This week on Ball Up Top, Chauny caught wind of Super Secret White Guy Chat and immediately mustered the full crew for a pre-holiday podcast. It’s a full boat with Andrew, Chauny, Greer and Tyler on hand to break down a great week of Team USA basketball, the WNBA’s continuing labor fight and a close look at the NCAA Player of the Year race.

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The show opens with a quick update on the ongoing WNBA collective bargaining agreement dispute. With Caitlin Clark’s comments at Team USA camp followed up by a conciliatory tone by NBA commissioner Adam Silver on Tuesday, it feels as though there’s an opportunity for both sides to have a 2026 season after all.

Our crew then dives into Team USA camp, the changing of the guard that may be happening and some of the deeper dynamics — sometimes jokingly called The Storrs Mafia or the-UConn-Media-Industrial-Complex — that go into selection and national team discussion.

That dovetails perfectly into a conversation about the NCAA Player of the Year races in women’s college basketball. While Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd continue to lead the way, our team asks if there are enough narratives in Big East play for UConn to build a case for their players? And where do other talented players from South Carolina’s Joyce Edwards to Richmond’s Maggie Doogan fit in?

0:00 - Show Introduction.

1:07 - Caitlin Clark, Adam Silver and the thawing WNBA Labor Fight…

12:01 - Unrivaled’s start and the leverage of player coalitions…

22:38 - Team USA Camp thoughts & reactions

41:20 - NCAA Player of the Year ladder

Our musical intros are brought to you by Denver’s King of Mile HiFi, DLZMKSBTS. You can check out his music on Spotify and YouTube.

This week's Ball Up Top opens with a discussion about A’ja Wilson winning TIME Athlete of the Year, how both hosts feel about the feature story and the storytelling around the Aces forward. Andrew expresses his distaste for the dialogue surrounding Wilson and Caitlin Clark and why it’s time for everyone to let 2023 go.

If you enjoy Ball Up Top, please let us know on Apple and/or Spotify. We’d love it if you left us five stars and a review to help spread the good word of ball knowledge!

After dispensing with the pleasantries, the basketball talk begins with a preview of Wednesday night’s Cy-Hawk rivalry game between No. 10 Iowa State and No. 11 Iowa. The duo discuss how the Hawkeyes plan on defending superstar center Audi Crooks and if this is the Jada Williams breakout game basketball fans have been waiting three years for.

There were also some eye catching upsets in the last week of NCAA women’s basketball, from Kansas State managing to defeat No. 17 Ole Miss and Wisconsin pulling off a huge win over No. 20 Michigan State. Andrew and Tyler talk about their favorite moments in those games.

The show wraps with a couple more bigger basketball and culture discussions as Tyler breaks down his experience in Norman, Oklahoma so far covering star freshman guard Aaliyah Chavez before the duo get some jokes off about the fun trash-talking moment between LSU guard Flau’jae Johnson and Duke head coach Kara Lawson.

0:00 - Show Introduction.

1:05 - A’ja Wilson wins TIME Athlete of the Year.

18:50 - Iowa vs. Iowa State Preview

28:32 - Upsets of the week.

39:40 - The emerging movement of athlete led by Aaliyah Chavez.

51:15 - Flau’jae vs. Kara Lawson and the fun of ethical hate.

Our musical intros are brought to you by Denver’s King of Mile HiFi, DLZMKSBTS. You can check out his music on Spotify and YouTube.