. How have you tried to make up for that?
Olivia Olson • 08:42
I think just trying to help the younger kids and, like, tell them the drills and be vocal during the drills of what I know. I already know what's going to happen and what we have to do during the drill. So just helping the younger kids and even the returners just on what to do and also just kind of like being a positive reinforcement on the Court helping someone if they miss a couple shots, like, you know, we're going to go back to you. We're going to like you're going to make this next one. So kind of just trying to do a little bit of everything but mostly be positive and try and help the
Brian Boesch • 09:12
younger kids obviously much since you guys got here. You, Syla, Mila, immediate, big roles, huge production. It was a little slower for Te'Yala Delfosse, but her impact last year seemed to make a huge difference. How did did her emergence help you and the rest of the team? Because boy, it just seemed like she had such a great season last year.
Olivia Olson • 09:34
She has an unbelievable skill set. Like sometimes it's overlooked by some of us on the team, by the outside, not us on, not us on the team. We know what she's capable of, but I think this off season she's really gained confidence and like more unbelievable skills that she's one of the top players in the country, no doubt. And I think she's going to show that this year and we're going to look to her for a lot of our. She's capable of scoring, rebounding, all the above.
Brian Boesch • 10:03
We're with Liv Olson here on Defend the Block. It would be easy for Macy Brown to sulk and be disappointed and let it affect her personality wise, mental, all that stuff. Yet it seems like she's been a bright light despite the injury late last season. What kind of impact does that have on you and the rest of the group when you have someone who could be, I don't want to say a net negative but like not a positive and she's not allowing that to impact her in that way.
Olivia Olson • 10:32
Yeah, she's one of the most positive people I've ever met and it really affects our team hearing her voice on the sideline and positive reinforcement if we're, we're not having a great day or she's over there saying all the drills as well and so she just, she's never complaining but also like I've been there also through the hard times with her. So seeing her overcome those obstacles and overcome the hard days like she was just jumping, doing jump shots and so I think trying to just remind her that the little wins are important and she's going to be back in no time. But it's very impressive how positive she's been through it all.
Brian Boesch • 11:08
So fans know your name. Syla, Mila, Te'Yala, Kendall Dudley, Ashley Sofilkanich. A great core is still here among players who maybe the outside fans don't know as well. You alluded to Dallas being one of the incoming transfers, but who has stood out to you? Who is ripe for a breakout that maybe Michigan fans even aren't quite familiar with yet?
Olivia Olson • 11:28
I would say Dallas and Courtney, their court had a great season last year at Stanford and she's coming in, she's a great shooter. She can kind of do everything. She's been really showing out on, on rebounding too. So I think we're going to see a lot from her. And Dallas is, she just has a great IQ of the game and she's already played pro in Australia so she kind of knows how to come into a system and she's been doing great at reading the game. So those two, I think, I know
Brian Boesch • 11:57
you're a pretty process based person one day at a time. But from a game that counts, the next game is UConn at home. How much does that motivate, spark you to maybe work a little bit more, to focus a little bit more Because I mean that your first game is a massive showcase game inside Crisler Center.
Olivia Olson • 12:18
Yeah, we're excited. We, we can't wait. We're still taking it as kind of just a regular game. Like we're going to do the same mentality of we're not going to look at the opposing team and kind of be scared or whatever.
Olivia Olson • 12:31
We're going to focus and do what we need and prepare for our team to be successful. And so I think we're just really excited to compete with them and hopefully a lot of fans will show out so we have a good home court advantage.
Brian Boesch • 12:43
Indeed. M GO blue dot com tickets gotta get there. I'll let you go with this. You alluded to the Final Four. I sense being around that, that is, it's obviously the goal. It's the goal every year. It, it feels like an expectation this year maybe more so than in the past. Is that fair? I mean do you feel like, hey, if we do what we need to do, that should be the result if we get the right type of just the baseline basketball bounces that we should get.
Olivia Olson • 13:09
Yeah, it's the expectation like going into practice every day. We need to be consistent and coach reminds us every day that we need to also show up this year and play. We can't remember last year. We kind of need to forget about that and we have another season to prove ourselves and to reach those goals and get to the NCAA Tournament and host and all of that stuff. Like we have to show up and play. Conference play will be hard. And so coming in just. Yeah, forgetting about last year and pushing through. But I think like this team's different and our energy and pace in practice so far has been different. So I'm excited to keep improving.
Brian Boesch • 13:45
I appreciate you carving out a little more than ten minutes. I know it's a busy schedule, so thanks for doing it, Liv, and continued success.
Olivia Olson • 13:51
Thanks for having me.
Brian Boesch • 13:53
Thanks to Liv Olson for her time. Before Kyle Church stops by this field hockey season, Michigan Athletics and Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan are teaming up once again in the fight to end hunger. And on Friday, October thirtieth, join Michigan Field hockey five o'. Clock. They take on Ohio State. And fans attending the game are encouraged to bring non perishable food items to be donated to local Ann Arbor food banks. To learn more about how Farm Bureau Insurance of Michigan is working to end hunger in Michigan, visit mich fb dot com that's M I C H F B dot com. Always a pleasure to have our good friend Kyle Church, Michigan men's basketball assistant coach, general manager. Man, it's October. We've got the sounds of basketball. The women are currently practicing at the PDC right behind us as we talk. How you doing my friend? What's going on?
Kyle Church • 14:48
Doing well. It's here.
Brian Boesch • 14:49
Let's just start with what has been a wild summer for you, for the program. How would you characterize all that has gone into what was obviously the highest of high you can have and into some unique challenges and opportunities for the program.
Kyle Church • 15:03
Yeah, absolutely. Wild. Unique are both great adjectives for the summer. There was a lot of, a lot of change, a lot of uncertainty, a lot of moving parts. But in the end, you know, it ended up being a great summer. We had a, a lot of transition but you know, really excited about the new staff members, really excited about the new players. You know, it's, it feels like we're, we finally hit a, somewhat of a norm here where we're practicing every day. The guys are great to be around. Obviously there is some roster fluctuation which we'll probably get into, but we, you know, we're, we're excited about the upcoming year and obviously getting to celebrate last year and all that came with it. You know, a couple of weeks ago with all the guys coming back was awesome and now it's feels like it's time to turn the page.
Brian Boesch • 15:53
So I do want to backtrack briefly to something that, that transpired obviously with Dusty. You know, the fact that you have been on the same staff as Dusty since you were the dobo at Louisiana Tech two thousand fifteen ish. Somewhere in there. So I think there was a lot of natural thought of oh well, if Dusty's going to the NBA, maybe Kyle will follow. Take fans through your decision making process and why you are still currently wearing maize right now and not the Dallas Mavericks blue.
Kyle Church • 16:21
Yeah, I mean it's, it's a, it's a great honor to be here and I've, my wife and I have loved the last two years we've had in Ann Arbor and obviously had a couple special seasons and you know, certainly talked to Dusty several times about you know, possibilities and you know, what it would look like and you know, I just, if I was gonna leave it would be something super, super special and I just, just, I just felt like everything we had building here, everything we had going here and I was extremely happy and obviously wish him and Coach Williamson that left with him and Morez Johnson obviously got drafted by him, nothing but the best. But you know, at the end of the day he and I just felt like this was probably the best bet, best spot for me in my future. And then you know, certainly with this team going forward this year, so excited to still be here. Feel like, you know, obviously last year was unbelievable and hope to build off of.
Brian Boesch • 17:17
Tell us about the, the new complexion of the staff. You, Akeem returners obviously taking on more responsibilities. But, but you have been an assistant coach for a while in college basketball as has Keem KT Harrell getting the bump from DOBO to assistant and then adding a couple of really, really solid, great resume and great dude type of of assistants and Coach Martin and Coach Murphy. How has that acclimation process gone and how have you seen Mike Boynton junior Lead it?
Kyle Church • 17:45
Sure, I think you, you hit the nail on the head with a great dude to, to start we brought in a bunch of great people and you know, that's what we certainly did under Coach May and you know, something that we'll continue to do under Coach Boynton. And we, we got a bunch of guys that just want to help our players be the best they can be and that, that's all they're focused on, that's one hundred percent of our focus, is how each one of those guys can be the best version of themselves and you know, not worried about anything else but making that happen. And when, when you got a bunch of guys that are, that are talented and smart and all pulling in the same direction, then you know, usually good things are going to happen and they've been welcome additions with new ideas too, you know, you know, coming from, you know, Coach Martin, you know, twelve, thirteen years as a head coach in Ivy League, and Coach Murphy, you know, three, four years as a head coach in the D League and G League, and just different backgrounds and different ideas, which is good.
Kyle Church • 18:41
You know, after, you know, we obviously had a great staff the last couple years, but to. To change it up and. And get some new ideas and some fresh thoughts is usually a really good thing.
Brian Boesch • 18:50
And then the roster stays, for the most part, intact. Only loss was LJ Cason, and it was so cool to see him still being able to come back and celebrate the national championship, get his rings, all of that. But what do you think was the key to success in. In keeping most of the guys here? Because, you know, these days in college basketball, if there's any sort of change, let alone a head coaching change, that there tends to be at least the potential of some. Some real roster turnover.
Kyle Church • 19:16
Yeah, absolutely. There's the biggest reason ninety nine, ninety five percent of this roster stayed together was the players themselves and the leadership. I'll start with, you know, Trey and Elliot. You know, those guys being adamant early that they wanted to. They wanted to still be here, that they believed in Coach Boynton. I think their reassurance helped the new guys. And then once everybody kind of got on board, I think it was a, you know, kind of a domino effect where everybody was like, look, we still. We still have the pieces in the locker room to do something really special. We still have a great group of head coaches that are. That are here for us. And, you know, why leave? Just, there's so many great things here. And, you know, it was. It was really cool that it was stressful, but it was. It was really cool to see everybody come back and, you know, be in a position that we're in to have another great year.
Brian Boesch • 20:13
I remember talking to you, thinking back to the FAU days before you came to Michigan. Did your phone ever almost overheat in those few days afterward? Were you charging it a lot?
Kyle Church • 20:23
Yeah, yeah. Needed the portable charger. Definitely came in handy there in July with the portal with us sitting, the only portal that was open, so.
Brian Boesch • 20:33
Yeah, that's right.
Kyle Church • 20:34
But it was. You know, the guys were great from. From day one. They were. Like I said, they. Obviously some of them had to go through different processes and different people to talk to, but they were. They were pretty adamant that they thought this group was special and they like being here and they like the coaching staff. And once they. They saw the majority of the coaches were staying and all the pieces that make this place so Special are still intact that, you know, we, we feel like we can keep it rolling.
Brian Boesch • 21:00
You mentioned some unique setups with the roster. Roddy Gayle junior And Kenny Noland are on the roster. We don't know how all of this, this is above both of our pay grades when it comes to some of the court systems and lawsuits and NCAA and all of that. I'm just curious how you've seen those two guys handle genuine uncertainty about their potential to be a part of this team, to play in college basketball. Because it, it just seems more fragile than anything realistically could be for any sort of player that has had to deal with this.
Kyle Church • 21:32
It's, they've been incredible, absolutely incredible. And I know you've been to a number of practices and been around them a lot. They're, I mean, two absolutely top notch human beings to start off with and two really good basketball players. But the way they've handled it's almost really been inspiring. You know, they, they don't let it affect them. I'm sure they think about it a ton. I'm sure. You know, the, the uncertainty's got to be difficult, you know, knowing that they're passing up on sure fire opportunities for, for this incredible opportunity and, but they show up every day ready to work, want to be great teammates. And you, if you came to practice, if you're around our team, you'd have absolutely no idea there's this, this uncertainty looming over them. And I think that's just credit credits to both of them and their character.
Brian Boesch • 22:19
Kyle Church with us, Michigan assistant on the men's side here on Defend the Block. All right, let's talk schedule. We do this every year with you. It's a unique puzzle to put together. First off, how much was in place when Dusty decided to leave? And, and did you still largely captain the ship from there or did anyone else kind of lend a hand other than Coach, Coach Boynton, obviously in, in getting this from where it was to, to where it needed to be incomplete?
Kyle Church • 22:45
Yeah, I would, I would say it was ninety five percent. The outline was there now the, you know, the ink had to dry and some T's had to be crossed and I's had to be dotted and a bunch of lawyers had to look at a bunch of different pages of contractual text. But yeah, we, we had, the outline was there and you know, there was one or two final decisions to make once Coach Boyden officially took over. And, and it happened pretty swiftly.
Brian Boesch • 23:14
Yeah. Let's talk about the exhibition slate now. Three opportunities don't have to do three Open exhibitions. But Michigan will. Eastern Michigan, hard to believe, coming up here on october eleventh. And then Oregon State five days later. Houston, really cool setup in Grand Rapids coming up toward the end of the month. So why was it important to play three and what does this allow you in the program to accomplish before the regular season?
Kyle Church • 23:39
Yeah, so that was an NCAA rule change this summer. You got to go from two close scrimmage and or exhibitions to three. Which I, I thought was a great and very logical change. As you know, we have a six week long preseason and so on. Only two games within a six week period is, is not very much and so add the third one, I thought it's a no brainer. We obviously want to take advantage of it. We thought it would be in our best interest to play with the uniforms on in front of a crowd. You know, you can obviously do these things as close scrimmages, you can meet in a neutral site. You have all sorts of options. But we thought it was important to have, have the jerseys on, have our crowd here, get a real game like environment as best we could, especially given how many young guys we have.
Brian Boesch • 24:28
I just don't know how you pulled off that, that high maintenance first year coach up in Corvallis. I'm not sure how you pulled off getting in touch with it. No, it'll be great. It'll be great to see Justin Joyner. He seems to be doing a great job out there. Then the regular season, of course, an opportunity again against Greg Kampe and the Golden Grizzlies of Oakland to open the season. I want to talk about the UConn rematch of the National Championship game up in Boston the first Friday of the season, november sixth. How'd that come to be?
Kyle Church • 24:56
Yeah, that was brought to us by the Basketball hall of Fame. They, they host a game, a series of games in, in the Boston area. And I was actually in Boston on a recruiting trip to see Quinn Costello during that game last year. It was AJ Dybantsa, I believe they were playing UConn, were in the Garden and I was actually in Boston that night and there was such a buzz and excitement around it and fast forward a month or two and we had the opportunity, you know, they said they wanted to host us for that game and I was like, man, that was a big deal. It felt like you could just. The city was excited and it was a good vibe around the, the area and, and obviously it's a short flight and we love to hit the Northeast when we can and, and so we, we kind of sat on it we talked about the whole year and you know, obviously UConn unbelievable program. Something we were extremely excited about.
Kyle Church • 25:52
And, and I think we had probably verbally agreed to it come March and then, you know, once we got to play UConn the championship, it was obviously a no brainer to, to for both programs, you know, to be able to run it back and have such a, a big stage early in the season.
Brian Boesch • 26:07
Well, the players era was always going to be at least a two year deal when it was when Michigan joined last year after how things went last year, I, I think that was. Would have been an easy decision if it were an option to decide, yes, we're going to go back for that unique this year a little bit later. The, the team will play on Thanksgiving Day. There's an off day in there and also the uniqueness of a championship game on Saturday, which opens up a potential maybe game against Mississippi Valley State shortly thereafter. How, how did that all get set up? And is there anything significantly different to what year two of Michigan in the players era looks like then? Obviously year one. Hopefully same margin.
Kyle Church • 26:46
Hopefully it looks exactly the same.
Brian Boesch • 26:48
If we can.
Kyle Church • 26:50
Exactly. Yeah, that was fun. That was a really fun week. No, we're, we're excited to be back. It was, it was a great event. I know it, you know, different media outlets probably covered it differently as far as, you know, what they thought of the event and, and how it was ran, but from, from the team standpoint, even outside of how great we played, it was, it was a great event. It was almost like being at a final Four where you got to see a bunch of coaching buddies and you got to see, see a bunch of high level games and you know, just all day. Almost like watching NCAA tournament a little bit where you got games starting at noon and running till midnight and just, just really good teams, really good players. So fun event. We're excited to be back in it. A little bit of a scheduling quirk. Definitely have never been involved in something like this, a game that may or may not happen, but they, they wanted to add a fourth game which was for a, a true champion.
Kyle Church • 27:48
I know they called a little bit of flack last year with their, with their, with their point differential system.
Brian Boesch • 27:54
Well, it was a real, it was a real nail biter.
Kyle Church • 27:56
We took, we took advantage of it. But yeah, this year any, any win will do. I guess we don't have to. But yeah, if we make the championship, then we'll play a fourth game out in Vegas. If we lose one of the first three games, there will not be a fourth game in Vegas and we'll, we'll come home and play Mississippi Valley.
Brian Boesch • 28:16
Yeah, very interesting. Lastly, the one that kind of drew some headlines was the game at Little Caesars arena in Detroit with Louisville. It didn't seem like that was going to necessarily be guaranteed to happen without the, the Duke game following through or, sorry, falling through. So how did all of that come to be where the Duke game was announced for? Down first at MSG, then Miami. It goes away. Louisville added to the schedule for a neutral one in Michigan. One to be determined. Take me through that. From a Kyle Church standpoint. I think maybe that's where the lawyers.
Kyle Church • 28:50
Yeah, I think we could do a podcast series on the, the. The turns that, that don't tempt me with a good time, man. I don't know if you have enough memory on this thing, but yeah, we, we obviously we wanted to play Duke. I think there's no secret there. Duke wanted to play us. Both sides did everything they could to make it happen there. There was a couple legal hurdles that kept it from happening, unfortunately, and networks at the end of the day, rude the day there. And you know, it's unfortunate it wasn't able to happen. And I hate. I've even heard stories of people buying plane tickets and hotels and New York and Miami. That's the one bad part about these things getting reported on before they're one hundred percent done. You know, there was, you know, we, we thought it was going to get done. They thought it was going to get done. Everyone did. And then several things happened that took twists and turns and I think coach may end up taking that Mavs job and that was kind of the nail in the coffin of, you know, trying to, trying to resurrect that thing.
Kyle Church • 29:57
But we ended up pivoting very quickly to the, to the Louisville game in Detroit and, you know, couldn't be more excited. Obviously it's a. Saves us a plane flight and it's always great to get over to LCA playing an NBA arena and play a big time, big time opponent. Louisville should be fantastic. Great coaches, great players.
Brian Boesch • 30:19
So all in all, as you look at a program that came off going nineteen and one in the Big Ten, winning the league by four games. Obviously what you guys created last year, scheduling wise, leading into conference play, worked well. How does this schedule stack up? Do you feel as confident that this schedule can have a similar impact?
Kyle Church • 30:39
Yeah, very similar. I think, I think at the end of the day, we did have the number one schedule in the country when, when it was all said and done and I was. And to have that sort of record with that schedule is unbelievable. Is added to the many accolades of last year's team. But it's, it's very much on par. I mean very, very. A couple of the exact same opponents, a couple of big, big time neutral games. Obviously the big MTE Thanksgiving week at Players error. And I think it's definitely a schedule that's going to prepare us for the, the rigors of the Big Ten and at the end of the day that's what we want to do.
Brian Boesch • 31:14
Lastly, before I let you go, it's, it's early into the full practice. We'll see what happens starting with the Eastern Michigan exhibition game on what this team looks like against teams other than themselves. But any player or players who have really caught your eye, maybe taken a step a little earlier than you anticipated as you've gotten this team onboarded as much as you can to this point for what, what twenty six, twenty seven entails.
Kyle Church • 31:40
Yeah, we were able to get an early start this summer, you know, with the, with the foreign tour and so we got three games under our belt. The young guys got to play a ton. Unfortunately with some of the injury and foul trouble and all sorts of stuff ended up the young guys got a lot of reps, which was awesome for them and you got to see them grow up. I thought I told a couple of the players, a couple of the families that every one of those games was worth like twenty practices. You know, when you can put on the jerseys, play in front of a crowd, play in front of a big time opponent and play a really competitive game even though it wasn't meaningful per se or didn't have any, you know, record attached to it. But you know, that experience is invaluable. And then, you know, coming out of that, the last, you know, three, four weeks of fall practice has been great and you know, we've got to, we're further along than we normally would be at this point of the year, which is, which is awesome, especially given we're playing in ten days.
Kyle Church • 32:35
But, but individually, the one guy would single out would probably be Roddy Gayle. I've just been unbelievably impressed with him, his, his mentorship of the younger guys, his intensity, his practice habits, his just overall play. You know, he looks like a fifth year guy, looks like a guy that's been through the, been through high level college basketball several times over and his consistency has really came a long way and we're extremely glad to see him out there.
Brian Boesch • 33:06
No doubt about it. It's been fun. It's been a whirlwind for him, for you, for a lot of people in the program. I'm excited to get to some normalcy here with some games soon. Always appreciate you stopping by, Coach.
Kyle Church • 33:15
Thanks for having me, man.
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Brian Boesch • 33:25
Always enjoy the chats with both Kyle Church there and earlier Liv Olson. Thanks to Sarah VanMetre and Tom Wywrot for their help in making it happen. All right, a busy week here on MGO Blue Podcasts as we continue to roll along in a very fun time of year on the athletic department side of things. Obviously. Wednesday we'll break down what was a not so fun performance for Michigan Football on the road at Minnesota over the weekend and look ahead to the rest of the bye week and on Conquering Heroes. Really excited to share with you a conversation with Andrea Joyce. Andrea will be emceeing the Elevate Her Summit, which is coming up Thursday, october fifteenth. Tickets just thirty dollars. Head to mgoblue dot com tickets Incredible panel discussion, a lot of other activities, conversations, the Elevate Her Summit coming up a week from Thursday.
Brian Boesch • 34:16
All right, thanks to Liv, thanks to Kyle, and thanks to you. This is Defend the Block and Go Blue.
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Jeff Laurence • 34:22
Thanks for listening to today's edition of Defend the Block, part of our Michigan Athletics Podcast Network, M GO Blue Podcasts. The preceding has been a Learfield presentation of the Michigan Sports Network.
