Elle Duncan
Appearances
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
Gotcha. You completely trapped me. I'll say the same thing. I like all the histrionics and she's so memeable and, you know, she's unapologetically herself. So I guess, you know, LES to all of you. you're going to separate it.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
Yeah, I would say that, yes, there is. I have a great respect for her as a coach and also as a former player. And she gets the best out of her girls. And, you know, I never played for her. If you were to believe a lot of the things that came out, that's problematic. But ultimately, like, I don't know her personally. I do think that, you know, she's a historic player.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
type of figure in this sport so um and i love i love lsu like i love her girls so it's also hard for me because i think you know they love her and i love them so by proxy sure yeah but you do like you have to compartmentalize and that can be you know um i don't know her well enough to like make a snap judgment on her but just based on some of the things like yeah that feels
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
I had someone say that to me the other day. They were like, you picked Florida to win? I was like, yeah, because I don't know anything about men's basketball. I don't really watch. And they were like, oh, they're a coach. I was like, what about their coach? And they were like, yeah, there's some headlines. So I Googled and I was like, should I have chosen them?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
But ultimately, I think they're a really good team. So that's kind of the journey.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
The dap. You talking about the clipboard or the real dap?
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
Yeah. I mean, I'm into that. I really appreciate it.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
Was it an aggressive DAP? It's a plastic DAP.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
I mean, I don't see. I don't consume everything that happens in the league. I do have three other jobs that he has. All right.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
tone are you saying tone or like tone like tony i can't honestly i wasn't doing that thing i feel like i feel like jess can feel me on this i'm doing that thing when like a dude at the bar finds out you do sports for a living and then he's like oh yeah who won the 1937 home run dirty no tony would never do that ever tony you don't know he said no to women's empowerment earlier
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
Well, it was really brutal. probably tmi but i was in the bathroom and you know i'm still wearing my ifb we do have to take pee breaks um and i had my ifb in and i thought i lost the broadcast because it was silent and i was like what's going on and then all of a sudden i started getting text messages i'm like trying to furiously wash my hands my producer's like
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
Okay. We definitely ended on a high note. Can you just give me like one more for shits and giggles so that we can end on a high note? Because he ruined it so bad.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
Please have me back. Love you guys. You're the best.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
get back to the studio, Juju just went down, it's bad, it looks really bad. And I was like, what? And so I run into the studio and you guys, the studio, which is normally, you know, especially with Shanae and Andrea, it's so joyful, so loud, like we're yelling, we're reacting. It matched the silence of the Galen Center. It was like, everyone was just sort of in a little bit disbelief.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
From what we do, from a professional level, it's devastating because it's Juju Watkins because we wanted this Elite Eight matchup rematch with UConn because, to your point, she's going to be the National Player of the Year and they're ahead of schedule. On a personal level, it's devastating because of everything that Juju's given to the game, how hard she's worked, choosing to go...
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
to a USC program that a lot of people scratched their head. Like why? They haven't been relevant since Lisa Leslie. And she strapped her city on her back. Like she made LA a basketball town again. And just to see that happen in the way that it happened, to see someone who is so famously unemotional, like she puts up a 30-piece, no emotion.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
To see her screaming in pain and writhing on the ground, it was horrific and devastating. And it absolutely changed the entire tenor of the tournament. It did.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
Yeah, I mean, she has a giant mural in the city of LA. When she chose USC, actually on her signing day or her announcement day, whatever you call it, she actually came on SportsCenter and talked to me. And I, in a very soft way, kind of asked her that same thing that I just said, which is like, okay, I mean, I get it. You're from LA, but you're the number one prospect in the country.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
Everyone wanted you. Why not go team up with UConn? Why not go to South Carolina? And she was so adamant that her entire goal... was to, in her own backyard, make basketball relevant again, to make that USC program a powerhouse like it was in the early 90s, before she was born. She wasn't born when Lisa Leslie was doing what she was doing at USC.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
And when we talked with Lindsey Gottlieb last year at the Final Four after they lost to UConn in the Elite Eight, I was like, I know that you knew Juju was a prize, but did you know that she would get your program here this quickly? And she was like, no.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
i didn't know it would happen so fast you know like she thought it would take some time and maybe some transfers that would get them there um and she has made like i've talked to la friends who are like la is buzzing with basketball at a college level right you're always gonna have the lakers and sometimes the clippers but at a college level like with ucla being a powerhouse again and with usc and juju she's the face of basketball and she is
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
She has strapped that city on her back, and they love her so much for everything that she's done. I mean, USC has become, you know, the place to go watch games. We see every super megastar. We just saw Jaden Daniels there. It's just incredibly disappointed to see it go down like this. You know, you lose on the court, you get out battled, fine.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
But, like, to see their chances suffer greatly because of what happened is just... It just can't come up with a better way to.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
So I do think they can beat K-State. We talked about this yesterday. Like, what does this USC team look like without Juju? Because they haven't had to experience that. She averages 35 minutes a game. So they basically play five minutes a game without her. And so I do think it's going to force. I mean, listen, it's still USC. Like, they still have Talia Van Olhoffen, who transferred there.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
Kiki Iria-Fenn, who you mentioned, had. a career high. And I do think that there was definitely a galvanizing sort of moment for them yesterday and having her back. We heard Lindsey Gottlieb talk about that.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
But ultimately, like, to be honest with you, Jess, like, I didn't think that USC was going to get past UConn with Juju, just because, like, if you've watched UConn play the last two games, like, I'm not sure anybody's going to beat UConn if they keep playing that way. But I do see them getting to an Elite Eight. It just obviously changes... the entire scope of that matchup if Juju's not in it.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
They're going to have to lean on everybody else, but she's going to be national player of the year for a reason. And we saw what happened for UConn when Paige was out. I do think really quickly too, though, like life sometimes is really interesting.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
the ironic symmetry of on a day that Paige Beckers played her last game in stores and tied a career high after what she's been through and her devastating injuries too, that we then see the same exact thing happen to Juju. Like it just, I hope that that is in some way inspiration for Juju that you can suffer these really great setbacks, but then you can, you can come back better than ever.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
I mean, Paige, hasn't missed a beat, and she's going to be the number one overall pick. But it's, you know, I don't see them making it past UConn. Either way, honestly.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
Um, yeah, well, I mean, again, it really just depends, right? Like, uh, for Paige Beckers, when she tore the meniscus in her knee, it was in the summer. And so she did miss that entire season because of it. I don't know how USC is going to play it. Um, you know, if there is any blessing, it's that it happened in early March and maybe not in the summer as they were doing their off season training.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
I don't know if you say let's let's medical redshirt her. Right. Like she's only 19 years old. She's not eligible to go to the WNBA draft until she's 22 years old anyway. So I don't know. You certainly don't want to cause any long term damage for someone who we believe is going to be one of the greatest players of all time if she projects the way that she is now.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
But, yes, I would say that getting used to a life potentially without Juju next season would be that would be, you know, that would be a fair assessment.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
It's true. I tried to say this to someone last night. I was like, imagine if on the men's side, if they lost Cooper flag in the same way, right? Like it would change the enthusiasm for the tournament in some way. The good news for us is that while Juju is one of the faces of women's basketball and will be national player of the year, we do still have really great storylines.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
We have Notre Dame who has the best backcourt in the country. finally sort of figuring it out and rounding into form. We have TCU. Haley Van List's story is amazing. TCU's story is amazing. I know they're not like a major... They couldn't even field a roster. They were horrible. Now they're headed to their first Sweet 16. People made fun of Haley for choosing TCU. Like, wow, that's great.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
What a basketball powerhouse. And to see her story, like, that's still a story. We still have South Carolina, right? Like, trying to go for, to be back-to-back champs for the first time since UConn did it. And then we still have UCLA, like, who is a huge program. Again, sort of a return to prominence, a return to glory, if you will, looking for their first Final Four.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
If there is any blessing, it's that this happened last night. It gives us a few days to compartmentalize and process, and then we sort of get to look ahead to the Sweet 16, which is still rife with storylines. Yes, like, did I want an Elite Eight that was going to put up enormous numbers personally as someone that benefits from that at ESPN? Yes, but we do still have a lot of meat on that bone.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
Ooh, I actually do like ripped jeans. I'm into them. My kids have ripped jeans. I think they look cool.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
Come on, Dan. Oh, I'm sorry. Although lately in this country, I don't know. Kind of up for debate.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
L no. It requires no work. It's so rude. Like you're potentially damaging people's cars. Just you've been walking around a grocery store. What is it? I live in Connecticut. It's freezing. It's like three degrees and I will still take it to the thing or I'll take it to the front. Like that's so rude and not considerate for everybody else. Irish goodbye, L yes or L no? L yes.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
Come on, like I've reached the age where I'm like, do I need to say bye to everyone in the room and make it a whole production? And no, I'm just gonna ghost you.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
Okay, as someone that literally carries my little JBL speaker everywhere she goes and forces people to listen to my music, I'm still a hard L no because people need different things when they work out and it's not necessarily your trap music.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
L no. Although the email sign off gives me a lot of anxiety. I never, you know, sincerely or appreciate you or I just kind of do a thanks. But L no to the cheers.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
L no. I've worked at too many restaurants. I know what they can do to the food in the back. And also, apart from having an allergy to it, I went out to eat with a girl one time who sent her burger back because it came with lettuce on it. Take it off and keep it moving. Like, L no.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
L no. And ladies, don't ever take that drink because you don't know what's in it. No.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
As someone that needs people to wild out for my job, L yes to Dan Hurley and all of the many personalities he has.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
Tricked her. I'll say L yes. I'll say that's tough. I'll say L. Yes, just because they have the experience of being there before. So does NC State, obviously. But I put their big three probably above NC State's.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
Oh, L. Yes. Yeah. L. Yes. I think he's going to have his Haley Van Lith game, you know, where he's just like, you didn't want me. I see it.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
Yeah, L no. Again, unless you have like some kind of severe insensitive skin thing. When you put the soap in the container, after it gets wet, it becomes a disgusting petri dish of smush. L! No, use the soap at the hotel. They're fine. Like, it's fine.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: Elle Yes or Elle No
Okay. Well, unless it's some kind of fancy soap. It's not any better than the crap they have at the hotel. Guaranteed.
The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz
The Big Suey: The Block M
Yeah, we've all been there, and when we feel like we nailed something, we're like, let's go. I'll do a little subtle let's go. There we go.