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00:04Things are happening really fast.
00:07I am still very aware of the things that are coming up,
00:09what's going to happen.
00:13It was six months and now it's only a few months
00:16that the W is approaching and the future
00:19and just life after college.
00:21There you go, there you go, there you go.
00:24I really just want to make sure that I'm not skipping
00:28what's going on right now and looking ahead.
00:30So it does come up, but it's not something that I'm focused on.
00:34I don't think I've done 10 of anything since preseason.
00:38Today's the day, girl.
00:39I do strive when I play to kind of have
00:43just like a level of headedness about myself,
00:45not get too high, not get too low.
00:47I think it's something I've always been pretty good at.
00:51AZ Fun, the number one women's basketball recruit
00:54in the class of 2021.
00:55She'll attend UConn in the fall,
00:57joining one of the most dynamic programs
01:00in the history of sports.
01:02This freshman is showing everyone
01:04that she is a force to be reckoned with.
01:06AZ Fun, raise the floor for the Huskies.
01:09AZ Fun is as fundamentally sound as any guard in the country.
01:13USA Today Player of the Year in 2019,
01:16Gatorade Player of the Year in 2019,
01:18NCAA National Champion in 2025.
01:21AZ Fun is out for at least six weeks with a torn ACL.
01:25UConn's rigorous schedule will put the team to the test
01:28without their star player.
01:29AZ Fun is back and she's hitting hard.
01:34Discipline, confidence, and instinct.
01:36And she makes it look effortless.
01:39If the game's on the line, you want AZ Fun to get the ball.
01:44Welcome to a day in life with the FUDs.
01:46We're spending the next 10 days in Europe
01:49following the UConn women's basketball team
01:52on their European tour.
01:53My family means everything to me.
01:56So having them come to games, home games, away games,
02:01like Bahama trip, far places.
02:03You're coming with us to Tampa for the final four.
02:08Even when I'm injured, they came to so many games.
02:10I'm like, guys.
02:12We're here, man.
02:13UConn.
02:13Go Huskies.
02:16So come along for the ride.
02:37I'm so grateful.
02:38I'm so lucky.
02:39I'm so blessed.
02:40They really do mean everything to me.
02:52bsupsy.
03:01We love you.
03:12You are loving your family.
03:12Our next day, Jayda and Reilly.
03:14Oh my gosh, I haven't been here in so long.
03:16Even just seeing that little Evermay thing is like bringing back memory.
03:22Car rides the school, my mom and her terrible radio station.
03:31Anytime I cried, she would play Fergie's Big Girl's Don't Cry, which I do have a memory
03:37pulling into campus of her playing for me and singing with her really bad singing voice.
03:45No, it made me cry more.
03:47I'm like, why is she singing this to me?
03:49I'm still a big girl.
03:55I just want to let you know, my family is really unfiltered, chaotic, loud.
04:05You're scaring these little kids.
04:07There's never a dull moment if you're with anyone in my family.
04:15They're characters, like when I said there was never a dull moment in our house growing
04:19up, literally never a dull moment.
04:52I love being back here, I don't get to be back here very often.
04:55And even just driving past that little cul-de-sac with you brings back a lot of memories, a
05:01lot of before I started driving myself, a lot of car rides, a lot of falling asleep for
05:08me.
05:08A lot of falling asleep.
05:12We were head coaches of high school teams, and unfortunately that meant her at the time
05:19was the only child spending a lot of time in the gym while we coach other people's kids.
05:23And those kids ironically became like her sisters and brothers.
05:28Along the way, I look at us as being community builders.
05:33We build a community, we've built communities around her, around our kids, around our teams,
05:39that is fostered in a lot of love and support.
05:49I grew up different, and the environment I grew up in was, like, you had to fight for
05:55your respect and, like, fighting was a normal thing.
06:05I was a very physical basketball player, aggressive and territorial.
06:11I was like a pit bull.
06:17When I graduated, I had the longest suspension in NCAA history.
06:24I definitely think that he tried to instill some of that craziness that he has into me.
06:32I don't think it worked.
06:33It worked a little.
06:34Not that, not like that well.
06:35No.
06:38I don't think that I could coach people as hard and as tough today the way I coached her.
06:46But I only had to answer the one person that was my wife.
06:57I think my parents, specifically my mom, do a really good job of making sure that, especially
07:05when I'm home and that it should be downtime, that I'm making it a downtime.
07:12And that, like, she tries to take care of whatever she can for me so that I'm not stressed, I'm
07:19not overwhelmed.
07:23Hey.
07:24Hey, boys.
07:25Hey, guys.
07:25Hey, guys.
07:26Hey, puppies.
07:27Oh.
07:29Hi, Steve.
07:29There you go.
07:30Hey, Mom.
07:31Hey, guys.
07:32Hi, Mom.
07:33Hi.
07:34Hi.
07:34How was it?
07:35Good.
07:35Come on, Steve.
07:36Bye, guys.
07:36We'll see you later.
07:37Bye.
07:48I knew my mom played basketball.
07:50I knew she was good.
07:53But I didn't really believe it.
07:55Like, it's just my mom.
08:02You know, I went to NC State and your picture was on their wall.
08:05He's like, what the heck?
08:13AZ's definitely way nicer than I ever was.
08:15My teammates, I think some of them liked me, but a portion of them didn't.
08:21I was very, very black and white.
08:23Like, work hard or you don't work hard.
08:25I was just so competitive.
08:28Like, I was competitive with everything that I did.
08:30If you ask my brother, you know, he probably hated his childhood
08:34because I just wanted to compete and beat him in everything.
08:37And, um, so I don't know.
08:39I think I just took it as a challenge.
08:41Like, can I be better today than I was yesterday?
08:47One of the things that we looked for when AZ was really young looking at schools,
08:52you know, we would go visit campuses, was how the men's and women's programs were treated.
09:00And so for me at Georgetown, the culture there was only men's basketball mattered.
09:06And so as I'm shooting on the court, a men's basketball player comes and shoots
09:10and I get kicked off because I can't be in the gym with him.
09:12Like, that didn't make any sense to me.
09:14And once again, remember, I said I was black and white.
09:16It's very black and white.
09:17There was no gray area.
09:18And I think even if that happened today, I'd still, it's black and white.
09:21I shouldn't get kicked off my own court because you want to come in and shoot.
09:24Um, but it has come a long ways.
09:26The women's, they have their own practice facility now.
09:29Um, you know, the men have their court, the women have their court.
09:32And I think the women's players there feel valued.
09:40So I got drafted and went out to Sacramento and they didn't, they actually ended up not keeping
09:45anybody that year, any new people.
09:47And so, you know, I thought about going to play overseas that year.
09:51And, and I just, you know, when you're young, you just feel like you've got all this time
09:55and, and that you're going to plan things out and that's how they're going to work.
09:59And, um, so I was going to take the, the fall winter off to just try to like,
10:06heal my body and just work on my game.
10:10And I was like, all right, I'll, I'll just get an agent and go back and play in the WNBA
10:14next spring.
10:16And then I got pregnant.
10:23And I tell AZ she's, she's the best accident I've ever had.
10:28And I wouldn't, I wouldn't change anything.
10:31Like I wouldn't change anything that, that we've created, that we have, that has happened to us.
10:35For me to have different individual success back then.
10:42But as far back as you remember, you've always been better than her, huh?
10:46Wow.
10:46No, and she reminds me.
10:48She would, would make a point to remind me that when I was, like when we were the same age,
10:53she would have destroyed me.
10:55She would have ripped my heart out and she would, whatever.
10:57But that's why my teammates didn't like me.
10:59They like you.
11:00So you're probably the better version.
11:14Now these are some memories coming on this campus.
11:16Yeah.
11:24Do you remember coming here a day before kindergarten and crying?
11:29Yes.
11:29I remember that.
11:30Cookies and lemonade at the playground and all you wanted to be was homeschooled.
11:53This is all new too here, right?
11:54Yeah.
11:55I was in the front desk.
11:56Yeah.
12:07I miss music class.
12:09The drums, the xylophones, the recorders, oh my gosh.
12:16Wait, like the carpet's the exact same?
12:18Yeah.
12:19They've not changed the carpet.
12:21It smells the same.
12:21The gym looks the same.
12:22They haven't redone the bed.
12:24The ball rack's the same.
12:26Oh my gosh.
12:342004 Basketball Co-Champions, that's us.
12:36That's yours?
12:37Yeah.
12:38None of these are my banners.
12:40State Championship, 2003.
12:42Really?
12:43That was Peter, right?
12:43Yeah, 23 and 4.
12:45Yeah, Peter was on that one.
12:46That was us.
12:46You guys were that good?
12:47Yeah.
12:48Yeah.
12:48We were really good.
12:51Brings back a lot of memories.
12:59I don't even remember my first memory playing basketball in here.
13:03I remember like cutting up my words for word study in the bleachers and doing my math homework
13:08and like doing everything but actually playing basketball.
13:11Yeah.
13:12Someone on social media, someone made a comment about your eye contact like last week.
13:16Her eye contact is unreal and I was like, that came from here?
13:20It literally started here.
13:21Well, and every day, do you remember?
13:23Yeah, every day.
13:24Good morning.
13:24Good morning, that's it.
13:25You walk into school and you say good morning and then when the bell rings it's not a mad dash
13:29out.
13:30Right.
13:30Everyone sits in a circle and you had to like have some greetings, eye contact, firm handshakes.
13:35Yeah.
13:35And the end of the day was, have a good day.
13:37Have a good day.
13:38See you tomorrow.
13:38Don't forget your math homework.
13:40Da-da-da-da-da.
13:49I was an assistant coach on the boys' side and my head coach, Matt Carlin, was trying
13:56to be...
13:57Matchmaker.
13:58Matchmaker and was like, I'm gonna hook you guys up and I was like, man, don't do it.
14:00Don't do it.
14:01So you kept inviting me out.
14:02Yes.
14:02Every time your coaching staff went out.
14:03Yeah.
14:04And you came out one time.
14:06I went out one time.
14:07Yep.
14:07And then we started chatting a little bit.
14:09And then we, I asked you to go to dinner.
14:11We went to go get dinner at TGI Fridays.
14:14Fridays at Worldgate.
14:15That's when I first...
14:16Is that like a nice date back then?
14:17It was just hanging out.
14:18That's a pretty bad date to me.
14:19It was a bad date.
14:20I mean, it wasn't a date.
14:21It wasn't really a date.
14:22We were just hanging out.
14:22Yeah, you were super non-committal to anything for a long time.
14:25Yes, I was.
14:25And then you were, she brought you to our dinner.
14:31Good job, Mom.
14:32And we were sitting at the table at TGI Fridays.
14:35And there was a window.
14:37Right on the window.
14:38And it was like a wide windowsill.
14:40Ledge.
14:40We're talking and eating and whatever.
14:42And you kept on walking on the ledge on the table.
14:47The table's here.
14:48You're walking on the table.
14:49And you'd come over and you'd touch me.
14:51And you'd go back.
14:52And I was like, who's this big-headed baby?
14:54Why does she keep touching me?
14:57She was 18 months old around that time when we started hanging out.
15:02And once we kind of solidified that we were in a relationship,
15:06she started calling me dad very early on.
15:10And, you know, it got me.
15:17It was like I'd been there from day one.
15:23I would love those moments because it was, that was our moments.
15:29Huh?
15:29She's calling me dad.
15:30I could not let her down.
15:32Come on, dad.
15:34Come on, dad.
15:38We got married just before she turned three.
15:40I don't think you ever have a memory without him.
15:42Yeah.
15:45So when AZ started playing, I did not want to coach her.
15:48Didn't want to do it.
15:52I don't want to coach her.
15:53I just want to be dad.
15:57But then the situation occurred where she wasn't getting
16:01the kind of coaching that she needed as a developmental player at her age.
16:04And I said, I'll step in.
16:05I'll do it.
16:10Do you remember this?
16:11No.
16:15So you were in the gym dribbling with your right hand.
16:17So I said, come here.
16:18And I took the saran wrap and I wrapped your right hand to your body.
16:21And then I put the ball in your left hand and I said, smile for a picture.
16:24And you just, that's you smiling.
16:27And then you took off running dribbling with your left hand.
16:29And I was like, what?
16:30This kid is like, she's a little different.
16:33I think it's special.
16:35I think we've evolved.
16:36Our relationship has evolved.
16:37I like to say this to all of my kids.
16:39One more swish.
16:40Dad.
16:42One more swish.
16:51One of the things that was super, super important for us was that I needed to be dad.
16:59So I made a super conservative effort.
17:01When games were over, like I don't need to be talking about basketball anymore.
17:05I just need to go make sure my kid is taken care of and that she's loved and that she's
17:10supported and that we transition from this environment.
17:15So we would always have this trigger.
17:17And the trigger was either are you hungry?
17:21Which she's always hungry.
17:22The other one was our favorite, was you want to go get some ice cream?
17:27And that was a trigger for me to go from coach back to dad.
17:47I'm not a big ice cream guy.
17:48What?
17:49Do you believe that?
17:50That's such a lie.
17:51What are you talking about?
17:51You are a big ice cream guy.
17:52I'm not a big ice cream guy?
17:53Yes.
17:53You're a huge ice cream guy.
17:54Now you're just a big lying guy.
17:58What samples can I get?
18:00What do you think you're going to get?
18:02Let me start sampling.
18:09I have two of those.
18:12Mmm.
18:14Mmm.
18:19It's always like this.
18:20My dad always knows what he wants right away.
18:22Then my mom.
18:23And then me.
18:24And we always get as many samples as we possibly can.
18:34Do you need another half scoop?
18:36I might.
18:37This is classic.
18:38Yes.
18:39Double fisting.
18:42You twisted his arm.
18:44But he doesn't like ice cream.
18:46But he doesn't like ice cream.
18:47That's going to be the new line.
18:52There's a small window of opportunity, I think, to be a parent.
18:56To enjoy your kids' successes.
18:58Especially when they're athletes.
19:00Yeah.
19:00And I think that's something that we both took very seriously.
19:06We don't want to miss those moments.
19:13Like, AZ's the most successful out of all of us, but we want everyone to feel like...
19:16They're a part of it.
19:17Like, they're a part of it.
19:18They're involved.
19:18Everyone was part of this journey.
19:24When the boys first got with us, I think their instant reaction, even before we brought them home, was figuring
19:31out what we need to do to make them feel a part of our family.
19:35They were already a part of the family.
19:36They were like my little brothers.
19:38And then they became my...
19:39Actually, they called you uncle.
19:40They called me uncle, yeah.
19:41Because my niece and nephew were down there, they called me uncle.
19:44But then they became our sons.
19:46But the primary goal for us was just to figure out how to get them acclimated.
19:57Oh, my brothers.
20:00I describe Jose as goofy.
20:01He's like a big...a big baby, almost.
20:07He's so caring.
20:08I feel like he also...he does a great job, even though he is the youngest, of taking care of everyone.
20:12Growing up with AZ, she's real.
20:16Like, she'll never be fake to you.
20:18She's the most easy and approachable person you'll ever meet.
20:23And then there's John, who...he's a passion man.
20:28I don't know how else to describe him.
20:29Jose and John are my rebounders and passers for as long as I can remember.
20:34So...they need as much credit to my shot and my game as anyone else
20:39because they have spent hours rebounding, passing.
20:42The one bad thing of helping her with her career is...
20:46When I was younger, she will tell me to, like, hustle up on rebounding.
20:53Getting balls around them for giving me bad passes, obviously.
20:57And I would get mad at her and, like, chuck past the ball,
21:00and then she would just chuck the ball in my face.
21:04There was a lot of bickering in those...in those shooting sessions.
21:08Where did the ball go?
21:09What do you mean? Just throw it to her.
21:11Here.
21:12We've had some core memories in gyms together, and...I don't know.
21:18I think that's just...this is another example of how close you are as a family.
21:21Like, we'd do everything together.
21:25I remember car rides being both special and a routine.
21:30We were always more of a road trip family, and we would drive to all of our AAU tournaments.
21:37That'd be, like, Georgia, Tennessee.
21:42When we would go to Minnesota in the summer, we'd drive.
21:44I feel like we flew a little bit more before we adopted the boys.
21:47Then when we got them, everything was a road trip.
21:50Which, like, looking back, I loved.
21:52But in the moment, I'd be like, really, Dad?
21:54Like, why are we driving?
21:55Like, why can't we just fly it so much faster?
21:57And he'd be like, I love road trips.
21:59We get to all spend.
21:59And I'm like, uh...
22:03We used to have a minivan with a DVD player in the back.
22:06So we watched Shrek probably, like, 500 times.
22:10Yeah, aw.
22:18I miss those moments in the car, because it is quality time.
22:22You know, where you're chatting about the day, you're chatting about happenings,
22:25and it just seems when you get home, it's just busy, and you don't have time for all that.
22:29What happened in the car?
22:30You're not going...
22:31No one's going anywhere.
22:32But they're super important opportunities for us to spend time together,
22:36and talk about things, see her thoughts, or talk about colleges that were recruiting her,
22:42and, hey, what do you think about this school?
22:45Those tough conversations that she didn't like to have.
22:48Um, the car kind of trapped her.
22:51She couldn't escape.
22:52Hey, guys.
22:53It is 545, and we are on our way to physical therapy.
22:58Well, I think both parents have been able to, like, just growing up playing basketball,
23:02playing in college, they've been able to help a lot and have a perspective that most parents
23:07don't understand.
23:10But I think that I like our relationship now most because you'll always be dad.
23:17You'll always be, like, guiding me, telling me what to do, but...
23:21And it's not that I ever felt like I couldn't talk to you guys about things, but, like, I didn't
23:25want to get in trouble.
23:27I would just listen, do what I was supposed to, but now I feel like I now have my own
23:31opinions on things.
23:32I have my own thoughts, so...
23:34I don't know, I just think that the way that our relationship with you and with Mom has evolved.
23:39I am really lucky to have you guys and, like, know that I can go to you just for advice
23:44and for whatever I need.
23:57That would be step forward again.
23:59So you went all the way out here to get the ball and then you move forward.
24:02Go here to get the ball and reverse back.
24:04Five.
24:05Five.
24:06Six.
24:07Six.
24:07Good shot.
24:13All right.
24:14So now we're here.
24:15We're gonna drag.
24:16Go three drag dribbles.
24:18All right.
24:19And then between...
24:20A woman came up to me, asked for a picture, and kneeled down beside me and said,
24:25I just want to thank you and Katie for being the parents that you are.
24:29And she's about to start crying.
24:31She says, you make me want to be a great parent.
24:33You make me want to be so supportive of my kid, no matter what their journey is.
24:38And she was like, my wife and I had a...
24:42I have my kid, and I just want to thank you for inspiring me to be a great parent as
24:47well.
24:48I think it's special.
24:50Stay ready.
24:50Stay ready.
24:51Stay ready.
24:51Stay ready for your...
24:53There you go.
24:54It's much better.
24:55Much better.
24:56One of the things that I constantly had to battle when he was younger was,
24:59I'm a coach first and a parent.
25:00Like, I coach and I happen to have a kid who plays.
25:03I'm not a coach because I have a kid who plays.
25:07There was no plan in place for this to blow up like it has.
25:13And I just look at her and just see the little frizzy headed, tiny kid running around that,
25:19you know, just wanted to hug and to play.
25:21And that's all I see.
25:23So it's really crazy to see her taking pictures of people and signing things and just being this star that
25:29she is.
25:32It's still kind of surreal to think that kids look up to me and that I can be a role
25:40model to these kids.
25:41To just show them that I'm a real person.
25:43I'm in a position that if that's what they want, like, they could be in this position as well.
25:48These last couple of days have been really emotional.
25:50To be able to be present and fully enjoy it because there's a lot going on just in the season
25:55and the months ahead.
25:56And so to not look forward to that but to embrace all of this and take advantage of the good,
26:02the hard, all of it.
26:03Like, my mind is locked in and focused and ready and sharp.
26:32I can make it, I can make it, I can make it, I can make it.
26:36Going high, going high, you get ready, you get ready
26:39I can make, I can make, I can make, I can make
26:42Feeling strong, really strong, you get ready, you get ready
26:45How you feelin', feel good, how you feelin', feel good
26:48Feeling good, yes I do, you feelin' good
26:51Yes I do, how you feelin', feel good
26:53How you feelin', feel good, you feelin' good
26:56Yes I do, you feelin' good, I do
26:58Uh-huh
27:01Oh
27:06You
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