The Pomp And Joe Show
Ron Everhart recalls coaching T.J. McConnell before his strong NBA career
19 Mar 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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That's buyatoyota.com. Toyota, let's go places. Bob, that's quite a buffet they have here at the Rivers Casino. I got in because you're a VIP and it was delicious. I had a little chicken sandwich and some homemade coleslaw. What do you got there? Well, I just want to say they're sold out today and tomorrow here. I mean, every seat. They've got the leather seats. They've got this, that.
But on Saturday, if you want to come down here at the Rivers Casino, you can get a bar seat for $75, and that includes a buffet from 2 to 4. So your seat is secure the whole day. Sit at the bar. You want to watch something. And you can go to RiversCasino.com or ETIX, E-T-I-X.com, and weekend's still available. So they're going to have some good matchups coming up. Ron Everhart joining us here.
You know him from Duquesne and various other spots. Great college basketball coach. A great basketball mind, I might add. And a great memory. He knows everybody here who's had some connection to basketball. I've seen people just walk up to him and say, hey, Ron. It's incredible. And they have a history. He remembers everyone and their backgrounds and everything else.
I guess that's part of it when you're recruiting. You have to find a way to remember names and faces even if you met them once, right? Well, yeah, it always helps. You know, I think that, you know, the way recruiting used to be for sure, you know, it was all about creating a relationship and, you know, it was always a good thing to be able to remember things about and, you know,
definitely a plus the one guy though i tell you i ran the one guy i i got to know very well and i've known him since i was a kid he used to come and play against us as a as an eighth grader in basketball was guy named bill stewart so bill was a football coach yeah who became the head football coach in west virginia yeah and um my parents were school teachers in marion county and bill was a fairmont state football player and
They knew each other very well, and he used to, I mean, it was incredible, man. He knew names. Grandkids would ask about how your parents were doing. I mean, he was incredible, you know, and I think, you know, over the years, that was one thing I always thought about as a coach is, you know, that becomes really important, right? Because obviously you're looking for any advantage you can have.
And I think at the end of the day, that's a huge one. Oh, there's no question. And it's also an art to know to do it. Because you've got to remember everything about it. And it's hard. You may not see someone in two years. But if you can remember their name, even though you haven't been, that's pretty impressive. And I guess that's part of the game. Oh, man, is it ever.
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Chapter 2: How did Ron Everhart first recognize T.J. McConnell's potential?
Unbelievable. I can't believe he's become a really, really good NBA player. What did you see? Tell us the story about recruiting him and if you could foresee him when you had him projecting him to an NBA Finals situation where he would take a star turn. I absolutely did. And I know that sounds kind of brash and braggadocious from a coaching standpoint, but the truth is his dad still laughs at me.
Timbo, I told him he was going to be a 12-year pro. So we were texting the other day, and I said, I lied to you because he's probably going to play 20 years in the NBA. But I really did believe that, and I'll tell you why I did. I had just come off of coaching J.J. Barea at Northeastern where nobody thought that kid would ever be an NBA player.
He played 15 years for the Mavericks and retired with a world championship. Yep. Seeing what I saw every day from the competitive side of things, I saw exactly the same thing in TJ his sophomore year. We were in the Palumbo. They were playing Jeanette. Terrell Pryor was playing for Jeanette at the time.
TJ was running around stealing the ball from him, blocking his shot, going by him, laying it in, and I'm thinking, this kid's a sophomore and he's doing this to maybe the best athlete to ever come through Western PA at that time. Yes. Still might be, right? Oh, athletically? Yeah. And I'm watching a 5'8", 145-pound kid run around. I offered the kid that day when the game was over with.
And the following year, he might have grown to 5'9", that year. He committed to us. And I was the happiest guy in the world, and everybody else is out there like, man, this guy's crazy. Why'd we hire this coach at Duquesne? I didn't know what he was doing.
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Chapter 3: What strategies did Ron use in recruiting players like T.J. McConnell?
Did people call you during last year's NBA Finals when they were doing TJ stories to find out this kind of stuff? Yeah, well, I had the privilege of going on the fan in New York, actually, because Deuce McBride, who played for us at West Virginia, was sort of like TJ's matchup. Now, this was the year before, actually. And I think they were getting ready to meet in the Eastern Conference semis.
And, yeah, it was pretty interesting. The other thing that he did, like I remember him. We did stories on him like a lot of people did locally when he was at Chartiers. It's like he was to himself. He didn't ā he has turned into this ā
loquacious guy on the court where he's become this leader did you see that in him too because what was he like at the beginning it struck me as a very concerned you know i didn't doesn't give too much of his emotions away and now he's yapping at everyone i mean he's in control of just about everything on that floor no he really is he's as good a floor general a basketball leader
as any point guard has ever been. And, you know, he does it every night at the NBA level, 100 and whatever times a year. Takes care of his body. Super intelligent kid. Wonderful family. I think that, you know, at the end of the day, you look at a kid like that and you say that, you know...
Like the late, great Bob Dylan would say, you know, your voice is heard loudly through your children or however he put it in his song, you know, and I think, you know. It's exactly true. You look at mom and dad and you say, you know, great job. That's one of the reasons why he's good at the floor because he's like his dad, a coach, and he understood it all. He saw it all. Yes. Right?
I couldn't agree more, you know. And I think that, you know, he's one of those guys ā and I can say this because I saw it firsthand, he's one of those guys that just has the ability to control your whole locker room because he's so good at what he does, it's hard for any player on your team not to respect what you do and how you go about it.
And at that level, everybody looks at everything, how you act off the floor. Are you a good husband? Are you a good father? You know, how do you treat guys in the locker room when they're going through difficult times? And I think TJ's so good at all that that his team rallies around him and says, listen, man, this is our guy, you know. It's amazing what he's turned into.
Not to mention millions of dollars. Not to Ron, though. I mean, that's the guy that's taught him. Well, I think he's taught, and I can say this again, because at West Virginia we played against Halliburton quite a bit at Iowa State. Oh, that's right. I remember he was there, yeah.
I think he's helped Therese a lot, not just as a basketball player, but to be able to learn how to become a professional. That injury he had last year killed them. killed him. But what a mature kid at a young age. Well, you know, you look at it and you look at the big picture and you say, well, who's helping this kid?
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Chapter 4: What memorable game showcased T.J. McConnell's skills?
become a coach after that. I went to Georgia Tech as a GA the year after. I've been as blessed as any basketball guy could be. I've had the best career and the best experience as you could ever imagine. I wouldn't trade it for the world. How does that relate to you getting on officials? I don't know. I just never liked them because I never thought that they grew up in a gym like I did and they
I thought they didn't know block charges. I thought they were horrible with goaltend calls. I thought they called too many fouls on the ball because they got away from referee and advantages, disadvantages. And some of the best people in the world are college officials. Some of my best friends are college officials.
But I always, from a competitive standpoint as a coach, I always had a problem with something. And it drove me crazy. And I didn't contain my feelings very well. I kind of let them be known. So give us your best story. Best story is we're playing in the Colonial Conference Tournament against Old Dominion one night. J.J. Baret is my point guard at Northeastern. Old Dominion's loaded.
They finished, I think we finished third in the league that year. No, we finished tied with them for third. Hofstra was second. No, George Mason was second the year they went to the Final Four. Hofstra was first. Tommy Pecora was their coach. We're playing the game, and it's really a back-and-forth game. It's tight as can be. Blaine Taylor's coaching at Old Dominion. We're having a chess match.
I mean, we're playing in the Richmond Coliseum. J.J. Barea, who everybody would say is really hard to officiate because, you know, he was so good at getting his body on you as an offensive guard, and he was so fast, a lot like T.J. You know, when he drove that ball, I mean, there was contact. He gets hit really hard in the middle of the lane, so hard that he comes out of his shoe.
So he's upset about it. He turns to get up, and with the foot that he has his other shoe on, kicks the shoe that he lost, into the student section about ten rows deep into the Old Dominion student section underneath the basket. So we go back down to the other side. He's playing with one shoe and one sock. He's playing defense. Like Caruso the other night blocking a shot with his sneaker.
That's right. Technical foul. Yeah, that's right. Well, I guess the officials didn't see it when he kicked the shoe. I expected him to get a technical at the time, and I was prepared to get another one to protect him to show my kids that I was going to fight for my players, right? Well, play ends. Here comes John Gaffney with the shoe in his hand.
And he says, can you tell me how in the F this shoe got into the Old Dominion student section? I said, well, John, I can tell you exactly how that effing shoe got into the Old Dominion student section. Because you effers wouldn't call a foul. He got hit so hard they knocked him out of his shoe. How do you not call the foul? And, of course, then I got my technique. That is tremendous.
It's a good point, though. And he hands me the shoe. Like, what the hell am I going to do with this? Give it back to the kid. Give it to Donatus Zavascus. He needs shoes. Tremendous. Well, let's take a look at these games coming up, and let's do a little bit more of a breakdown of the bracket. And I have an exercise for you guys.
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Chapter 5: How did T.J. McConnell's performance impact his future in basketball?
So college basketball players. Right. Okay. So, Bob, you're going to pick first. Ron, you're going to pick second. I'm going to pick third and fourth, and then we go back down until we each have three players. Obviously, we can't take the same players, and then we're going to judge our teams. Well, Ron has a huge advantage here. He knows everything. We've watched basketball.
I know, but not the way he knows. Pump. You've been the big-time sportscaster forever. For 40 years. He's like J.P. Roofing inside him. Not only do you know every basketball name, you know every hockey name, every Steeler legend. Every NFL legend. But, Ron, you're in the trenches. You know these guys. You see things that we haven't seen. Bob, you're under pressure. You have the first pick.
Who's it going to be? We're going to do it right now? No, we're going to do it coming back. Well, I can tell you my first pick. You're under a lot of pressure. Don't say it yet. All right. All right, we're live at Rivers Casino. Come down, join us. Tournament underway. It's Pomping Joe and Ron Everhart. It's Toyota Truck Month. Time to get a truck that works as hard as you do. Tacoma. Tundra.
Built for the worksite. Ready for the trail. And packed with tech that makes every drive smarter. Available with 360-degree panoramic cameras for perfect visibility in tight spots. Powered tailgate for easy loading. and a high-tech connected screen to keep you on the grid no matter where you are. All backed by the brand known for its legendary reliability.
The rugged Toyota Tacoma and the full-size Tundra are built to handle it all. And right now, your local Toyota dealer has great financing and lease options available to qualified customers. Meaning there's no better time to test drive the Toyota truck you need. Find a great Toyota Truck Month deal today when you visit BuyAToyota.com. That's BuyAToyota.com. Toyota. Let's go places.
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