From Name to Game: The Azzi Story

00:00:03
Speaker 1: Hello, fut around and find out family, welcome back.

00:00:06
Speaker 2: Today.

00:00:06
Speaker 3: We have a very very very special guest. Two of them, we had, Miss Jennifer a. Z and Katie five.

00:00:17
Speaker 2: Great to be here.

00:00:18
Speaker 1: Listen, I have.

00:00:19
Speaker 3: To run through these accolades. I have to run through your intro.

00:00:23
Speaker 1: So, Katie, I'm gonna start with you.

00:00:27
Speaker 4: Yeah, Mine Shorter.

00:00:30
Speaker 1: Everyone knows that you are Asy's mama.

00:00:33
Speaker 3: However, I'm gonna run through this awesome basketball intro of yours. So acc rookie of the Year at NC State, then transferred to Georgetown for three seasons where you scored sixteen hundred and seventy one points. Recently honored as a Big East legend at the Big East Tournament that I had the pleasure to witness as the first Georgetown Hoya.

00:00:57
Speaker 1: To be drafted in the WNBA. Come on, oh, Katie fun.

00:01:04
Speaker 3: All right, we have Miss Jennifer a Zy. Olympic gold medalist, NCAA champion and Final four MVP with Stanford, two time Feeble World Champion, WNBA All Star, and Women's Basketball Hall of Famer.

00:01:19
Speaker 1: Come on, Jennifer Azy WHOA.

00:01:23
Speaker 3: Thank you guys so much for joining us on the pod. It is honestly on honor to host with both of you, It's gonna be fun. So first things First, As is named after Jennifer Azy Katie. What did Jennifer represent for you that made you choose that name?

00:01:43
Speaker 4: Actually, this was just in a speech that I gave the other day. First, I think we run into people when we're thinking about names that we automatic are like, we'll never name my kid. So I wanted to do it a little bit differently. There wasn't a ton of basketball on TV growing up. I think the first thing that I saw was a documentary maybe on your nineteen ninety national championship team, So that was first like wow, women's basketball on TV. And then fast forward to when I was a senior in high school, they did the I think it was a WBCA All American game or the Nike one. I'm not sure, but it was a doubleheatter with the women's national team. You just played China and they sat us at a table. And you probably don't remember this at all, but they sat us. They came on the bus and said who's your favorite player on the national team, and then they sat us at a table and I was super quiet, super shy, and I just sat there and watched you interact with all these people you didn't know, the way that you spoke, the character that you displayed, just like the actual, just human that you were, on top of being a really good basketball player. Plus, my maiden name is Smirka Duffy. I have red hair, unique things. I just like them. So it's like, that would be a really cool name for a girl. And I just knew right then if I ever had a girl, I would name Razy. I thought about changing the spelling so people didn't butcher it and do more phonetic, but then I was like, that defeats the purpose, so we're not doing that.

00:03:09
Speaker 2: You know what's crazy is I think naming her easy has helped people pronounce my name correctly, so I appreciate it.

00:03:18
Speaker 4: I can need to help.

00:03:19
Speaker 1: This is really we're getting the real, Miss.

00:03:22
Speaker 2: Jeffiface my background here, so we're all real today.

00:03:27
Speaker 3: Yeah, like it's very real today. So okay, you and Eyes had met, so you guys didn't know each other.

00:03:33
Speaker 4: When we actually met too later my senior year, you guys were practicing Colorado Springs and I was trying out, not successfully for some USA team. It's okayed to successful, I.

00:03:47
Speaker 2: Believe it or not. This is what no one ever talks about. But you know I tried out also in ninety two and I was cut from the team. I was Actually my claim to fame is that I was the last player sent home, So i've I was, you know, I was sent home from there as well.

00:04:02
Speaker 4: We have something there. We go.

00:04:05
Speaker 3: A lot of things, a lot of things. So at what point, Katie, did you realize that Asy would follow in these basketball footsteps?

00:04:14
Speaker 4: You know, I think when you have kids, you just want them to be happy, right, You want them to find their passion. And for Asy, we tried a bunch of different things, and she took the basketball. I think because it was more social. She really liked her teammates and that drew her to the game and kept her loving practices and that kind of stuff. I thought she was awful when she started. Tim claims he knew she'd be good or whatever, but like she was awful. I would say. She played in a tournament when she was in third grade, and she played. She played two years up anyhow, but with a sister program, our point guard's dad's program. Our team wasn't going to Nationals and his team was to. We asked if he could have Asy and Carly. And at that tournament, she really like just kept stepping up in ways that I didn't know she was capable of. And I was like, oh, well, okay, she could get a free education out of this. That would be phenomenal, right, And that was like the endgame at that point. Didn't think anything past that, like we just won't have to pay for college.

00:05:17
Speaker 1: I feel you on and that that was right. Save a bill.

00:05:22
Speaker 3: So Jennifer had like, what was your reaction when you found out that someone named their daughter after you?

00:05:27
Speaker 2: Well, it's better than having a dog named after you. The Ada at Stanford named his dog Asy. And then at first I thought it was a joke because it's like that's such a big deal, like that's I don't I didn't take it lightly. It was like, wow, that is that's amazing. And I think Katie, even hearing you talk about maybe feeling like you had a sense of me and who I was versus just you know, an athlete on the court or something, and that makes it, I think, feel even that much more special. And I had the opportunity to meet Katie and Asy when I was coaching at you and so I got to meet, you know more, really meet you, right, like maybe we are past cross but just seeing what a great parent that you were with her and obviously continue to be. But that was kind of early on in her journey. And you know, you never know how your kids are going to turn out. And I can totally relate to just wanting your kids to be into something that they love, that they're passionate about. Like I have a nine year old son and he is all about basketball right now. We tried tennis. He was really good at it, but he wanted the social part too, and so it's just fun to see. I think where your kids can go. And I think, Katie, you guys have done a tremendous job with your daughter because you know that doesn't happen just by chance. That's your support, your love, your being there for her and you know, giving giving her your all. And I think when you look at successful kids like your daughter, you have at least one parent if not obviously too behind them believing in them, you know, more than anything unconditionally.

00:07:05
Speaker 4: Yeah, it definitely takes a lot of time and effort, but with anything, any kind of parenting takes time and effort. Yeah, I need We're fortunate that, you know, our kids are fortunate to have to involve parents. Some days probably they think it's not so fortunate. But down the line though, the reflecting definitely.

00:07:24
Speaker 1: Jennifer. You also have a five year old daughter. Correct did she play basketball?

00:07:28
Speaker 2: So she's now getting into it. She's almost six. But you know, I actually coached both kids soccer teams, and that was sort of crazy because I love that. But I had my son's group for like four years, and I think we lost maybe two games, and it was so much fun for me and him to go through it together because it's not my sport, so it was like we were really kind of doing it together. But I got to influence him and his group of friends with all the great things that I learned, you know, from sports, and that taught me as a you know, as a human being. Now, my daughter, when I started coaching her, she was just jumping on my back and wanted nothing to do with it, and you know, so we'll see where she ends up. But she really has seems to now take a liking to basketball, and you know, we have at one point my son said, Mom, how many hoops do we have in the house? And I was like, Okay, I don't know, like nine, you know, they're like hanging over the shower. But it's not just us, it's him. He you know, wants to shoot every chance that he gets. And so I think my daughter's seeing all this and really how much fun we have with it, you know, So we'll see if it if it sticks for her. But she also likes to dance, she likes gymnastics, and you know, I think my job is to expose them and find what, you know, what they really end up liking.

00:08:40
Speaker 3: Okay, if you were to name of your child, say, if you had another one after a basketball player, who would it be?

00:08:47
Speaker 2: I mean me and probably everyone in the world, but uh, Steph Curt I mean, you know, some more form but like you know, uh Steph, you know one of the step On me I'm seeing in that family. I just I think that he is one of the greatest human beings that I've ever met. And you know, what he's able to do and the way that he impacts the world is really second to Nine and obviously best shooter of all time.

00:09:13
Speaker 4: So I will say before we met him that we did name our dog after him. And when was at USA basketball tryouts. His mom was there with cam Bring's mom, and I was like, hey, just letting you know we named our dog after your family.

00:09:26
Speaker 2: There we go, that's maybe I'll adopt that since I am due to get another dog, I think pretty soon.

00:09:32
Speaker 4: So yeah, I love food.

00:09:40
Speaker 3: So yes, the tradition of naming pets and children after the As name and other talented basketball players. Katie recently, Asy just met baby As. Could you tell us more about that?

00:09:56
Speaker 4: So one of our former players played at University of New England. After the final four last year, she sends me a picture from Facebook saying, look what I see This is one of my teammates kind of thing, and it said Azy Alan Porter born for twenty one And I was like, no way, like that is at just another family name more, you know, there's got to be some other connection. So she reached out and asked her if she was actually named after a Zy and she's like, oh, my gosh, one hundred percent. Well she's at one thousand percent yes, And so they came over last night so that Aisy could meet Asy. My Asy is a soup like. She loves kids, loves babies, so you could pretty much get her to do anything if you have a child in front of her. And so actually, Liz the mom said that the dad Jay is the one. Last a year ago September, when they found out they were having a girl, he's the one who suggested naming her Asy. And then she joked around. She's like, all right, well, if they win the national championship, let's do it. And then they won and then Aisy got them op so then she was like, all right, that's it. So she was born two weeks to the day of the National Championship game, and she's a cutie.

00:11:06
Speaker 2: I love it.

00:11:07
Speaker 3: Oh my goodness, that's awesome. Look it started with you, Jennifer. Now we got kids named at the easy baby Asy gonna be super Baby, a be as.

00:11:19
Speaker 4: Yeah, and there definitely are multiple dogs and cats named Asian as well.

00:11:23
Speaker 1: So I've definitely seen that all over socials.

00:11:27
Speaker 4: Like who I will say back in the day when I did it, I was like, yo, is she gonna think like I'm stockersh.

00:11:37
Speaker 2: I think it's I think it's amazing.

00:11:39
Speaker 5: You know.

00:11:40
Speaker 2: When she committed to Yukon, I had so many people texting me as if she's my daughter. It was like, you know, it's like congratulations, I'm like, wait a minute, Like I met her once. I think she's awesome, you know, but it's it's pretty cool to, uh, you know, think about what this really kind of extended family feels like. It's it's it's pretty awesome. And I know, I lost my dad in early twenty twenty four, and he was sort of that original girl dad, like you know, for me growing up in the seventies and eighties when there wasn't you know, obviously no wnba nowhere really to go. But he saw how much I loved it, and he put a hoop in our driveway that was slanted and you know, he had to kind of, i'm sure, borrow money to even get the hoop, and you know, and he really was that person in my life that encouraged me to go to Stanford, that you know, just believed in me. And so I think, as this name, if you will, continues, it's it's pretty cool for me, you know. And I don't know where my son will, you know, will end up. But my dad and I actually put together his first hoop. I was coming back from a trip from India, so we're you know, working together, putting his little hoop together. And it's just fun to see what basketball does. You know, it brings people together, It's it's a really powerful sport, a great.

00:12:55
Speaker 4: Beautiful And you messaged as I don't know if it was when she first made the USA team or something, you messaged her, emailed or something, and she's like, oh, Jennifer Azy emailed me, So she thought that was super cool.

00:13:08
Speaker 2: Well, I'm as proud as I can be from Afar, Like, I just think that, you know, she has incredible character. Her game speaks for itself. I'm sure she will be an Olympian, which is no pressure, but you know she's on that tack and we believe it's outstanding.

00:13:24
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's definitely her dream. I'd like to be there. So, Jennifer, I have a question.

00:13:30
Speaker 3: Are you an inductee of the twenty twenty six Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame class?

00:13:35
Speaker 1: Are you?

00:13:35
Speaker 2: Yes? I am?

00:13:36
Speaker 1: Are you? Oh my goodness, concredulations?

00:13:40
Speaker 2: Yeah, unfortunately didn't make it there. We've got the Nines event in Las Vegas. But yeah, it's pretty big honor there because Tennessee sports are everything.

00:13:51
Speaker 4: So yes, are we played in Tennessee when I was in high school? Where were we? We were there? Was a North in aalth and now I can't remember where we were, of course I'm blanking, but basketball was just it was amazing, Like we had good fans in our high school. But we went to watch another game and we had to park at the middle school and take a shuttleover because it was just a pack. So that was really cool. Then we got back to the hotel Greenville. So as North and South Greenville we're playing each other. We got back to our hotel and the people behind the desk at the hotel were talking about the game, which you know, that's like, you know, early like ninety four, ninety five somewhere in there. So that was different, right, You just didn't get a lot of people like that. Weren't basketball people, just general population people talking about women's basketball. And then I had someone come up to me that second year that we were there and they just they smirk it up, you know, and named my donald for you.

00:14:50
Speaker 1: And that's why I was like, really, thank you so much.

00:14:56
Speaker 2: Yeah, we had in my high school at our state tournament Murphy, Tennessee, we had ten thousand people. Crazy, that's crazy. And that was back I wouldn't even say when, but you know.

00:15:07
Speaker 4: So then was that hard for you to leave that go to Stanford out in like the wild basically where there's not as much interest in women's back very hard.

00:15:16
Speaker 2: I remember my first game there and I'm thinking, like, when did the fans show up? Because you know, they don't tell you during recruiting there's like no fans and it wasn't when everything was broadcast at that time, and they're like, oh, we're lucky if you know friends and family are in town. So the team, I think before I was part of tar Vanderver's first recruiting class, so you know, they were building and the year before I think the team had won three to five games or something. You know, we were five hundred my freshman year, and so it was scary for me and then being you know, I still had a Southern accent. I'm from Tennessee. I go out there, I think everybody's smarter and better and we're terrible, and you know, and then one thing led to another and Tar ended up, you know, recruiting some of the best classes in the country and within you know, three years, we won the national championship and we were selling out Maple's pavilion. So literally went from I'm telling you, I could count the fans on two hands from that to eight thousand fans a gain a game at Maple's pavilion. And I always say that Tar's a genius because she said, hey, three is worth more than two because the three point line came in between. You probably remember this, Kdie, but between my freshmen and sophomore year, that's when the three point line came in and she said, the only way we're gonna win is if we can shoot threes. So my teammates and I lived in the gym and we learned how to shoot threes because it just extended everything and that's kind of how we ended up winning. But it was hard. It was It was a really hard adjustment.

00:16:45
Speaker 4: That is crazy.

00:16:46
Speaker 3: I can't imagine a brand new like rule, a brand new right like huge, Like literally you were playing basketball at a really high level at the time, like one of the highest levels.

00:16:58
Speaker 1: To have something that.

00:17:00
Speaker 3: Big change and be a part of the game and now it's forever part of the game.

00:17:05
Speaker 1: That is amazing.

00:17:07
Speaker 4: That's pretty cool to say that you were in it. I guess it's like if you were six on a side basketball.

00:17:10
Speaker 2: Although yeah, that was a little that's even more drastic, right, But no, that was cool, And I.

00:17:14
Speaker 1: Think Yukon's crazy.

00:17:16
Speaker 2: Our record held for years and we start shot over fifty percent from the floor, like we just literally shot. And I think Yukon broke our three point record somewhere in the like maybe twenty fifteen or sixteen, somewhere around there, but it held for a long time.

00:17:32
Speaker 1: Yeah, that you.

00:17:35
Speaker 4: Should get even more.

00:17:35
Speaker 1: Let me go to that for sure.

00:17:38
Speaker 3: So, Jennifer, you also are Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame finalists.

00:17:43
Speaker 1: Congratulations, thank you, And I know there's an opportunity for you.

00:17:48
Speaker 3: I believe you're going to get recognized or all air during the final four. What does it mean to be recognized by the Naismith Hall of Fame.

00:17:54
Speaker 2: Well, I'm not exactly recognized yet because you know, I feel like I'm like always a bright made I've been I've been in a timeless i don't know, a few years, a few different times. And you know, my big thing I think with the Nasmith Hall of Fame, and I'm actually on one of their committees right now, is seeing more of this you women, as you know we go into the future, because you've now you now have all of these generations, and you know you're going to need a place for you know, for all the great athletes that have you know, come, you know, not just from my generation, but now throughout until this you know, current day.

00:18:32
Speaker 5: I'm not competitor as if I'm in, I'm not. You know, so well, we're believing, we're believing right in regardless. Yeah, it's going to happen.

00:18:45
Speaker 1: Is happening.

00:18:47
Speaker 3: Okay, So we talked about the huge change while you were playing, adding the three point line. How do you think it's different, like the path for top women's basketball prospects now versus when you guys were both playing.

00:19:00
Speaker 4: I didn't. I mean, I think everything has changed so much, not necessarily for the better. There's a lot, I means, but I just think there's more access and visibility, and I think it's easier for coaches to see who players are. I think it's easier for players to figure out where they want to go if they want to take the time to find the right place for them. I know for me and probably for you too. Like you're getting recruited and you've never seen these people play, right, you can't watch them on TV. You know, you have to go there and watch a game in person, and most of the time that wasn't happening. Most of our parents couldn't just drop things and travel like that. So I think just the visibility, and I think I don't think. I mean, now you've got all the players jerseys out there, and you see little boys wearing you know, women's jerseys, which to me is a huge thing. As if we teach boys at a young age to respect female athletes, they're not going to grow up to be men that tweet about getting in the kitchen. You know.

00:19:57
Speaker 3: I'm know that's right, Katie, because they can cut all that out. Because when we can do all things that man can do, do you what do you think?

00:20:06
Speaker 2: I agree completely. I think there's more, just more access. I always tell kids when I talk to them, if they want to be good at anything, they have access to everything. I mean, I feel like I'm more handy around the house because I can just watch a YouTube video, right. You can watch what the best athletes do now at whatever whatever sport or whatever thing you're interested in, and you can learn. And so I think there's just more knowledge. Even in training. I think the way that the athletes train now is a lot smarter, it's a lot more functional. You know that I think helps just the game itself in the way that you know, the way that people are able to train. But I think you know, basketball is still basketball, right. A free throw is a free throw that has not changed in you know, since I was playing, Katie was playing. So there are some fundamental things that you have to do. Like my son, like he'll want to go as far back as you can and launch it, and his little it's amazing actually how or he can shoot from. But as I've been he's allowed me to kind of work with him a little bit. Is like no master, like two feet from the basket. Like there's some principles of getting good at this that are that are the same. But what I noticed, and Sue Bird said this a while ago, the ball handling, I think is one of the things that's changed a lot. Like we were minimal dribbles. I mean, if you you get from A to B and you know you have two dribbles max or whatever it is, which I still think is good because the ball moved a lot. But just the way that athletes now can handle the ball I think has changed a lot. And they're bigger, strong, like I think the athleticism is is definitely.

00:21:34
Speaker 3: There more technology, more knowledge how to become a better athlete. Jennifer, what do you see an Acy's game that feels familiar?

00:21:43
Speaker 2: I think if you know, I don't know that it's necessarily like, I mean, she can shoot the ball, like that's a you know, that's a given. But she's she's definitely a stronger player than I was, Like, she is so physical, so strong, you know, she can play multiple positions. And but I I would say that if there's a common thread between us, it's it's it's the desire to win. It's that whatever you're doing, you're going to try to win, and you're going to try to get the most out of the people around you and be that team player and ultimately the goals to win a championship. Right, Like, as much as she has the accolades, as much as there's a lot going on, I see her as someone that is a winner and that wants to win.

00:22:27
Speaker 1: I know she's gonna love hearing this back.

00:22:37
Speaker 3: Can you what part of your experience did you try to pass down to a Z And is there anything you wanted to go differently?

00:22:44
Speaker 4: I think just the work ethic, right, and just put in you know, I always say, consistent effort over time is what we're going for, or not eight hours one day and you know, nothing for the next two weeks. So just you know, consistently do a little bit more, whether it's been you know, ten minutes a day, do bull handling, or shoot an extra twenty five shots after practice, like those are the things we started with when she started playing. And that was more just to kind of teach that life lesson of hard work and persistence, whether she was going to be good at basketball or not. So I think that and I think that took maybe a little too well. I think sometimes she needs to breathe and not be so hard on herself and so try to be so perfect. But you know what did I want to be different? I wanted her to be in an environment where women's basketball was respected. And I think that's more prevalent nowadays than when I played and where I played, But I think there are still some some schools where you know, men's basketball football take like way higher priority and the women kind of get you know, left to the side a little bit. So I wanted her to be somewhere where she felt valued, where she felt like the work and effort that she put in although she can't jump aside as the guys and don't that you know that that extra time they're putting in is the same, and I wanted that to.

00:23:59
Speaker 3: Be realcting ladies. The ladies is dunking now. Yeah, the ladies is dunking now.

00:24:05
Speaker 2: You know. I feel like I should just talk to you offline too and pick your brain more, Katie, because you know, it's interesting with two things. When I was coaching, I was head coach at USF for six years, and I all the players told me they want to play professionally. So I was like, well, if you're going to listen to anyone, listen to me, because I've done it. So I would say like, okay, meet me fifteen minutes before practice, stay with me fifteen minutes after practice one or the other, and I can help you get there. And it was again, it's to your point, Katie, it's those little you know in that fifteen minutes suddenly is like, you know, fifty hours if you really you know, if you start to add it up, and so that's I think how you master a skill. And in my time at USF, two players did it. So those two players ended up being our most successful players, and with Maclin. With my son, now, I'm cautious to not really try to let him kind of ask me, but what I've told him is kind of the same thing. We both wake up early in the morning. Do you want me to rebound for you? Because you'll get a lot out of ten or fifteen minutes where I can just rebound for you, pass it back to you, you know whatever. And then I heard him bragg into his friends. My mom and I get up and we shoot for an hour every morning, which is not true, but I think instilling those behaviors early without again, I'm going to call you offline because without overdoing it right, because you know you've been successful, so you know what it takes. But I guess maybe can I ask you the question, like, where's the line that you feel like you didn't overstep to where she would just kind of not want to do it anymore? Or was there a line?

00:25:42
Speaker 3: Yeah?

00:25:43
Speaker 4: I definitely. I can't say that it was all so easy, but I do think, and so I do. I train, That's what I do. So I see a lot of parents come through and then like it kind of just makes me twitchy. A little when parents are like, well, I'm not going to force my kid to practice outside of whatever, And I'm like, but you're paying for them to play, you're paying for them to train, you're taking time out of your day to drive them to practice, to stay in the gyms all weekend on tournaments, to pay to get in, like they owe you a little something. And so you know, I said, so, if your kid comes home and doesn't want to do math homework, you're good with that, right, Like that's cool because we're just gonna let them do what they want to do. And they said, no, they got to do their math homework. And so my thought is if they if they say you want to play something, or you say this is my goal, it's our job as parents to hold you accountable until you change that goal. Right, So, if you say you want to be good at basketball, we all know there's days we don't want to get up and do what we're supposed to do. But because we've built the life habits and the discipline, we get up and do it. And that's what success looks like. And so I think more importantly then whether you reach your goals or not, is building that life habit you say you want you say you want to be a three point shooter. Well, in order to do that, we've got to master two feet in out. I was literally just talking to a divisional player the other day about that. I'm like, we're gonna make you a great shooter. You're super quick, your handles are great. But in order to do that, we shot for half an hour from like four feeting in and her arm got tired. I'm like, you clearly don't shoot enough if your arms tired after doing this. But it's like master all the little details. Hone in on every little thing in here, and as we move out then we don't have those out there. But I think that goes back to the access to know things and to see things. These kids have its immediate gratification for everything, and so you can just go on YouTube and watch something, you can go on Instagram and see what you want to see, watch a reel, do a TikTok boom. Everything's right there and you're getting validated right there. And so they go spend ten minutes on something and they think, well, okay, I did ten minutes, I'm good. I should be good. And the understanding of that it takes so much longer, you know, to master that skill. And I, like you said, fifteen minutes is like fifty hour. Literally, when I run clinics, I tell kids, let's do a math equation. If you spend ten minutes a day, six days a week, give yourself one day off ten minutes a day, six days a week. So that's what like ten reels. However long a reel is, right, like six times a week, you know, six times ten is how much sixty? And then how many weeks are in a year? Fifty two? Okay, well, what's that equation come out to? And yeah, it's like three thy two hundred something, or it's just sixty two hours. What is fifty two weeks in a year? Fifty two hours? And that's ten minutes a day. Yeah, right, And you can't tell me you don't have ten minutes today, and if you miss one day, do twenty the next. But it'll all balance out. But it's just the willingness to be consistent, the willingness to say this is my goal and I have to, you know, slowly work to get there. It's not an immediate gratification thing. So it's funny that you said at the exams like, I mean, I.

00:28:55
Speaker 2: Think, I think there's just some principles, there's life principles in order to be successful, and you know, those are the things I want to I want to teach my kids too. And it's funny you said that about the video, because just because you watched it, you're not accomplishing anything unless you take it and go do what they were doing in the video. You know.

00:29:15
Speaker 4: Yeah, I will say so with Asy, we constantly kind of just checked in with her, right we were you know, do you still want to do this? Do you?

00:29:25
Speaker 2: You know?

00:29:26
Speaker 4: And it's hard when you're the hardest working player in your group, right, And I wouldn't. I would tell her call up such and such, see if she wants to come to the gym with us, And sometimes we get takers and other times we wouldn't, and I'd just say, well, that's why you're you, and let's go. In about eighth grade, she called somebody to go work out and they didn't want to go, and I was like, well, and she looked at me and said, I know, Mom, that's why I'm me. Let's go, you know. And it just but but at that point, you know, once again, I said early on, like she got good enough for us to not have to pay for college, okay, great, And so you know seven eighth grade, when you know the days were hard and she didn't want to work out, I would flat out say, if if you don't want to do this and you don't want to be great like you you just want to like maintain status quo, you could get a divisional scholarship right now, Like you can just stay as good as you are, you don't have to get any better, and you're gonna have free education and that's winning. That's huge. But if you do want to do those things and we have to continue to push, but that it's your choice. And you know she'd always just say let's go. But but yeah, it wasn't. It wasn't like she wasn't skipp into the gym every day.

00:30:33
Speaker 2: And I believe that. I mean I think about even myself. I'm sure you as well. Like there are days where I was like, well, if we're going to win, I we got to go.

00:30:41
Speaker 4: You know, it's just you right your bag and let's do that.

00:30:45
Speaker 2: Even now, like I run every morning, there's I don't I don't know that there's a day that I'm like, yes, I am I can't wait to go for my run. It's just like I know if I do it, what my day is going to look like. And if I don't do it, I know what my day is going to look like.

00:30:57
Speaker 4: So yeah, right, discipline doing you need to do? Know what you want to do?

00:31:01
Speaker 1: All right, listeners, you heard it here first.

00:31:03
Speaker 3: It takes a little a lot of bit of discipline, dedication, sacrifice, and just getting up and getting it done. And that is something you can apply to all parts of your life, not just if you're a basketball player. Ladies, thank you so much, Jennifer Azy, thank you for joining us. Katie Fud, thank you so much for having us. I think that that's a wrap lady.

00:31:25
Speaker 4: Yeah, this was wonderful.

00:31:27
Speaker 2: And Katie, I am gonna you're gonna get text for me. Hey what do I do here when he's doing?

00:31:33
Speaker 3: Yeah? Yeah, send your send your son to Katie. Katie has already trained people at a gem I workout. Everybody loves. Just send them all right, you guys, that is a rap.

00:31:46
Speaker 1: Thank you so much Jennifer and Katie for joining us on this week's pod.

00:31:50
Speaker 4: Thanks for having us.

00:31:52
Speaker 1: Listeners.

00:31:52
Speaker 3: Don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe to futt Around and find Out wherever you get your podcasts. Futt Around and find Out is a production of iHeart Women's Sports and Unanimous Media. Executive producers are Jesse Katz, Eric Payton, Charla Sumter Brugette, and Stephen Curry.

00:32:08
Speaker 1: Co executive producer is Kleanor Maria Cutney. Producers are Mike Coscarelli.

00:32:12
Speaker 3: Grace Ughs and Mackenzie Fitzpatcher, and co producers are Kurt Redman, Maya Howard, and Jacquelin Schoeninger.

00:32:18
Speaker 4: This podcast is edited by Mike Coscarelli and hosted by me Aizy Fudd and Ashanti Plummer.